A cocktail bar in Reading town centre has won permission to stay open until 3am each night.
A cocktail bar in Reading town centre has won permission to stay open until 3am every night.
The Cocktail Club has been on Gun Street since July 2021, selling cocktails and premium drinks to revellers on nights out in the town. Initially opened as the London Cocktail Club, the reference to the nation’s capital was removed in a rebrand.
It’s built a name for club nights, live music and bottomless brunches, with a menu that includes frankfurters, vegan hot dogs and loaded nachos. The club describes itself as: “A bar that parties like the best of them, and mixes the world’s greatest drinks to perfection. “A place where you can throw your hands in the air, whilst singing to ACDC, sipping on the perfect dry Martini.”
The company recently won permission from Reading Borough Council to operate licensable activities from 11am to 3am each day, with food, drink and alcohol sales allowed until 2.30am. The application was granted after a statutory consultation ended on 18 December 2025, and the approval was confirmed by a council licensing officer.
At the moment the bar closes at 2am on Friday and Saturday, and 12.30am the rest of the week — so this is a later finish for the town’s late-night scene.
The venue was previously occupied by Smash, a craft beer, pizza and ping-pong spot that closed during one of the coronavirus lockdowns in 2021 after about five years. The upstairs space has also been home to the Sakura bar, the Coalition night venue and Gun Street Garden, which faced licensing reviews in 2024 and 2025.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
