The SafeHouse is one of the most unique restaurants in Milwaukee, a spy-themed speakeasy that has been a popular place to bring guests from out of town for a unique experience since 1966. 

To get in you’ll want to find Front Street, an alleyway that leads to a door that reads “International Exports, Ltd.” Once in, you’ll find an agent at a desk who will ask you for the password to get in. We’ve sworn an oath not to tell you that secret phrase, but don’t worry– if you join us on the Shadow of City Hall tour, we have our own special password to get in, take a look around, and hear some ghost stories– more on that in a moment. 

If you don’t know the password– well, let’s just say you might look a little foolish for a moment. 

  
The door to International Exports Ltd. - Hope you learn the password

Once you’re inside, you’ll get a sensory overload of nooks and crannies full of interesting artifacts related to espionage. There’s an actual piece of the Berlin Wall, and a cell door from a KGB prison, along with  posters from James Bond movies. Speaking of, if you want your martini really shaken, not stirred, the bartender will send a shaker through a 600 foot pneumatic tube. 

Little details are everywhere. On the outside of the building, for example, you can find a plaque that says the building is on the Registry of Hysteric Sites, issued by the Dept. of the Ulterior. Spy sources say that in the women’s room you’ll also find an alarming portrait of actor Burt Reynolds. 

Boogie Nights, baby! 

A place with such character has to have been created by a character, and that person was Daniel Baldwin, who opened SafeHouse in 1966. The spot quickly intrigued customers and scenes of the 1989 baseball comedy Major Lea gue were filmed in the bar. 

Besides the spycraft, something else mysterious is going on at the bar– stories of ghostly activity. 

There’s several stories of lightbulbs unscrewing by themselves, an eerie voices coming out of a security monitor, and a TV that turned itself on, with a raspy voice emanating out of the static filled screen, according to a bartender who worked their over 20 years. Others saw a glass roll uphill and heard strange noises in the dark in the restaurant’s Interrogations and Operations Dining Room. 

Time for a little paranormal investigation with a Zener Deck at the SafeHouse

One of the most active hotspots seems to be the basement. Down there, staff have reported hearing ghostly footsteps, seeing shadowy figures, and one employee recently saw a spirit wearing a top hat. On a recent Shadow of City Hall tour, a waitress overheard the group and exclaimed “hell yeah, it’s haunted down there!”  She said the staff often discusses feeling an eerie presence in the basement. 

   Hell yeah, it's haunted down there!

After checking out the SafeHouse, take a passage into the neighboring Newsroom Pub, which has a mini-museum worth of historic newspaper articles, editorial cartoons, signatures of famous politicians and members of the media on framed chalk slates, and a mummified cat named Anubis in a glass case above the bar. How Anubis got there is another story you’ll hear on the tour. 

You can find more info on Safe House, including a menu, at safehouse.com.