Clown company that doesn't pay its employees. Best case scenario you'll get the owner who's a checked out weirdo mumbling his way through what he can remember of the Ken Burns Prohibition documentary. Worst case scenario, you'll get a guide who hasn't been shadowed and whose only support is a script that's mostly about what mash distilleries are. I left the company after I was told with no notice that 2/3 of the stops were closed and I'd have to learn two new bars on the spot. Payment is also done through Venmo for some reason and I haven't been paid for my last shift despite being promised I'd be compensated for wasting my Saturday salvaging a doomed tour. If you're a guide, there are companies that pay better for far less effort. If you're a guest, avoid enabling a pathological liar and just go to the bars on your own. (Please Don't Tell, Barbershop, and The Back Room) read more

I am so glad I was able to experience this tour! After a bit of a communication snafu, Alex was able to provide me a very-last minute-that day-reservation. Luckily, I was able to snag a last minute friend to join me. We met up at the "secret" Soho starting point. After a bit of a rocky start : It was rainy. The tour started a bit later bc of a tardy couple. Our guide, Sam, regaled the 10 of us with several minutes of history, And off we go, walking to bar#1. maybe not so much a ~ speakeasy~ that one might expect... No hidden door or the like... A set of stairs in a restaurant that one might mistake for the downstairs bathroom or employee area. Nevertheless, really cute and the drink I ordered was phenomenal. We hung out by the piano and discussed some more history. On to bar#2...Chill spot with hiphop/basement decor. My friend and I became engrossed in conversation but I vaguely recall Sam providing us with more history. Only on my second drink and I was feeling it. A short walk to bar#3, Located inside a restaurant, with a semi concealed doorway, I ordered the BEST DRINK EVERRRRRRR. Walk to Chinatown, bar #4 Now this was more Speakeasy/hidden door in a wall/ totally cool I kinda nerded out. Really classy decor and chill bartenders. Back outside we walked to the final stop and Sam offered up more history before we entered. He had mentioned a secret bookcase entry or exit but out seemed to have been converted to a regular door. Boo. I am so so glad I had the opportunity to take this tour! I'm looking forward to finding more hidden bars in NYC! read more

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If you purchase a Groupon or A Living Social voucher you will be expecting two drinks to be included. Then you will be told that they made it clear in the confirmation email that you do not get any drinks. Okay. They do tell you there is a strict dress code, but they do not mention anything about NOT wearing hats. So, two of the places we went to in the beginning of the tour would not allow it! We wound up leaving the tour. I also don't appreciate spending $20 on one drink. Just saying. The tour guy Tony was knowledgeable and nice. The places were cool. (The ones we stayed around for) but only one was a true"speakeasy" From prohibition days. So, there's this bullshit element all around. I cannot stand any type of dishonesty. read more

I gave this tour to my husband for Christmas and we had an amazing time learning about prohibition and the history of the west village. Found great speakeasies and had some great cocktails. Planning on going on more tours for the warmer weather. read more

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We took the tour on August 25, 2018 at 5:45 p.m. the guide very polite, it was clear that he had knowledge and he was very willing to let us have a good time. The bars we visited very nice, with good drinks and good service. This company has 4 speakyeasy tours if I go back to New York I hope I can do them all. Worth it. Not only for the drinks but you know other places and you acquire knowledge of history very different from the one you get in other tours. My husband does not drink alcoholic drinks but the decoration of the bars and the information provided by the guide was very entertaining for him. So if you do not drink, it does not matter. You are going to have a good time. read more

Great time on the speakeasy tour. Alex is a great tour guide, very kind and courteous. He has a vast knowledge of history, and takes time to help the participants appreciate the history behind the speakeasies and allows enough time for the group to enjoy a drink or two at each speakeasy along the tour route. Definitely recommend these tours by Alex, and you will have a great time if you go with friends. Note: You have to reserve spots for the tour, if you don't receive an email notification confirming your spot, then you didn't book the tour correctly. This is not a show up at the meeting location and expect to participate in the tour group. read more

My boyfriend and I recently did the West Village speakeasy tour that we got on Groupon. Finding the meeting location was easy enough. I was mostly interested in where we were going to get cocktails, although I did find the history portion of the tour fascinating as well. We had a tour guide named Brent but we were also accompanied by Alex who was training Brent and assisting with the tour. They were both really knowledgeable on pretty much all aspects of American history as they talked about everything from the settlement of New York to the Civil War to prohibition and beyond. I loved pretty much every place that we stopped for a drink. Our first stop was one of my favorites, a place called Bathtub Gin. Really beautiful interior, big copper bathtub in the middle of the floor, and fantastic drinks & bartenders. I'd like to go back soon. Then we headed to The Tippler, which is located in the basement of Chelsea Market. It's very spacious and lovely inside. We didn't have time for a drink here but I'll definitely be coming back for one as the owner is an alumni of the same college as me. Next, we went to Employees Only, the most "exclusive" of the locations. We waited a few minutes to go in but god damn! It was worth the wait. The drinks were so good. Then we walked around a bit, saw some places but didn't enter. And then lastly we went to The Garret which is located above a Five Guys. It was the most crowded place we went but the drinks were stellar here too (I recommend the First Lady and Last Word). Alex was really great. I talked his ear off about drinks and it was nice to meet someone who knew so much because I have no friends to talk to about this interest of mine. He gave me some recipes to try at home and told me about a cool app (Highball) which I now can't stop using. I appreciated his willingness to chat and share his knowledge with me. The others on the tour were nice and we drunkenly bonded, although I don't believe any of them were quite as interested in mixology as they should have been to be on a tour like this. I'd love to do more of the tours in different neighborhoods. Please be aware that the drinks aren't included in the price of the tour (to expect them to be is ludicrous) so bring a hefty amount of cash with you as drinks cost like $15 each. Dress appropriately, these are nice establishments, not some beer-soaked sports bar where you watch a Yankees game. read more

