St. George • Spiritual Speakeasy hides in plain sight on a quiet corner of St. George’s Ancestor Square. You pass a Zoltar fortune-telling machine and a psychic sign before stepping into what looks like a tiny tarot parlor, replete with crystal ball and velvet drapes.

And then, a fireplace swings open to reveal the real show: a low-lit cocktail bar that feels part French Quarter, part movie set. That is precisely the vibe that General Manager Jon Bishop wants.

“I have always thought of this place as like Disneyland,” said Bishop, who co-owns the bar with Jasher and Lisa Feellove and a silent investor. “My goal has been to have a bar that makes people feel like they have been transported to another place or time.”

That took some time.

Losing its religion

Spiritual Speakeasy opened in late 2021, but it was reimagined and rebuilt last year.

It started as “Spiritual,” a chaotic mashup of crosses and Christian kitsch. But since the reboot, the holy-roller aesthetic now sports a seductive new soul.

Bishop said losing the religion was important to the bar’s evolution and success.

“Our customers found it confusing,” he said about the religious symbols. “It was a disservice to the bar and to our guests.”

The crosses and scarlet vampire decor got the boot; New Orleans glamour got the invite. Now, the room oozes French Quarter romance, decked out in chandeliers, palm fronds, bohemian Art Nouveau paintings and plush leather Chesterfields sofas. The bartenders complete the time-travel motif, rocking white double-breasted coats and black ties, which Bishop says is a tribute to old-school hotel bars and the historic cocktail “doctors” of yesteryear.

“If you can wear a white coat and not end the night looking like a Jackson Pollock [abstract expressionist painting], that says something about the skill of the bartender,” he said.

Behind the bar’s theatrics is a serious beverage program. Bishop came out of Los Angeles’ high-end bar scene, climbing from host to general manager at the Normandie Club, a sophisticated cocktail bar located on the ground floor of the historic Hotel Normandie in Koreatown.

Dishing up quirks

Bishop said all of the bar’s cocktails are derived from a handful of root recipes.

“We take those classic builds and Mr. Potato Head them — swap spirits, play with modifiers, change the flavors — but the technique stays proper and advanced,” he said.

Spiritual Speakeasy’s menu carries eight rotating signature drinks, all riffs on classics, plus eight recommended standards. There are also full low- and no-alcohol sections for people who want to sip without the buzz.

The top seller is the House Old Fashioned, poured over a single block of crystal-clear ice that takes three days to make through a process called directional freezing, Bishop explained, which forces water to freeze from only one direction, pushing air and impurities to the opposite end. This isolates the cloudiness to one spot, leaving behind a crystal-clear block of ice.

“It not only looks beautiful,” Bishop said, “but it also ensures that your drink isn’t watered down in 10 minutes.”

Next up is the Porn Star Martini — a vodka dessert cocktail born in New York as the Maverick Martini and later rebranded and blown up into a London sensation. Spiritual Speakeasy slings theirs with vanilla, passion fruit, lime and pineapple, plus a sidecar of champagne.

The quirks don’t stop there. Water arrives in china teacups on silver trays, a nod to Prohibition speakeasies that hid booze in coffee cups. In one corner, a rotary “sweet treat hotline” invites guests to dial 1920 and wait. A few moments later, an unflappable server appears with a surprise dessert on a silver platter — free. Elsewhere, decks of cards, dominoes and chess sets sit on tables for patrons to play.

On slower days, the bar doubles as a cocktail academy, where guests learn how to properly craft drinks at home. On weekend nights, the space turns into a compact dance floor as Miles Davis and Glenn Miller give way to DJs, Afrobeats and pop.

In a family way

For assistant general manager and bartender Alec Kener, the hidden doors and parlor tricks are only part of the draw.

“Most people that have been here have been here three-plus years,” Kener said. “We all feel like family, and we all feel really close together. No one wants to go anywhere.”

That sense of loyalty extends to regulars, including a widow who began coming in after her husband died.

“She didn’t have much going on in her life anymore,” Kener said. “So we have taken the role of being very friendly and welcoming to her. Now she’s just a friend to everybody. Every time she comes in, she lights up the room.”

Santa Clara resident Graelin Myers and her husband, Shea, discovered Spiritual Speakeasy on their first night after moving from Ventura County, California, and have been regulars ever since. She says the cocktails rival those in Southern California, but what really keeps them coming back is the staff.

“The drinks are great, but the friendly, genuinely caring staff is why we keep going back,” she said.

For Bishop, this is the whole heart of Speakeasy: the show only works if the welcome is real.

“A bar is such an important place for humans to come together,” he said. “If you’re having a bad day, we can make it better. If you’re having a great day, we can make it better. You should leave happier than when you came in.”