If you are looking for variety on your night out Wolverhampton is the place to go. Within 100 metres of the so called arts & entertainment quarter (which has been on the councils plans for nearly ten years but never fully realised) there are around two dozen pubs and clubs atering to every taste.
Starting from the bus and train station entrance to the town here are just a few of the more notable.
First on your right heading into the town centre is Flares - compact,loud and bright this is a 70's theme pub blaring out a succession of disco hits. The inside is decorated with so-called 70's style accessories and the staff all wear silky shirts and afro wigs. Like any parody of the times it goes way over the top (I grew up in the 70's and don't remember it being like that). But it is a fun place.
The Moon Under The water is usually packed to rafters with people who have been to are are about to go to the Grand theatre across the road. If you like busy, it is alright but it can take forever to get served.
Next two to avoid. Rothwells and Casa. They have the atmosphere of a comedian who got up on stage and forgot how to deliver the punch line.
Yates, on the corner of North Street is a vast sprawling place which for some reason runs continuous adverts on the behind bar screens, but it is one of the in places. While other places don't start filling up until after ten Yates has a good crowd in from around 8.30 onwards. For these long hot summer nights there is also a large patio area at the back, which all adds to the ambience. The people are friendly and the beer is good.
Head back towards the station and turn into Market street and you will find the Polish Bar. From the title you might expect something a little different but in truth it is only the Polish spirit on sale behind the bar which makes this different. They also offer a range of exotic cocktails which come at a rather heavy £15 each, but come in a huge jug so that there is enough to share around with all your mates.
If you are into your more traditional type pub surroundings them the next three will be for you. With their front doors within about twenty steps of each other The Tap & Spile, Seamus O'Donnells and The Old Still are compact, tradditional and still the kind of places where many of the patrons are regulars.
Moving into Queens Street there is the Press, which from the front looks deceptively small, but inside goes deep into the building, there is also an upstairs where there are regular discos. This one is a strange mix of your traditional beer drinker and the alcopop brigade, but it seems to work making this one of the livelier places of a weekend.
The Sports Bar opposite is just that. TV screens play every sports channel available and there is the obligatory big screen for those special events at the back. But don't think thats all this place is about, there are a lot of 'glamourous people' who use this as a staging post on their way to other places.
The Eurobar is everything the Sports bar isn't. Tiny (If you got 50 people in there it would be crowded), dark and intimate it is like one of the backstreet Paris bars of the eighties. theres lot of little nooks so that you are never sure who is in another part of the room and little cliches tend to gather in various parts with the odd exchange of glances which adds the the natural eroticism this place has.
OK, last on this mini-tour (which I have kept deliberately short so that you don't get too drunk) is Chicago's Rock Cafe. The only play music from 1959 - 85 but that must be what people want because if you get here after 10pm you will have to queue to get in. Where as most of the other places I have mentioned people have one or two drinks and then move on Chicago's is the place they stay until closing time, which for some reason is only 1am.
Be warned, it can get crowded and very hot, but if you like a lot of bodily contact and suggestive looks this is the place. The clientelles age range is from teenagers to mid-fifties (although I know of one man in his 70's who goes there regularly). At the end of the night the bar staff often jump up on the bar and girate to the themes from Grease, which is great to watch but does mean you miss last orders if you are not careful.
If you are planning a stag or hen night then this is the place to go. Let the managaer know in advance and ask them to arrange a Screaming Orgasm of the hapless victim. I would explain what that is here but this article would probably be banned. Anyhow it has to be seen and preferably endured to be fully apprecaited.
That should keep you going for your first night out in Wolverhampton. If you want to know about the others or you what more details about these just let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to do some reasearch on your behalf.