East Village Speakeasy (secret bars) Experience

Alex and his girlfriend were great company. Super friendly and knowledgeable. Alex’s ability to switch seamlessly between Spanish, German and English was impressive (his French and Italian weren’t needed on this occasion). The venues visited were great (including the bonus rooftop bar at the end). It was interesting to hear the history and to learn the derivation of the expression to “86” something. The whole experience went on a lot longer than I expected but that was a positive for me. I felt guilty not having more cash for a tip at the end.

We had a really good time with Alex. He knows a lot about the speakeasy bars and New York and history in general. I can highly recommend this tour and I would definitly go again. Alex even took us to a roof top bar in beteten to See the sun set just for the view which was awesome. Thanks Alex! We enjoyed the tour a lot!

Cancelled without notice: They left us standing outside a derelict Burger joint that was in the process of being repaired in an extremely unsafe, grubby, dangerous and quite frightening part of New York. We waited for over three-quarters of an hour, and during that time, I was offered drugs to buy, and accosted by two beggars who hounded us by following us down the street asking for $2.00 and 0.50 cents, respectively, Their ridiculous telephone systems are a disgrace. The information they relay is a lie. The recorded message suggested your customers should text to get a quicker response—LIE...! I texted several times and had no response!

Highly recommended. Lyonel gave us a great tour of three speakeasies and was so knowledgeable about the history that surrounds them. My family and I had the best time!

In an industry filled with clowns, Alex’s Tours manages to be the biggest joke of all. I took the East Village Speakeasy tour before going on to work with the company and it’s the stupidest decision I’ve made in my seven years of tour guiding. In a best case scenario, you’ll get the founder who will mumble his way through remembering what he saw in the Ken Burns prohibition documentary. In a worst case scenario, you’ll get someone who hasn’t been shadowed and was given a jumbled script with no structure that includes a sizable chunk just describing what mash distilleries are. Riveting stuff from a man who refuses to pay his employees. On top of that, guides will sometimes get next to no notice that two of the stops are closed and you have to learn two new bars on the spot. If you’re a tour guide, avoid this company like the plague. There are better paying companies that aren’t going to waste your weekends for $100. If you’re a guest, you can just google these places (Please Don’t Tell, Barbershop, and The Back Room) and go yourself instead of enabling a pathological liar.