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Congress Street Up

4.4 (102 reviews)
Closed 6:30 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)
Updated over 3 months ago

Congress Street Up Photos

CONGRESS STREET UP ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Live music
Classy
Dogs allowed

Recommended Reviews - Congress Street Up

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Saying from the early 1900's meaning "everyone is welcome, but leave your guns outside."
Chris M.

Classy speakeasy located upstairs from the American Prohibition Museum. Great selection of classic and house cocktails. The antique decor is worth the visit alone.

Marcella N.

Really awesome ambiance and service! Cocktails fell a little short of expectations, but we are admittedly very picky. I would say to check it out if you visit the museum. It's a cool experience!

Bar area
Karen H.

The Congress Street up speakeasy had a chill vibe with the history of prohibition all along the walls. The bartender was extremely knowledgeable of his craft and took his time making our drinks to perfection.

Bar
Tawnya L.

Came here as part of the Prohibition Tour. Really great surprise at the end of the tour and we used our discounted drink tickets. I ordered the Brown Derby and it was tasty but too warm, should have had a rock included. Service was good and the location is a lot of fun, love the 20s vibe.

Danielle V.

If I could give this speak easy 0 stars I would. The museum was lovely and very well done. At the end you land at this very small speakeasy bar. There were two bar tenders. We stood at the bar for a while before one finally stopped putting glasses on a shelf to take my order. Greeting us with "what's up"? Not sure why you would greet someone like that who obviously wants to order a drink at a bar. The menu is decent, with beverages you are familiar with however they are served in plastic throw away cups. I have never ordered a French 75 and been served it in a plastic throw away cup. It was terrible. We tried to use the $2 off coupon but it was denied. By the way all the drinks we ordered were terrible. Tasted disgusting and so small! Would not recommend grabbing a $12 drink at this bar after the museum.

Michael M.

Mixed bag here. This is a "speakeasy" located at the Prohibition museum so the venue itself is full of interesting tidbits of info. The museum itself was closed by the time we got there but the docent on hand gave us a quick mini tour, and it was pretty cool. Obviously presentation is important in a cocktail but doubly so if you're doing holiday themes, whether that means sprinkles, or just a candy cane hanging off the rim, unfortunately the night we came they were doing Christmas tours so we were told that we could only get our drinks in a little disposable plastic cup. Luckily the pub crawl pricing was low enough that the 2 things mostly offset one another. Mostly... Sigh... this made me sad.

Andreina S.

This speakeasy is exactly what you would hope for in a secret bar, challenging to find, interesting once you find it, great bartenders and tasty unique cocktails. We ordered two cocktails from their menu and when I was getting ready to decide on the next one, the bartender had been playing with a new recipe and let me had the drink she was testing. It was equally delicious. They have tons of different Prohibition Era artifacts as it is part of the museum, which was a great opportunity to wonder around the bar looking at the old newspapers, photos , glasses, etc. A history lesson at a bar, who would have thought!?

Jacki B.

My husband is still talking about the Old Fashion that he had at Congress Street Up... "best of his life"! While there's no formal menu, the bartender could pretty much make us whatever we wanted. He was so knowledgeable and outgoing and wanted to make sure we were happy with whatever he made. It really felt like being in an actual speakeasy, too. The decor and how the bartenders were dressed made the whole vibe come to life.

Brown Derby
Rick L.

Situated right before prohibition was repealed on the tour of the Prohibition Museum (or accessible from the street without visiting the museum) is Congress Street Up serving up classic cocktails from the speak-easy era when it wasn't legal to drink anything with alcohol in it. The selection of drinks is nice (Or they can mix anything you want) and the bartenders are knowledgeable. (And tippable via Venmo which is a great convenience we experienced on our trip to the south at many places.) I enjoyed the Brown Derby cocktail...I mean it really was one of the more delicious cocktails I had. Perfectly mixed with knowledge and skill. This is a great place, especially after visiting the museum, to experience some of the flavors of an era gone by, which informed the cocktail culture we so enjoy today. Definitely stop in!

Erin M.

Stopped in for a drink on a girls cocktail trip. The servers were super nice and the whole scene was fun. Definitely worth a quick stop!

