Secret Bars

The Victorian, that large Victorian house on the corner of Main Street and Ocean Park frequently used as a wedding/events venue, has opened a hidden "speak-easy" called Basement Tavern at the Victorian. Accessible through a back parking lot, the subterranean space serves everything from Corona to classic cocktails with a healthy dose of Bourbon "to evoke the idea that it's a speak-easy," explained leaseholder Garner Gerson. Last month the bar (which originally catered only to events guests) was remodeled and now boasts clubby chairs, chandeliers, and chalkboard menus. The LAT describes the cocktail menu as having a split personality: "one part masculine meeting room for grooms-to-be drinking Delia's Elixir (a Bourbon-based cocktail with lime juice and agave nectar) and one part beach bar courting casual young women from nearby colleges with $3 Budweiser." What a mix. [LAT]