Front/Back — Restaurant in Accra

I generally give reviews here when I feel like it is justified. And given my recent experience at FrontBack, I feel the need to come here and warn others before they try to spend their hard earned money here. It’s disappointing too because I recognise that it is not easy run a business in hospitality in Ghana, let alone Accra. But I cannot stand by while classism and elitism is thrown around here.

A group of friends of mine had tickets for an event happening at FrontBack. But we were short 3 tickets. So I decided to wait behind with two of my Ghanaian family members while another group of friends arrived with additional tickets. They were taking a while so I decided to pay the entry fee for all of us. But then the security guard suddenly decided that the shoes one of us was wearing was “inappropriate”. Mind you, my family member and I were there 15 minutes before and the security guard had not said anything about her shoes at that time.

So obviously I questioned them on it, saying “why is it inappropriate?” Is it because it wasn’t safe because it was opened toed? He couldn’t come up with a good answer, just that it was inappropriate. I asked the ladies selling tickets at the door the same thing, they couldn’t give a reasonable answer either. There was no dress code written anywhere, just someone’s arbitrary and imaginary rules. Meanwhile, many people (including white & light skinned foreigners and expats) came in and out of FrontBack wearing similar footwear without any issues. I pointed this out to the security guard but he didn’t mind me.

At this point I was furious. I realised that the security guard simply did not want to let my sister in purely because he didn’t think she met the “standard”. I asked to see the manager but apparently they went home for the evening (which in my opinion isn’t best practice for a club). So of course we all left.

If there was a clearly defined dress code enforced across all customers, I would totally understand the concerns the security guard raised. But there wasn’t. The staff simply wanted to put down their fellow countrywoman to maintain the “vibes”. And given that my friends didn’t even enjoy their time there, I would certainly not bother trying to go back FrontBack ever again.

Definitely don’t go. Especially if you are darker skinned. There plenty of better clubs in Accra that will give you a much better experience and not make you feel less than just because you have more melanin...

ONE OF THE WORKERS THERE STOLE MY PHONE!! I SPENT ALL NIGHT LOOKING FOR IT, WAITED FOR EVERYONE TO LEAVE THE EVENT AS I TRACKED MY PHONE, IT WAS STILL PINGING AT FRONT/BACK. SO WE SPENT OVER 6 HOURS LOOKING, EVEN HAD PEOPLE HELPING ME. AROUND 7am,8am,9am, THE ONLY PEOPLE LEFT WERE THE CLEANERS AND WORKERS. WE TRACKED THE PHONE TO THE BATHROOM, SEEMED AS IF SOMEONE HID IT THERE, SEEING AS I NEVER USED THE BATHROOM. UNFORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T FIND IT.. AFTER LOOKING ALL NIGHT TIL MORNING, MY TABLET THAT I WAS USING TO TRACK IT STARTED TO LOSE CHARGE AND SO DID MY FRIEND'S PHONE. WE WERE AT THIS EVENT, OBI'S HOUSE, SINCE MIDNIGHT, SO WE FELT BEST TO GO BACK TO OUR HOTEL B/C WE WERE VISITING FROM NEW YORK AND COULDN'T RISK HAVING NO PHONE AT ALL. WITHIN 30 MINS OF BEING BACK AT THE HOTEL, I WAS STILL TRACKING THE PHONE, AND THAT'S WHEN I NOTICED IT STARTED TO MOVE LOCATIONS. AT THIS POINT, IT WAS ABOUT 11am. WE FOUND SOME PEOPLE THAT WAS HELPING US LOOK FOR THE PHONE, FOLLOWED THE PHONE UNTIL IT STOPPED AT THIS LOCATION. ONLY PROBLEM, THE PHONE STARTED TO LOSE BATTERY AND BY THE TIME WE CAUGHT UP TO THE LAST KNOWN LOCATION, THE BATTERY DIED AND I LOST HOPE AT THAT POINT. WE HAD EVEN INFORMED THE MANAGER/SECURITY AT FRONT/BACK , NO ONE SEEMED TO CARE, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE FACT THAT THE PARTY WAS OVER AND THE PHONE WAS STILL PINGING THERE. EVERYONE THAT WAS STILL THERE KNEW I WAS LOOKING FOR MY PHONE!! IT'S JUST SO UPSETTING THAT I CHOSE TO SPEND MY BIRTHDAY IN GHANA, ONLY FOR MY PHONE TO GET STOLEN, AND NOT EVEN BY A PARTYGOER, BY A WORKER!!. HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! DON'T VISIT THIS PLACE, IT WAS OVERCROWDED, THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT YOUR MONEY, DEFINITELY A SAFETY HAZARD. I WILL NEVER...

On one hand Front Back has really good DJs and a variety of rooms playing different genres so you can choose where you want to go.

On the other hand, the entrance fees are not transparent. Initially when with my three male friends, I (lady) was free and they had to pay ₵200 cedis each, which at that point we considered leaving. When more of our group joined, it was suddenly ₵100 for ladies and ₵200 for men. The woman then decided she’d accept ₵500 for the whole group (8 of us in total). It just seemed like she was making it up out of thin air.

A few minutes after entering I wish we had never paid the entrance fee as it was...