I went with my boyfriend and my Spanish friend yesterday (04/06) to Via. Everything was fine, but we decided to go out for to breathe some fresh air and walk around the Canal St. When we returned, we had a very bad experience. When we tried to get in, the short door guy told us that it was too busy and we should go to another bar. But people kept coming in. So I asked if it was too busy just for us? He told us to look for another bar, no explanations why… Very rude. Now I ask myself, why? We weren't drunk. We don’t use drugs, like so many in there. Dress code? We were inside half hour before and nobody said anything about our clothes. In this case I can only believe that it was discrimination? Really? A shame, even more in this month of pride. You can see the footage (around 1:30 am) to check it out. In the end, my friend who came from Spain to visit did not enjoy the evening.

I visited the bar yesterday 20.11.22 in the afternoon. It wasn't busy. I came with my friend as we haven't met since covid. We was considering going to other places but decided to go to Via instead. It was freezing outside so i wanted a warm drink first and my mate got a alcoholic drink. I asked the lady (older white women with grey short hair) who served us what hot drinks do you have please? She looked at me like i asked a stupid question, shrugged her shoulders and looked angry like i asked a killer question. She replied by saying obviously we have tea and coffee that's it. Well, it was obvious to me! It really set the bad tone and i felt embarrassed for my friend. I didn't want to say anything back to her because i just wanted a enjoyable afternoon with my friend. If she was having a bad day please keep it to herself. There is nothing wrong with smiling at customers and trying to be helpful. It doesn't cost anything. There are plenty of other places we could have gone but we chose via for its reputation. We decided to stay regardless. I then went back later to get some more drinks and served by a nice lad. He was polite and helpful.

I perform my Adele tribute show here and wow such an amazing venue!! There’s a real vibe in here, the atmosphere is always electric! I’ve seen some absolutely world class acts performing here, and it’s free entry!! Not to be missed if you’re visiting Manchester, I can’t recommend highly enough!!

you didn't let my friends in on account of them being Black. i hope yous go out of business. Also, instead of gaslighting me by telling me that this discrimination never happened, investigate the incident with your staff. Ask them why, on a Saturday night, they didn't let a group of Black people because it was 'regulars only'. Tackle the prejudices in your staff, and recognize there are structural systems that allow you to exclude Black people and then claim it never happened. Your response is unacceptable. My friends arrived in the early hours of Sunday. A few were in the smokers area when the rest of their group showed up and security asked everyone to leave under the pretext is was 'regulars only'. I do not want to further traumatize my friend by prodding for more information. This should be more than enough to jog your teams memory. I expect a full apology including a proposed solution.

Lovely Place, lovely People , nice Atmosphere. Live music during the week. Highly recommended

Poped in during an afternoon. Was welcomed by super friendly people behind the counter. They served me nice food and drinks. The fish was gentle, chips were crispy, the pint was tasty. I felt welcomed and loved it. Will come back when in Manchester again.

Via is always popular and it's a great place for a nice time. Also the food is excellent. The young lady on the meet and greet desk was very nice to me on Sunday evening

Gorgeous, gorgeous bar. All dark wood and private little alcoves at the back, open areas towards the front. Club room downstairs. Staff are really friendly and welcoming. Good atmosphere inside, welcoming to everyone. Drinks aren't overpriced and are good. Love Via. Don't tell too many other people though, yeah? I still want to be able to get a table!

Amazing bar in the heart of Manchester. Great atmosphere. And the music is up my alley. The staff were fast. The prices are great.

I absolutely adore this place! Been a couple times and had an amazing night. The bouncer (think his name was Lincoln) was so friendly, warm, smiley, helpful, it honestly makes such a difference to your night out! The bar is spacious, plenty of tables and dance floor space. The drinks are a bit pricey but the service is quick and friendly so I didn't really mind. I will definitely be back!

