By Alan Reyes

King Eddy Saloon at the bottom of the 120-year old King Edward Hotel was the main hub of illegal alcohol bootlegging back in the days of prohibition.

Part of a huge network of underground tunnels sprawling the greater part of downtown Los Angeles, this 90-year old speakeasy made its home under the ground floor of a well known piano shop.

After prohibition ended in 1933 there was no use for the underground dwelling as the upstairs was converted into the dive we know and love today.

But the creepy cellar below the tavern still exist and with the right tour guide one may travel down into the basement to explore its antique murals drawn drawn by the artists of yesteryear. The murals of King Eddy are warn and faded but still possess the secrets of the underworld with the drawing encodings of secret maps showing the locations and routes of the underground tunnel system. One mural if decoded properly is rumored to show the way to the underground bar located directly under the interception of 5th and Main. While others show the other tunnels used for smuggling alcohol during the prohibition era.

The entrance to these tunnels are long sealed off, only the murals, furniture and antique refrigeration are left underneath dusty remains.

King Eddy’s holds LA’s longest standing liquor license and continues to serve Skid Row residents with the cheapest drinks in town and unlike a lot of old bars in Downtown has not gone under renovation and remains grimy and divy. When I first went to King Eddy, I instantly knew why Charles Bukowski and John Fante wrote great works of literature here…it’s the perfect place for a down and out wino who doesn’t want to socialize or just someone who wants a cheap beer in a place that holds so much history. The bar was recently refurbished by the Acme Bar Group with new booths, better beer, the removal of its plexiglass smoking room in exchange for a dart room, and a lot of art on the walls. The new owners plan to turn an actual, forgotten speakeasy in the bar’s basement back into a functioning bar.