The best underground bars in Sydney

This place hits the speakeasy mark in terms of location (read: it’s hard to find). Here’s a tip: ignore the George Street address entirely and enter via Wynyard Lane (it’s opposite the Shell House entrance) – the same place you enter for its sibling restaurant, the Sanderson. Eau de Vie isn’t just about the excellent, razzle-dazzle cocktails, or the glam secret setting, or the delicious snacks – it’s a whole multisensory experience. If you're looking for an out-of-the-ordinary night out, this is it.

In the basement of a heritage warehouse in Sydney’s CBD you’ll find a Sicilian-inspired cocktail bar named for the ill-fated wife of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 mobster masterpiece, The Godfather. But don’t let that put you off. For those of us who have been lying about having seen The Godfather their whole lives, good news. Every page of the drinks menu will run you through the storyline (spoilers lie within, but it’s literally been 50 years).

Whether it’s the six-buck “shit tins” or something a little stiffer, the drinks are good, but you’re not here for the Cognac and corn-nuts. You’re here to be part of a party that flows each and every day from a bar team that’s as humble as it is adventurous, as generous as it is vigorous, and friendly to a fault. Long may they ramble.

This purple-hued, disco-ball-lit bar located in a grungy basement just off Newtown's King Street is a place where hedonism in all its forms is encouraged. The mix of entertainment (live music and other types of performers) will ensure a different type of experience every single night. Inspired by the small bars found throughout New York and Paris, Pleasure Club's music line-up is curated by entertainment manager Sabrina Medcalf (ex-Frankie’s, The Duke), spanning everything from intimate solo acts to well-known bands belting hits with a psychedelic rock, blues or neo soul twist. And there are Vegemite cocktails.

Were it not for the sight of a security guard or a small queue of people on Bridge Street, you'd have no idea this subterranean ’70s 'porno chic' boozer even existed. And that would be a shame, because good times are writ large down here – Boogie Nights-era soundtrack, banging cocktails, excellent banter and all. 

Meaning centre in Spanish, Centro 86 is hidden in a CBD basement on Pitt Street (though, entry is via Hoskings Place), in the centre of Sydney’s high-rolling and drinking action. It's by the team behind Sydney’s tiniest Margarita boozer, Cantina OK. And while tequila and Margaritas are the specialty at Centro 86 – there are 100 tequilas on offer, including some ‘world's rarest’, plus five signature Margs – don’t expect just a bigger version of Cantina OK. It's a lot more fun than that. Plus, with complimentary ridiculously good popcorn and some of the warmest service in town, Centro 86 is well worth a return visit.

With its emerald walls, rattan lamps and bentwood bar stools, The Lobo captures the faded grandeur of a Caribbean summerhouse, but this one is found below street level in the heart of the city. Don't know anything about rum cocktails? This is the place to learn.

The Marble Bar, a speakeasy-style bar underground the Hilton Sydney hotel, turned 130 in 2023. It’s hard to believe Sydney has any bars that are this old, right? Pubs, sure? But bars! This one was actually originally built as part of the Tattersall’s Hotel, and all the way back then it cost an astronomical 32,000 pounds to create. The Victorian-style bar was then dismantled when the hotel was demolished, and carefully reassembled in 1973 in the new Hilton. But our favourite part of Marble Bar is that it’s long been a champion for live music. Feel like a dance? Come here.

One of the NYC originals that led the worldwide speakeasy charge brought its brand of late-night cocktail wizardry to the Sydney CBD, complete with signature neon 'Psychic' signage, tarot card readings and chicken soup doled out to the faithful at closing time.

The brains behind legendary Sydney bar Old Mate’s Place and Newtown’s speakeasy-style tropical cocktail boozer Huelo are at it again – this time with a hidden Caribbean-inspired rum bar, affectionately named Old Loves. Found in a dark and moody basement on Clarence Street, the subterranean bar has taken over the spot where Ginny's Canoe Club used to be. And there sure is a lot to love here, including a 320-strong rum list with a fair share of rare and exciting tipples. The team also has a sugar cane press, which allows them to juice sugar cane fresh to order, so guests can enjoy a bunch of rums without tasting it neat or on the rocks. Now that’s neat.

They take the prohibition era brief pretty seriously at this late-night bar featuring high rounded bare-brick ceilings decorated with old mugshots of rum runners and bootleggers, beautiful tiling, rare whiskies and rums and lighting that bathes everyone in a dirty warm glow.

This New Orleans-inspired cocktail den on King Street in the city is not exactly easy to find. The Swinging Cat hides underneath underground and boasts almost no signage. Of course, the place pumps regardless after knock-off – Sydney booze hounds can sniff out good drinks at a thousand paces.

If everything was as it seemed, the Cove Deli would be one of the tiniest, most exceptionally finished, most obscurely located smallgoods businesses around. But at this pocket-sized space in a nondescript alley set back from the Corso, the real trick is what lies beneath. Pull at the 1920s fridge door in the corner, slide down the spiral staircase and step into the Cumberland: Manly’s very own underground speakeasy, complete with flickering candlesticks, fluted glass, scalloped banquettes and brass, copper and bentwood for days.

It’s a whole lot of fun to pop through the faux-dressmaker’s shopfront and head down the stairs to Stitch Bar, where it feels like you’re drinking in the belly of a frigate. The dark timber, hanging lanterns and wooden barrels evoke a time of pirates and doubloons, but happily there’s a lot more than salted pork rations on the menu.

You'll likely be tempted to sit back, settle in for the long haul, soak in some live music, order a rotisserie duck and go home stuffed to the high heavens. But why not just start with a drink and see where the night takes you? (Pro tip: the wine list is worth a good, hard look.)

You’ll find Sydney favourite Burrow Bar hidden in the basement on the corner of Clarence and Barrack Streets (they previously were found hidden along an alleyway off George Street). The cocktails are killer, the team is great, and it's a top-notch spot to escape Sydney’s hustle and bustle, albeit for a few glorious hours.

On Pitt Street near Hunter, when you wander down two flights of concrete stairs beside a coffee shop, you don’t find Wonderland or Narnia, but you will discover a cellar cocktail bar that's equal parts timber ship’s hold and fairy bower. Of course, while we all love a bit of ceremony, a bar that makes it too hard to get in can get tiresome, which is why the initial idea of unlocking the door for everyone who knocked the brass pineapple three times ended up getting traded in for an automatic system that keeps the door unlocked – but by all means, knock away.