How do you get into Belly of the Beast?
We have not confirmed it. Belly of the Beast is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Sazerac, Ward Eight, and Scofflaw are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where Belly of the Beast sits
Belly of the Beast is in Tustin, California, in Orange County, in the West of the United States.
This is currently the only verified hidden bar our directory lists in Tustin. If you know another, tell us.
California holds 173 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our California speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in California
California came under national prohibition on 17 January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment took effect and the Volstead Act defined an intoxicating beverage as anything above one half of one per cent alcohol — a threshold strict enough to close breweries that had expected to survive.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in California.
What the newspapers recorded in California
Searching the Library of Congress run of California newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from California:
- La prensa, March 6, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, June 14, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, October 18, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, November 5, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach Belly of the Beast on Facebook.
The address is 14401 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For Belly of the Beast we hold street address and social accounts. We do not yet hold telephone number, official website, opening hours, a published drinks list, an online booking link, or a listed-building record.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.