Hidden bars & speakeasies in Spokane
Spokane hides 6 bars worth the hunt, including Hogwash Whiskey Den, Cease & Desist Book Club and Durkin's Liquor Bar. Unmarked doors, back-of-the-laundromat phone booths, no-sign basements — speakeasies that earned the word rather than borrowing it for the decor. Every entry is hand-vetted against real sources — not scraped off a top-ten list or averaged out of crowd ratings.
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Hogwash Whiskey Den
There is no neon and no sidewalk sign here — you descend an unmarked stairwell into the basement of the 1891 Washington Cracker Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Inside waits a low-lit den with more than 200 whiskeys, rentable whiskey lockers, and a kitchen turning out whiskey-barrel shoyu ramen and smoked brisket taquitos. Open since 2016, it is the closest Spokane gets to a genuine modern speakeasy.
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Cease & Desist Book Club
A plain downtown storefront in the historic Legion Building hides a working bar behind a wall of bookshelves — find the right marked book and the bookcase swings open into a dim, intimate cocktail room lined with portraits of Hemingway and Bukowski. It was meant to open as Scofflaw's Book Club but got renamed after a real cease-and-desist letter from a Chicago bar called Scofflaw, which became its identity. First-come, first-served with no reservations, so finding it is half the game.
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Durkin's Liquor Bar
Named for Jimmie Durkin, a real pre-Prohibition Spokane liquor tycoon, this bar pairs a lively diner-chic main floor with a hidden speakeasy-style nook tucked into the basement. Descending below the floorboards feels like dropping into a 1910s hideaway, a quieter and more vintage counterpoint to the bustle upstairs. The nine-foot front door is the tell that this place takes its history seriously.
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Baby Bar
An itty-bitty hole-in-the-wall hidden behind the Neato Burrito counter, marked mostly by a subtle door and a red velvet curtain. Inside it is dim and red-lit, with eclectic art including a Twin Peaks-inspired velvet-curtain installation, occasional live music, and cocktails made with fresh-squeezed juices. Locals treat it as a beloved dive where you can always find a friend.
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The Peacock Room Lounge
Set inside the legendary Historic Davenport Hotel, this Jazz Age lounge is crowned by a dazzling stained-glass ceiling of nearly 6,000 pieces created in 2002 by local artist Susan Kim. The hotel itself was designed by famed Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter, and the room leans hard into flamboyant 1920s glamour. Theatergoers treat its award-winning double martinis as the definitive pre- and post-show ritual downtown.
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Volstead Act
A small, snug cocktail bar inside the historic Peyton Building, named for the 1919 Volstead Act that launched Prohibition. The room leans into 1920s nostalgia with Prohibition-inspired decor and craft cocktails, a self-aware celebration of the era it is named after. Its tight footprint gives it the close, conspiratorial feel of an actual speakeasy.
Hidden bars & speakeasies in Spokane — FAQ
Which hidden bars & speakeasies in Spokane are the strangest?
Ranked by how strange they actually are: Hogwash Whiskey Den, Durkin's Liquor Bar and Baby Bar. Hogwash Whiskey Den — There is no neon and no sidewalk sign here — you descend an unmarked stairwell into the basement of the 1891 Washington Cracker Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Is this a good weird date in Spokane?
That's what the list is built for. Every entry has a specific move rather than a vague recommendation — at Hogwash Whiskey Den, for instance: Hunt for the unmarked stairwell together, then split a flight of unusual whiskeys and a bowl of barrel-aged ramen in the basement dark.
How were these hidden bars & speakeasies chosen?
An agentic research system digs for the genuinely obscure — the spots even locals miss — and every one is verified against real sources before it makes the list. We deliberately skip the landmarks already on every Spokane guide.