BGC Speakeasies: Bank Bar and The Back Room

The two BGC speakeasies to know are Bank Bar, entered from behind a convenience store on 26th St, and The Back Room, a 1920s-style gin bar inside a hotel on 30th St. They cost about the same, so the choice comes down to the door, the drink and the weather.

The two side by side

Bank Bar

• The door: behind a convenience store.
• Where: RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center, 26th St.
• Cost: ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.
• Closes: 1am.
• Indoors.

The Back Room

• The door: inside Shangri-La The Fort, at 30th St corner 5th Ave.
• Known for: 1920s style and gin.
• Cost: ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.
• Runs late.
• Named in Tatler Best Bars 2026.
• Indoors.

Two people should plan on ₱1,000 to ₱3,000 at either one.

The door behind the convenience store

The whole appeal of Bank Bar is in how it starts. The address is a bank's corporate center, the way in is through a convenience store, and the bar is behind it.

That makes it the better pick for a date who has not been before. Do not explain it in advance. Say "one more stop", walk into the store, and let the door do the work.

It closes at 1am. On a weeknight that is plenty. On a Saturday it means this is the middle of the night, not the end of it, so have the next stop in mind.

The gin room inside the hotel

The Back Room hides in a different way. It is a 1920s-style gin speakeasy inside Shangri-La The Fort, and it is the one of the pair with outside recognition: a place in Tatler Best Bars 2026.

Three reasons to choose it:

• Gin. It is what the bar is known for. If one of the two people on the date has opinions about gin, the decision is made.
• Rain. BGC's High Street spine is open-air and rain is the area's weak point. The hotel has eight food and drink outlets, so dinner and the bar can share a roof.
• An occasion. A hotel bar in period dress fits an anniversary or a birthday drink better than a back room behind a shop does.

It runs late, but ask the hotel for the closing time before planning a midnight arrival.

Doing both in one night

26th St and 30th St are close on the grid, and BGC is a walkable district, so doing both on foot is plausible. Open the map first and judge the walk.

If both are on the list, the closing times set the order. Go to Bank Bar first, because it shuts at 1am, and finish at The Back Room. One round at each puts two people at ₱2,000 to ₱6,000 for the night.

What to put before and after

A speakeasy is a last stop or a second-to-last stop. It needs something in front of it.

Before: dinner at Em Hà Nội for phở gà and nem rán, or Los Tacos MNL for tacos made with Oaxacan technique. Both hold a Michelin Bib Gourmand and both run ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head. The full dinner, walk and bar plan is in BGC date ideas.

After, if it's going well: The Peak, a rooftop bar on floors 60 to 62 of the Grand Hyatt that also runs late. It is ₱1,500 and up a head, so it is a decision, not a drift.

A third bar deserves a line. No Entry was also named in Tatler Best Bars 2026. It is listed with the rest in bars in BGC by budget.

More hidden doors

BGC is not the only area with one. Cubao has a bar behind a photobooth door, covered in the Cubao Expo speakeasy page, and the type has its own profile in the Hidden-Door Hunter.

The planner covers Cubao now and BGC is next. See which areas are live.

The planner covers Cubao now. BGC is next, and this post is written from the same kind of checked list.