Riga

I am one in the endless row of those scammed at Groks. The prices they charge are indeed according to the menu, but they are extroardinary for the drink the girls pay. So, for example, while wine may be listed at 4 euros, champagne which the girls order is 40 euros and hidden somewhere among the menu and by the time you get to the cash till the bodyguard appears at the door. If it ever opens I'm willing to go back and help closing it again, no matter how much effort would be needed for this.Kristof
Germany
2008 August 30 Saturday 11 11 40 AM  

Groks was closed but will surely open again. Stay the hell out of it and these places:Groks, Roxy, Pink Panter, Mary, Mademoiselle, Cigar Bar, Casino 777, Angelica, Barfly, Zephyr, Dolls House, Nobu... and the list goes on...Kristian
Finland / Tampere
2008 July 27 Sunday 17 05 35 PM  

It was closed last saturday. I mean shut down forever :)Tintti
Finland
2008 July 16 Wednesday 18 06 42 PM  

fuck you all, piece of crap-sex tourists, and ocupants!odin
latvia / riga
2008 June 17 Tuesday 14 02 01 PM  

I am real sorry to hear all this stuff about my city.. as a local boy I can assure you..THIS PLACE IS ONE-OFF..Bruno
Lat/UK / Riga
2008 June 15 Sunday 14 02 33 PM  

In addition to all the other warnings given here:1) Ask for a price list always. Words are nothing when you are going to the police later.2) If you are cheated in such kind of a place (there are several of them: Groks, Pink Panter, Mary, Mademoiselle, Nobu, etc), don't pay! These are relationships between customer and service provider, which, here in Latvia, are regulated by civil law. And the only thing that service provider can do - go to civil court, which will never be done by the owners of these places.3) Call the police. Be sure to ask for Central Police Station. These people know about the place, and know what to do.4) Be calm, security monkeys can beat you, and you won't be able to do anything because you're probably leaving in couple of days.(Weeks are needed to process the place)5) Never ever give your card to the staff. Better say, you don't have it at all. Check the amounts they are charging you. Ask for the receipt. Cancel the card as soon as you are out of the place. More money can be charged later.6) If you are let to go for the money to the hotel and one of the monkeys is following you - stay at the hotel reception, and call the police from there. 7) If you friend is held in the bar, and you should go and bring the money to pay - call the police ASAP, and together with the police go for your friend.8) Any questions you have about this kind of places in Riga - email.Nail
Latvia / Riga
2008 June 13 Friday 13 01 29 PM  

Went there and it looked very dodgy full of old guys & young girls/prostitutes. We ordered 4 bottles of beer and were charged 17 Ls. I was aggressive but polite with the barman and told him to show me the price in the menu which he did, so we paid. After that the girls & pimp ignored us the entire time during which we saw a bloke getting charged 175 Ls for buying A drink for a girl.There was 6 of us and only 3 males working in the place (I looked over the entire place including the toilets to make sure there were no nasty suprises) including the pimp/bouncer so we knew there probably would not be any trouble. We saw a couple of cops come in to get their back handers.We did not get ripped but still left after the 1st drink. Very, very dodgy - avoid completely.Alex
UK
2008 June 06 Friday 21 09 59 PM  

A group of 8 of us went into Groks as it was the first bar we came to in the square. Before we knew it we were split up and forced to pay money. 1 person had 4 security guys force him to give PIN number for card and they took 1400 GBP. I lost 1488 GBP and the rest of the guys were about 900. 1 of the group who actually made it out got pepper sprayed in the face and then all cards and cash taken. Never ever go to Groks. I will never return to Riga again....F Brown
Scotland / Glasgow
2008 June 03 Tuesday 20 08 24 PM  

Had I read this before I went to Riga!!! We visited this shithole 2 weeks back and a friend of mine ordered a bottle of wine and was FORCED to pay over 200euros of it. Prior to this I had ordered 1 bacardicola. Imagine the horror when I checked my balance and noticed that this particular drink cost me 330euros!!! This is criminal!!! How can it be that no one can put a stop to this? Personally, I will make sure that every travel/restaurant site in Europe will have a negative review on this place!Tiina
Finland / Helsinki
2008 June 03 Tuesday 11 11 54 AM  

This place call Groks is a really shit they stole me 500Lats with the credit card...I go to the police and they told me that they cant do anything. Is really a piti that this countri have this kind of people.cormme
spain / barcelona
2008 May 30 Friday 16 04 10 PM  

