The 196 Club

Service is awesome greeted by Joe super chill vibe. Erica loves the attention awesome bartender . Drinks are great. For a speak easy, well! Yes… quiet and tranquil and peaceful vibes. Great for any chill occasion, highly recommended.

One of my favorite speakeasys! Food is great, the cheese board is amazing and so is the hummus bowl! Wish there was more bread or sides that came with that but no comments other than that! Definitely ask the staff about their opinions on drinks and what they taste like, some I would say are a bit more mature ? The cocktails are my favorite

Vibes. Drinks. Both fantastic. Love this place so much. Especially love coming on Tiki Tuesday. Every cocktail on the menu is excellent and made with high quality spirits. I especially like the Kingston Negroni on Tuesday, or the Figure 8. The Tiki Tuesday deals are hard to pass up, and the vinyl DJ on Tuesday provides a unique vibe found probably nowhere else in CT. If you like to go out for a drink with friends, love a well crafted cocktail, and are in the Hartford area- here and the Parlour on Pratt st need to be on your list. Hartford needs more places like this. 10/10 vibes and drinks.

Truly beautiful decor with the vibe of a Speakeasy (dim lighting, color schemes, seating arrangements, nice long bar, good music at an appropriate volume). We liked the intrigue of getting the texted location then being greeted outside and led into the Speakeasy - great anticipation leading up to being seated. The cocktail selection was EXCELLENT and ranged in price from $12 - $15 a cocktail. It’s the perfect place to go before or after dinner, a movie, a show. **there is no food on the menu** only cheese, nuts and olives so I strongly advise you eat first.

Fun, but a bit of a letdown. Instagram made this place look super cool and hidden. You entire through a normal looking door into a massively loud and crowded space with decent enough service. The drinks were good enough, just pricey for what you got. I had an old fashioned, an Apple-bourbon drink and a beer, and had the Mediterranean toast, which that was delicious and well worth the price. To be fair, we had no idea a Huskies game was happening right across the street at XL, so the large projector playing basketball really threw off the entire mood. I get it from a business side of things, but it wasn’t what I was expecting for a speakeasy atmosphere. I was looking forward to visiting for a while, and while I’m glad I went, I won’t be back anytime soon.

196 Club is a welcomed neighborhood cocktail bar . Oh yeah did I mention it’s a speakeasy? Oh yes that! I looooove me a speakeasy. Its def is one of the better speakeasies I’ve been to so it def has long term promise. Walking through Emery’s shop through a secret door and you’re transformed. The cocktails were amazing and the service was top notch. I also like the decor and so excited to return to continue immersing myself with the experience.

We’re in town for the weekend and this was on my bucket list of MUST visits. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint!! The drinks were absolutely divine. Thoughtfully curated drinks utilizing familiar ingredients in an unfamiliar way was a delight to experience. Would highly recommend trying the chai espresso old fashion. You’ll be blown away! If you are fortunate to have Erika as your server your experience just got better! She’s incredible welcoming and easy to chat with. Her bubbly personally made us want to invite her to pull up a chair and join us! We got the French onion dip to snack on. You could tell it was made from scratch and fresh. I would’ve loved to have had fresh-cut house made chips to go with them. Truthfully that’s the only thorn I had with my experience. Their DJ was a hit, people were up dancing, volume wasn’t crazy insane where you couldn’t have a conversation. The place was a whole vibe! Lighting was perfect. Not pitch dark like most speakeasy’s. I could read the menus without needing a flashlight. A huge plus in my book! All in all, give this place a try, ask for Erika & the chai coffee old fashion!!