Why This Episode Matters

Til Death The Speakeasy is literally hidden beneath a working funeral home outside Kansas City and unlike most modern “speakeasies,” it really isn’t generally open to the public.
The room comes complete with a casket bar, an urn used to smoke cocktails, mysterious doors and at least one unexplained doorbell incident.
The basement’s secret-drinking history predates its current owners: decades ago it reportedly served as a discreet drinking club for local Southern Baptists.
What started as a cocktail obsession became a charitable passion project, raising money for organizations including Veterans Community Project and inspiring Til Death’s cocktail education program.

Banter

Before heading underground, Mark and Francis find an object lesson in how not to communicate hospitality: a neighborhood restaurant whose storefront has slowly accumulated signs telling customers what NOT to do. As Francis puts it, the whole storefront seems to say: “Go away! Don’t do this! You’re all wrong!"

The Conversation

Andrew Loos and Phil Worden join The Guys from Til Death The Speakeasy, a private Prohibition-inspired cocktail room beneath a working funeral home near Kansas City.

They explain how home bartending, Sasha Petraske’s cocktail movement and Kansas City’s bar scene inspired them to transform a forgotten basement into a genuinely secret speakeasy. Guests enter through the funeral home before descending through a series of doors which naturally leads Francis to start planning his own funeral and cocktail party there.

Andrew and Phil also share the stranger side of Til Death: an unplugged doorbell that mysteriously rang after an event, cocktails smoked in an urn and served on a casket, and the basement’s earlier life as a secret drinking spot.

Beyond the novelty, Til Death has become a vehicle for giving back. Andrew and Phil discuss their work with Veterans Community Project, along with other charitable events, and explain how Til Death The Academy teaches cocktail enthusiasts to become more knowledgeable bar patrons.

Guest Bio

Andrew Loos and Phil Worden are the team behind Til Death The Speakeasy. Together with their families, they run cocktail events, Til Death The Academy and charity fundraisers beneath Andrew’s working funeral home.

Timestamps

00:00 The restaurant storefront that says “Go away”
05:45 Inside Til Death: a speakeasy beneath a working funeral home
13:00 Francis plans his own speakeasy funeral
15:00 Ghosts, an urn smoker and the basement’s secret drinking history
25:00 Turning cocktails into a charitable passion project
29:00 Veterans Community Project and the tiny-home model
37:00 Til Death The Academy

Info

Veteran’s Community Project

https://vcp.org/

Til Death

https://tildeathkc.com/

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https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

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Last Call at the Funeral Home: Inside a Secret Speakeasy | Andrew Loos & Phil Worden

The Restaurant Guys

Last Call at the Funeral Home: Inside a Secret Speakeasy | Andrew Loos & Phil Worden