19 Best Hidden Bars in Melbourne

The best hidden bars in Melbourne are the ones you would walk straight past: a cocktail den behind a sandwich shop’s cool-room door, a speakeasy through an unmarked laneway entrance, a rooftop reached by an unmarked lift. This is our guide to 19 of Melbourne’s most rewarding hidden bars and speakeasies, spanning the CBD laneways, Fitzroy, Footscray, Collingwood and Windsor. Each one is confirmed open, with the address and a link to help you find it.

1. The Attic at Black Pearl

Climb the stairs above Black Pearl on Brunswick Street and you reach The Attic, a candlelit loft that has been a Fitzroy fixture for more than two decades. Leather chairs, a dedicated cocktail list and a calm remove from the floor below make it worth booking ahead.

Address: 304 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

2. Back Alley Sally's

Down a laneway in Footscray's River Precinct, Back Alley Sally's hides inside a converted t-shirt printing factory. Expect cocktails, pizza and parmas in an unpretentious west-side room that rewards the trek across town.

Address: 4 Yewers Street, Footscray

3. Goldilocks Bar

Ride the lift to Level 5 of the heritage Denyers Building and step out into Goldilocks, a fairy tale-themed rooftop bar hidden above Swanston Street. The unmarked entrance and panoramic CBD views are the payoff for finding it.

Address: Level 5, 264 Swanston Street, Melbourne

4. Little Red's Bar (formerly House of Correction)

The old House of Correction on Level 4 of the Denyers Building has reopened as Little Red's, trading the prison theme for deep red lighting, candles and mural-covered walls. The cocktails are house-made and the room is as hidden as ever.

Address: Level 4, 264 Swanston Street, Melbourne

5. Loch and Key

Find the hidden bookcase door inside the Captain Melville on Franklin Street, climb the rickety staircase, and Loch and Key opens up above. It is a genuinely concealed cocktail and whisky bar that rewards anyone who knows to look.

Address: 34 Franklin Street, Melbourne

6. Above Board

Behind an unmarked door inside Beermash on Smith Street, a staircase leads down to Above Board, a 12-seat bar built around a single walnut bench. Spirits live in unmarked decanters and bartender Hayden Lambert runs it like a dinner party, with walk-ins only.

Address: Level 1, 306 Smith Street, Collingwood

7. Pizza Pizza Pizza

Walk past the New York-style slice counter on Meyers Place, push through the black curtain at the back, and a dim 1970s den opens up. Pizza Pizza Pizza pairs late-night slices with a DJ booth and booth seating in the CBD.

Address: Meyers Place, Melbourne

8. Bar Ampere (Swamp Room)

Inside Bar Ampere on Russell Place, push through to the Swamp Room, a bayou-styled den strung with vines and fairy lights around a bar built from an old piano. A secret rear door even connects it to sister venue Gin Palace.

Address: 16 Russell Place, Melbourne

9. Berlin Bar

Up a nondescript staircase off Corrs Lane in Chinatown, Berlin Bar splits its Cold War theme in two: the bare-concrete East side and the chandeliered opulence of the West. It opens Wednesday to Sunday from 7pm.

Address: Level 2, 16 Corrs Lane, Melbourne

10. East of Everything

Tucked in an alleyway off Burke Road opposite Camberwell station, East of Everything is an easy craft beer pub to walk straight past. It now sits within the Rosalita's complex in Hawthorn East.

Address: 72 Auburn Parade, Hawthorn East

11. Union Electric Bar

Look for the lightning bolt sign on Heffernan Lane in Chinatown, because there is no other signage. Union Electric is a laneway cocktail bar with a rooftop gin garden, hidden in plain sight in the middle of the city.

Address: 13 Heffernan Lane, Melbourne

12. Eau de Vie

A heavy, unmarked door in Malthouse Lane opens onto Eau de Vie, a CBD speakeasy with an award-winning cocktail program. Inside, a bookcase conceals the Whisky Room and its shelves of rare bottles.

Address: 1 Malthouse Lane, Melbourne

13. Jungle Boy

Order at Boston Sub on Chapel Street, then push through the cool-room door at the back. Jungle Boy hides behind it, a tropical den known for its Zombie and Volcano cocktails, open Tuesday to Saturday.

Address: 96 Chapel Street, Windsor

14. Manchuria

Behind an unmarked door in a Chinatown laneway, climb the stairwell to Manchuria, an intimate upstairs room styled as part opium den, part jazz club. It rewards anyone who knows to look for it.

Address: Level 1, 7-9 Waratah Place, Melbourne

15. Pawn & Co

Behind an ordinary Greville Street shopfront, Pawn & Co is a two-level bar where every curio on display is genuinely for sale. Expect a carousel bar pouring high-end rums and a talking vending machine dispensing beer.

Address: 177 Greville Street, Prahran

16. Bartronica

Down in a basement off Flinders Lane, Bartronica is Melbourne's oldest arcade bar, packed with original pinball, racing sims and tabletop consoles alongside craft beer and cocktails.

Address: Basement, 335 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

17. Fall From Grace

Slip through a sliding bookshelf beneath State of Grace and you reach Fall From Grace, a gothic candlelit cellar bar scattered with lounges and vintage curiosities. Ordering a negroni here feels like you have earned it.

Address: 27 King Street, Melbourne

18. Murmur

Through an unmarked door on narrow Warburton Lane, Murmur hides a crimson, chandelier-lit room built around a live baby grand piano. The speakeasy entry and cocktails remain, but the singalong is now the main event.

Address: 17 Warburton Lane, Melbourne

19. New Gold Mountain

There is no sign out front: find the golden door beside Double Happiness and climb to a two-level den of jade lacquer and silk lanterns, inspired by Chinatown's gold-rush and old Shanghai history.

Address: Levels 1 and 2, 21 Liverpool Street, Melbourne

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