How do you get into Brando’s Speakeasy?
We have not confirmed it. Brando’s Speakeasy is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
The drinks at Brando’s Speakeasy
How the venue describes itself: “Brando’s Speakeasy is the best Karaoke Bar in Chicago. Perfect for Bachelorette parties, birthdays, or any group event in downtown Chicago.” (from its own website, retrieved 9 October 2026)
Beyond what the venue publishes we have not verified a list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Jack Rose, Diamondback, and Brown Derby are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — Brando’s Speakeasy occupies the Fisher Building, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 76000691. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 76000691 · NPS nomination document
Where Brando’s Speakeasy sits
Brando’s Speakeasy is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County, in the Midwest of the United States.
Our directory currently lists 24 speakeasies and hidden bars in Chicago. The full list is on our guide to hidden bars in Chicago.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to Brando’s Speakeasy are Club X Speakeasy, about 250 m away, Speakeasy in the Sky, about 1.1 km away, and Santa’s Secret Treehouse, about 1.3 km away.
Illinois holds 71 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Illinois speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Illinois
Illinois 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 Illinois.
What the newspapers recorded in Chicago
Searching the Library of Congress run of Illinois newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Chicago:
- The daily worker, December 15, 1931 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The daily worker, July 14, 1927 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The daily worker, August 5, 1927 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The daily worker, October 16, 1930 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach Brando’s Speakeasy by phone on (773) 216-3213, through its own website, and on Facebook and Instagram.
The address is 343 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For Brando’s Speakeasy we hold street address, telephone number, official website, social accounts, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold opening hours, a published drinks list, or an online booking link.
It is in the directory because its own name calls it a speakeasy and the map tags on the record mark it a cocktail bar.
Two independent open datasets, OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps, both carry this venue at this location. Agreement between them is the strongest existence check we can make without visiting.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.