Fun Hidden Bar / Speakeasy Behind a Bookshelf in Playa Del Carmen Mexico

Tucked away from the busy and touristy Quinta Avenida in Playa Del Carmen is a small quaint cafe at the end of the street near the general aviation airport. It serves coffees and light fare with a small bar to spice up your drinks.

Getting In

We made the required reservations to fill the back room of the hidden speakeasy with our group and were warmly welcomed upon arrival by a fluent English speaking staff member. When it was our time to enter, the staff went next to the main bar in the cafe and opened up the bookshelf revealing the small cocktail speakeasy in the back. While not quite as cool of an entrance as the The Art of Duplicity in Cape Town it still had a cool factor — especially given the fact there aren’t many hidden bars in Playa Del Carmen.

Vibe

Inside are two leather couches and a leather barber chair along with three stools for the bar seating a total of 10. The small but cozy space is dimly but adequately lit (like The Saint Speakeasy in St. Petersburg) and a variety of small wall decorations, mainly aviation related, were tastefully done. 

The cocktail menu provided via QR code is different from the bar in the main cafe and includes many of the classics, such as the Pisco Sour and the Margarita, each with their own riff. 

The Cocktails

We had several cocktails — each excellently hand crafted. While their liquor selection was small, it had a great variety of whiskeys and tequilas along with bar mainstays like gin and vodka that you would expect. 

Some of the highlighted cocktails we consumed included a great mezcal old fashioned! It was made with The Lost Explorer Espadín mezcal, agave sweetener, and both cacao and Angostura bitters over a single large ball cube. It had a well balanced smoky flavor and went down pretty smooth.

Others in our party had their version of a gin and tonic called an Aviation Tonic. It contained London Dry Gin, Licor de Creme de violette, Licor de cereza Maraschino, lemon, and tonic water. It was slightly sweeter than a normal gin and tonic with the licor softening the bitterness of the drink.

Another classic that was made well was their Sazerac. Complete with rye whiskey, absinthe, jarabe simple syrup, Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters.

Overall

While the cafe itself has some small plates, we didn’t order any within the speakeasy, but were provided a bowl of potato chips and water with our orders. 

Even though the space was quite small, some low volume background music would be welcome. If you’re in Playa Del Carmen, we highly recommend this speakeasy. It’s also very simple to pick up a taxi to return to your hotel as a taxi stand is nearby.

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