Wish I had read this page before... On Sunday 25th May, I was having a quiet drink in the adjacent Roxy nightclub waiting for my wife to return from the airport. When she phoned to tell me she was on my way, I went to fetch my jacket from the cloakroom. There were two girls talking with the attendant. I had two bits of plastic in my pocket: one my hotel key fob, the other the cloakroom token. I accidentally gave the attendant the door fob. When he returned it, one of the girls grabbed it. I asked for it back, but they both walked away. I (stupidly) followed them asking for it back as they walked into the street and then into the infamous Groks 'back room'. There, before I knew it, they had ordered 2 glasses of sparkling wine. Magically, the hotel fob appeared in my jacket pocket, replaced surreptitiously. I asked for the bill, anxious to leave quickly to rejoin my wife and with as little fuss as possible. The barmaid prepared a bill for 92 Lats (that's US$200!). I said I wouldn't pay and immediately a security monkey appeared from the shadows wielding handcuffs. They told me I had to pay or they would keep me there all night, all the next day and the night after. Then they began to make threats: the girls would say that I offered them money for sex (I didn't), they were underage, I was a sex tourist, I was a paedophile, I would go to jail..the girls said it was better for me if I paid. I refused. Then the guy started to punch me. Then he pushed me hard against the wall and onto the floor. All the time shouting aggressively. I remained calm despite the provocation, not responding with violence or raised voice. I tried to negotiate, offering 30 Lats - still an outrageous amount and handing over 29 Lats (all the small money I had - I didn't reckon being given change).The bar maid slapped me hard in the face and then stamped using her stiletto heel on my foot, punching a neat hole in my shoe leather. Then she kicked me. All the time they tried to manoeuvre me out of sight (I realised later) of the video surveillance so they could hit me with impunity. At one point I managed to call my wife by phone and ask her to fetch the police. After 30 minutes of beating, threats and intimidation I was allowed to leave. The police were just arriving in 2 vehicles and I led them back into the bar and identified the 'security' guy. He was taken to the police station in one vehicle and myself and my wife in another. There it was suggested that I withdraw my complaint, but was allowed to write a witness statement and pursue the matter. At one point I noticed a policeman at the station greeting and shaking the hand of the security guy - which didn't instil confidence. The Groks administrator turned up with video footage which was reviewed at fairly high speed. Predictably, they had managed to manoeuvre me into a corner which the camera didn't cover, so there was little evidence of the violence (apart from on my body and clothes). After about two hours we went back to the hotel after first checking that the violent guy would remain at the station to allow us to get away safely and avoid further assault. The police sent me to a police clinic to have my wounds documented. I haven't heard anything since, but I will go back if required to try to help avoid this scam being perpetuated against innocent visitors. If after reading all the comments here, you insist on visiting this pit, try to stay standing in the middle of the dancefloor (covered by video) - you might avoid a beating. But you are unlikely to avoid a fleecing and a thoroughly unpleasant experience. This place should be closed down and the criminals who run it locked away.Steve
UK / London
2008 May 29 Thursday 19 07 45 PM  

yep, we're fcuked as well at that bar......a nice lady "tries" to be friendly to you (didn't look like a hooker though) but for real belongs to "the crew" that rips you off. Never ever give your credit card to them to pay for drinks, only cash money and ask upfront what it costs.stevie
holland / amsterdam
2008 May 23 Friday 11 11 20 AM  

Rip-off prices, at least we got out before the hookers appeared.Avoid like the plague.Rob
UK / Bracknell
2008 May 22 Thursday 02 02 23 AM  

We made the same mistake and bought a bottle of wine for 2 poor students (probably hookers). We had to pay 168 LATS for that bottle of wine.We were f-cked, you could say. Say no to Groks barJohan
Sweden
2008 May 12 Monday 09 09 14 AM  

Under no circumstances should you even think about visiting this pub, Groks. On New Years Eve a group of us (14 people) made this mistake. We paid to go to the 'disco' at the back. When we entered it was empty, except for a group of about 10 prostitutes, who immediately assaulted the women in our group (slapped across the face !!). I assume they only wanted men in this so-called 'disco'. Very dangerous place in a very dangerous city !!!Brian
Ireland / Clare
2008 April 16 Wednesday 04 04 37 AM  

I wish I had known about this place before I went to Riga. On our last night my friend and I said we'd pop in here for a drink as it didn't look like a lap-dancing bar or strip joint. We ordered a pint of beer each and then approached by 2 studenty-type of girls who seemed pleasant enough, my friend and I felt a bit sorry for them as they told us all about the economic situation in Latvia etc. They then invited us to join them in the Disco bar in the back part of the bar. We offered to buy them a drink and even asked the waitress how much it was and she said 'thirteen eight' which I took to mean 13 lats 18 santimas which would be about 20 euro but when my friend tried to pay for it she pointed to the menu and lo and behold it was 138 lats (something got lost in translation i think) I went ballistic and wanted to fight my way out but my friend got nervous and pleaded with me to calm down as we'd end up in jail (apparently the cops are in on the hustle) in the end we paid so let this be a warning to anyone going to Riga (which I wouldn't recommend anyway) to stay away from this hole called Groks and don't feel sorry for any of the Latvian women who all seem to be part-time hookers out to fleece the tourists!!!!!Patricio
Ireland / Cork
2008 March 24 Monday 11 11 46 AM  

Don't buy a metre of tequila - about E100! Big Red Army guy will take you to cashpoint or demand passport & credit card.E Yaakadi
Latvia / Riga
2008 January 21 Monday 15 03 07 PM