This year, a venue has opened that you would be more likely to find in the West End of London than the West End of San Antonio. Plastik is a trendy new bar just next to May department store close to the bustling KFC/Mega Music junction.
By day its function as a trendy record shop and internet café with state-of-the-art recording studio, has made it a meeting point for workers and holidaymakers alike. By night though, it becomes a bar, along the lines of the club/bar hybrids springing up in most UK cities. Partner and Is Harry on the Boat? author Colin Butts hopes it will help to eventually improve the West End's image.
'The West End has had a bad rep for so many years and we want to help change that. I genuinely believe this could be the start of a major shake up. If other bar owners see we're doing well and that there's a demand in the West End for a more upmarket bar, then I'm sure they'll follow suit. This is what's required for the West End to truly change - economic reasons as well as political ones.'
'We're an alternative to having to go to Ibiza Town or the Sunset Strip to find a bar where you can listen to good music, at a reasonable level and in a nice environment,' adds partner Andy Matthews. 'Our prices are the same as other West End bars but it's not the kind of place to come in and sing football songs or wander round with your shirt off. We steer that kind of customer to other places. As such, girls seem to love it here because they don't get hassled. Even the girls from Secret Garden pop in and we've not yet had a chorus of 'get your tits out'…where else in the West End could that happen!'
Given that the new Mayor has already expressed a desire to stop bar crawls and two for one drinks offers, it seems as though Plastik are certainly in line with government thinking.
By day its function as a trendy record shop and internet café with state-of-the-art recording studio, has made it a meeting point for workers and holidaymakers alike. By night though, it becomes a bar, along the lines of the club/bar hybrids springing up in most UK cities. Partner and Is Harry on the Boat? author Colin Butts hopes it will help to eventually improve the West End's image.
'The West End has had a bad rep for so many years and we want to help change that. I genuinely believe this could be the start of a major shake up. If other bar owners see we're doing well and that there's a demand in the West End for a more upmarket bar, then I'm sure they'll follow suit. This is what's required for the West End to truly change - economic reasons as well as political ones.'
'We're an alternative to having to go to Ibiza Town or the Sunset Strip to find a bar where you can listen to good music, at a reasonable level and in a nice environment,' adds partner Andy Matthews. 'Our prices are the same as other West End bars but it's not the kind of place to come in and sing football songs or wander round with your shirt off. We steer that kind of customer to other places. As such, girls seem to love it here because they don't get hassled. Even the girls from Secret Garden pop in and we've not yet had a chorus of 'get your tits out'…where else in the West End could that happen!'
Given that the new Mayor has already expressed a desire to stop bar crawls and two for one drinks offers, it seems as though Plastik are certainly in line with government thinking.
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