The Drifter Chicago

This place is a such refreshingly different and satisfying experience than any other establishment in the Chicago nightlife scene. The ambiance immediately transports you to another time, the drinks are creative, fun and delicious in a very unique way, the entertainment is a nice touch, and the exceptional service ties the whole experience together. I’ll definitely be back!

If you’re looking for something absolutely unique, this is the place. To enter this speakeasy, you need to find the hidden entrance. When you get there, it’s a very chill ambiance. Unexpectedly, there was a burlesque performance in the back. It was the first I’ve ever experienced, so that was interesting. Besides the normal cocktail menu, the drifter does something I’ve never seen — have their daily specialty drinks printed on tarot cards. I got a gin based drink that was really tasty. I would highly recommend this place if you’re close by. Just an FYI there’s a cover that will eventually be added to your bill.

My new favorite location in Chicago!
Hidden entrance is located below Green Door Tavern and venue has limited seating for an intimate experience. We sat close to the stage and got to see two shows (singer & burlesque) which was a lot of fun. The drink menu are on Tarot Cards and drinks were delicious. We even enjoy some bacon wrapped dates were phenomenal.
A must try for locals, tourists and everyone in between!

The Drifter is a wonderful little time capsule from a forgotten era in the basement of the Green Door, with sideshow décor, a tarot card drink menu, a small stage with a manually-​operated curtain onto which movies and clips are projected between shows, and a dedicated staff. The entertainment is low key, simple, but very good… our acts ranged from a basic burlesque dancer to a comedienne with a ukelele to a very flexible dancer with a vague cyberpunk vibe.
It’s not perfect, though. There is a cover charge, you have to walk through the upstairs bar (which, as other reviewers have mentioned, is filled to the gills with «dudebros»), the drinks can sometimes be a bit hit-​or-​miss (though they’re mostly pretty good — although I have been places with drinks just as good or better for MUCH cheaper). I think they do need to do a better job of keeping the «sports bar» clientele out (enforcing a dress code, maybe?) and dissuading the «tourist» sort (we had some people coming in and out simply to take selfies and then leave, which sours the «hidden, exclusive» feel). With a max seating capacity of 37, it fills up FAST. Even on a Thursday night in the middle of winter, by 10pm every seat was filled. There is parking around the area but it’s metered and at $ 4/​hour can get expensive quickly (especially if you stay for shows — so I’d recommend public transportation if you can).
But even with all of that, I’ll definitely be back. Once I’ve saved up a little bit…

Love the drink menu tarot cards.
The bartenders were very accommodating and even let us know that we could order off menu right from the start.
Entertainment was fun we saw a band and a quick burlesque show.
This place really transports you to the 1920s.

You get in via the basement of the Green Door Tavern. Speakeasy, prohibition vibe with burlesque shows every hour. Candle lit ambience with a craft cocktail menu printed on tarot cards. Excellent cocktails, average price.

Drinks on tarot cards??? That already earns you a star. And a pseudo secret door/​entry combined with a burlesque show? And a holiday themed burlesque show at that? Yup, she came out in a red sparkly tutu and danced to the nutcracker song and it was amazing. Simply amazing.
This is a tiny little speakeasy so be prepared to have to wait for a little while, but they will text you once your table is ready and the Green Door Tavern is upstairs so you can drink up there while you wait and be ready to go to the moment your table is. And the wait is definitely worth it. Once you get inside, it is a dimly lit bar with a vintage lounge like feel and you immediately feel like you have been transported to another world. The drinks take time to make but they are pretty darn tasty and the tarot cards they give you which is their drink menu varies night to night we were told. They are very inventive and pack all kinds of flavors in them, and the bar tenders are also more than happy to whip up something on the fly too. We also got their deviled eggs as a snack which somehow were $ 1 more I think than upstairs? Not really sure why that is, so you will easily spend more money in this bar (there is also a $ 5 cover added to your bill for the burlesque show), but again they say money can’t buy you happiness but we were pretty happy here! So hey, turns out money can buy you a cover to an awesome show, and admission to a place that will transport you through cocktails to a night you will remember since this is a pretty unique spot in Chicago that I think everyone should experience.

Really cool hidden bar! Burlesque shows every hour from 7pm-​12am. The shows are very tasteful, yet still sexy. The drinks are pretty good, not the best but good enough to comeback. Each cocktail is printed on a tarot card. The idea itself is creative but can get annoying because they have a limited set and you have to keep asking the waitress to bring them. It’s also a bit difficult to read them as it is pretty dark inside. Otherwise, definitely will be coming back.
Tip: try to come early because there is limited seating and the wait list can get pretty long. But if your wait is too long, head upstairs for a beer at green door tavern.

