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A set of stairs leading down to a basement bar.
Photograph: Melanie Desa

The best hidden bars in Melbourne

These are Melbourne's best secret bars and underground gems that are worth seeking out – but shhhh don't tell anyone about these, OK?

Lauren Dinse
Written by
Lauren Dinse
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Is it even worth going to a bar if you can find it at street level? You could go to an above-ground bar like a schmuck, or you could find yourself uncovering one of Melbourne's secret booze lairs instead. Melbourne has a bar located down a cramped laneway, one behind a fridge door, one behind a bookshelf and a closet of a bar that barely fits eight people. Consider this list a scavenger hunt of Melbourne's most interesting secret bars, and remember where they are for next time.

For more bars to hide away in, check out the best rooftop bars. Or if vino is your go-to tipple, check out the best wine bars in Melbourne.

Hidden bars in Melbourne

  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Collingwood
  • price 2 of 4

The bar is a command centre at the heart of this tiny room, with only a handful of seats facing Hayden Lambert as he dispenses drinks that put the art back into artisanal. 

  • Bars
  • Melbourne

Long before news broke of an opening date, we’d been thirsty for a first look at Apollo Inn. The mysterious cocktail bar is the newest sibling to the glowing jewel in Andrew McConnell’s crown Gimlet at Cavendish House, and is nestled deep within a 1920s Neo Renaissance-style building on the corner of Flinders and Hosier Lanes. 

 

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 2 of 4

In the basement at the end of an alley, Beneath Driver Lane feels equal parts Melbourne, Chicago and Diagon Alley. The folks behind the bar are all practised professionals; personable, knowledgeable and looking sharp in black chef coats. What they’re mixing up is pretty sharp, too. 

  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne

Burrow underground to the Paris-via-New York brasserie Bar Margaux, a place where oysters are shucked, Champagne popped and steaks sizzled until the tiniest of hours (3am on Fridays and Saturdays). Time itself seems to melt away in this meticulously realised world where candlelight glows suggestively through Georgian wire glass partitions, where lipstick-red booths curve around marble tabletops and the only thing on the cards is indulgence.

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  • Bars
  • Melbourne

As New York as Melbourne gets, this hidden basement bar with an underground speakeasy vibe is a relatively new addition. But Sweatshop is charismatically different. The revival theme here is all 80s - West Coast Coolers and old school punch bowls. Situated below Seamstress Bar and Diner, Sweatshop is quirkily detailed with rolls of fabric, tiling and DJs who only spin vinyl - think Pat Benatar or Kim Wilde.

  • Bars
  • Wine bars
  • Melbourne

Found in the heritage-listed Tavistock House – one of only a handful of pre-Gold Rush buildings left in Melbourne – this Flinders Lane bar weaves stories of Melbourne into almost every element of its offering. It stands close to where the Yarra Falls once stood, a historic meeting place for many of the peoples of the Kulin Nation both pre-European settlement and after, which explains the indoor waterfall found inside the bar. Yes, there's a waterfall here. How neat!

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Jungle Boy
  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Windsor
  • price 2 of 4

This leafy courtyard bar with chilled tropical vibes and tiki masks is hidden behind a fake fridge at the back of sandwich shop Boston Sub. Just go into the fridge and keep going.

  • Bars
  • Melbourne

The city’s oldest pub has a secret. Loch and Key is hidden up a rickety staircase, behind a bookcase in the Captain Melville bar. Loch and Key is best known as a late-night reveller, when the couch-filled warren of rooms come to life, but its early evening appeal shouldn't be ignored, as the balcony is a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down.

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 2 of 4

Bartenders pull out all the stops – and the liquid nitrogen – at this city speakeasy offering a magical mystery tour of history’s greatest drinks. There is even a whole room dedicated to whisky.

  • Bars
  • Fitzroy
  • price 2 of 4

Everybody knows about Black Pearl, but did you know that there's another cocktail bar upstairs? It's only open on Friday and Saturday, and you'll need to buzz into the Attic to get in, but make the most of the wonderful table service if you manage to get in.

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne

It’s not very common (at least not in Melbourne) for a hotel bar to pop off but that’s exactly what happened to Curious, which opened at the W Melbourne in 2021.Joining Adam D’Sylva’s Italian-leaning Lollo and Japanese fine diner Warabi, the subterranean cocktail lounge is in good company, but it’s managed to pull a much younger audience than its
neighours. All signs point to the music program as the primary culprit. On Wednesday through Saturday nights the space hosts a rotating lineup of DJs, both established and on the up, and the place packs out accordingly.

