The story
Named for the law that made bars like this one necessary.
The Eighteenth Amendment shut down every bar in America in 1920. Americans responded by opening better ones, behind doors you had to know about. The Amendment opened in 2017 in that spirit: a small, dark, quiet room behind an unmarked door next to Basil & Mint Vietnamese Cafe, where the drinks are made carefully and nobody is rushing you.
We’re a family business. The café came first; the bar grew out of a love of whiskey and the conviction that Camarillo deserved a proper cocktail room. Wood, brick, leather and low light. No TVs. Music you can talk over.
The kitchen next door is what makes us different from every other speakeasy on the coast. Six nights a week it’s a whiskey bar. On Sundays, Basil & Mint cooks, a band plays from 3, and lemongrass and fish-sauce caramel show up on the plate as well as in the glass.
“Speak easy. Drink well.”
Who built it
Daniel Kelley
Co-Owner & Lead Bartender
The Amendment was Daniel’s brainchild: he opened it behind Basil & Mint in 2017, and every cocktail on the menu is his own recipe. His whiskey palate is impeccable; he knows every bottle on the back bar and can point you to the right one whether you’re new to bourbon or chasing a rare single malt. Co‑owner of both the restaurant and the bar, he’s usually around the room on any given night, and every private event is booked and run by him personally.
The bar team
Daniel built the menu, but the people pouring it every night know it just as well. Pull up a seat and tell them what you like.
How we work
Craft
Fresh juice every day, house syrups, proper ice, and bartenders who know why a Manhattan is stirred.
Hospitality
You get a seat, a water, and a bartender who learns your name. Regulars and first-timers are treated the same.
Family
Two generations run the café and the bar. The recipes on both sides of the wall are ours.