Walkabout

I have visited a few different Walkabouts, and have never been particularly enthralled with the place. I’m not really a fan of chain bars and restaurants, and this is a classic example of why.
I have been to this particular Walkabout twice for their £5 lunch menu, and there are signs everywhere saying that if your food doesn’t arrive in 15 minutes you get it for free. This just doesn’t happen. I have waited half an hour both times I have been — and it’s got nothing to do with it being busy. It was empty.
The staff aren’t particularly friendly or helpful either, which is a shame. This usually makes up for microwaved late food at least a little bit. My friend wanted a hot drink, the coffee machine was broke. I’m pretty certain they would have had a kettle in the back, but instead the guy just shrugged his shoulders.
I have never been for a night out as it’s not really my scene, but people do usually look like they’re having a good time when I walk past (the smoking area is to the front of the building). I think this has something to do with the bar deals, which are quite cheap. But I’d just like to stress — they’re cheap for basic drinks. Cheap lager and shots of Sourz, student drinks which are deserved of their prices.
If you’re a real drinker — you’ll be disappointed. I order a bottle of Bud and it was £4, not cheap at all in comparison to other places that are much nicer and more friendly.

I’m not a big fan of Walkabout. I go every year when on an organised Santa Claus Pub Crawl, a couple of Saturdays before Christmas and as it is the last stop am too drunk to care where I am.
It’s not all bad, you can have a good night with the right people but to be honest it’s not somewhere I’d choose to go on a Saturday night. When I first lived in Manchester I used to come here quite a bit but that was about 7 years ago.
I went after work for one today as it was someone’s leaving do and was actually alright. Maybe it’s a different crowd after work than Saturday nights.
The good: —
1. The drinks are cheap. Think they must have a happy hour early evening as I only paid £1.30 for a medium glass of red wine. You can’t argue with that.
2. It is a big venue and if there is a large group then there is plenty of room.
3. It has two floors and plays different music on each. The top floor is more club/​dance music and the bottom floor is cheesy pop/​RnB. I prefer the bottom floor, especially when on the Santa Claus Pub Crawl because they play all the best Christmas songs, including Mariah Carey!
4. Australia Day — if you want to go somewhere to celebrate then this is a good place to come.
The bad: —
1. If you go and you’re not drinking then you will get really fed up of all the people getting drunk on cheap drink.
2. Without meaning to sound like a snob, the clientele are not particularly nice. You get a lot of students, young people and also the types who go out to cause problems. And unfortunately for Walkabout this is a big downer which really outweighs the other good things.
3. The décor and general appearance is a bit run down.

G’day — I’m going to split this review into two parts. Walkabout during the day, and Walkabout at night. I’m doing this because depending when you go they are completely different places (well, the ambiance is — the building stays right where it always is).
During the day (up until about 4.30) it’s a quiet place, they serve decent (ish) pub food and even have a £5 lunch menu. If you’re nearby and don’t feel like hunting out somewhere better to eat, it’ll do just fine. Equally, if you’re on a budget, and fancy a quick pint at lunch time, you’ll be OK (just to be clear though, there are *much* better places nearby that you can eat or drink in).
In the evening and into the night however, it turns into what I can only describe as the most second most retched hive of scum and villainy this side of Mos Eisley. The cheap drinks attrach the local office crowd looking for the cheap beer and 2 for 1s with the sole intention of getting as plastered as they can; it’s not pretty.
As far as the venue itself is concerned, I can only think of two words to describe it. The first one is ‘dark’ — apart from the doors at the front, and one window at the back, there’s no natural light at all, and the low ceilings don’t help. The second word is ‘sticky’. I’m not saying that you’ll stick to *every* surface, just most of them, and even when you’re not actively trying to unstick youself, you get the feeling that you’re going to be again pretty soon.
What I would say in their defence is that they’re true to who they are. They’re not trying to pretend that they’re classy or upmarket. Thet sell themselves as cheap, and that’s exactly what you get.

Good no frills sports bar ticks all the boxes.

