Revolution Cambridge

You'll find this spot right on Downing Place, perfectly positioned for catching people spilling out of the colleges or heading into town for the night. The cocktail menu is more ambitious than you'd expect from a chain - they actually know their way around a shaker, and the weekend atmosphere gets properly lively without tipping into complete chaos. Open until 3am at weekends, it fills a particular gap in Cambridge's drinking scene when everywhere else is shutting up shop. The crowd's a mix of students, locals, and the occasional don pretending they're still young. Yes, it's part of a chain, but the location works in its favour and they've got the cocktail game sorted better than most independents manage.