The historic Big Chief Roadhouse along the original alignment of Route 66 in Wildwood, Missouri, will open a speakeasy later this month.
West Newsmagazine had the details:
It’s set to open on March 28 at Big Chief on the second floor. Although no password will be required to get in, visitors will have to enter through a retro-fitted phone booth designed to make it look inconspicuous.
“It harkens back to the days of prohibition when alcohol was outlawed,” Michael Rempe, general manager, said. […]
The upscale cocktail lounge will feature vintage decorations and retro music alongside classic cocktails, such as the Paper Plane, which combines bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and lemon juice. Other popular drinks during that time period included the Sidecar, the Monkey Gland, the Bees’ Knees, the Boulevardier and, most appropriately, the Scofflaw.
Fox 2 in St. Louis recently did a segment about the forthcoming speakeasy:
The Big Chief opened in 1929, in the middle of the Prohibition era in the United States when alcoholic beverages technically were illegal, but a lot of people were flouting the law anyway.
The Big Chief sits at 17352 Old Manchester Road, a part of Route 66 from 1926 to 1932. It’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003.
(Modern-day image of the Big Chief Roadhouse in Wildwood, Missouri, via Wikipedia)
