Manchester

Long Legs
Basement 46 George St
City Centre
Review updated: A full strip is now offered by Long Legs (hurrah) and the Fantasy Bar is rumoured to be re-opening. Manchester gained a third strip club with the opening of the classy Boutique bar on Lloyd Street. Located in the heart of China Town, slightly off the beaten track, Long Legs charge between five and ten pounds to get in, depending on the season but this includes a free dance. Walk down the stairs and there's a bar to your left, with a dancefloor-cum-standing area and two seating areas around it. Stringfellows this ain't, as the carpet/wallpaper/furnishings will tell you, but you?re here for the titties right? The girls are strictly boobs only - no amount of money will result in you seeing a front-bum. The long legs girls are decent looking girls with at least 10 working each night, and sometimes more. Some are friendly, some aren't. Doesn't really matter does it? The girls dance for ?5 for approximately five minutes, whilst ?10-?15 will get you a two girl dance and maybe some nipple licking. Some people consider this a waste of money, but unless your some sort of alcoholic regular who's spending the rent money (and child support) on titties then it's not really a big deal. Long Legs is a great place, don't get me wrong, but Manchester deserves at more than one strip club. It almost looked like we were going to get one, but sadly the actress who plays Rita Sulivan on Coronation Street took great offence to Peter Stringfellows plans - due to the fact that it would take place very close to her front door - and kicked up a huge fuss. With hundreds of solicitors in that same area, you'd make a mint from it, but equally you'd have to be insane to go up against so many legal eagles.
Lap dancing bar

Baby Platinum
109 Princess Street
Gay Village
In the building that used to house Direktors, Baby Platinum takes up where they left off providing fully nude dances for ?10 and VIP booths in ?opulent and elegant? surroundings.
Lap dancing bar

Cloud 23 - Hilton Skybar
Beetham Tower
Deansgate
The highest bar in Mancheter (23rd Floor) and the one with the highest aspirations, the door to Cloud 23 is strictly controlled on the weekends, this rather attractive (and somewhat expensive) drinking hole remains unseen by large numbers of Mancunians - some by choice. For hotel guests and tourists it's a great pull, with windows in the floors and fantastic views across Manchester (and beyond)
Style Conscious bar

Fantasy Bar
140 Deansgate
Deansgate
A lapdancing club on Deansgate, in central Manchester. One of the first venues in the city, and recentyl refurbished, it's located on the corner of Deansgate and John Dalton Street in a hidden doorway. If you have a hankering for nudity then this strip bar should keep you happy.
Lap dancing bar

Boutique
18-22 Lloyd Street
Deansgate
***Update*** The venue that used to be Boutique now houses Silks – new owners, new management and new girls! A swanky new lap dancing bar in an underground venue off Deansgate, and close to Albert Square. Pretty high end inside, the club is decked out tastefully and entrance is pretty well controlled so there's no idiots. Clearly the nicest in Manchester, but we've got a long way to go before our venues are comparable to London.
Lap dancing bar

Dokie Dokie
The Quadrangle
Oxford Road
A new karaoke bar in The Quadrangle complex, opposite the BBC and behind Odder on Oxford Road.
bar

Obsessions
2b Whitworth Street West
Deansgate
A new lapdancing bar that's right next to the busy Deansgate Locks. House above the even newer Area 51 nightclub, it's a fairly swanky affair with a glitering array of girls. Bit more swanky than the other venues in town (Long legs, The Fantasy Bar) but nowhere near as good as Boutique (Lloyd Street)
Lap dancing bar

Lounge 31
31 Withy Grove
Printworks
Lounge 31 is a new late night bar within the Printworks featuring seven days of entertainment, and opening hours till 7am on weekends. The venue opened in October 2007, and has been pretty busy thanks to it's swanky interior and late night opening - a godsend in Manchester which, despite it's '24hour Party People' tag, tends to close down after 2am! Lounge 31 has a mixed music policy, concerntrating on the softer side of urban and R&B, but as a self described 'style bar' - with luminaries such as The Living Room, Sugar Lounge and of course Cloud 23 as it's rivals - the venue was going to have to pull out all the stops to succeed. Inside you'll find a stunning venue that's certainly up there with the best of them in Manchester, in fact a large proportion of their staff have been 'borrowed' from these venues so you may recognise some faces. Private booths are available for hire, each with their own LCD TV, and a VIP area that's seperate from the rest of the bar by curtains.
Modern bar

Silks
22 Lloyd Street
City Centre

Lap dancing bar

The Circle Club
Barton Arcade
City Centre
Members only club that has undergone quite a transformation over the years. Still popular with the gliteratti, but not quite as used by the local media as this bar would like. Recent rennovation, and lunch time menu, suggest that there is still life in this venue but it's credentials as the home of media in Manchester have long gone.
Members Bar bar

Sugar Buddha
Arch 12, Deansgate Locks
Deansgate
Another change of tenant on the seemingly fickle Deansgate Locks scene, Sugar Buddha arrives to take over from the Sugar Lounge, so they could save a bit on the signage if they’re smart. Slotting into the notorious strip of bars has traditionally gone one of two ways – go wuith the flow (i.e. standard exposed brickwork, long bar, ‘modern pub grub’, funky house on Saturday nights) or try and stand out from the crowd. We’ve yet to get down there to see which way Sugar Buddha have gone but we will soon...watch this space.
Modern bar

