tloque nahuaque

12 STEPS DOWN

" Nobody really makes a clear-minded decision to visit 12 Steps Down. Instead, the place is a siren that calls to people after three to seven drinks, promising delight and delivering destruction. After a certain point in the night, if you are within a mile’s radius of the bar, you are in the danger zone. "

Tucked into an alley of Tokyo is an unassuming, almost nondescript door, if not for the bright, neon sign above it. It’s more than twelve steps, but head down a narrow staircase and you’ll find a small, dimly lit bar. The décor is eclectic to the point that it feels like a hodge-podge of the failed bars that came before it that they didn’t bother to redecorate, the bathroom stalls have shower curtains instead of doors, and the drinks are some of the cheapest you’ll find in town. And for most, that’s the charm.

Just watch yourself, because while the bar's opening hours can be almost laid-back and a perfect time to chat up the friendly bartenders, the clientele gets decidedly more rowdy as the night goes on. As other bars and clubs close, there are fewer and fewer options willing to tolerate that level of mischief. Luckily (?), 12 Steps Down doesn't seem to turn away anyone.

Just don't get blood on the bar when you get into a fight, thanks.

"REVIEWS"

( all taken from a very real place )

" Don’t go! Don’t go here! I have been so many times before, it’s brash, just don’t go, it’s the worst place to go. I’m only here because it’s his birthday. "

" I once had a threesome with two guys I met at 12 Steps, literally the last people left at the bar at closing. They took me back to one of their parents' huge flat who were never there as they were tax exiles. It was extremely useful as I had a friend's birthday brunch the next day and didn't want to trek all the way back. Charmingly, for months afterwards they'd send me texts off one phone but signed from both of them. "

" In February I went there for a cousin’s birthday. It was the same day I found out I'd lost my job at a horrible recruitment firm, and when they played Uptown Funk for the 5th time I decided I had to leave. "

" Lost my Air Forces last time I was here. Just the one shoe though. "

" A friend once saw a man feeding MDMA to the fish in the fish tanks like salt bae. "

" Once I ordered a warm tequila at the bar for my friend, to then remove all the napkins out the bar caddy, throw up into it, then place the napkins back on top. "