 

  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 3 of 4

A grande dame of the Melbourne bar scene, this louche, basement-level cocktail lounge has been keeping people loose and liquored for just shy of 20 years. The default drinking spot among the city’s post-shift bartenders, plus tie-loosened office workers and huddles of tourists, Vernon Chalker’s enigmatic speakeasy is at its hedonistic best as the night wears on. With a few drinks under your belt, the swathes of velvet, tapestry and animal print take on a bordello-chic vibe, and the admittedly wallet-stinging prices don’t hurt nearly as much.

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  • Restaurants
  • Greek
  • Seddon

Find yourself out west? Never fear, for the City of Maribyrnong is far from a desert when it comes to ultra-cool and vibing secret bars. Lay Low in Seddon is one of them, an unassuming drinking hole positioned stealthily within a trendy clothing store. Is it a bit cosy? Sure, but once you're inside, you'll feel all the love and a surprising amount of energy packed into the space. The cocktails here are king, made from fresh local produce in-house and with an extensive range to choose from. We know where we're spending our next happy hour.

Bartronica
  • Bars
  • Melbourne

Wish you could summon your homies and trounce them at Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, Gun Fight or Fire Escape while sipping on an ice-cold craft beer or imaginative cocktail? Well now you can, thanks to Bartronica, Melbourne's first vintage arcade bar that you have to be a bit of a sleuth to find. It's tucked behind a door down an alley, in typical "IYKYK" Melbourne disguise. Pick from free-play or coin-operated arcade machines, stake out the Nintendo 64 or rest between fighting marathons on the comfy couches dotted around this cavernous, mainly underground space.

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 2 of 4

Below cocktail luminary 1806 you'll find the Understudy, which is like the Upside Down version of 1806. Where 1806 is as classic as they come, the Understudy is wild and experimental. The bar focuses on unusual and underserved spirits, such as Irish poitin (essentially Irish moonshine) or Sri Lankan arrack (made from coconut flowers). Understudy's talented bartenders combine these spirits in totally new ways, creating twists on classics or utterly novel drinks.

Union Electric Bar
  • Bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 1 of 4

Look for the big shiny lightning bold pinpointed by light globes among Chinatown's dumpling signs, and you'll find this chilled out cocktail lounge.

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  • Bars
  • Melbourne
  • price 1 of 4

The higher you climb, the more you lose track of time at this rainbow-hued, multilevel den. For a three-part adventure, kick things off in the ground-floor sister bar Double Happiness, home to kitsch Chinese paraphernalia and frothy Espresso Martinis. Climb the stairs next door to New Gold’s green room, filled with futuristic installations and intimate nooks shielded by screens. On the top floor, the moody, ruby-hued red level works a cathouse vibe with beaded curtains, paper lanterns and secluded booths that seem to hint that anything goes.

  • Bars
  • Melbourne

This swanky bar and restaurant Melbourne boasts a super-secret cellar bar that you have to access via a bookcase. State of Grace isn't a one-trick pony, though, with the venue featuring three levels of fun from the ground level restaurant to the rooftop bar. Previously located on Collins Street, State of Grace made the move to King Street midway through 2018. It's just as mind-bogglingly kitsch as you remember it, and we get the feeling even regulars haven't seen everything.

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Back Alley Sally's
  • Bars
  • Footscray

Brought to you by the team responsible for city drinking holes Sister Bella, Ponyfish Island and 1000 Pound Bend, Footscray's Back Alley Sally's is bringing the crew's signature good-time bar vibes to the west. They've picked a suitable laneway location in Footscray, and they're setting up above sister venue Slice Girls West, which is dishing out pizzas, burgers and toasties to hungry punters. 

East of Everything
  • Bars
  • Camberwell

Keeping the citizens of Camberwell fed and watered, this unmarked hole-in-the-wall bar is a haven of craft beers and Cajun snacks.

Looking for more Melbourne-style bars?

  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars

It's pretty safe to say that the more difficult a Melbourne bar is to locate, the better it is (once you're finally in there, that is). Knowing where to find drinking institutions like EDV and Lily Blacks is pretty much a prerequisite for all cocktail-loving locals.

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