If you take a walk down Washington Street past the Barrelman, you’ll see a white picket fence with a gate, leading down an alleyway to a door, with an awning reading Boston Yacht Sales above it. 

Except, it isn’t a place to go purchase a yacht, though Boston Yacht Sales is located right next door, it’s a place to enjoy a drink and experience what the roaring ’20s were like. 

Hiding under the presence of a nearby boat company, Todd and Victoria Horvath have opened the Hidden Door, a speakeasy-style bar, and brought a new Prohibition-era vibe to town. 

The two have been working in the restaurant business for decades. Todd Horvath has worked in multiple 5-star dive bars, while Victoria Horvath has focused mainly on fine dining. Prior to opening a bar in Marblehead, the couple operated multiple other bars in the region. A lifelong Marbleheader, Todd Horvath had been working at the Barrelman and found out about an empty space next to the bar in 2019.

At the time, they had the goal of starting their own bar in town, and with the year 2020 rolling around the corner, the visions of opening a speakeasy began. 

They started to survey the space, but realized that it was difficult to find. However, that quickly became part of the theme. 

“When we thought about this space, the biggest problem with it is that it’s hard to get to and there’s no street entrance, and it’s hard to find,” Todd Horvath said. “So then, we were like, ‘Well, what if that’s the thing. What if the hardest thing about the location is the thing we use the most.’”

From there, they completely bought into the idea, and after multiple years of speakeasy research, cocktail program creation, and atmosphere design, the Hidden Door officially opened in November last year.

After walking in, guests are greeted to a dimly lit lounge, with a mahogany, wooden bar and comfortable leather seating. Exposed brick makes up the walls, with velvet curtains hanging to block any tells of what might be inside. There is not a TV in sight to keep the theme as realistic as possible, and also to allow for guests to escape the world of technology and take a break. 

“Everything done with intention lets people walk in from the very jump and go on this journey into another place where maybe you’re not sure where you are, what year it is,” Todd Horvath said. “We live in a world where we stare at our phones seven thousand million times a day and maybe here, you don’t.”

Perhaps the bar’s most important aspect, and what the Horvaths are most proud of, is its cocktail menu. Each of the ingredients used in the drinks are fresh and made in house. Todd Horvath said that the two had been experimenting with different concoctions for years prior to opening in order to make everything perfect.

“There’s a lab at our house for research and development that we did for years to get to where we are,” he said. “I’m very proud of our program.”

The bar has already started to build a regular crowd, and Victoria Horvath said the response has been great so far.

“It’s like the nicest thing. They come in and they’re like, ‘Thank you for doing this,’” she said. “There’s been a lot of people who are like ‘This is really great for the town and we love it here and it’s unique.’ The feedback has been really positive and really nice.”

In terms of finding the restaurant’s location, we here at The Item gave you as many hints as we could. As for how to actually get into the place? We’ll leave that up to you to discover.