If you were in the mood for a drink in 1920s Dallas, you would have found yourself on the West side of downtown, trading a password for a glass of liquor.
Forget the Bishop Arts happy hours, the espresso martini flights or the holiday-themed shot specials, bars were dark, hazy and hushed. At least, that’s what modern iterations of speakeasies seem to think.
Today, the palpable buzz that comes from breaking the law is gone, but some bars in our neighborhood propel that sense of excitement by staying hidden. It’s hard to say what makes a speakeasy a speakeasy.
Is it a password protected entry? A gangster inspired cocktail menu? A look-the-other-way backdrop for illicit agreements to take place?
In Oak Cliff, at least, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Out of sight and out of mind, bartenders cater to a “if you know you know” crowd.
The question is:
Are you in the know?
The Branca Room
Music wafting through the evening air is one of the first indicators of the Branca Room’s existence.
The intimate cocktail lounge is hidden behind the wine cellar in Chimichurri, Bishop Arts’ Argentinean bistro, but it can also be accessed through a door in the Bishop Avenue alley that stays open at night.
“It’s like the 1920s, when people hear the music they know the door will be open and they can come on in,” says James Slater, Chimichurri manager and co-owner.
Slater started the Branca Room in summer 2022 after looking for “something different” to bring to Bishop Arts.
The menu displays the culture of Argentina, and the Italian influence on food and dining in the country. Amaro, chartreuse, truffle vodka and vermouth are made in house.
With eight tables — no reservations, first-come first-serve — and no bar seating, it’s a cozy setting for a craft cocktail. The space fills up on weekends, where they’re open Thursday through Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
While the space is hidden, Slater aims to make anyone feel welcome.
“In order for people to enjoy the experience we don’t do dress codes or passwords,” he says. “Just come enjoy it.”
Devil’s Back Porch
During the prohibition era, when Bonnie and Clyde were in the peak of their gangster activities, the Trinity River stretch of West Dallas was known as the Devil’s Back Porch.
“I was thinking ‘How do we do something here?’” Chef and operator of Saint Rocco’s New York Italian Jay Valley says. “People from outside of Dallas started coming in and asking about Clyde (Barrow). I thought we needed something not so much to glorify (Bonnie and Clyde) but to tell the story.”
Devil’s Back Porch speakeasy opened in Trinity Groves in May 2023, on the 89th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde’s deaths. The dimly-lit, “out of the way” bar and lounge can be found on the second floor of Rocco’s, accessed by elevator or a painted-red staircase.
The space is covered in framed mugshots of infamous gangsters. Mounted rifles frame out the bar. Dart boards and pool and poker tables contribute to the bar’s subtle but buzzy energy.
Cocktails and bar bites continue the gangster motif, with names like The Godfather, a scotch based drink or the black powder wings. The speakeasy is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, unless booked for a private event.
“We want this to be the bar for Trinity Groves,” Valley says.
Ayahuasca Cantina
It’s generally not a good idea to open unfamiliar doors when out in public, but at Xamán Café, it’s encouraged.
After all, how else would you find yourself sucked into the moody, candle lit cantina, Ayahuasca. Bar manager Andrés Alvarez says the space pays homage to the “ancestral” foods and drinks of Mexico, while also tapping into the modern foodie culture that dominates Mexico City today.
“A lot of people think (Mexico) only has tequila or mezcal but there is so much more,” Alvarez says.
Every cocktail at Ayahuasca is made with a Mexican spirit as the base, and the bar’s shelves display dozens of foreign liquor labels. (“We don’t have casamigos,” he says.)
Reservations can be made at Ayahuasca, which sports table and bar seating. On Fridays and Saturdays a full dinner menu is offered, but on other days of the week an “elevated cantina” menu is served.
Alvarez says the more “casual menu” is meant to encourage guests to come as they are. Catering to an “adventurous and curious” crowd, the cantina offerings are packed with ingredients like pork confit, baked bone marrow and agave goat cheese.
The bar typically plays “Mexican chill music,” to go along with the low-key vibe, but every other Thursday a Mexican House DJ is brought in and “things get rowdy.”
Ayahuasca has been open for three years, and can only be accessed through a large wooden door in the back of Xamán Café.
“No passwords here, the people who know know,” Alvarez says. “We aren’t that pretentious.”