Give me a C… give me an H… give me an E (not something to be shouted in the clubs of Manchester)… give me an A… give me a P… what have we got? CHEAP.
Cheerleading is of course not particularly Australian — and Australia Day reminded me that I’m heading to Walkabout tomorrow. So I thought, why not describe my experiences here? So I’ve yet to have the kangaroo steaks, which my Australian-​for-​a-​year-​and-​a-​half-​or-​so boyfriend assures me are very tasty and that one shouldn’t be scared of them… they also stock his favourite Aussie beer which is excellent for Australia Day.
What else reminds my beloved of Australia? For one, this seemingly purposefully dive-​esque bar plays a great deal of music that comes from Australia. We’re talking all those happy rock-​pop bands (more guitar, less didgeridoo, less wobbleboard), happy because they live in a young country with a great economy, plenty of sunshine and a seemingly healthy attitude regarding food, surfing, friendship, pop culture… hey, don’t be so smug, Australia, at least us Poms don’t have bugs lurking in every household corner that could kill or paralyse us just by looking at us. You know. Be thankful for small mercies and all that.
Believe it or not, I have actually eaten here before. No, but, this is true! Stupid Ex brought me here to watch football, and this speaks volumes of my patience considering I’m not interested in football (hence Ex, and well, Stupid). Anyway it also proves that they show all the sports at Walkabout, and it has that coveted big projector screen (a great place to watch the games, I can assure you), well, we were there for a long time and humans gotta eat. I actually had a simple veggie burger there, nice chips, nice salad, to be fair it was just what the doctor ordered and the quality was absolutely top. So I wouldn’t advise against a meal here, far from it!
Bu the biggest seller? The prices. A Walkabout loyalty ‘Boomerang’ card will set you back a couple of quid and allows you lower prices on food, all kinds of crazy deals on drinks like two for ones, and makes coming here all the more worthwhile. So it also has a pleasant after hours atmosphere. Its location behind Spinningfields on Quay Street means many surrounding offices utilise it as ‘their local’, so you may find the suits in here, my darling being one of them. This place also has a large space with a stage prepared for live bands, there’s pretty much always somewhere to sit, the food might not have the ManCon types drooling but it fills a gap, everything’s ridiculously underpriced, it’s one of the best places in town to watch live sports (considering the demise of the nearby Sports Café) and it’s close to just about every link to every part of the city. Hmm. I’m really trying to find something wrong with it. As has been mentioned, the clientele aren’t always spot on and can be a little shouty but you risk that anywhere. Come on, show Walkabout some love. It shows the public plenty.

I went there this Friday to celebrate a mate from work. It was three quid to get in there and I regret paying even that. A mixture of people. Some of them dressed fancy, for a night out, some of them dressed very casual with trainers and t-​shirts. It’s cool cuz you can asked the dj for few songs and ‘announcements’, but unfortunately he put a song for five time during the time I was in there. The music is not my thing anyway. I mean you can dance, but too pop for girlies. I don’t know. I like something that will make me dance and not stop for fair few hours. The dance floor is really tiny. More than 10 people will struggle in there.
The beer is quite pricey. I’ve paid 3 and a bit for a tiny tiny bottle. But I suppose is a club near Deansgate so that will make sense.
I next to say that I won’t chose the place for a night out, unless I need to go in there for a mate.

Aaah Walkabout… I made the mistake of taking my parents in Walkabout, and oh I should add, it was day time, I wouldn’t subject my parents to the strange doings of Walkabout by night. I have actually seen a girl in a neon pink bikini top and not much else in here before now, a mistake not often repeated, twas mistaken youth, and well, on our way to another venue and this was on the way with supposed cheap drinks…
By day you can get your chomps around a kangaroo burger, yes kanagaroo, mother dearest actually ordered this, thinking it was a piddle take, expecting it to be beef, just called kangaroo, and the ruddy kangaroo ended up in her orange juice cos she spat it out.
Think that was the highlight of things I guess. Aside from the company. Ok I am being harsh, day time it’s not too bad, but night time, eugh. Australians must be cringing at the thought of this piss poor representation and affiliation.

