Cape Town Nightlife

Gandalfs consists of three venues that cater for the METAL, Goth and Alternative music genres.
Always popular with a young energetic dance floor and crowd. Drinks seems to sometimes almost to be free! ROAR upstairs have regular Live bands.Free entry most of the time except with special events.
Every Tuesday between 9-11pm Gandalf's bring back all there original specials with free entry.
R5 double and mix, how awesome is that.
3 beers R10
3 shots Sours or Summbucca R10
Jack Daniels R6
Tequila R6.
Plus djs and bands.

Wednesdays Games night with Free Draught, Foosball, jugs and prizes with Dj Simone and guests, specials 9-11pm.

Thursdays Ladies night with FREE drinks from 9pm-2am with Dj Lauren and guests.

Fridays ONE HUGE PARTY specials 9pm-11pm with Dj Marius and guests.

Saturdays Student night Drinks are R5 all night with Dj Simone.

Mordor Returns strictly Metal in Gotham every Friday
Prizes and Free shooter at the door. Every Friday Metal and Metal events only with Dj Death, Dj Fluffy and guests.

Gotham / Mordor
299 Lower Main Road Observatory
Next to Gandalf’s
Every Friday Metal and Metal events only with Dj Death, Dj Fluffy and guests.

Every Saturday Goth and Goth Events only with Dj Minstrel and guests
Prizes and Free shooter at the door

Dress Code: Black,Black,Black,Metal,Skulls,Chains,,Hair styles all to match the goth culture.

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ROOTS in lower Main rd OBZ is a popular student venue-Wednesday nights is PSYCHEDELIC TRANCE by ORGANIK. Entry is R20 and they run happy hours and bar specials-can sometimes get loud and rowdy. Outside is a "beach" area for chilling and fresh air.Every Wednesday they rotate local and foreign dj's and producers .Good sound.
A good place for backpackers to meet the colorful locals of OBZ and dance till 4 am!
Be aware on leaving with valuables and do not leave them in the car!!
ONLY WEDNESDAYS
DRINK SPECIALS
Castle Draught 1 litre R21 • Double brandy and coke R15
Single vodka + redbull R25 • Double cane + creme soda R13
Jagermeister R11 • Tequila R11 • Brutal Fruit R12 • Smirnof Spin R12

R40 Entry • 9pm till Late • Fire Dancers on the Beach
3 Bars • Indoor / Outdoor • Killa Sound Rig • Extra UV
Lights • Full Decor Dance floor • Ventilated Dance floor

ROAR - No Under 18's - ID Required - No Weapons - No Narcotics - No Free Entry

Dress Code: Casual,grunge,beachwear.

OK, another Irish theme pub, but this one seems to manage to pull it off.
Situated about 1/2 way along Cape Town's popular tourist street - Long Street, Kennedy's manages to be quite busy what ever day, or time of year I have been to Cape Town.
Live bands provide entertainment to the punters most nights of week & there is a seated balcony type arrangement for a few people lucky enough to get a seat.
The only down side is that the drink prices are a bit expensive - to pay for the music i guess.
Yes it's a tourist / ex-pat bar, but Black & white seem to mix well here (not always the case in SA).

Dress Code: None that i'm aware of, but tidy casual dress helps.

This pub is right in the V&A Waterfront. After dinner, I wandered into this pub for a beer and never left. The people were extremely friendly and the atmosphere was great. If you are travelling alone, it is a great place to plop down at the bar, as you will almost certainly meet a bunch of people.

Dress Code: Very casual

Down at the waterfront, Quay Four is a good bar, they have live music at weekends and do decent food. There's 2 other bars, Mitchells and Ferrymans which are more like proper pubs, and a dangerous spot called Cantina Tequila.. no prizes for guessing the results of a night out there! There's a German bar in the new section of the Waterfront, it's the 'clocktower' section the beer is very good from memory.

Balduci's is a nice restaurant and there is a really good seafood place but the name escapes me, it's at the back near Balduci's facing the sea and the mountain.
For a typical cheap South African Burgers/Steaks & Ribs go to the Spur, it's always full of familys but the food is very good for the price.
There's a great coffee shop called Mug & Bean which do the best Muffins.

Away from the waterfront Camps Bay is a great spot to visit, will cost about €10 in a cab from town. Beautiful beach and a strip of top class bars and restaurants, for a great Steak (assuming your a meat eater) Theo's is the best in CT. Blues is a very cool spot too for food and drinks, they have music, generally Jazz & Blues stuff.
Other good drinking holes are Caprice at the other end of the strip and a place called 'La Med' which is technically in Clifton (Suburb next to Camps Bay) great for Sunday afternoon drinks or sunset drinks on a Thursday/Friday night.
There's been a lot of development since I was living there (3 years ago) and I know there's loads more places on that strip now but it's a wealthy suburb so you'll be mixing with Cape Town's beautiful people wherever you end up!

There are lots of good spots elsewhere, Green Point main road has a lot of good bars, News Cafe, Bhudda Bar, Buena Vista & Bar Cubana and there is a great Pizza place on Sea Point Main Road called Postichinos both are short Taxi Rides from the Waterfront.
Sea point main road can get a bit rough after dark so don't decide to go for a wander down any side roads!

Dress Code: In Cape Town city centre there is long street which runs up to kloof street, these have become cool backpacker hangouts so there are lots of places around, on the safety aspect some people would be a bit scared of this area at night but it's generally very busy with young travellers so you shouldn't have any problems.... If you do brave it there's a great Thai place called Yindee's at the top of Kloof st and cool runnings & Joburg are 2 of the better bars on long street.

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Cool Runnings is a very fine place to spend an evening listening to live music, although by preference I'd wait for nice, warm weather so that the band could set up in the "sandbox", the courtyard surrounded by ersatz palm trees, thatched roofs, and lots of room to dance, or just to stretch out with some rum-based drink. Inside is fine, too, although things get crowded quickly and the smoke level rises alarmingly. The drinks are good. The food is passable, sufficient to keep you from getting truly plastered (though I'd stay away from the fries, personally).

Dress Code: Anything goes

The above mentioned clubs are worth checking out. But if you want to go to one of the best clubs of the city, you have to go to Ignite in Camps Bay. Youll find the best looking people and overall jetset vibe. Many celebrities come here to enjoy the great music they play, which consists of house, techno and a bit of hip hop. Another descent but not as cool club is Opium, you have to make sure to go on a friday night if you want to enjoy it, the music isnt as good but the people are well dressed and you wont have problems there due to the stiff security. Atmosphere has good hip hip beats on saturday nights, its very cheap to get into, and the drinks are also very very very cheap between 2-4€. Atmosphere gets good after 2am, so dont come earlier than that. Galaxy is the smallest of these clubs, the music is mediocre and its mainly hip hop. The people here arent as well dressed, they are just there for the music and cheap drinks. Its good if you want to club hop to start with Galaxy, but dont stay too long. Finally Caprice, very very cool club/restaurant, the people are sexy and the music is hot, check it out for sure.

Dress Code: Smart casual would be recommended at Opium and Ignite, the other two are vere lenient when it comes to dress code, just dont wear sneakers.

Some of the more popular spots along Long Street. All look a bit sketchy on the outside, but are a great party on the inside. Tends to be a more multicultural setting unlike waterfront clubs. Cheaper drinks and go all night. Cover charges usually between 10-20ZAR ($2-3USD). Drinks are about the same price. Beer is always a better choice. If you want a mixed drink you have to buy the mix as well.

Women beware of wandering hands.

Dress Code: whatever you're comfortable in.