Loaf Review:

Loaf was an experiment by Bass Leisure and despite what must have been a serious cash influx, it's certainly paid off. Situated on at the end of Deansgate Locks, a hotbed of sexy bars located right on top of the Rochdale canal, the venue is one of the largest in the area, with two floors spanning twin arches (the venues along Deansgate Locks are built into a lengthy railway bridge).

Upstairs is split cleanly between a bar area and a restaurant, whilst downstairs houses further bar space and a club area. On the lower floor you can sit on the decking and marvel at the brown river running by.

The crowd during the week is trendy enough at night, whilst during the day you get the inevitable suits. Whilst the weekends are quite mad, and normally a time we avoid, the whole feeling about the bar remains the same - it's quite a work of art and has a distinct industrial feel to it.

The prices tagged on to drinks and food are not cheap, but certainly not unreasonable. You get what you pay for, and this is clearly echoed in the standard of service. The only problems we've had have been the 'attitude' problems of the door people, however this is typical to Manchester, especially the trendier bars.

Read user reviews for Loaf here
Why not write your own review of Loaf here?

Loaf's User Reviews:

Jason Pimborough

This place is an absolute dive and is not worth the effort of even thinking about going there. The door staff are rude, on monday nights you cant move, it took me 45 minutes to get a drink, it gets really really hot downstairs so that everybody sweats and then the place starts to stink. The only good point is the women,oh and the canal that you can throw yourself in after being in there for more than five minutes if you get sick of the place.

1 out of 5

Karl

Bouncers turn you away if you've got Rockport on! Disgraceful

1 out of 5

FRANKLIN

i love u all.

1 out of 5

C & K

Went new years eve...OK but to much RnB for me and my fella, had tickets for here and revolution stayed in revolution much better. All in all though loaf is a good bar.

3 out of 5

Bas

Last Saterday is was there... wow this place rocks. To many nice ladies. Happy greetings from Arnhem, The Netherlands.

5 out of 5

Jochem

Saterday night rocks with lots of pretty girls and happy people.

5 out of 5

Helen

Fantastic! My fave Or was!)! The sexy lad from behind the bar is no longer here! He made every visit worth it! COME BACK RICK! WE LOVE YOU! They have just given the place a makeover that has made it look even better too! Staff friendly, drinks a good price! fantastic!

5 out of 5

Dave

This bar has really changed, never seen some many fantastic young girls in one place. You can even get serverd at the bar. The best bar and club in Manchester by far, me and wide circle of funky freinds can't get enough. Keep up the good work loaf.

5 out of 5

Lorraine

it's alright! people are ok, service is good,dance area downstairs a bit dodgy,think it turns into a bit of mauling area for drunk lads.very well designed bar compared to the others on the same row,has a good atmosphere.

3 out of 5

Laura

Use to work for Loaf when it first opened, what can I say it felt so good to be part of something so BIG.Went back two weeks ago and could not belive it!!! It was so sad to see a bar change so much, gone are the days of good drinks and good company and a great atmosphere its just an avarage Manchester Bar. But give a round of aplause to all the old team Jan,Baggers,Sara,Mark,Ewan, Angela,Olly and Richard they worked so hard to make LOAF what it was lets see if LOAF can come back stronger

1 out of 5

roxie

Pretentious place, full of its own self importance. Not a good student place to be. Nice wine though..

2 out of 5

Sam

as you walk into the bar, it has a simplistic and spacious feel. loaf is smartly decorated and the atmosphere is immediately relaxing.

5 out of 5

Robert

this bar's quality, good sized bar, only took 2 minutes to grab a drink on a saturday night!

4 out of 5

Sarah

Loaf is a nice place. The bar and doorstaff are friendly enough but you can get the odd rude one. KEVIN I've been here and me and my friends are definitely not ugly! You need to look around a bit!

4 out of 5

rob

Loaf used to be a top nite out but now the downstairs club area is overrun with scallys dressed in the usual stripey tops and rockport shoes thinking they own the place... upstairs is still ok though.

3 out of 5

Kevin

Place is full of geeks. All skaters talking crap yah my daddy has just bought me the new Andrex or would you like to come to our g*y party in Fallowfield. Bar prices are extremely high with silly cocktails that no-one has heard of off. Plus all the women are ugly

1 out of 5

Billy Bunter

this loaf has gone stale !

