One of the real joys of Guildford as a town is that it keeps reinventing itself. The old expression is ‘when one door closes, another one opens’, but for Guildford it could equally be ‘when one venue closes, an even more exciting one opens’. That looks to be what is happening when it comes to the building that used to house TGI Fridays and Slice nightclub, which have both stood empty since 2022. Now it seems as though there is going to be an all-encompassing entertainment venue opening there, offering plenty of fun for the town.
What Happened to the Previous Tenants?
Back in 2022, when the world was emerging from the global health crisis that had engulfed it for the previous two years, businesses had no real sense of what the future might hold. As a result, TGI Fridays, the American-style chain restaurant, decided to close its doors for good once its lease on the North Street venue expired. Although the chain itself had weathered the pandemic reasonably well, the Guildford branch had struggled for regular custom and almost certainly wasn’t helped by the average reviews it received on TripAdvisor.
Next door to TGI Fridays was a nightclub called Cinderella’s Lounge, which saw people enjoying dancing the night away and slamming down £1 shots for many years. It shutdown briefly before reopening with the same name, then in 2019 it was rebranded as ‘Slice’, a retro sports bar that turned into a nightclub later on. This struggled to gain the kind of traction that the management was hoping for, however, so it also closed down in the July of 2022. It left the people of Guildford wondering what might take over there next.
Mulligans Set to Take Centre Stage
The good news for the people of Guildford is that the question about what sort of establishment would be taking over there looks to have been answered. Mulligans is promising a family-friendly sports bar, with countless large TV screens that will show live sport pretty much whenever the venue is open. As you might well have guessed from the name, Mulligans is a golf-themed place, with a nine-hole crazy golf course taking over one of the two floors in the building. There will also be an arcade on offer with plenty of gaming options.
If you’re the sort of person that likes to have things to do when you head out for a drink, you can take joy in the fact that there will be plenty of bar games available for your amusement. From air hockey through to pool tables with darts throw into the mix too, the plan is for this to be more than just one thing. As a result, the management team behind it are hoping that they will be able to bring in a decent crowd in a manner that previous offerings haven’t quite been able to pull off, with its size being another key draw.
An ‘Exciting Addition’ to Guildford’s Scene
The Chief Operating Officer of Adventure Leisure, the company behind the Mulligans chain, is hopeful that the Guildford branch will be able to do what previous Mulligans have done elsewhere and provide the locals with a decent option when it comes to their nights out. Stephen Brown said, “Cinderella’s was an iconic venue for so many locals, including myself during younger years, so we have big shoes, or glass slippers, to fill, but we’re confident that Mulligans Guildford will be an exciting addition to the town’s entertainment and leisure landscape”.
Perhaps one of the key things that Guildford locals will be pleased to hear is the fact that Mulligans will be adding in excess of 30 jobs to the local economy. Guildford Borough Council gave the go-ahead for Mulligans to open in the September of 2024, thanks in no small part to the fact that Adventure Leisure has also been responsible for other successful ventures around the country. The Guildford Branch will be the 14th Mulligans that has opened, whilst the likes of BUNKERS and Ninja Warrior UK, of which there is one in Slyfield, are also theirs.