As a regular of the Retro, I'm a bit biased. I first started drinking in there whilst studying across the road at UMIST some 10 years ago. Here's the thing you need to know about the Retro: whilst the toilets might be a bit grotty on a Saturday night, there isn't any decent draught beer (besides Guinness), the pool table is positioned so it's impossible to play from one corner and the breakfasts will give your *doctor* a heart attack as well as you, nobody really cares. It's about the people. It's about the craic. Run by gay management, the ethos whilst I've known it has been "attitude-free". If you don't like what you see, you keep your thoughts to yourself or leave - if you don't like the idea of encountering gay people, you're in the wrong part of the city - but as a result the diversity of the crowd in there is stunning. It's a venue where company directors drink alongside anarchists, teachers with emo kids, students alongside builders. There is nothing quite like it in Manchester. I haven't even got to the gigs downstairs yet which have a solid fan base and a diversity that few other gig venues can boast. In short, what I always say to the people who find it too hot, too cold, too weird, the beer not to their liking, the music a bit odd, or indeed have any other complaint: this is a pub that is about the people. And it works - the weekends are packed, and even the weeknights have a fair old pace considering it's not in the middle of anything.