Speakeasy Index: Hidden Bar Capitals of the World

For travellers visiting a new destination, finding somewhere to have a drink and relax can be high on the list of priorities. Many large cities around the world are home to intriguing speakeasies or hidden bars that are not easy to find.

In this study, we’ve used data from Google reviews, social media, and blog recommendations to find out which cities have the most hidden bars, allowing us to name the speakeasy capital of the world. 

We’ve analysed the number of speakeasies in each city alongside the number of Instagram followers each one has, and its average Google rating to create a speakeasy index score. This gives us an understanding of what’s on offer, how popular (or secret) they are, and where the hidden bar hotspot of the world is. 

Key findings

• Paris is the speakeasy capital of the world, with the highest score on our index (9.42/10), boasting numerous hidden bars to choose from.
• There are 16 speakeasies in total in Paris, second on the list is Bangkok with 11 speakeasies, followed by London with 10.
• London, Sarajevo, and Berlin are home to some of the world’s most hidden speakeasies with fewer than 400 Instagram followers and Google reviews.
• Paris’s most secretive speakeasy is Le Bistrot Des Cinéastes, with under 500 Instagram followers.
• Sydney is Australia’s top speakeasy spot, while Dubai and Singapore offer the best hidden drinking spots in Asia.

The speakeasy capital of the world

To create the index, we factored in the number of hidden bars/speakeasies in each city, the average number of Instagram followers these accounts had, their average Google Maps rating, and the number of reviews left. 

The number of Instagram followers and Google Maps reviews allowed us an insight into really how ‘secret’ these bars were, while the rating indicated how good they may be, and of course, the number of bars available per city gives tourists and locals alike an element of choice for their discrete drinking. 

The best city to visit speakeasies is Paris, France, with a score of 9.42 out of 10 on our speakeasy index. In second place is Bangkok, Thailand with a score of 8.93, followed by London, UK in third with 8.80.
Other cities ranking highly on the index include Rome, Italy (8.56), Berlin, Germany (8.53), New York, USA (8.23), and Liverpool, UK (8.22).

Some of Paris’s top speakeasies

The most popular speakeasy in Paris is Little Red Door. This secret bar has over 45,000 Instagram followers, so a very popular bar for the city, and an average Google rating of 4.4 from over 2,000 reviews. Little Red Door describes itself as a ‘cocktail wonderland’, offering a ‘universe of cocktails and flavours’.

Other popular hidden bars in Paris include The Syndicates (35,900 Instagram followers), Candelaria (27,800 followers), and Serpent A Plume (17,400 followers).

The bar with the fewest Instagram followers is Le Bistrot Des Cinéastes with 483, which could be considered the best speakeasy for those who want a more secretive and low-key bar experience.

Cities with the most speakeasies

Paris also comes top of the list of cities with the most speakeasies or hidden bars with a total of 16. That’s 16 that we know about anyway.

Coming second is Bangkok with 11 speakeasies or hidden bars in total, followed by London, Rome, Berlin, and New York, all with 10 each.

The most hidden speakeasies in the world

While some of the world’s speakeasies have a large Instagram following and thousands of Google reviews, some fly far under the radar with only a handful of people following or reviewing them. We’ve put together a list of the most hidden speakeasies by combining the number of Instagram followers and Google reviews for each one we analysed.

London is home to the most hidden speakeasy, with Salotto 900 claiming the top spot with only 97 Instagram followers and no Google reviews at all. Second on the list is Pink Houdini in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a combined total of 347 Instagram followers and Google reviews.

Other speakeasies that are least known to the public include Butcher’s Bar and Becketts Kopf, both in Berlin, and J. Boroski in Bangkok.

Methodology

In this study, we defined speakeasies as bars that refer to themselves as a speakeasy, or are a hidden or secret bar. These bars are typically in obscure locations or have hidden entrances that would deliberately not be obvious to someone walking past. Due to the secretive nature of speakeasies, there may be more around the world that are not mentioned online and could not be included here.

We used data from Google Maps reviews and Instagram to determine an index score for each of the speakeasies, and then ranked the speakeasies based on their index scores.

This is how the weighting was calculated for the index contributing to an average 10/10 points: 

• Average Google reviews = 10%
• Average Google ratings = 10%
• Instagram followers = 30%
• Number of speakeasies/hidden bars in the city = 50%

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