1 out of 5

Matt

Very impressive bar/club, but not the place it used to be. Get there before 9pm or be prepared for a ridiculously long queue, which isn't much & to be honest not really worth it. Door & bar staff are upto the usual Manchester standard, i.e. poor & drinks prices in line with the rest of The Locks. Watch out for the wannabe gangsta's.

3 out of 5

Adam

First time at the Deansgate locks and I was very impressed by the average standard of the girls. Bit busy and not too keen on standing for hours. Tidy and friendly though.

4 out of 5

Damo

Very nice bar/club, shame about majority or people that go in there though, it seems that all the women are money grabbers who think they are the bee's knee's with their rip off Vivienne Westwood imitated Top Shop outfits on and the lads spend more time looking at what other males are wearing than the female structure. Little pretentious on a whole, its a shame though because Loaf is a really nice place.

4 out of 5

daves

A great bar and one of the Manchester classics since the demise of Mash. Not quite as pretentious as it looks and feels. Probably not worth queuing too long for and service at the bar once you get in is disgracefully poor - always seems understaffed and the dozy bar tenders are more interested in chatting amongst themselves to notice the customers.

4 out of 5

James

Coming from Leicester, where there are plenty of bars like this, but I must admit that the females here are 100% better, in both looks and quantity. Had a top night and will def go again when im back in manchester ! P.s Far too many beckham wannabes !

5 out of 5

katie

I thought the bar was great! I had a great night only the prices of the drinks were a bit high, apart from that it was brill & i'll definately go again!

4 out of 5

Rob

This is a great bar with a great atmosphere!! The only problem is the drinks prices. Over the top is a understatemant so just stay for a quick one otherwise a big hole will be burnt in ya pocket!!

3 out of 5

David

Not a bad bar, not THE place like it once was. Seems to be quite a few of the Rockport massive in here these days. Club downstairs is quite good but sometimes get uncomfortable from the local scally population

3 out of 5

Kirk

What an over-rated bar. Over-crowded and over-priced drinks, full of arrogant people and not very comfortable. The restaurant is very nice and more comfortable to drink in the the actual bar area.

1 out of 5

Dean

Sorry Peter have to disagree with you mate the Staff are a really great bunch and all seem to have a good sense of humor.

4 out of 5

tim

Had a great time great tunes and loads of nice people. and big it up for mark a Supervisor at Loaf had a few problems on my last vist and mark was really professional and sort my problems out. I will be back next week cant wait

4 out of 5

Sally

Fine during the day because it's quiet, but far too full of people so far up themselves they are inside out at night to be bothered with. I like my drinks with out having to look at people who have gone crosseyed from looking down their nosess!

2 out of 5

peter

The staff have an attitude bigger than Jordan's t*ts

1 out of 5

Ant Massey

A must! Dress to impress though, or have people look down at you. Its all about style, attitude and class (i don't know how the hell i get in then)great night great tunes. Top Club! Ant

5 out of 5

Richard

Top bar and the queues dont matter. On average on a Sturday i spend about 10 minutes queuing before i get in.

5 out of 5

Lyndsey

Loaf is by far the best place in manchester. Everyone is so friendly, there's no bitchiness and I have to say the dj is fantastic. I don't know what I did with my weekends before I did loaf!

5 out of 5

mark

It's the place to be that's all I need to say

5 out of 5

tom

This bar is boring and predictable. The queues are too long and there's a better vibe in the Air and Space Museum round the corner. Don't bother queuing and go to Revolutiuon instead!

1 out of 5

David Asquith

Coming from Blackpool this was a shock, looks really nice inside, massive bar.

4 out of 5

trisha

Much better than the Living Room, the part I like best on the night is downstairs

4 out of 5

Laura green

This is the most happenin place to be on a friday and saturday night. Full of lots of nice people and is very spacious. Definatly the place to be.

5 out of 5

EmmaBee

This is my place to be on a Friday and Saturday night but those queues...oh those queues. Plenty of space and lots of nice people, don't ever take this bar away from me.

1 out of 5

Join AfterDark

Want access to latest club news, club nights, special offers, opening night parties, occasional free drinks, VIP area access and more?

Sign-up for our weekly newsletter. You might learn a trick or two.
Join

Promoters:

Want to promote your clubnight to a 12,000+ strong database?
Click here to find out more...