While conventional clubs and pubs remain at the spiritual core of our city’s identity, many Mancunians are increasingly seeking out a variety of exciting experiences to bolster their nights out.
From high-tech shuffleboard and bowling to pétanque and curling, we’ve rounded up some of the best activity bars around Manchester.
With branches in the Arndale and on Deansgate, Roxy Ballroom is Manchester’s glossy frat-house paradise. Think of an American bar game enjoying newfound popularity on this side of the Atlantic, and chances are Roxy has it on hand: beer pong, shuffleboard, dry curling, crazy golf, crazy pool and more are available to play with a range of cocktails and pizza by the slice, as well as off-peak pricing during the more spacious weekdays.
Touted as ‘the Northern Quarter’s worst-kept secret’, the aptly-named Twenty Twenty Two invites Manchester for a late-night ping pong party, fuelled until 4am by its range of custom cocktails. Consistently packed on weekends, this basement club is to table tennis what Flight Club is to darts (although for good measure, Twenty Twenty Two have launched the secret Dead Eye Dart Club just off its main room).
Pledging to provide ‘bowling like you’ve never seen before’, Deansgate’s Lane7 is a sensory overload of neon cyberpunk abandon, swapping out Formica tables for booths of reclaimed wood and replacing the conventional bowling alley strip-lights with ultraviolet graffiti walls. With an expansive range of other activities—beer pong, karaoke, pool, shuffleboard, a ‘shooting pod’—and an even more expansive cocktail menu, the nationwide chain is a hive of guaranteed nocturnal fun.
Similarly formatted but spiritually closer to home, Sixes Social Cricket Club injects both the batting cage and the cocktail menu with English familiarity. Relatively new to the Corn Exchange after success in London, the team behind the world-renowned Mac and Wild restaurant bring VR cricket, Yorkshire Tea Tanqueray, rhubarb spritzes and even an experimental cheese-and-crackers cocktail to Manchester’s cobbles.
Built on the site of First Street’s Gaythorn Gasworks, this industrial bar & restaurant serves high-end takes on classic diner fare while shuffleboard tables line the aisles. Towering burgers, mac ‘n’ cheese and chilli dogs alongside perfect accompaniments from their in-house brewery have made for an immensely popular Manchester establishment that stays open late on weekends.
Anyone looking for an intense nostalgia hit will no doubt be overjoyed the moment they step into either of NQ64s Manchester sites—one in the Northern Quarter, the other on Peter Street. Retro consoles, classic arcade machines and beloved character-inspired cocktails, take a step back in time and game the night away.
Taking over the former home of the late, great Habas restaurant, the new activity bar from the El Gato team launches this spring with a carnival of games, food and irresistible cocktails. Pitched as the first joint in Manchester to offer ‘interactive shuffleboard’ alongside Flyby darts, pizzas, burgers and a customary selection of small plates which earned its parent tapas restaurant a glowing reputation across the North West.
From iconic arcade classics to EAFC24 on the PS5, the Northern Quarter’s pre-eminent gaming bar offers a veritable paradise of console entertainment with TVs in every booth, special tournaments and regularly updated titles to enjoy in pairs, groups or solo, as well as a steady stream of craft beers, cocktails, American diner fare and thumping music until the early hours.
Described as a ‘modern social club built for connection, competition and good times’, Loft Social is another new addition in the recent Stockport resurgence, taking over a gorgeous space above Sports Direct (which admittedly doesn’t sound too glamorous when written down, but trust us) overlooking the historic market square. Here’s you’ll find everything from Pétanque and deck shuffleboard to curling and archery
As the name suggests, this is a high-tech take on traditional shuffle, set within stylish Art Deco surroundings. Electric Shuffle’s supercharged take on the much-loved bar game uses state-of-the-art camera vision technology to track and score every puck, capture guests’ best moments with live shareable replays, and seamlessly integrate up to 32 players.
Point Blank features cutting-edge simulation shooting ranges that utilise the same systems used to train professionals. As well as the ranges, each of which can fit up to 10 people and includes full table service, the bar area also shows live sport. Prices start at £10 per person, per hour.
Pitch Golf, which only opened in Manchester in September, features 10 expertly designed golf simulator bays equipped with Ultra HD Trackman technology. Built to appeal to both avid golfers and newcomers alike, the concept offers world-class coaching, a central bar and lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows and an impressive sound system. When you’re not swinging, there are locally sourced craft brews, modern wines, handcrafted cocktails, and a curated menu of Asian-inspired dishes to get stuck into
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Fri 3 Oct 2025
Although darts is far from an obscure ale house pastime, Flight Club first appeared in London twelve years ago promising to reinvent the pub sport for the twenty-first century. A whirlwind decade of cocktails, artisanal pizza, digitized multiplayer games and national expansion later, Flight Club is the household name in ‘social darts’ for all punters of all backgrounds, catering to everything from date nights to hen parties and, of course, bottomless brunches.