I’m going to break it to you guys, that I’ve had my eyes on my first and last strip-​show right here in Walkabout!
And no, there was no hot, big bossomed girl in bare nothings if that’s what you’re thinking. Instead it was a man, not so handsome, just steroid boosted body in bare minimals and lots of dirty-​ness on him. Not such an enjoyable sight. A little too much can soon turn into a bit of an eww-​situation.
So it was an ‘Ann Summer’s’ Party that got us all naïve first year yelly girls thinking of how it’s going to be all kinky and hot and pink and black. Well we were defnitely met with some sex toys sales to be precise but obviously we passed. I’m good and innocent (it works for me!). Then we had a very unneccessary show which was the peak of the night and soon as it was over the club began to turn into any other club night. Boy, were we glad! Overall the night had been quite eventful! Eventful enough to remember it for a really long time!
I’d been here a couple of times before as well and all I got to say is that this is ‘Theee student bar!’ It is friggin’ cheap! And we love Cheap Cheap Cheap! It makes us happy and euphoric and we don’t care abut cheap vodka killing our insides in the peak of youth! Yes, we’re built like this!
So Walkabout is all about having a cheap bar night which can always get a little crazy! Once i entered here on a one pound night! Was amazing that night.
Walkabout can only mean fun fun fun and please don’t wear you’re best outfit, let loose and throw yourself to the absolutely thumping music that they play!

This place is pretty awful.
My friend works here so she’ll probably be pretty annoyed when she see’s this review but this really is a horrible place.
Some good points are that it is very very cheap and it’s very good for sports.
Hoever at the weekends It’s full of an older crowd in younger clothes. I’ll let that image work it’s magic for a second…
And it always seems to smell a bit like stale lager in here which is just not very nice.
They serve food during the day (including kangaroo steaks!) which is actually not too bad as far a bar/​pub food goes.
The place is absolutely huge and even has a Walkabout Hotel situated above it… not that you’d ever want to stay there. I actually remember hearing about a student night here which gave away a hotel room to a couple each night… eww!

The clue is in the name.
Walkabout.
They are basically telling you to give it a miss aren’t they?
Could have been a little more specific with Walkaway, Go For A Walk, Walkaround or Keep On Walking but I suppose by keeping it fairly cryptic they ensure themselves the idiot £.
Totally put me off going to Australia.

What is an Australian theme, anyway? I mean, there were no BBQ’s going on here, no Midnight Oil, Kylie or AC/​DC on the sound system, and Crocodile Dundee wasn’t on the widescreens.
Walkabout Manchester is three big rooms where there will either be Sport or Music banging out at you at whatever the relevant time of day it is. Now, I’m not knocking it — if that’s what you want, fine by me, and there have been times when that’s exactly what I fancied.
Just a note on the food — if you want a burger, this is your place. If you want fried food with extra fries, again this is your place. If you want some pasta or something remotely healthy, forget it.
Beers are standard fayre and prices neither cheap nor expensive.
Manila, as the corporates say.

Never much of a fan of Walkabouts. But this one has to be the worst i have visited.
The doorstaff were rude, the atmosphere in the place was poor, despite it been full. Also, it took way too long to get served for drinks (40 mins!!).

This place is great. The seats with built in televisions are fantastic if you want to eat and watch TV at the same time! There is a wide range of beers and wines available a competitive prices. The staff were friendly and the pub itself was nice and clean.
We ordered two meals, the menu was quite plain but should suit most people. The food was well prepared and very tasty, nothing fancy but at the price it was very good value.
It’s location is excellent, right in the city centre so handy for all the shops as well.

typical walkabout bar! plenty of cheese and 80’s and shots for £1!

Australian themed disco-​pub, rather than a bar. Tends to be very noisy with the DJ, but if that is what you fancy it is lively, fun and generally reasonable value.

Walkabouts is an Australian themed bar that has loads of venues all over the country. The Manchester one has 3 floors, each with a bar. The first floor has the DJ on it, and a dancefloor. The second has a balcony overlooking the dancefloor downstairs, and has the same music. The third floor is a club in its own right called «Surfers Paradise». It has its own DJ and he plays commercial dance and trance. It’s usually pretty busy up there and its a bit chavvy for me, so I tend to stick to the first 2 floors, where the DJ plays chart, cheese, classics and 80s music. The bar has average prices, and they do shots for around £1 in flavours of butterscotch, peach, chocolate and apple, and they do mixed shooters that I think are a little dearer, but you get 2 separate flavours that mix when you down it! You get a real mix of people in here, it’s a great night, and its open til 3am at weekends!