Freedom CLOSED FOR RENOVATION SUMMER/AUTUMN 2024 Formerly: Freedom Café-Bar

This is one of the defining institutions of the early- to mid-1990s Soho gay explosion, though since then it has been reinvented as a determinedly mixed space, albeit with an undeniable gay sensibility behind it. The ground-floor cocktail bar has a slick Vegas-lite thing going on, while comfy private booths and banquettes offer sanctuary for those who can talk above the soundtrack of mildly clubby commercial pop and light house. Mini chandeliers dangle above the bar, while an entire population of disco balls obscures the ceiling of the slick basement club space, which stays open until about 3am Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Basement shuts at 10.30pm on Sunday, and at 1am Monday to Wednesday, but will stay open longer depending on numbers. Monday = Kinky Kabaret, Tuesday = Anthems, and Wednesday = High on Heels, with Ruby Sinclair hosting drag acts. Current management since 2008. Nibbles (guacamole, halloumi, mini fish + chips etc) are available. It was here in August 2022 that Olympic diver Tom Daley intervened after his screenwriter husband Dustin Lance Black (allegedly) had emptied a glass over entrepreneur and former model Teddy Edwardes, resulting in a court case. Closed summer of 2024 for a facelift, with sister venue Soho Residence (across the road, corner of Brewer and Wardour Streets) hosting Freedom's Mon to Thu shows for the time being.