Florita's - Newcastle upon Tyne

In my recent quest to find a Newcastle venue I hadn 't been before, I found 3: Madam Koo 's didn 't make it there either Tup Tup Palace more on that later Floritas read on Previously known as The Apartment, Floritas had always been on my radar in previous visits to The Toon, however for one reason or the next, I just didn 't ever make it there. What is it with everyone 's obsession with getting around as many venues as is humanly possible in one evening down these parts? If a place is decent in size, business, drinks and clientele, why move? Just lean back and enjoy for cryin out loud! Rant over. This time round, we had done some homework and prepared a mini pub crawl for ourselves. Floritas was first on the list. I have to say, I wish it had been nearer the last. Wonderfully bohemian venue that, unlike many other nearby pubs, stays open til 3am. I repeat: why move? Young enthusiastic staff do their best to provide conversation and cocktails to the best their ability, and I was surprised by the pride in some of these guys given their age. Obviously a career path they want to get right. Respeck! Anyway the layout was cool. After chatting to some locals we discovered the trend was to move along the 'Diamond Strip ', Florita 's being the 2nd ? venue along the way. Next along was Perdu, which despite the size advantage of it, I have to say I favoured Floritas for the simple fact they had seating options; Perdu came across as a bit of a glorified dance floor in comparison. Another plus was the downstairs access to Madame Koo 's beneath the bar. Still a little surprised I didn 't get to this bar considering I walked past on my way to the toilets a few times and it looked great. Weird one. Nice little beer/smokers garden, lots of nooks and crannies to get lost in, friendly, talkative staff, Floritas punched quite high in most respects. The only real negative were the prices... but I could say that about any bar on the Diamond Strip. Or Newcastle for that matter!

Must admit I used to really like going to the Apartment, but as it is the same company that runs As you like it and Mr. Lynch I had high hopes. But apart from the great deco and smoking area the place ahs gone downhill. The major minus is the slow and moody staff. They either are understaffed or unhappy not sure which one or both. Every time I went there recently it took ages to being served. Happy hour is great though and I would go back because the location is so handy. The normal cocktails are quite expensive though

Friendly atmosphear, great cocktails and idela outside area so not needing to split the smokers from the non smokers

In my opinion since The Apartment changed to Florita's it has gone down hill. The refit is lovely but nowadays it's impossible to get a drink because the queue for the bar is always miles long. It's also quite expensive, somewhere for only one drink. The cocktails on the other hand are lovely and there really is something for everyone.

Excellent place to go for happy hour cocktails after work! The ambience is comparatively laid back for a city centre bar and seems less 'stuffy ' than Apartment used to be. The staff weren 't especially friendly though, which was a shame as everything else was just right.