Vanilla

Although I am the demographic who Vanilla purports to be marketing to — young (or I was when I was there), queer, female, into music — I never had a good time at Vanilla. It was often either completely empty or horribly crowded — not a problem until it became clear that the crowd was largely unfriendly and judgemental. If you don’t have the same haircut (there are 3 acceptable variations, if i remember correctly), the right clothes, and all of the stupid shit that makes some lesbians and queer women see that you’re «one of them,» you’re treated indifferently at best and poorly at worst.
It was sad to realize that I didn’t like Vanilla — I’d never lived anywhere where there was a bar that catered particularly to lesbian and queer women. I was hoping for more — or, really, for anything that wasn’t this.

‘Oy lads look, it says ‘where the girls are!’, that’s where we need to go innit boys. Then we can talk about football and cars and get some boobs innit. Wehey’
Want to avoid lads like this?
Then Vanilla is the place for you.
Rather than a slogan aimed at enticing the rugby team inside, ‘where the girls are’ refers to this great bar’s lesbian community.
Being neither female nor lesbian myself, I initially thought it might not be for me, but one step inside and you realize that all this really means is that everyone is welcome, and everyone can be themselves.
Great place, decent music, not expensive. A right laugh. Probably don’t come here for the rugby team social.

Vanilla. ‘Where the Girls Are.’ Or according to a friend of mine who was put off after one visit, ‘Where the girls who emulate Shane from The L Word are.’ But she’s a very militant lesbian who doesn’t like being frowned upon by a bunch of scrawny teenagers with feathered hairdos and skinny jeans because of her red lipstick, womanly figure and vintage 1920s hairdo.
You’ll get the odd stereotype in Vanilla as Sophie says but there are plenty of trendy young things. The rule is if you’re a guy, you’re more than welcome, but only with a gal on your arm. You can meet the entire staff body on the website, they all look friendly and they make me feel old. Early twenties sods. Vanilla’s a gay village staple with a traditional edge — while it has enough parties and groups heading there it’s a lesbian bar first and foremost. It’s not the kind of place that will turn you away for wearing ‘fancy dress’ (this is a true story. A friend of mine and her girlfriend went out in their best suits on Canal Street and the exact above thing happened to them) and the whole reason I know about it is that during Gay Pride, it had an L Word quiz night.
If there’s one area in which I know my trivia, it’s those impossibly perfect and dramatic Los Angeles lesbians. That DVD boxset is my instant go-​to when I’ve got a freezer full of Ben and Jerry’s and a microwave full of salt and pepper popcorn. Whether you’re gay, straight or somewhere in between, Vanilla lives up to its literal as opposed to slang name. By that I mean that proper vanilla flavour packs a punch, and so does this club. Give it a try.

This lesbian bar is anything but vanilla (as in sex that is conventional, safe, boring). Instead, Vanilla is a great night out for girls to relax and have a dance. Its popular for hen and stag do’s too.
Their tagline is Where The Girls Are and since it opened eleven years ago, the bar has won many awards for promoting amd enhancing the lesbian nightlife scene in Manchester.
The crowd in this pretty small establishment is going to make me majorly stereotype but I can’t help it. Young. Mullets, the lumberjack look, a smattering of tattoos. You know the sort. But there are a few other types who frequent Vanilla too mixing it out a little at least.
Men — listen up though — bring some women with you else you may not find yourselves welcome.

Supposedly the only lesbian bar in the village (although I would argue Coyote’s is pretty dykealicious), this place is frequented by the younger crowd (I’m 26, I felt a bit old in there).
Its a very small bar, although it was fairly quiet when I went. The staff were friendly and the drinks weren’t overly expensive. The clientele isn’t very mixed (baby dykes with the styled mullets and check shirts as far as I could tell)
Not a bad place but not great either

Having read the fairly negative recent reviews and having spoken to quite a few older lesbians as a weekend visitor, I was intrigued to observe what it was about this bar that stirred up such strident and verbose criticism. Well there is no denying that the only dedicated lesbian bar in M/​c caters for a very specific market and has a sexless youth club feel to it. It was evident that it catered to that market very well, but maybe if older clientele frequented this bar, a more approachable, balanced mix could be obtained.

Meh!
Could be better and it’s way too small inside, possibly the smallest bar I have ever walked into. Seems like an alright place, okay to stop off for a couple of drinks — bar is quite cheap and sometimes a few offers are on. The bar staff were very warm and welcoming unlike the clientèle Vanilla attracts. Overtly stereotypical lesbians, hung around the pool table, clutching their pool cues menacingly like some sort of phallic extension, swigging their frothy lagers wishing or likening themselves to Shane from the L Word — cheer up will ya, it’s not exactly ‘attractive’ is it ladies?
Far too elitist for me and others I guess.

Rubbish place
Great if you’re 18 and into the gay girl uniform of over styled hair, vest tops and low slung jeans. For anyone else it’s a nightmare. In my ever so humble opinion. I’m in my mid 30s, I’m not dead yet but I find that vanilla really does make me channel my mother and moue with disapproval.
Listen, if you’re hitting Manchester for the first time, you’re over 25 and you’re a woman give it a miss — you’ll get fed up of all the kids looking you up and down because you’re dressed wrong. Go to Coyotes instead where it is far less posey and much more relaxed.
Also — hey vanilla people! There are all shades and colours of lesbian you know — butch femme is perfectly acceptable, we’re not all andros.
Ah what can i say? Maybe I am too old for ‘the scene’ but to be honest I am glad about that. I like to have a good time when I am out and for me Vanilla is not a good time.

I was very lucky to be allowed in to this bar a few years ago as I was accompanied by a lesbian (in fact it was the only reason she was allowed out that evening)
Anyway, this was a really nice bar, everyone was very friendly and the lay out was great.
The drinks were reasonably priced and the range of cocktails was fantastic (we sampled quite a few).

The only official ‘dyke bar’ in Manchester — men can only come in if accompanied by a woman. The main attraction of this place is knowing that it will have a mostly lesbian clientele, and you can play pool for free. Upstairs there are nice seated booths and the décor is quite nice.
The map is wrong, by the way, the bar is pretty much opposite Baa Bar off Sackville Street near the gay village.

in the heart of the gay village the only lesbian bar, bring a bloke as a guest only.