My friends and I enjoy a mix of loud music and space to chat. Via was excellent for this. Inside, the setting was a beautiful mix of old and new. The staff were friendly and we enjoyed this bar the most of any on canal street. Would recommend!

After months planning my 30th birthday and getting all my close friends together from far stretches of the UK, our night was absolutely ruined by the rude bouncer at the bar. Yes, I understand bouncers have the right to refuse entry for many reasons, but not having any compassion or kindness during our conversation was so belittling. So belittling in fact, the trauma of it all made be burst into tears and we just ended up going back to our hotel. I can confidently say that neither of us were drunk or inappropriately dressed or being rowdy- we had just come from 20 stories having enjoyed some dinner and drinks. So I really don't understand why he was being so rude to us. We were all a small group of healthcare professionals and it took more planning than usual to make sure we all had the same time off, we were all covid negative and being safe. Hence, my emotions were running more high. I just hope in the future they have more compassion for people who want to have a good time at their bar.

This place is not great. Uses to visit regularly back in late 90s early 2000s. Via has gone down hill. Rude and ignorant bar staff who'd rather chat to their mates than serve you and happily leave you stood there for 5 min while they finish their chat. The door staff are far worse. Rude and aggressive in their tone and on more than one occasion refused entry for no reason and once refused entry as "I don't look gay". If you are anything other than white Caucasian then don't even bother trying to get in!! I refuse to put my money in the till nowadays as the village has many better places. Places where the customer isn't held in contempt like they are here. The sooner the place closes and gets new owners and new staff, the better. Such ashame as it used to be such a good place. You only have to look at negative reviews. The same themes reoccurring. Same response from Via....let us know more so we can improve....this is clearly nonsense as same complaints stretch back years yet still no improvement. Goes to show they clearly don't care and their responses are a bad attempt at damage limitation.

Lovely as ever! So glad to get back to Via after almost two years. Great atmosphere, lovely people and just wonderfully chilled and relaxing to sit out by the canal with a drink 🙂

Food is excellent and cooked to perfection and it fills you up, especially the Sunday roast. Just be aware of long wait times during busy periods but it's worth the wait. Staff are very friendly, this is a nice venue and is a credit to Manchesters Gay Village We always come here for something to eat.

We have stumbled upon this venue when having a day out shopping in Manchester - it's peaceful atmosphere and very attentive staff was just what we needed after busy day shopping. Loved the unique charisma of the interiors but we took advantage of a nice weather and sat outside, it's just a nice and lively place. Food was great, salad was massive, colourful and very tasty! My daughter had a pizza, nice crispy base, fresh basil, really good, can only recommend 👍

Myself and my friends have been Visiting via for many years even during covid, always love the place it’s a home from home amazing staff always busy and drink prices are reasonable. Always come to see the drag shows and every night iv been it’s always been a blast some queens may have the same songs most time but they are always fun to watch and the way they engaging with the audience is always comical. Adding to that, Last night was amazing. the music, the vibe, the DJ was on point playing song after song that I adore always smiling and dancing away. What can I saw the staff look like they enjoy there job there as well always a friendly welcoming face at via. Amazing night will be coming back very soon.

Had a really good night in a generally mixed age and demographic (predominantly white but not all) and great to see gender neutral / fluid / trans / non-binary folk present and seemingly comfortable. Door staff friendly and chatty, not intimidating as I’ve read from a few reviews. Multiple bars over multiple floors, it’s a great place on multi-levels like an old theatre or manor. Space to sit and chill and chat or places to stand and dance. Drinks priced as you’d expect. Didn’t try the food. Five of us together, mixed heritage, aging from early twenties to late forties and it suited us all. Mix of music that catered to all our terrible tastes. Great to have gender neutral loos. All single occupancy cubicles so everyone can pee without a falsely created drama! Really pleased we picked this venue for the evening. Can’t compare to others as we didn’t move on having found this suited our group!

