Django’s Riff

There are plenty of different things that appeal about Django’s — the trendy urban décor, the wide array of cheap cocktails — but, as far as I’m concerned, the main draw of Django’s is the music. It’s mainly centred around hip hop, but they also play a nice eclectic selection of reggae, drum & bass, ambient, and trip hop tunes. If you’re into that general area of music, this bar simply never disappoints.
Django’s is one of those bars where the crowd levels are almost never at a happy medium — it’s either packed to the rafters and near-​impossible to manœuvre around, or almost empty, with the population limited to a two or three people in each of the leather booths. Personally, I prefer the latter — it’s a great place to sit with a friend or a date on a weekday night, listen to some quality music, and take advantage of the 2-​for-​1 cocktails they offer during the week.
It does have its downsides, though. The toilets are pretty atrocious, and on a Friday or Saturday night, whilst the atmosphere is exciting, it can be a nightmare trying to get served, even with a dozen staff members behind the bar. This is presumably because most drink orders involve fairly complex cocktails, so it’s understandable, but still frustrating.
All in all though, it’s a great little dive bar. It’s not for everyone, but Django’s is unrivalled in its surrounding area for drinks variety, ambience, and value for money.

I have to admit that the only reason I wandered into Django’s was to seek shelter from a typically wet and windy Liverpool night. I’m pleased to say that this turned out to be a great decision. I made my way down the steps and found myself emerged in a low lit world of old school hip hop/​reggae beats and comfy seats. Django’s seemed to have an element of effortlessness and cool about it, and despite only intending to stay for a swift beer I found myself hanging around until the early hours, by which time I had moved on to cocktails.
There’s a tasty selection of cocktails on offer here, from classics like White Russian, right through to the non– alcoholic Shirley Temple. The prices range from between four and five pounds for the cocktails, and although my memory is a little hazy I can confirm that they hit the spot! For larger lovers Carlsberg is priced at three pounds per pint, a price I thought was competitive given the central location of the bar.
Overall, Django’s turned out to be a hidden gem, I found myself racking my brain attempting to decipher how in three years of Mersey dwelling I had never before noticed its; uniquely cool charms.
A final note; the staff were great, friendly, efficient and I can’t recall waiting any longer than two or three minutes for a pint, although this would inevitably increase on a Friday or Saturday evening. One of the bar men could even juggle, that in my mind would make any bar a winner!
So if you, like me, had previously been ignorant to the brilliance of Django’s then make a change right now, head down to wood street, park yourself on a comfy chair and be immersed by the casual coolness of Django’s Riff!

I absolutely love starting a night out here. Jazz, blues, reggae, allsorts of music. Always makes me smile. Free wi-​fi, prices are average, the staff and dj’s are very friendly. I always get good service here.

The reason that stops this place getting a higher mark is that I am not sure the guys running this place know what it is? I always think that I am going to like Django’s and on a week night it seems to fulfill a cool, laidback basement bar vibe that you might find in a bigger city. Occassionally playing live music — sometimes even, but not enough, Jazz as you might expect from the name.
However come in on a Saturday night and the place tries desperatly hard to either compete with the bouncy Scouse house and clubland DJs of the nearby concert square venues or dabble in some grime/​electro that errs on the very slow and dull side of D&B — some of the tunes last time we were in could be described as electronic Gregorian Chant the basslines were so low yet utterly boring.
Not bad but choose your nights.

Holy Adrian Moly, Django’s Riff gets busy. Notice the spelling there. I didn’t write ‘biz-​zay’, although it is that as well. For a place with such a long bar, it can take a leviathan stretch of time before you get served. The overworked, depressed-​looking staff have a tendency to miss you out altogether when you’re standing right in front of them, which gets infuriating past the thirty minute mark.
But this is a quibble. The bar is a funky, filthy cavern of drum, bass and open mic rappers of the improvisational kind. I’ve been here so many times I’ve long passed the awkward stage when asking for a delicious Orgasm cocktail. In fact I make a point of meeting their eyes and staring hard at them for eight long seconds in silence before winking slowly, even if it’s a man.
If you’re going to pay this place a visit, bring a marker pen. You’ll get the chance to graffiti your way into both the record books and the bar staff’s burning hatred. It makes up for the fact the quiz machine never works.