Gina D.

I would not call this authentic speakeasy, but I would say it is a true prohibition themed bar. It is located in the Prohibition museum, but runs as a standalone bar as well. The drinks were authentic to the era, and we got the famous Chatham artillery punch. I loved seeing some of the prohibition era items within the bar the bartender fit the part, and overall good drinks and a good time. While we were there we found out they also do cocktail making classes. Sounds fun interested in finding out more.

Justin L.

Gotta be honest: I feel like the speakeasy museum was opened specifically just to house this bar. Congress Street Up is themed to the era of prohibition, and thus is decorated as such. Bartenders wear period clothing, the drink menu has classics from that era, and whether you walk through the prohibition or not (and enjoyed it or not) this will feel like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There is a bunch of museum articles and other stuff available to look at if you wish, but the main even is the drinks. I had Chatham Artillery Punch the other day and loved it, so we got that. This version was a bit heavier on the champage and a smaller portion, but that's to be expected in what is ultimately a mixology bar. Drinks were $12 each, and in hindsight I wish I had tried something else--especially since I'm a big glassware guy, and having all of the drinks served in period glassware was freaking awesome. I like the concept a bit better than the execution, however I would definitely back here again by itself to try more.

Special crafted cocktails

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Ask the Community - Congress Street Up

Review Highlights - Congress Street Up

We sat at the bar after touring the Prohibition Museum, which was fascinating (they are connected).

Mentioned in 12 reviews

Read more highlights

la aparicion - Experimental cocktail

la aparicion

4.7(14 reviews)
0.2 mi

The Mint to Be Mojito Bar is for the tour groups. La Aparicion is for Savannah locals…read more La Aparición is a speakeasy tucked away behind a code protected door. Low lit, neon. An exclusive feel. The bartenders here are more like mixologists. They give you specialized attention. They are creative and offer interesting conversation. Drinks have names like Mezcalini Verde, night in Tokyo, viaje astral, Mexican lollipop, and tropical matcha. I honestly can't tell you most of what I had because I asked the bartender to make me his choice every time, including any possible new creations he may be perfecting. Every drink was complex and delicious. Nothing too sweet or bitter. They have these neat little lights they drop in their drinks to give them an instagram worthy glow. Those who say it's "loud," probably just don't like latin music. It was very low key and relaxing.

While in Savannah I wanted to check out a speakeasy and came across La Aparicion. It was fun trying…read moreto find this place but once you do you'll love it. You have to walk through a business to the back and go through the hidden door. It's nicely decorated and full of plenty of photo ops. Once you're ready to order a drink make your way to the bar and place your order. The bartenders were nice and attentive. The cocktail menu had lots of delicious sounding drinks that you don't find everywhere. We ordered the Mexican Lollipop and the Vieja Astral. Both drinks had great unique flavors and were strong but nonetheless delicious. The ambiance and service 10/10, I just wish the drinks were just not so pricey. If the prices were a little more reasonable we would've stayed a little longer.

Photos
la aparicion
la aparicion - Main area

Main area

la aparicion - Lounge area with bar in the background

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Lounge area with bar in the background

Repeal 33 - Crispy Brussel Sprouts

Repeal 33

4.3(810 reviews)
0.2 mi
$$$

We liked this spot so much we visited it twice during our two nights in Savannah…read more The octopus is delightful! The cocktails are spectacular. Charlie, the bartender, is awesome.

Solid choice for dinner but it was just ok overall experience. This was one of the few places I…read morecould find last minute dinner reservations on a weekend so that's a bonus. Ambiance is prohibition bar vibes so a little more rustic and casual. I was a bit annoyed by the hostess. We had a reservation for our party of 6 and arrived about 15 minutes early. I asked if we could grab drinks at the bar and she kept coming up with excuses on why we couldn't stand or sit in certain areas. Finally, I just asked her to come up with a solution because we had 15 minutes to kill and they didn't have a waiting area. Funny enough, she decided then to get our table ready. It was just odd. Our server was from Ukraine so she was efficient and fast. Not super friendly or chatty with us which missed the mark on Southern hospitality and made our experience feel cold compared to our previous dinner experiences in town. I don't fault her for it though as she did her job. We ordered an excessive amount of starters and some of the entrees. The stand outs for me was the crispy Brussels sprouts, roasted bone marrow, steamed mussels, and grilled octopus. Skip any of the bread options. They weren't even toasted. For entrees, we also decided to share them. The pork chop and NY strip were stand outs. We ended up sending back the halibut. It tasted mealy and freeze burnt. Skip the crispy Japanese eggplant. I was expecting a grilled dish and it was actually fried with a thick batter. Too heavy for my liking. Overall, we enjoyed our meal but not somewhere I am dying to go back to.