TLDR: I went on the LES speakeasy tour back in October 2017. Forgot to review until now. I would recommend Alex's Tours BUT make sure you read ALL the fine print first (and this full review below!) BEFORE purchasing, have patience for the (Groupon) tour redemption process, and save up money for the drinks! Full disclosure I got a Groupon for this for 2 people. I read the fine print on the Groupon AND on their website so I knew what to expect. They do enforce strict dress codes at certain places so dress accordingly. It mentions no sneakers, but they let one person in our group who broke this rule. Other than my friend and I, the other 4 people were from out of town. My friend and I really wanted to try out a bunch of speakeasies but going by ourselves seemed too daunting. So this was a nice sampler of speakeasies. My favorite speakeasies were: -Garfunkel's (located above a restaurant): If nothing on their set menu appeals to you, you can opt for the bartender's choice. Tell them what you like and they'll mix something special for you. My friend just mentioned her liquor of choice. I told them rum, fruity, and not sweet. (Hey, I know what I like!) I received a very strong, lemony rum based drink (sadly didn't hear what it was exactly). It tasted great! -Beauty & Essex (Located behind the pawn shop): FREE rose in the women's lounge/bathroom. Bring tip money! Sorry gentlemen! Beautiful space, but loud. I'm coming here for my birthday brunch. Will post my review of this place in depth later! -Back Room: Rare place that actually operated during Prohibition. Most are just mimicking it but aren't authentic. You need to go through an unmarked gate and walk down a dark alley to get here. Drinks served in paper bags and tea cups! So cool! -Attaboy: Very small place so our large group couldn't get in. I definitely want to try to get in later. Their bartender's choice is calling my name! My biggest issues were: 1) Trying to schedule a tour to go on was difficult. They will only run the Lower East Side Speakeasy Tour with a minimum of 6 people but that's not mentioned anywhere! So we didn't know the day before the selected date that the first tour was cancelled. We lucked out and our second date worked out. 2) Our tour guide Tony was very nice. Please tip him at the end (I gave him $20)! Though he was speaking so softly that I had trouble hearing most of the history. The drink prices are generally $15-$20 each. I was expecting this so I just picked one drink and nursed it for a long time. 3) Several speakeasies weren't open yet or closed all together on the Tuesday we went. 4) Since we just walked in with our group, were weren't instructed about the secrets to gaining entry to the speakeasies later on by ourselves. (You can find out the secrets online though.) Overall thoughts: The tour not what I expected. There was a lot of dead wait time at the first bar while we waited for other places to open. But it is what you make of it. My friend and I ended up having a blast together! I think it's better to go with a friend (unless you're a naturally friendly extrovert). The drinks were expensive but well made with high quality ingredients. I can't wait to try out those speakeasies I listed above! read more

We waited and waited. No one showed up. Also didn't answer emails or phone calls. This is unacceptable. Beware.

Oof. Where do I begin. First, you need to realize that, as a couple, you're going to spend an easy $100 at these locations. It's incredibly expensive! Each bar has $14-15 cocktails. And there's actually no history at these bars - we didn't learn about the locations, we were just herded to location after location. The first bar we went to, our tour guide admitted it wasn't even a real speakeasy, it had opened 10 years ago. And we spent - wait for it - 90 minutes there. The whole tour was supposed to end at 8, and at the beginning of the tour he said it'd be closer to 8:30, which is fine. But we didn't get to the last bar - which was by far the best bar (The Back Room) until 9:30, 90 minutes later than the entire tour was supposed to end. It's more like drinking overpriced drinks with strangers for 5 hours. Definitely not worth it, just use Yelp. read more

My friends and I got a Groupon for the speakeasy tour and chose the Lower East Side location. We come to the city often, but it was a nice change of pace and we got to learn a bit about the prohibition while also discovering fun, hidden bars. We went this past weekend and since it was snowing the subways were delayed and we were worried about not making it to the meeting spot on time. We called the number provided and the person we spoke with was very nice and friendly...we were given the location of the first speakeasy and met up with the group there. We were only about 10 minutes late and it wasn't a big deal. Our tour guide Tony was extremely knowledgeable and offered good drink recommendations. The 3 speakeasies we went to were all awesome, plus we were shown a few other speakeasies that we will have to go to in the future. I've already recommended this tour company to others and I would definitely consider going on a tour in a different location in the city. Each drink I got was about $15 which kind of sucked, but it's NYC and they were well made cocktails! Plus the tour was $20 from Groupon so it was totally worth it. read more