I love burlesque and anything vintage, so I was super excited to try this place! It’s in the basement of the Green Door Tavern, though I won’t spoil for anyone who doesn’t know (or hasn’t read the other reviews!) exactly where. I went on a random Saturday from 5 – 7, and it was just starting to get full when we left. We managed to catch one short burlesque performance, which was really fun and high quality, and mostly just had a good chill time hanging out with our drinks.
The drinks were printed on tarot cards, which were fun to go through, and they had a wide variety of tastes to suit everyone. My favorite was the «Bye, Felicia» but everything I tried was pretty excellent. At 12 dollars a piece, this place is probably going to be a more special occasion location than a regular haunt for me, but I plan to be back again soon!

If i could date an establishment, this would be it. This is going to be my new favorite hideout, just in time before Winter rolls in. It’s got all the right ingredients to a fun yet relaxing night. The place is intimate and exclusive, maybe seats around 30? They have tarot cards as their drink menu. How freaking creative is that? We flipped the cards upside down and randomly selected the cards (aka our drinks). The jazz singers were sexy and the burlesque dancers were even sexier. Every drink we had was enjoyable, whether it was Gin, Rye, or Mescal based. Even the small bites were good. I’m pretty sure i’m coming back this week, and the following week. I tell myself it’s b/​c i want to show it off to visitors, but it’s more that i just didn’t get enough of it.
Warning: due to the small size, it can be tough to get a seat, especially if you have 4 or more in your party. Come early! Like 8pm. They don’t take reservations.

Great drinks, I like the vibe — a cute speakeasy environment.
I got the gnome means gnome which was pretty spectacular — it has egg whites in it which makes everything better in my opinion. I also ordered something mcflurry but it wasn’t as great — creamy but forgettable.
$ 12 per drink.
There’s a $ 5 cover on weekend nights sine they have performers. The tarot drink cards are really unique.

If you’re in the area, definitely come check out this speakeasy. I won’t spill the fun and give you the exact location, but if you ask around at the bar, you’ll figure out where (or which door it’s behind ;)).
It’s a nice intimate space. I love the drink menu is on a set of tarot cards, and if you come at the right time, the short performance is definitely worth watching. The bar also has an apothecary theme, with the dripper and beaker. Lots of interesting cocktails, Romo’s Gin Fizz is a nice good, and don’t be afraid to try the ones with egg white, sounds intimidating but surprisingly good. The snacks are also yummy, especially the sausage stuffed pepper and salt & vinegar chickpeas.
Awesome drinks, nice bartender, and possibly a show, what else can you ask for?!

If you love anything related to burlesque/​prohibition/​speakeasies, you need to check this place out! However, the place itself is very small so I don’t recommend coming with a large group, as this will increase your wait time to get in. I went with one friend and the two of us had no trouble getting in (about a 15 minute wait).
The ambiance of this place is wonderful. There is bar seating and tables in front of a small stage that every hour has short performances. While I was there, this included a man performing a few original songs on the piano followed by two burlesque performances. My only complaint was that these shows were extremely short and hit-​or-​miss based on the performer.
As for the drinks, I loved the presentation of printing them on tarot cards and the very unique names (for example the «Spruce Jenner» and «Bye Felicia»). The cocktails were tasty and the bartender was very helpful when giving recommendations. Overall, I was slightly underwhelmed by some of the shows but everything else about this place made up for that. Definitely coming back to see what entertainment on other nights is like!

This is a cool cool place. It’s location can be a little hard to find, but once you arrive you know you are in the right spot. There is a long bar with tables down the side and a slightly larger seating area at the end. It can fill up quickly, so you might have to wait, or perhaps its best to go when they open at 5 pm. The ambience is super-​chill, going for that Prohibition era speak-​easy feel (which apparently this place was!). Contributing to the feel is the 20s era burlesque films playing on the wall at the end of the room. Apparently live jazz is also present as well.
Specialty drinks are presented on Tarot cards with the ingredients listed to help you choose. If you can’t pick, then ask the bartenders for a recommendation. The cocktails themselves are excellent. A few select beers are also available on tap, and I’m sure they will make you whatever cocktail you choose as well. A few food items are also quite interesting. I personally had the potato chips.
Overall, I think this is a great hidden (literally) gem.

This is a neat spot to grab drinks in River North. Located through a door in the basement of Green Door Tavern, it’s a small and intimate spot with only a handful of tables. The drink menus are served on creative tarot cards, which makes for a fun and different experience.
We were some of the very first to arrive on a Thursday evening at 5PM. We were asked to wait outside the door as the staff finished preparing for opening. After waiting about 5 – 10 minutes, there were easily 5 groups behind us in line, so this place definitely books up.
We were invited in just a few minutes past 5PM and took a seat at one of their tables. It’s got sexy dim lighting and a variety of traditional and nouveau cocktails. I tried the old fashioned and my boyfriend tried a different one of their whiskey drinks. Both were great. We were pleasantly surprised to see a smattering of food options as well, and we opted for the bacon wrapped dates which were very good.
Overall, it is a cool spot but I will need to return for one of their shows to give a final evaluation!

