Article By Mike Leaner
3F, 50meters West of Huan Cheng South Road, Zhu Que Gate.
朱雀门里顺城南路西段50米3F
(029) 8721 8317
8:30pm – 4:00am
Average Price per Person /人均消费: 80RMB
PROS: Don’t have to be a “rich homie” to have a couple drinks; good all-around experience; great entertainers
CONS: Not very innovative; overly sweet cocktails
Rich Homie is a new bar full of glitz and glamour. You’ll find it just upstairs from Meeting Jazz, through a trick refrigerator that hides the final flight of stairs. Awash in neon, it’s not exactly boundary-breaking in terms of Chinese-style bars, but what it does offer is fairly polished and worth a look if this kind of thing is your jam.
This bar is one for partying—the atmosphere is bright and loud, a nightclub vibe to be certain. With two tiers, it’s a large, well-designed barroom with plenty of space for all kinds of parties, big and small. There is a full roster of entertainers every night of the week, running the gamut between low-key singers with acoustic guitars and energetic, scantily clad women doing their best pop star impressions. The entertainment seems to be the focal point of Rich Homie’s experience, as the whole room is designed around the stage, which is right behind the bar. It’s a cool concept, and thankfully their roster is talented and nice to listen to.
For drinks, the menu has bottled beers and cocktails. Your mileage will vary a bit; the full-on cocktails were a little saccharine, but single mixers, like the Gin and Tonic, were spot on. Prices are also in line with similar establishments. Service was fine, but I wished they would open a tab or allow me to pay by the drink from my table—similar bars have adopted such practices, so it was sort of jarring to not have those conveniences available.
Rich Homie does what it does well, even if it won’t win any contests for innovation. It’s about as close as one gets to the platonic ideal of the Chinese-style bar/club, and with such a distinction also comes the same pronounced pros and cons.
Mike Leaner likes to get dirty but not for free. He can be reached at reviews@xianease.com