7 one-of-a-kind interactive bars in London
Most cocktail bars in London ask very little of you: turn up, sit down, order a Negroni, repeat. Interactive bars work differently. Somewhere along Shoreditch’s back streets and beyond, a handful of venues decided a night out should hand you a role to play rather than a laminated drinks list. You become the smuggler, the recruit or the outlaw, and the story only moves forward if you do.
This guide rounds up seven of London’s most genuinely interactive bars, the ones where audience participation isn’t a gimmick bolted onto a normal night out but the whole point of turning up. Whether you’re after a prison cell in Shoreditch or a hidden detective’s office, there’s a role waiting for you somewhere on this list.
1. Alcotraz, Shoreditch
Alcotraz opened in 2017 as London’s first immersive prison-themed cocktail bar, and it’s still the benchmark every newer interactive venue in the city gets measured against. Thousands of five-star reviews later, the format holds up because it was never built as an ordinary bar with a theme stuck on top. It’s built as a story, and you’re cast as a new inmate from the moment you walk through the door.
The premise starts with BYOB, though not the kind you’re used to. Rather than handing over cash at a counter, you’re smuggling your own spirits past a Warden who genuinely doesn’t want you to succeed, with crooked guards on hand to help hide your bottle if you play along. Once you’re behind bars, that smuggled liquor gets handed to the resident inmate-mixologists, who turn it into bespoke cocktails built around your own taste rather than a fixed menu.
The theatrical set does a lot of the work too: real cell doors, metal bars and a warden’s office that feels lifted from a prison-break film. As the cocktail bar Shoreditch regulars recommend to first-timers, Alcotraz set the template that other immersive experiences are still chasing. You’re not watching a story unfold. You’re serving your sentence inside it.
2. Hexmoor, Hackney Road
Hidden behind Alcotraz’s own entrance is an entirely different sentence: Hexmoor, a wizarding prison for guests who’d rather be tried for dark arts than ordinary crime. You’re issued a jumpsuit, processed by the formidable head of the penitentiary, and sent into a live mystery involving missing prisoners and a prophecy nobody in Hexmoor wants to discuss. Three handcrafted potions, brewed by the prison’s own hexologists, arrive at key moments in the story rather than all at once.
What keeps Hexmoor properly interactive rather than simply atmospheric is the detective work woven through the night. You’ll follow clues left around the cells and question inmates who may or may not be telling the truth. Original lore drives every scene, not borrowed magic.
3. Avora, Hackney Road
Avora swaps prison bars for a laboratory briefing room, then a gateway into a bioluminescent world most guests never saw coming. A fictional research company recruits you, hands you a jumpsuit and sends you through a portal into a glowing woodland populated by curious locals who are quietly hiding a secret about their planet’s future. Three cocktails, tied to different moments in the mission, mark your progress as the story unfolds rather than sitting on a printed menu.
The interaction here leans exploratory rather than confrontational: your group chooses how deeply to get involved with the locals you meet, and the final decision about Avora’s fate genuinely shifts depending on those choices. It’s one of the more visually striking interactive cocktail bars in London, built around a world nobody has seen before.
4. Moonshine Saloon, Houndsditch
Moonshine Saloon in London trades prison bars for swinging doors and casts you as a fresh recruit in Clyde Cassidy’s bootlegging outfit. You’re kitted out in Western wardrobe by the town tailor, handed a Stetson, and sent to rub shoulders with outlaws, card sharks and a sheriff who’s got Cassidy’s operation firmly in his sights. Bring your own spirit and the Saloon’s barkeeps will turn it into three or four cocktails across the night, while you try your luck at dice and cards without drawing too much attention.
Prove yourself trustworthy and you might earn a look inside Cassidy’s actual moonshine distillery. It’s less about following a fixed plot and more about playing along with the characters in the room, which is exactly what keeps regulars coming back.
5. Evans & Peel Detective Agency, Earls Court
Long before Shoreditch had a monopoly on immersive drinking, this Earls Court speakeasy was already asking guests to play a part before they’d had a single drink. Ring the buzzer and you won’t get in until you’ve asked for “an appointment with the detective” rather than a reservation. Inside, you’ll invent a case for Evans or Peel to investigate and sit through a mini consultation in a dimly lit office, before a bookcase finally swings open onto the bar itself.
It’s a smaller, quieter kind of interactive bar than the prison and saloon experiences further east, built on improvisation rather than a scripted storyline, but the reveal still lands every time.
6. Cahoots, Soho
Cahoots reimagines a disused Underground station as a wartime drinking den, complete with a full-size vintage tube carriage guests can actually sit inside. The interaction here is lighter touch than the storyline-driven venues on this list: expect sing-alongs around the piano, cocktails served in tin cans and hip flasks, and staff fully committed to the 1940s setting from the ration-book menu to the ticking station clocks. For groups who want the theatrics of an immersive night without being handed a role to perform, Cahoots offers a gentler route into the genre.
7. Mr Fogg’s, Covent Garden
Named after Jules Verne’s fictional adventurer, Mr Fogg’s turns a corner of Covent Garden into a cluttered Victorian explorer’s club, stuffed with travel curios and secret nooks collected from imaginary expeditions. The interaction is built around discovery rather than performance: guests are encouraged to hunt out hidden corners, quiz staff about the “explorer’s” travels and order drinks named after his supposed adventures. It’s a softer entry point into London’s themed bars, ideal for groups who want atmosphere and storytelling without committing to a full role.
Which interactive bar is right for your night out?
If you want the most immersive night on this list, Alcotraz remains the standout. It’s the interactive bar London regulars mention first, and the one every newer venue in the city is still being measured against. For something even more quirky, Hexmoor and Avora both push further into invented worlds, while Moonshine Saloon and Evans & Peel Detective Agency lean on character and improvisation over spectacle. Cahoots and Mr Fogg’s offer a gentler way into the genre if full audience participation isn’t quite your scene.
However you like your drinking experiences in London, the thread running through every venue here is the same: none of them work if you just sit back. Turn up ready to play a part, and the story does the rest.
For more ways to spend a night in the capital, our guide to the best immersive bars in London and our round-up of top activities in London are both worth a read.
FAQs
What is an interactive bar?
An interactive bar builds a live story around your visit rather than simply theming the decor. Guests take on a role, actors respond to what they do and say, and the night changes shape depending on how involved the group gets, rather than following a fixed script from start to finish.
Which is the best interactive bar in London for beginners?
Cahoots and Mr Fogg’s are gentler starting points, since they lean on atmosphere rather than requiring guests to perform a role. For a fuller taste of immersive theatre, Alcotraz is built to welcome first-timers, with actors guiding nervous newcomers through the story from the moment they arrive.
Do I need to bring my own alcohol to interactive bars in London?
Some do, some don’t. Alcotraz, Hexmoor and Moonshine Saloon are all BYOB, and smuggling your own bottle in is part of the story itself. Avora, Cahoots, Evans & Peel and Mr Fogg’s all serve drinks in the usual way, with no bottle required.
How long do interactive bar experiences in London last?
Most story-driven experiences, including Alcotraz, Hexmoor, Avora and Moonshine Saloon, run for around 1 hour and 45 minutes. Bars with a lighter touch of interaction, such as Cahoots and Mr Fogg’s, don’t run to a fixed time and can be enjoyed for as long as you like.
Are London’s interactive bars suitable for large groups or corporate events?
Yes. Alcotraz, Hexmoor, Avora and Moonshine Saloon are all regularly booked out for hen dos, birthdays and corporate socials, with private hire available for larger parties who want the full storyline to themselves.