Sugar Lounge
Deansgate Locks
Deansgate
The Sugar Lounge has had an interesting history, but there's no doubting that the tiny venue at the end of Deansgate Locks is an equally interesting place to hang out. Attractive, and with attentive service, there's a bling bling vibe in this bar and a 'take it or leave it' attitude. If that's your cup of tea then get your glad rags on and prepare to brave the oft-strict door staff. As the saying goes, if you deserve to be in this bar then they'll let you in.
Style Conscious bar

Mojo
19 Back Bridge Street
Deansgate
"Music for the people" is Mojo's mantra, with the music policy strictly 'non-house' - expect old skool and new skool rock and roll. Despite this rough and ready image, the bar is an awesome pre-club hangout, or somewhere to chill out on and sink into the sofas. Check out their excellent website.
Indie and Underground bar

Sakura
Arch 2 Deansgate Locks
Deansgate
Sakura is set to open on Friday 1 October 2010 and looks like it will bring a touch or oriental glamour to the Locks’ party scene. Japanese in theme, the bar will serve cocktails and drinks, as well as authentic sushi, bento boxes and pan Asian dishes. Connected to Sakura is the Twisted Tokyo Club, open from 10pm six nights a week and promises to host some of the best DJs in the world. The Opium Lounge is a VIP area within the Twisted Tokyo Club, offering exclusive table reservations. The opening weekend at Sakura will kick off on Friday 1 October with Graeme Park and Steve Smart on the decks, continuing into Saturday 2 October with Freemasons, featuring Amanda Wilson live. Sakura seems like it will fit well into the Deansgate Locks collective. Aiming for unashamed class and a clubbing experience with a touch of glamour, it should sit nicely with other newcomers such as Lakota and Sugar Buddha. The strip of bars that had developed an unwanted, and some would say unwarranted, reputation for the less desirable aspects of a night out may just be seeing itself revived, despite the recent closures of both House 9 and Area 51. With all that in mind, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how Sakura settles in over the next few months. It might just be the shot in the arm that Deansgate Locks needed. ____________________________________________________ Plans have been submitted relating to Arch 2 on Deansgate Locks for a change of use. We are led to believe that the current CP Hart bathroom store is due to become Sakura, a mini-chain that currently has venues in Lincoln and Reading. They look like what you might expect from a Deansgate Locks venue – smart seating areas, bar food, student nights...you know the deal, but Sakura also has a bit of a Japanese twist to it, which will be interesting to see. We don’t have a timescale yet but we’re hoping it’ll arrive in 2010 – maybe in time for the summer?
bar

One Central Street
1 Central Street
Peter Street
A former gay club, One Central has survived on Thursday nighter Romp, with the recent addition of Funkademia and Northern Funk providing popular, but funk fuelled, Friday and Saturday nights. Not quite got the edge that it used to, but still part of a good night out in central Manchester.
Indie and Underground bar

Bijou
1-7 Chapel Street
Deansgate
***Updated February 2010*** Those of you with a penchant for Saturday night television may well be becoming more acquainted with Bijou than you thought. Many will have already sussed it out but Bijou is indeed the infamous Fernando’s from ITV show Take Me Out, hosted by Paddy McGuiness. Quite why they’ve decided to label it Fernando’s and not stick with Bijou is anyone’s guess – maybe Bijou wanted to try keep striving for the exclusive vibe they crave and not fill the place up with people wanting to go to Fernando’s and try to spot couples from the show. Still, the answer to the question on many people’s lips, ‘Where is Fernando’s in Manchester’ has been answered – it’s not called Fernando’s, it’s called Bijou, and it’s on Chapel Street. Check out our new listing for Fernando’s. ***Update March 2009*** The slightly confusing situation as to whether this place is actually open or not has been cleared up thus: The officialy launch night is on Saturday 28th March - that's for Saturdays@Bijou. The club's been open for a couple of months already, however, on Thursday and Friday nights - 'Censored' every Thursday, 'Sintillate' every first Friday of the month. We're not sure when the launch night was for them - they just seem to have opened. So, presumably, you can go to Bijou on Friday 27th March for a normal night, then go to their EXCLUSIVE OPENING NIGHT the following evening. Confused? You will be... On the site of the old Cocoa Rooms, Bijou pulls no punches - it's swanky, expensive and very exclusive.
Members Bar bar

Manchester 235
Great Northern Warehouse
Peter Street
A modern take on the casino, with two internal restaurants, a bar and a wide variety of ways to lose your hard earned cash. In fact there's almost fifty thousand square feet to play with, and thankfully the non-gambling side of things is just as good as the gambling, with decent reviews coming in from the restaurants.
Casino bar

Queer
4 Canal Street
Gay Village
Queer is gay lifestyle caf? bar on Canal Street offering a modern, contemporary space at the heart of Manchester gay village. Chilled music played daytime and full on club style in the evenings, the venue is owned by Essential plays host to all their pre-parties.
Indie and Underground bar