Entertainment in Adelaide
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A
Exeter
The best pub in the city, this legendary boozer attracts a kooky mix of post-work, punk and uni drinkers, shaking the day off their backs. Pull up a stool or a table in the grungy beer garden ( sooo much better without the smokers) and settle in for the evening. Music most nights; curry nights Wednesday and Thursday.
reviewed
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B
Worldsend Hotel
In Hindley St, grunge and sleaze collide with student energy, and groovy bars sit amid adult bookshops and strip joints. Here you'll find student hangouts like the Worldsend Hotel (which also serves bar meals) and the cool, ambient Supermild Lounge Bar.
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C
Fumo Blu
A hip, 50s-style underground cigar bar/club with a tropical fish tank, super-dry martinis and Moët by the glass. If that don't tickle your fancy, try the house signature cocktail 'Blue Smoke'. Oh, and dress to impress - no jeans in here.
reviewed
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Grace Emily
The ‘Gracie’ has live music most nights, featuring up-and-coming Australian acts. Inside it’s all kooky ’50s-meets-voodoo decor, open fires and great beers. Cult cinema Tuesday nights. Look for the UFO on the roof.
reviewed
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E
Archer
A cool place for SA wines and microbrews, with a jovial big-screen front bar, snooker room, music room (weekend DJs), and fireside lounge with chesterfields. Classy pub food too (mains $15 to $25).
reviewed
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Colonist
Funky countercultural boozing on Norwood's otherwise mainstream Parade.
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F
Ramsgate Hotel
Located on Henley's bustling square, the Ramsgate has a lovely green wrought-iron exterior contrasting with the cream and pale beetroot stonework. The bar inside is a riot of polished wood and is just begging to be propped up by an elbow joined firmly to a hand gripping a Coopers. Sit outside and admire the jet skis buzzing around the water and do a spot of people-watching.
reviewed
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G
Distill
Super-sassy Rundle St bar with a tight dress code (to the nines) and a kickin’ organic cocktail list. Sustainable snacks (sourced within 100 miles) are creatively paired with wines: Limestone Coast cloth cheddar with juicy, ‘wet dog Shiraz’; organic basil pesto with ‘herbaceous, greasy Riesling’.
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Governor Hindmarsh Hotel
Ground Zero for live music in Adelaide, ‘The Gov’ hosts some legendary local and international acts. The odd Irish band fiddles around in the bar, while the main venue features rock, folk, jazz, blues, salsa, reggae and dance. A huge place with an inexplicably personal vibe.
reviewed
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Savvy Bar & Lounge
Savvy gets pumping with commercial house music, featuring DJs and special guests. It's very popular with the 18-25 set who like to make fun their priority and let it all fly. If you're after a more chilled-out scene, grab a lounge spot at Tonic, its sister across the road.
reviewed
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Mojo West
A relaxed club around town (dress code and atmosphere), Mojo West has freaky blue light emanating from under the pool table cushions and quasi–Easter Island graffiti art – it certainly looks the part! Thursday university nights attract pretty young things to the lights.
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Glenelg Jetty Hotel
A great place with an open bar to Jetty Rd; it's the perfect Glenelg spot for viewing the passing traffic. If you're tired of the polished, brushed, shiny look, this is the place for you. It's the hub of this suburb and a great place to meet other travellers.
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Crown & Sceptre
An urbane boozer drawing all-comers, from legal-eagles on adjournment from trial to ditch diggers in their boots. Ambient tunes, DJs most nights, sidewalk tables, a cool little beer garden and better-than-average pub food (mains $15 to $28).
reviewed
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Moskva Vodka Bar West
Moskva Vodka Bar West Moskva is a 20-something fashionistas dream with four bars and patrons wearing their weekend finest. It's one of the city's hottest clubs with a packed, chandelier-decorated dance floor and watermelon martinis.
reviewed
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N
Lotus Lounge
We like the signage here – a very minimal fluoro martini glass with a flashing olive. Inside it’s a glam lounge with cocktails, quality beers and Adelaide dolls cuttin’ the rug. Expect queues around the corner on Saturday nights.
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Universal Wine Bar
A hip crowd clocks-in to this stalwart bar to select from 200-plus South Australian and international wines, and a menu (mains $22 to $36) packed with SA produce. ‘The scene is very Italian’, says the barman.
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HQ Complex
Adelaide’s biggest club occupies the bad-old Heaven complex, filling five big rooms with shimmering sound and light. Night time is the right time on Saturdays – the biggest (and trashiest) club night in town.
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Edinburgh Castle Hotel
There's a rocking dance floor at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel along with a bistro and beer garden. It's a local, friendly gay hangout with male strippers on Wednesday. On weekends DJs stoke things up.
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Jive
In a converted theatre, Jive caters to an off-beat crowd of student types who like their tunes funky, left-field and removed from the mainstream. A sunken dance floor = great views from the bar!
reviewed
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Supermild
A down-sized basement bar that stays and stays while other West End bars come and go. Hip staff, retro-lounge interior, funky tunes – arguably the best bar in town (if you can get in!).
reviewed
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Dan O’connell
An Irish pub without a whiff of kitsch Celtic cash-in! Just great Guinness, open fires, acoustic music and a house-sized pepper tree in the beer garden (161 years old and counting).
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Salt Bar & Restaurant
Sassy Salt pulls the punters to dine (upper-crust oysters, fish and steak) or just for drinks from the island bar. Live DJs and duos Thursday to Saturday; jazz on Sunday afternoon.
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Wheatsheaf
A hidden gem under the flight path in industrial Thebarton, with an artsy crowd of students, jazz musos, lesbians, punks and rockers. Tidy beer garden; live music Friday to Monday.
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Pier One Bar
A cavernous sports bar with voyeuristic beach views and fold-back windows for when the sea breeze drops. As many screens as staff (a lot of each), and raucous Sunday sessions.
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Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
Facing-off across Rundle St, both cinemas feature new-release art-house, foreign- language and independent films as well as some mainstream flicks.
reviewed