Your New Favorite Speakeasy is Behind an Ice Cream Parlor

At first glance, Craft Creamery looks like your everyday, routine ice cream shop in the Downtown Arts District, but there’s a secret behind all that frozen cream and sugar.

🥃 Secluded Spirits

Ask nicely — and you’ll be guided through a faux freezer door to CC Speakeasy, a hidden cocktail parlor that gets the little things right. The place makes an immediate impression with deep green hues, wood touches, and midcentury modern furniture. Murals pay tribute to Salma Hayek's scene-stealing “From Dusk to Dawn” appearance and a leopard roaming through a jungle — ‘cause why not? Even the bathrooms are hidden behind secret shelves.

🍸 The Drink Menu

The cocktails range from traditional takes on classics to inspired specialties. Top spirit-forward picks include a New Orleans-style Vieux Carré (done right with rye and cognac) and the Xocolatl, a Mexican spin on an Old Fashioned with mezcal and mole bitters. The Golden Bee is better for sweeter preferences — similar to a Medicine Ball tea and fruit combo from Starbucks, but with a gin kick.

🎲 Roll the Dice

Bartenders serve drinks in front of a stylish backbar with arches that frame the shelving. In a playful twist, you can roll a pair of dice to choose the spirit and style of cocktail in a special custom creation. Do you feel lucky?

🍽️ Food to Share

The food lends well to sharing, presented in a tapas format. A deconstructed Beef Wellington arrives at the table in four bites with chunks of ribeye atop puff pastries while the Birria Bao Buns are a fun mix of cultures with Mexican-style marinated oxtail inside fluffy Asian bao buns. You can also go bigger with a choice of three full-sized entrees, including red snapper on a bed of lentils.

🍨 So What About the Ice Cream?

Plans are in the works for infused alcoholic flavors, but for now, you can request spiked ice cream and boozy milkshakes. The drinks and food are so good inside the speakeasy though, I’d devote your time and dollars there.

👀 Make a Date, Don’t be Late

The owners, who overlap with the Servehzah tap room down the street, are holding back on hype and publicity, allowing CC Speakeasy to organically find its audience. It was busy during a recent weeknight visit, so play it safe with a reservation. The bar is open seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to at least 1 a.m.