How to do Atlantic City ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Style

Atlantic City is a timeless metropolis, still oozing with all the glitz, glamour and ostentation of its former days. Today, it’s still possible to seek out the smoky speakeasies and shadowy jazz bars that are its defining feature on TV’s most popular prohibition drama, HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and to stroll the same boardwalk promenade as its one-time civic luminary and bootlegging kingpin, Nucky Thompson. Visitors can soak up the vibe of the swinging ‘20s in one of the many shady joints, explore the stomping ground of bona fide gangsters amidst the Art Nouveau façades of mega casinos and games halls and even eat where Nucky did, in the famous Knife and Fork Inn on Atlantic Avenue. So, if you’ve come to AC looking for a trip back in time, then do up your bowtie and don your pin stripe, because this city is still very much alive and kicking with all the gaudy charm and unbridled style of the all-American gangster!

Cigars, cards and showy charm at the Caesars Atlantic City

Towering neoclassical columns and imperial Roman architecture means Caesars Casino adds a taste of another, altogether different type of empire to the boardwalk of Atlantic City. That said, its sprawling interior space and grandiose façade still ooze with the unashamed pomp of the 1920s, transporting players back to a time when suited card sharks and mysterious, cigar-smoking figures clustered around the poker tables and roulette wheels.

Stand in the heart of Nucky’s Empire on the Atlantic City Boardwalk

As the bona fide théâtre de l’action of Atlantic City and the HBO series alike, the Boardwalk is not only an obligatory stop-off, but an unavoidable aspect of exploration in this city. Every classy joint, clandestine speakeasy, art deco theater and cabaret club is connected intimately to this throbbing central vein, the place where everything continues to unfold in dramatic fashion and visitors can stand in the very spot where the twists and turns of the silver screen took place.

Everything is under one roof at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City

Harrah’s is undoubtedly one of the hottest joints in all of Atlantic City; the metropolis’ modern answer to Chalky White’s cabaret bar, if you will. Under one roof, a sprawling collection of royally adorned games rooms, bars and restaurants intermingle to create one of the best and biggest all-in-one entertainment experiences on offer, while jet setters shouldn’t miss the Pool After Dark nightclub, a tropical party experience like no other!

Sit at Enoch Johnson’s table at the Knife & Fork Inn

Once the exclusive drinking club and smoking lounges of Atlantic City’s early 20th century political luminaries, the Knife & Fork Inn can proudly claim the patronage of many towering historical figures, from the grand Commodore to Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, the inspiration for Steve Buscemi’s character Nucky Thompson. Guests can sit, eat and drink in the authentic atmosphere of a living and breathing relic of the prohibition years, a place which never really saw eye-to-eye with the law.

Defying the 18th amendment at the Iron Room, a wine bar and lounge

With wine, whiskey, ales, and alcoholic cocktails to boot, the Iron Room is proud to call itself one of Atlantic City’s longest running booze bars. Once a clandestine speakeasy serving imported malts in teacups under the radar of the prohibition police (just like the places Nucky stocks in Boardwalk Empire!), the establishment is now one of the veritable pioneers of Atlantic City’s home-brewing scene.