How do you get into Canary Underground Speakeasy?
We have not confirmed it. Canary Underground 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 Canary Underground Speakeasy
How the venue describes itself: “Offering a sophisticated menu of hand-crafted cocktails, extensive bourbon, scotch, and whiskey selection, an array of vodkas, gins, and tequilas, several craft beers, and a refined wine list, you’re sure to find the perfect libation to indulge a curious palate.” (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: Sidecar, Boulevardier, and Vieux Carré are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — Canary Underground Speakeasy occupies the Merchants’ National Bank, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 76000804. 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 76000804 · NPS nomination document
Where Canary Underground Speakeasy sits
Canary Underground Speakeasy is in Grinnell, Iowa, in Poweshiek County, in the Midwest of the United States.
This is currently the only verified hidden bar our directory lists in Grinnell. If you know another, tell us.
Iowa holds 16 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Iowa speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Iowa
Iowa did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1916, four years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, Iowa already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Iowa.
What the newspapers recorded in Iowa
Searching the Library of Congress run of Iowa newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Iowa:
- Evening times-Republican, January 23, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Decorah-posten og ved arnen, January 30, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat, February 17, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Evening times-Republican, March 10, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach Canary Underground Speakeasy by phone on (641) 236-0205, through its own website, and on Facebook and Instagram.
The address is 924 Main St, Grinnell, IA 50112. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For Canary Underground 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 calls it underground and 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.