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Best Cocktail Bars in Bristol: Cellars, Speakeasies and Boats

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Ten Bristol cocktail bars with current service patterns, official menus and useful guidance for small groups, late nights and waterfront drinks.

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Nightlife

Best Cocktail Bars in Bristol: Cellars, Speakeasies and Boats

Guide: Cellars, Speakeasies & Cocktails on the Water

Bristol’s cocktail bars run from small experimental rooms and old banking interiors to an actual boat. These ten places serve different kinds of night, with hours and group size doing much of the choosing.

  • Milk ThistleMilk Thistle occupies four floors of a former merchant's house, from the Parlour to a dedicated whisky vault. Book a table for a quieter room; late weekends run well into the night.
  • Granary ClubGranary Club sits below the Queen Charlotte Street restaurant in a former music-club cellar. Cocktails, Wednesday live music and Saturday DJs make its character shift with the programme.
  • Gold BarThe Gold Bar turns a former bank manager's office inside Harbour Hotel into a richly dressed cocktail room. Velvet seating and selected DJs suit a planned Thursday-to-Saturday visit rather than a casual daytime drink.
  • Rick’sRick's opens onto The Bristol's waterfront terrace for cocktails and food beside the harbour. It has a hotel-bar ease but a better view than most, especially before the evening crowd.
  • Her Majesty’s Secret ServiceHer Majesty's Secret Service mixes playful, precisely made cocktails in a small Clifton room. The menu changes and the bar operates mainly on walk-ups, so small groups have the easiest time.
  • Filthy XIIIFilthy XIII brings inventive drinks to a Cheltenham Road bar with a deliberately rougher edge than its sister HMSS. Monthly menus and casual food make it a different sort of cocktail night.
  • The RummerThe Rummer sits beside St Nicholas Market with a huge fireplace, an unusually broad spirits collection and a distillery downstairs. Earlier daytime service gives this cocktail bar a second life.
  • Brozen BarBrozen makes frozen cocktails the main event on St Nicholas Street, using playful serves rather than a standard long-drink list. The compact room is strongest for an early evening round.
  • 6 O’Clock Gin at The Glassboat6 O'Clock Gin pours its Bristol-made gin and Dutch Barn vodka cocktails aboard The Glassboat at Welsh Back. The onboard shop adds bottles to take away; Sunday and Monday are closed.
  • The LibraryThe Library hides a small cocktail room behind a bookcase entrance near St Nicholas Market. Groups are limited by the intimate space, so use the booking page for a table.
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