Came in during food service around lunch time. Great atmosphere and friendly staff - the food was fresh and very tasty, well worth a meal if needing one on Canal Street.

I concur with some of the less than complimentary reviews on here. As an older single gay man visiting Manchester, I searched online for a gay environment to have a meal and this place looked good. On arriving there were 3 people behind the bar with another one floating about, one serving a customer the rest doing nothing. I was holding a menu trying to catch their eyes but was completely ignored for about 5 minutes. The menu is well presented giving the impression the food will be good, but the burger I had was only ordinary and included one fatty gooey deep fried onion ring, a hint of lettuce, a hint of bacon and 3 meat patties swimming in sauce. The venue is an obviously heavily used gay bar similar to many found world wide

Been going in when i visit the village regularly, however now seems a very bizarre policy communicated by the doorman of a Stonegate policy of groups of 5 or more not allowed in Saturday before last! Bearing in mind we were a sensible group of mixed ages hardly likely to cause trouble let alone at 5pm in the afternoon! Money spent elsewhere and won't return

Food was really good. Needed a meal before travelling and it was good pub food. Nice atmosphere too. Young Lady behind the bar seemed a bit sour but maybe she was having a bad day. Can’t wait to come back!

It’s my favourite place in Manchester but lately upon arrival we can’t go in since we are a group of people, if 4-6 people are denied entry, how you get in? Are you supposed to go in 1 by 1? I been there 1000 times and I see many groups inside with 8-10 people, we are going on Saturday again, are we supposed to go in 2 by 2? You even post photos with groups of 6-8 people on Facebook. Please explain this policy…

Superb, safe venue providing nightly entertainment and a FAB night out. Drink prices fair too. Saw "Whitney" (Ikenna) who was incredible. Highly recommended!!

Great place to have a drink and dance the night away! Huge inside with 4 floors and loads of places to sit. Several bars apart from the main one at the front mean you can get served quickly. The Abba show was great. Really good crowd and mix of people.

Such a fun spot! Enjoyed the show and banter from the Queen.

Drag act was fantastic, very lively and friendly atmosphere so you can relax unlike other bars in the area, the bouncer was really sound and friendly, definitely recommend going this place

Only had chips here which were good but can't judge the food The show at night though was fun and lively with a diverse crowd including gay and straight people of all ages.

Pretty big pub with a couple of dance floors. Great weekend shows with drag queens and friendly crowd for a night out

Such a lovely bar, great staff, great doorstaff especially Lee, always looked after, always feel safe and very clean a credit to visit and highly recommend Thankyou

Went out with some friends and I was not allow enter the club cause of the type of shoes I was wearing. Security told me that cause my heels were slide ins I was not allow. Had to go home sadly. I don't think I would go there ever again or recommend it

When ever we visit Manchester we always go to Via on Canal Street. Our latest visit today 15/09/22 was just as awesome as it always is. They have a super new food menu with exclusive drinks offers and the food is outstanding. All the staff are super friendly warm and welcoming but two members who always stand out and give a super welcome and awesome service are Joshua and Paul! Thank you Via for all you do for both you customers new and returning as well as your staff. This is definitely one of our all time favourite places to go each time we are in town visiting.

I have drank in this establishment for many years I have found the staff, friendly and welcoming, the bar is a none hostile space, very presentable, clean and pleasant, it feels a safe place to be. The Via is a good place to enjoy a quiet drink. Dog friendly too.

I went here for lunch with some friends and it was a really enjoyable trip. We had plenty to eat and drink, the prices were very reasonable and the decor and music was great. I'll definitely visit again!

