How do you get into The Drifter?
We have not confirmed it. The Drifter 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 The Drifter
How the venue describes itself: “Discover The Drifter, an authentic 1920s-era speakeasy located beneath the Green Door Tavern in Chicago. Enjoy a rotating selection of over 100 craft cocktails and live performances.” (from its own website, retrieved 9 October 2026)
The current drinks list is published on the venue’s own site — see the menu.
Beyond what the venue publishes we have not verified a list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Bronx, Monkey Gland, and Hanky Panky are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where The Drifter sits
The Drifter 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 The Drifter are Paraiso Speakeasy, about 350 m away, Lulu’s Speakeasy, about 500 m away, and Santa’s Secret Treehouse, about 700 m 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
Hours published by the venue:
- Friday 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM
- Saturday 5:00 PM to 3:00 AM
Hours as published on the venue’s own site, retrieved 9 October 2026.
You can reach The Drifter by phone on (312) 631-3887, through its own website, and on Facebook and Instagram.
The address is 676-8 N Orleans St, Chicago, IL 60654. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The Drifter we hold street address, telephone number, official website, social accounts, opening hours, and a published drinks list. We do not yet hold 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.