Review: Bobby’s Free Speakeasy, Barcelona, Spain

As the speakeasy hype continues to take the world by storm, Barcelona opened its fair share of clandestine watering holes, which you’ll only know about with some prior research. A simple barbershop in Eixample (near Plaça Catalunya) is seemingly inconspicuous, but, upon entry, it’s easy to tell the hair salon isn’t just a place to get your ears lowered.

Entrance is free but you must know the password. To prevent embarrassment and the risk of being turned away, take a gander at the bar’s Instagram page to find their monthly password, and you’re in.

Pass through the double layers of velvet curtains into the dark space that is Bobby’s Free, a Prohibition Era–themed bar with low tables and velvet seating to the left and a shiny black bar to the right. Old black-and-white films play on highly mounted TVs and the bartenders are dressed in black shirts with red plaid suspenders and fedora hats.

Taste the magic by ordering a cocktail like the SouthSide (a.k.a. the Capone) made with gin, lime juice, sugar and mint leaves; or The Last Word, a concoction of gin, green Chartreuse, Maraschino and lime juice. Or splurge on the Fashion “Smoked Screen”: For €15, this cocktail is served under a glass cylinder and, when served, the glass is removed and smoke seduces the senses. The drink is made with Diplomatic rum, Bergamot citrus, Pedro Ximenez (a sherry wine) and cocoa butter, with cherry-scented smoke.