If you don’t want people to use the app why have it on? The table next to us (older, muscular and good looking) had no issues using the app to order drinks. We ordered drinks to have a very stroppy older barman come out slam our drinks down and give us attitude for using the app? Is this really acceptable? If you’re not happy with customers trying to be Covid safe and using the app to order drinks to their table rather than making big queues at the bar then turn the app off? We drink here regularly and this is the first bad experience we’ve had here. Usually the staff are very friendly, chatty and a pleasure to see but the barman this evening was abrupt and rude. If I had been 6ft good looking and muscular rather than 5ft 5 and average would I have received a better service like the table next to us? Never seen this barman here before but his attitude absolutely stinks if he’s not happy chatting with and serving customers is this really the right role for him? - edit - Was yesterday evening between 7:30-8:30pm, we were sat outside as a group of 5 at one of the picnic tables. The barman was an older gentleman, stubble, average height and weight and wearing a checkered shirt.

We had a fantastic night in here, all the staff were wonderful, so friendly. Best bar in the village by far. Also just want to say the Door Staff were extremely helpful & very polite, via door staff setting a brilliant example for how to be with customers, well done all xx

Excellent venue, perfect starting point for my nights out. Always served by friendly staff and great atmosphere both inside and on warmer days sat out on the street. Lots of lovely areas you can sit in and the decors cool and the club bit downstairs is really enjoyable. Over time via has grown to be fave place of mine on canal street over the other bars.

My go to for many years for catch ups with friends at any time of day and a good night out. Awesome variety of cabaret every week with a good community pub feel, friendly staff and the best Sunday roasts on the village!

Loved it here, lovely food... had chicken burger for our lunch. Went back that evening Friday 29-7 2022 to have some drinks & fun and we had an amazing time, such a good happy vibe, friendly staff, great entertainment, great music, everyone was letting their hair down and dancing the night away. Fantastic happy atmosphere. Would definitely recommend going 👌 xxx

Great staff great venue! Foods good too and the house white is lovely. Keeps the hen party hell to a minimum too.Entertainment nearly every night. A village stalwart and I hope it never changes.

Amazing..so good..songs are so good..a Cabernet is nice and the security guard also good and nice..drinks are cheap compared to other places..good atmosphere..

Visiting from Edinburgh, I decided to try out your club. It wasn’t usually my particular scene, but soo glad I did come in. I enjoyed it so much I returned a second night. I would like to really say that the venue is not only immaculate, the staff were very friendly also. Making us really welcome. I really wanted to mention your door steward. One girl who was on the door that night is an asset to your club. Not only did she keep the club safe, her observation is incredible. She spotted two male individuals that were about to be a serious problem and she spotted it well before it escalated. One particular male was very threatening toward my girlfriend who I was there with. Your steward removed him before it got me into a difficult situation. I understand it’s not easy to stop the problem at the door, but she did an impeccable job. Many thanks for allowing us access and we will re visit again.

I like Via. They have a good selection of beers and wine although they'd run out of Tempronilla tonight. Staff are friendly. Pub has lots of different areas to sit. Food is good. Good choice of pizzas, both veggie and non veggie. Reasonably priced. A night here will not break the bank. They also have a vegan and gluten free menu. Burgers are very good.

Amazing venue and the cabaret here is out of this world. Always come here through the week for a pint and show. The staff are brilliant as well and add to the atmosphere of the venue.

We came in for a drink last night. Friendly service and great prices. We sat in the downstairs are where there is a small bar. Lovely little nooks with comfy chairs in that area. Can't wait to come back for one of the shows!

Really disappointed. Wearing chinos with a side pocket and was told it's sports wear. Respectfuly asked to speak with the manager who agreed it's not sports wear. But then door staff accused me of being rude. Im old enough to realise being rude to door staff is hardly the way forward. Blatant lie. I only wanted some food and a drink as I'm here for the night with work. I only really drink in there when in Manchester like twice a year..very disappointed via.

The food is great; the prices are appropriate; the staff is always friendly and welcoming, and the location is absolutely spectacular.

Loved this bar, plenty of different zones. If you didn't want to watch the drag artist you can go somewhere else and chill. Plenty of bars to get a drink, really great atmosphere and lovely door staff.