CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Walk into the Green Door Tavern, located at 678 N. Orleans St., and you're immediately surrounded by vintage Chicago.
“The Great Chicago Fire was in 1871, and it decimated the central business district of Chicago,” said Allison Dincecco, who co-owns the Green Door Tavern and the Drifter. “The city said they needed temporary shelters, and all these wooden structures were put up in the central business district. Wooden structures? That wasn't such a good idea, so they all had to come down, but somehow our building escaped.”
“We are the oldest wooden restaurant and bar structure in the city,” she continued. “Our building was built in 1872. It was originally a meat market. In 1921, it was an Italian restaurant, but then prohibition happened. The owner opened a speakeasy in the basement of the Green Door Tavern.”
Walk a little farther — to a back staircase of the Green Door — and you'll take a trip back in time.
Dincecco described The Drifter as “an original speakeasy.” It’s a small, 40-seat space complete with a secret door, a bar, a stage and a century of history.
“If a place had a green door, it meant that the police were paid the ‘green,’ so they'd ignore any illegal activity that might be going on in the basement. Green door meant you could go downstairs and drink alcohol,” she said. “We were not in the Al Capone area of town; we were in Dean O'Banion territory."
When Dincecco's husband bought the bar 20 years ago, he used the basement for storage and offered it up for private events. He then decided to open it as a speakeasy and cocktail lounge in 2017.
Dincecco said the original bar was found by accident.
“We had the HVAC system down there and then when we were renovating we got a call from our contractors. They said, ‘You're never going to believe what we found,’” she smiled. “They said they found a secret door above the booths where people escaped during prohibition raids.”
“This is the door people came in and out of the speakeasy back in the day. We never knew the door existed upstairs because there's a huge, wooden credenza on the other side of the door, and it was there forever. Nobody ever knew the door existed. It had stairs that lead down into the speakeasy. You can see where the stairs were.”
The space is now filled with Chicago artifacts and memorabilia.
“We have so many artifacts from Chicago from World's Fairs, incredible pieces that have been collected for years and years,” Dincecco said. “We have a large Mobile gas station sign — the flying horse — that has been here forever. It has legit bullet holes in it. Where and when that happened, we're not sure, but we know they are definitely bullet holes. We also have carnival art that dates back to the early 1900s.”
Vintage bottles were even found in a storage closet.
"Believe it or not, there were all these old liquor bottles, some preserved since Prohibition,” she said. “Some are very rare.”
A small stage on the east end serves up nightly entertainment.
When the curtain is closed, the Drifter shows old, black-and-white vintage Burlesque films and old Betty Boop cartoons.
“Every 45 minutes, the curtain pulls back and there's a pop-up act. It could be Burlesque, it could be belly dancing, a bowling ball juggler, a sword swallower, a jazz musician, a sassy ukulele player, you never know what you're going to get,” she smiled.
There's a rotating list of more than 100 cocktails that are described on custom tarot cards. Each night, the team selects a handful of cards from the deck, allowing for a different experience with each visit.
“What makes Green Door and the Drifter so completely amazing is our building: 1872, wood, it racks, which means it leans and has leaned forever,’ Dincecco said. “Our building leans and it's filled top to bottom with historical pieces. If you could sit in the same booth every day, you'd see something different.”
Dincecco gives tours and talks about the history within the walls of the Green Door and the Drifter often, but she said every time she heads downstairs, she has a visceral, emotional experience.
“When you come into the Drifter any given night, it's very goose pimply,” she said. “I can walk down here in the middle of the day or at night; I get goose bumps. I almost get teary. If the walls could talk. It's palpable, when you open up the secret door of the Drifter, your heart does a little jump.
“We're like a museum with better drinks,” she laughed.
Dincecco hopes people who visit can feel the same.
“It's like you're in it and you're transported back to this era. I hope people walk out saying ‘what a time, what an experience,’” she said. “Whether you like Burlesque or not, whether you like fancy cocktails or not, I want you to walk out feeling like you literally tasted Chicago.”
The Drifter is a little gritty, a little musty and a little tattered. It's a time capsule and a literal hidden treasure. Dincecco said it's the city's last true speakeasy.
“We try to own our history, who we are, and where we come from, our heritage, part of Chicago's flavor to the core but we also try to stay current, one foot in the present,” she said. “It's a fun blend. It's a magical place.”
The Drifter is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Reservations are encouraged through an email on its website.
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