This is one of my favourite bars in Liverpool. Set slightly below the pavement you can see the world walk on by above you as you sip on a particularly well-​made cocktail. They have a great selection and they’re fairly cheap ranging from £3 to £5 for Singapore slings and I would recommend ‘Hello Sailor!’ as a personal favourite of mine– Sailor Jerrys, you are heavenly.
I went inside in the day which and found it relatively empty. However, the food was really bloody good (Since when did Django’s serve food? I here you say.); simple menu, but I could have eaten 3 of those Jerk chicken burgers… well if I wasn’t so busy drinking cocktails. It’s definitely a place which comes alive in the evening when it’s usually rammed with the DJ playing dub-​step. It’s a great atmosphere and I’d say it’s the bar to start a late night out.

I have two words to say about Django’s: über cool. This is the attitude that most the clientele have anyway! I’d say it appeals to those a little older, probably 23 plus, as the atmosphere is less commercial, and very chilled out.
The music is up to date with live bands and DJ’s on a regular basis, it’s a really cool place to chill and chat with friends before you head on for the rest of your night. I suggest getting here early because it does get realllly busy as it’s so popular, and you can be left waiting for ages at the bar.
The décor fits the sort of people you will find in Django’s — grungey. As you can expect, it’s not the cleanest place… especially the toilets. This is the only downside to the bar, but it seems that the «cool as» staff don’t really care!
I recommend the cocktails.

I love jazz bars. They’re very atmospheric, and this one being set in a basement really adds to the kooky authenticity. This particular spot can get a little crowded on weekends but early evenings are especially pleasant, and the delish cocktails are only about £3 each.
There’s plenty of food to choose from with burgers being something of a speciality, the live music is great and not all traditional jazz and there are a few club nights so you can get your glad rags on and have a boogie on the dance floor area. The décor’s particularly good here, gritty and professional at the same time with some well-​known artists contributing graffiti. Definitely give this cute little jazz club a whirl!

Formerly Beluga Bar, and for those who remember Brookside, the place where a few of the cast used to hang out. This is now a funky jazz bar, and after navigating your way down the stairs you are more often than not met with a live band separating the foot of the stairs from the bar. Django’s doesn’t exactly have a dance floor, and the main space is occupied with retro-​style booths that can seat anything from 2 to 12 people.
The loos are a bit dicey and the staff are far from Liverpool’s finest, but it is a nice novelty bar on account of the live music and the drinks are reasonably priced. It’s always a good game to watch the ankles of people walking past above you and suss out what they’re doing, because at this end of town you tend to see a fair few fancy dressers and I know the guys in my group have praised the trend for tutus (little pervs!)

Django’s can get really crowded on weekends, but it’s okay straight after work.
I enjoyed the cocktails especially, they were quite cheap, just about 3 quid each.
They also offer different kinds of food until 8pm, their burgers are really nice.
My only qualm is that the odor of this place can be absolutely horrible (toilets?) and in fact so strong that it might keep you from wanting to drink or eat anything.
Maybe they still have to get used to no cigarette fumes covering everything up anymore, I don’t know. ;)

Having to go into the basement to get to your drinking spot is always a plus– adds such an awesome element to your night out. The décor in Djangos is a bit eclectic with some tables tinged with 1992 neon, but it’s a fun spot when it’s not overrun by 21^st birthday parties. They have drink specials of their own concoctions and the few I’ve tried have been good and strong. The music is generally pretty good, and the big tables with round booths make it a great place to go get drunk with your friends, especially the ones that are situated in a way that feel a bit private.
And it’s always fun to watch the feet of people stumbling around the street above, until it’s your turn to join them.
My only complaint is that a bartender short changed us by $ 16 once and was a real jerk about it– basically saying yeah he did, but what could we do about it?- but tools like that can happen anywhere, I guess.