Easy Does It

Underground Speakeasy in Hollywood

Sometimes a secret isn't kept long enough to be legitimately called a secret.

And sometimes that's our fault. Take a look at 86, the new basement speakeasy hidden off a Hollywood side street under the historic Hillview building.

Now available for all your private-party needs, 86 officially opens after the new year as a hybrid lounge/supper club/live-entertainment venue—think Hyde meets the Avalon meets the first draft of the script for Moulin Rouge.

After descending the concrete stairs through the unmarked gate off Hudson, you'll enter a labyrinthine spot that was once supposedly home to Rudolph Valentino's underground speakeasy—but you won't hear his ghost over the burlesque dancers (or rock stars, or a jazz band) on stage. You'll find two large main areas with plenty of booths, two private rooms (one cloaked in gold-painted brick) and a "smoking patio" (read: half-underground hallway with windows) that's hidden behind a one-way mirror facing the stage.

Many details are still being worked out—you might get a text message with that night's password for admittance, there might be mojito buckets instead of the usual bottle service—but for now, whether you're planning an intimate dinner party or a blockbuster premiere after-party, anything goes. The owners even have the all-clear to close down Hudson for parties that spill into the street.

Which will likely let the cat out of the bag sooner rather than later.


6533 Hollywood Blvd
(at Hudson)
Hollywood, CA 90028

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