Nightclubs
HQ
(http://www.hqcomplex.com.au/) 1 north tce, â+61 8 7221 1245, previously known as "heaven" and "heaven ii", a complex at the far end of the west end with the best sound system and most floor space to be found anywhere in the city. it is easily adelaide's largest club. the big nights are saturday, where you'll hear mostly commercial house, with a little trance, and wednesday, which is a retro night. fridays can also be big, depending on what's on.
Mars Bar
120 gouger st, â +61 8 8231 9639. adelaide's only gay club. straight people are also welcome.
Jive
300 capacity mainly live venue that hosts local and interstate rock/alternative/indie acts. Also home to indie/alternative dance club Gosh! on Saturdays after the bands. Open every weekend and sometimes during the week.
Bars
Zhivago
155 waymouth st, this west end bar attracts a friendly, relaxed, mid-20s crowd.
Fumo Blu
270 rundle st, â +61 8 8232 2533. below ground cocktail lounge in the heart of rundle st.
Boho
27 unley rd, unley. (http://www.bohobar.com.au...) â +61 8 8271 5544. burlesque themed bar, with live music and burlesque and period performances, located a 5 min drive, bus or tram ride south of the cbd. half price cocktails wednesday and sunday 6-9pm.
Supermild
182 hindley st, â +61 8 8212 9699. situated underground look for steps leading down off hindley street west. a dimly-lit cocktail bar. djs have eclectic electronica tendencies.
Rocket Bar
142 hindley st, (http://www.rocketbar.com.au). inconspicuously located off hindley st it's a door with a sign above it. live venue hosting international/interstate and local alternative indie acts. also home to indie/alternative modular nights and abracadabra on fridays. open every weekend until late.
'First,' 128 Rundle Mall, â +61 8 8223 4044. In the Richmond Hotel, The only nightspot on Rundle Mall. First started life as a chilled out cocktail bar, but rapidly became popular as an after-work spot on Fridays, and could now also be filed under "clubs". On weekends they are packed out and play commercial house, but on weeknights it reverts to the original cocktail bar atmosphere.
Pubs
Grandstand
Adelaide casino, north ter, â +61 8 8212 2811. su-th 10am-late, f sa 11am-5:30am. situated on the 1st floor of adelaide casino, grandstand is adelaide's premier venue for watching all live sporting events. featuring several tv screens showing all the action from fox sports, setanta and main event, grandstand also has full keno and tab facilities. a bar menu is also available, as are regular great drink promotions.
Crown & Anchor
196 grenfell st, â +61 8 8223 3212. m-w 11am-3am, th-sa 11am-4am. situated just off rundle st, this adelaide institution is often referred to as "the cranker", or less kindly, the "crowd of wankers" attracts those of an alternative bent. goths, metalheads, punks and hippies all mingle in this multi-roomed venue, sipping beer. but don't worry, piercings and tattoos aren't essential to have a good time. music playing could be just about anything.
Worldsend
208 hindley st, â +61 8 8231 9137. m-f 11am-late, sa 4pm-late, su closed. serves food all day. this lively pub features a beer garden and a solid restaurant. the crowd is generally early to mid 20s, many from the nearby hindley street campus of the university of south australia. while it definitely has a strong pub feel, the music is more like a bar, with live jazz and funk, house and drum'n'bass rather than rock the order of the day.
The Exeter
246 rundle st, â +61 8 8223 2623. this friendly old-school pub is much frequented by students from nearby adelaide university and tafe. at night, it has an alternative feel drawing crowds from all areas. two back rooms contain a great little restaurant. the curry nights on wednesday and thursday are popular. small music venue, mostly showcasing live alternative bands. m-su 11am-late.
The Archer
60 o'connell st, â +61 8 8361 9300. modern, hip feel and a large range of beers on tap. be aware that it has to close earlier than most places usually midnight due to residential noise restrictions.
The Cumberland Arms
205 waymouth st, â +61 8 8231 3577. m 9am-midnight, tu 9am-1am, w-th 9am-3am, f sa 6pm-4am, su 6pm-2am. located in a strip of bars and clubs along the southern end of light square adjacent to hindley st. the cumberland was bought out and refurbished some years ago. nowadays it's a cozy spot which does a good job of being all things to all people. the front bar areas conceal a dance floor within, where a dj is invariably playing house, and an outdoor area around the side. the popularity of "the cumby" is cyclic, but if it's not happening, one of the adjacent places will be.
The Grace Emily
232 waymouth st, (http://www.graceemilyhote...) â +61 8 8231 5500. opposite "the cumberland. the grace has plenty of trinkets behind and around the bar to keep one's eyeballs busy whilst nursing a coopers or bloody mary. local, interstate and overseas bands play most nights. every monday night billy bob's bbq jam sees a variety of local bands strut their stuff to impress the crowd with 3 or 4 songs though perhaps more by popular demand whilst a sausage sizzle out the beer garden feeds the hordes - a highlight of an otherwise quiet evening in adelaide.
The Austral
Rundle st. (http://www.theaustral.com/). on the main street for shopping and nightlife in adelaide, which is really the same long street as hindley st but with a different name either side of king william road, and the pedestrian only rundle mall in the middle. the austral is the unofficial backpackers pub of choice.
Coopers Alehouse
316 pulteney st, (http://www.coopersalehous...) also known by the original name still on the front facade the earl of aberdeen. the only pub to hold the complete range of coopers beers on tap, including the vintage ale. also serves good food, including pizzas, in the attached arnou woodfired at the earl restaurant. 10 min walk from the rundle st-pulteney st intersection.
The Stag
299 rundle st. cnr of rundle and east tce, (http://www.staghotel.com.au/). more up market establishment, with good views of the parklands from the al fresco seating, good range of drinks and weekly live music. the second floor balcony literally overlooked the old formula 1 street circuit and was always crammed with race fans. with the shortened clipsal 500 course this is no longer possible, but still a good place to go after the days races.
There are pubs and bars dotted all around the CBD, but a few districts are worth singling out. Rundle Street and its neighbouring area known simply as "The East End" have a number of popular pubs. Hindley St used to be notorious as the seedy home of Adelaide's strip clubs and bikie bars, but it, and "The West End" have undergone a renaissance. The eastern end of Hindley Street is more mainstream, whereas the western end, west of Morphett Street has a few trendier and more alternative venues. The seedy places are still there, but so too is a university campus and a number of trendy bars and clubs. Also important are Gouger Street and its many restaurants but with an increasing number of bars and pubs. O'Connell Street is home to a few of North Adelaide's popular pubs.
There are also many bars in the suburbs of Adelaide which usually are busier on Thursday and Friday evenings. Quite a lot of the locals will go to the hotels in the suburbs on Thursday and Friday evenings, and go into the Adelaide CBD on Saturday evenings.
Smoking in pubs and clubs is banned under South Australian law. Many drinking establishments have outdoor areas where smoking is permitted.