A City Social Scene
For any freshers that manage to venture off the campus this week, Kate McClellan gives her advice on the top places to go out in York and reveals the good, the bad, and the downright ugly venues on offer
If you’ve been to as many campus events as you can handle, it’s time to sample the delights of York city centre. Whilst you may not be spoilt for choice in the clubs department there are plenty of bars and pubs that can offer great nights out without stretching the already dwindling funds of a post-freshers week first year. Whether you prefer quiet river side drinks in classy gastro pubs or all night bar crawls and the feel of cool pavement against your face, there should be somewhere for you in the city.
On the outskirts of town you have the river pubs like The Stone Roses and The Lowther. The first is good for anybody into their music, mainly Britpop, Indie and Rock with a great atmosphere and plenty of live music nights. It’s mainly a place for locals rather than students but good to go to if there is a small group of you. The Lowther at the end of Cumberland Street is not necessarily somewhere you want to spend all night in, as the bars on both floors get quite busy, but it is nevertheless a dirt cheap place for students to drink before a big night out.
The Capital (formerly Casa) is a slightly classier haunt for so-called ‘working professionals’ although for some reason it’s also where hen parties gather to discuss current affairs whilst sporting flashing novelty penises attached to their heads. Great views of the river and good for pitchers and wine, it’s more of a one-drink-stop before Micklegate as the prices aren’t student friendly and the clientele are that bit older. Yates’s is also across the road but let’s not hold that against anyone; it had to be somewhere.
If you want to head into town then bars like Kennedy’s and Oscars down Little Stonegate or Dusk on New Street (opposite Bar Ha!Ha!) offer great deals on pitchers, cocktails and wine. Kennedy’s offers a 40 per cent discount to students if you apply on line for a Club K card. These bars all play good music, attract locals and students alike and have great atmospheres.
Further up you hit legendary Micklegate. If you only want to spend five pounds but are determined to go home in an ambulance then you’re in luck as the majority of the bars up here are aimed at students.
Heading across the river you reach Living Room which is much the same as all the other bars in the chain; expensive drinks, leather stools and a dress-code. I only mention it because its still worth ordering a drink just to see the over-keen bartenders attempt to impress you with their cocktail shaking acrobatics. If you have the money then go for a cocktail; there’s a huge choice and a chilled atmosphere if you can find somewhere to sit.
Further up you hit legendary Micklegate. If you only want to spend five pounds but are determined to go home in an ambulance then you’re in luck as the majority of the bars up here are aimed at students. At the bottom of Micklegate on the corner you my be tempted by the flashing lights of Reflex The 80’s Bar with its Dirty Dancing poster and Mr.T references but resist for it is a hellish place home to the damned. What you want is the Nag’s Head. With its “Triples for Singles” promotion now running every night, it’s the perfect stop-off before Toffs on a Tuesday or Ziggys on a Wednesday. If you are unfortunate enough to arrive late and have to queue then you may as well go next door to the Nag’s Head’s older, slightly uglier sister, Rumours. You won’t see as many familiar faces here and the interior was decorated by somebody on acid but the drinks are just as cheap and with a larger bar than the Nag’s Head you won’t have to wait long for them.
Further up Micklegate there is Varsity and Bedroom Bar. They’re slightly bigger than the bars further down and are the sort of places you go to if you are out with the lads and want to pull. The prices are good, the music isn’t bad and you can usually find a table. Good if you want to play drinking games or shoot some pool.
In terms of clubs there are really only three main ones that you’ll end up going to; The Gallery as you head into town, then Ziggys and Toffs on Micklegate. The Gallery is a good place to go to on a Sunday. It’s the largest of the clubs, has three floors and like the rest offers student discount if you show your NUS. The bottom floor music varies from 70s funk to Indie and Hip Hop with the middle floor playing predominantly chart and dance music. People tend to go to The Gallery if they want to dance and so, although the drinks are quite expensive, it won’t really matter. Open till 2am it’s the club to go to if you’re dressed up and don’t want the night to end.
Toffs isn’t such a bad club if you give it a chance; the main room on the ground floor plays chart and R’n’B whereas the smaller room next to it plays what could be called more specialist music like Indie, hardcore Rock, and Britpop. This offers a lot of choice but the problem with the second room is that you never know what you’re going to get, so you may find yourself walking in with an overwhelming sense that you do not belong. You do not ask for Britney’s Toxic in this room unless you want to be branded a heathen and burnt at the stake. Upstairs opens up a little later providing seating and two more bars. It’s usually quite busy up here with a good atmosphere and loads of people to talk to. The best thing about Toffs is that for a relatively small and busy club bar service and drinks prices are good.
Whether they love it or hate it everybody you have ever known, seen or fancied will be at Ziggys on a Wednesday and that is its overriding charm.
Lastly there is Ziggys; indeed I have saved the best till last. People will tell you not to go; they will say that the music is crap, the queue is too long, and the people are scum but don’t listen. Whether they love it or hate it everybody you have ever known, seen or fancied will be at Ziggys on a Wednesday and that is its overriding charm. Plus it’s free to get in! It’s basically a jam packed converted town house/fire hazard/ accident waiting to happen. The decor in the ‘Champagne Room’ is a strange yet charming fusion of your Nan’s front room and a mirrored boudoir. Downstairs there are three small bars and the dance floor. This is where you will give a ‘shout out’ if it takes your fancy and dance to mainly chart and R’n’B. It’s cramped, dark and hot so by the end of the night most people are sporting the sweaty-hair-stuck-to-forehead look. The music upstairs is truly awful; the kind of cheese that was fun to listen to last week when you hadn’t heard it for years but there’s only so many times you can sing We are the Champions. I do have few words of warning; if you are a girl and you need the toilet then the best thing to do is call the whole night off. Waiting in the queue for the ladies results in you sobering up, losing your friends and spending the rest of your night asking people you barely know if they’ll hang round with you until you can find them. You don’t want to be that person. Beer and K2 (poor man’s WKD) are the drinks of choice since mixers are quite expensive. Great place if you want to pull rugby boys in pink dresses or girls hyper on Alco pops.
As you can see you’ll find you have to strike a subtle balance between the good bars, the cheap bars and the downright frightening bars in order to get the most out of York. Or you could go straight to Micklegate and throw all sense of balance out the window along with your underwear. Just remember, play safe kids and, no matter what anyone tells you, Absinth in not the best idea you’ve heard all night.
Kate McClellan
