Manchester's Simmons Bar turns one year old

This week marked the one year anniversary of Simmons bar and one thing is for sure, they definitely know how to throw a birthday party.

Easily recognisable with its sky blue exterior and bright pink sign, Simmons is located right at the end of Deansgate towards Market Street. It's fitted out with innumerable disco balls and neon lights surrounding booths for you to sit down in with a few friends and drinks earlier on in the evening, and a dance floor to migrate as your night progresses.

Credit: Ruby Filleul @ The Mancunion

Upon our arrival, we were able to try their teapot cocktails. These cost £15 during happy hour, 4pm till 9pm, and serve 4 generous tea cups, making them great value and well worth ordering for anyone visiting. They come in seven flavours: Sex with a Teapot, Gummy Bear Teapot, Long Island Iced Teapot, Pornstar Martini Teapot, French Press, Hendricks G & Teapot, and Zombie Apocalypse — each of which we thoroughly enjoyed.

However, out of all of those, we would most recommend the French Press. As it comes in a French press it does provide slightly fewer glasses than the teapots, however the flavour of the coffee in it was exceptional and accompanied by just enough vodka to make this a distinctly evening drink.

Credit: Ruby Filleul @ The Mancunion

They also offer a wide range of beers on draught, wines, and mixers with notably good happy hour deals for central Manchester. Between 4pm and 9pm every day a glass of wine will only set you back £3, a bottle of beer £2.50, and 2-4-1 deals are applicable to all cocktails, making this a great location for those of us on a budget.

Credit: Ruby Filleul @ The Mancunion

Food-wise we were able to try their pepperoni and margherita pizza slices which were excellent. With perfectly gooey cheese, which created a satisfying pull with each bite, and a rich tomato sauce lying beneath, we would absolutely have these again. The pizza bases could have been slightly crispier, but they were still a great bite and absolutely huge! Two slices per person was enough for us and on Fridays they are available at only £1 per slice.

What truly sets Simmons apart, however, was the atmosphere which was electric all night long. From girls in lycra on roller skates whizzing through the crowd, to dancers with disco balls on their heads sashaying across the floor, we couldn't stop smiling.

Credit: Ruby Filleul @ The Mancunion

They also offer a private karaoke booth next to the dance floor which got a big thumbs up from us. A great way to step out from what could be a bit of an overstimulating atmosphere at times and to show off your inner Freddie Mercury to a select few — we would definitely recommend taking a turn with the karaoke.

If you haven't tried Simmons before we would definitely recommend giving it a go. £5 margaritas all night on Mondays, £15 teapots all night on Tuesdays, and Bottomless sessions available every weekend — what's not to like?

Simmons is open 4pm-12am Mondays and Tuesdays, 4pm-2am Wednesday-Friday, 12pm-3am Saturday and 2pm-2am Sunday.