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Repeal 33 - The bar.

The bar.

Repeal 33
Repeal 33 - Gorgeous bar with high quality liquors

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Gorgeous bar with high quality liquors

Planters Tavern - Mussels

Planters Tavern

4.3(193 reviews)
0.3 mi
$$$

Planters tavern has a wonderful ambiance, and waiters are super friendly. We came at 6pm and while…read morethey said there was a 2hour wait, it wound up only being 30 minutes. So we got there for 6:30, and knew we had to leave by 8:20, as we had a ghost tour shortly thereafter and we told our waiter as such. Unfortunately, despite not ordering an appetizer and going straight to mains, we didn't get our dinner until 7:55pm. The reason it happened was the waiter accidentally ordered us the seafood special, not the steak special. They were apologetic about it, but still, a dinner we were looking forward to turned to a rushed scarfing down of food. Would have been nice if they comped one of the dinners, or offered a free round of drinks for the inconvenience. As for the meal itself - the shrimp dinner was meh - only came with 6 shrimp for $32 (pirates house shrimp dinner tasted better and came with over a dozen large shrimp). The ribeye was perfectly cooked, but needed more seasoning. My guess is because they rushed it, they may have forgotten the salt. The steak sauce (tamarind forward a1) wasn't my cup of tea. On the positives - both of the sides were amazing - highly recommend they put those on the main menu. All in all - there's too many good restaurants in Savannah, I doubt I'll be coming back. Given the ambiance, maybe good idea to come for a drink and dessert? (Although the wine pour was a little weak too).

The food is above par . Spectacular attentive service . A dark and chill respite from outdoor…read moreSavana. We enjoyed everything and will definitely make reservations in the Pink House upstairs next time.

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Planters Tavern - Inside

Inside

Planters Tavern - Blackened Oysters

Blackened Oysters

Planters Tavern - Bar area

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Bar area

Mata Hari's - Plush chairs and couches, framed fabrics and vintage lamps abound!

Mata Hari's

3.5(120 reviews)
0.1 mi
$$

I don't know the password. I'm told you have to get the password from your hotel concierge, but I…read moredon't know that's gonna get you there either. But I do know if you buy a ticket to the basement Delilah's burlesque show, you get automatic entrance. The drinks are fine. Basics like mojito, daiquiri, Cuba libre, rum punch. Martinis, old fashions, corpse reviver, etc. Nothing innovative here, but the very cool seating area is what you're after here. The service is good. The best part is the burlesque show. It was an exceptional hour of entertainment. Since it was October, the girls did Halloween themed shows, like Thriller and zombie dances. Colorful, exciting, exotic, creative. I paid almost 123 dollars for a VIP table (three seats, I was solo, so essentially I paid for three seats at one table) up front. It's a super small venue and the general admission seats are mere feet behind the tables and much cheaper. So I wouldn't recommend the VIP tables unless you're just wanting to spend big for no reason. Loved the Delilah's. It's really the only reason to go to Mata Hari's though.

What a great little secret Speakeasy. Super dark inside, old time vibes like the old flapper days…read more Servers were nice, drinks were strong, and service was good. Get the ticket to the burlesque show, great time inside.

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Mata Hari's - A pool table fits the mood well.

A pool table fits the mood well.

Mata Hari's - Just one of the many racks of plentiful spirits.

Just one of the many racks of plentiful spirits.

Mata Hari's - Be graced by the singing voices of some live prohibition style songstresses.

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Be graced by the singing voices of some live prohibition style songstresses.

Congress Street Up - speakeasies - Updated May 2026

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