I love a good speakeasy! You’ll find this secret bar in a very unassuming, casual, irish pub that is on street level. Go down the stairs and right at the bottom, to your right there is a secret wall that opens into a beautiful, secret, small high caliber craft cocktail spot. The old school burlesque projected on the wall, the feel of a circus, and the tarot cards with drinks printed on them all work with the ambiance of this great spot. If you don’t see a drink you want the bartenders will make something delicious for you. The whole experience is great. We were lucky to find a spot at the bar — I hear that many times there is a line as it is a small space.

Prior to coming, I read all the reviews and thought I knew exactly where the hidden door was but I still missed it. Oops. Thankfully, there was no one there to judge me.
I wasn’t thrilled by the surprise cover charge to watch a carny stop a rotary fan with his privates (seriously.), but the drinks were creative and tasty. It was also pretty convenient that we could just hand the cards of the drinks we wanted to our server. I’m pretty sure that’s not what they had in mind to do, but it was loud and it worked. My favorite cocktail was the lone horseman: bourbon, amaro, vermouth, gin.
The décor and overall ambiance is awesome. If you want to impress a date, this will probably work. If you’re a man three times my age who tries to talk to me by grabbing my arm while I’m happily drinking here with friends, that won’t work.

«Only VIP’S can get into this place. You must be special. Just follow my lead and you will be welcomed amongst the ultra-​cool» This is what I told a couple of my friends I went with. I think they are buying it. As we wiggle our way through the Green Door Tavern and go downstairs towards the bathrooms I am looking for this Fricken hidden door. So there I go just randomly knocking on everything downstairs like an asshole. Where is this door? Finally found it, I played it off as I was checking the foundation considering it’s a building built in the 1800’s.
Now this is a speakeasy. It really was back in the day. Vacated for decades it has been restored To It’s former glory. Small, dark, cozy, boisterous and alive. Everything a speakeasy should be. We had a couple drinks each. Craft cocktails that can rival any place in the city. Some fruity and light others will get you seeing trix in the sky. Each drink presented on tarot cards. A rotating option of about seven boozy libations to choose from. Our food option was Chickpeas with salt, although my friend evidently needed more salt. I guess if he was eating a salt cube he would put more salt on it, goof! An all female staff, which was a pleasant change, was there to help liberate our souls and furnish our body with these funky elixirs.
While our drinks were soaking in we enjoyed a gypsy — like hula hoop show. Yoga like flexibility while doing hula hooping is some pretty good stuff. After these strong drinks it went from one girl to three (look at the one in the middle) and 2 hoops to 5. Damn girl! The music was on the low as we did not have to scream to talk to each other. 40’s soft porn was showing on the screen. All this entertainment in a gritty, dark basement with old speakeasy decorations. Pretty cool!

I absolutely loved this place! First off the difficulty to find it adds a little bit of excitement. You enter through Greendoor Tavern, follow the signs to go downstairs to the bathroom, then knock on the unmarked door to the right. The room must be sound proof cause it’s quiet then all of a sudden you enter into this magical «dungeon» speakeasy. It’s funny cause I think 90% of the patrons at the upstairs bar don’t know it exist.
So this place is super sexy. Take a date to impress or why not take your friends to impress (I did and they loved it!) Now this place has a little bar area and only about six tables, so don’t walk in and expect to be seated right away. I had a party of 4 and we went on a Friday at 5:15 and got the last table (they open at 5).
This place is definitely a cocktail place versus food. So unique that there cocktail menu is listed on tarot cards and the drinks always change. The drink I had wanted to try wasn’t in rotation that night, so I went with a rum based drink with chocolate. Delicious! I have to mention the names of the drinks are hilarious. Two of my friends went with the «Bye, Felicia» Food was just okay. Portion size is already tiny but you can tell it’s still meant to shared and to not be your means for dinner. We went with the devil eggs and bacon wrap dates. (Good). We also got some live entertainment with this old guy strumming a guitar on stage and talking about getting some on the regular… moving on its a great place, get there early, and enjoy the reasonably priced cocktails.

Da Bomb dot com…
Look for the hidden door
Enjoy reading the tarot cards… for the drink choices
Not much for bites so if you’re hungry, head upstairs for yummy food
Make sure to come with small groups or all in your party… its hard to ‘save’ seats for future guests or add after you are there
Small, super, cozy space… great servers. We had some food… and it was delish… just was expecting more bites… there are only like 4 on the menu
We loved it