GREAT tour Saturday night for 10 of us celebrating a friend's 50th birthday (and we were mostly able to avoid SantaCon!!)! Thanks to our tour guide, Sam, for providing history, showing us the secret spots, meeting some great people (doormen and bartenders) and just being an all around fantastic tour guide. We hit 6 Speakeasy bars - some we just walked into (Tippler, Little Branch) and Sam gave us some history of either the bar or the prohibition era. We didn't stay at those 2 bars because the were either tiny and packed, or just packed! We stopped outside of Chumley's, were given some history and moved on... The bars we did spend some time at, were really interesting - the drinks were amazing (pricey, but awesome - average price, about $15) - some bartenders need an attitude adjustment, but the others made up for it. Some bars (Little Branch, Employees Only) we would probably stop at again in the future (some, Bathtub Gin, The Garret) we would probably avoid (Bathtub Gin - bartender had a serious attitude, no smile, no personality...sorry, but for $14 a drink (although it was a really tasty drink, the Gin-Gin), I'll stay home and make it myself! LOL... The Garret - just a really young crowd/vibe - drinks not as spectacular as the rest.... Little Branch had a very cool, speakeasy vibe and Employees Only, the bartenders were really friendly and the drinks were fabulous! All-in-all - Sam made our 1st Prohibition/Speakeasy tour very entertaining and informative! read more

Alex was very knowledgeable on history, prohibition and the speakeasies of NYC. We were going to do the SoHoNoHo tour, but got switched to the LES because of low mid-week attendance. I called after I got the email, a bit confused and their customer service was great. The coupon code they provide on the website makes this a really good deal. The speakeasies that we went to were fabulous and the drinks at the two (where we could sit and talk) were good. We already decided to do another when we go back. My only suggestion is that the meeting place was just a tad sketchy and suggest perhaps another corner. read more

Loved the West Village Speak easy tour! Thank you so much Alex for your expertise and knowledge of prohibition and speak easy's

Alex's tours ROCKS!! We had the best time with Tony the tour guide. We did the LES Speakeasy tour and hit 3 hidden gems and walked by 3 others - I won't reveal them as you should book this tour and pay the extra $$ for some free drinks. Can't wait to do it again! read more

Took the Speakeasy Tour last week. Tony was our guide. Very knowledgeable about prohibition and the era. Able to answer all questions. Initiated conversation among other folks. Places we went to were wonderful hidden treasures. Waitstaff personable. The ad said 2 free drinks but that didn't happen. The tour was so FUN-tastic it was okay. I highly recommend it read more

Took a tour using a Groupon. I admit I was going to buy 1 for each tour offered because they each looked interesting to me. Tour started a little late because people were lost. Our tour guide was a nice guy. I knew drinks were not included in the tour and that the average drink would cost $15. What I didn't know though was that even though I went solo, I got charged a large group fee or something like that. I reached out to the bar that did this (according to people online, charging a fee like that is illegal in NY). I just wanted whatever few dollars it was on that since my receipt was based off me-just 1 person. They told me that they wouldn't refund me the few extra dollars but that they would give me a free drink. Yeah no I would never go back to a place after they know I wrote a bad review for them and allow them to serve me food or a drink lol..... I just felt that Alex's Tours should have listed that some establishments charge bogus group fees even though you didn't really come with a group. That it was a bit dishonest. This was my first bar crawl. While it was interesting I would probably not do one again out of fear that there will be hidden fees. Also I was hoping the bars would be more historical but they were all just hipster bars trying to look historical. I would rather have just gone to bars separately with a book on speakeasies =/ read more

Absolutely horrible!!! Was at the meeting point 15 mins earlier than the requested 1:45pm meeting time just in case we had gotten lost or anything. With that being said, 1:45 came and went along with 2pm which was the actual tour time. I called 5 times from 1:55 until 2:26 leaving 2 voicemails and emailing them. Nobody showed up, called me back or responded to my email. Living social was kind enough to refund me my money but that doesn't help with the $20 worth of tolls I spent driving from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Should've listened to the reviewer that had the same problem but I gave Alex's Tours the benefit of the doubt thinking maybe that reviewer was at the wrong location. Save yourself the trouble and avoid this company at all costs!! read more

Loved the tour ! Brent was a fantastic tour guide . He was extremely personable and knowledgeable about the history of the speakeasies. We all had fantastic drinks at our third stop ( Employees Only ) . We would definitely recommend the tour . We purchased our tickets directly from Alex Tours and they were less expensive then using groupon . read more

Our tour guide Tony was great!! Really enjoyed the tour.