What’s the best pub in Bristol?

Down it fresher


Students love to drink and a pub is one of the merrier options for a night out as oppose to the dark pulsating crowds of a club. Luckily, we Bristol students are blessed with a huge variety of great pub choices.

We’ve decided to rate some of the more famous ones to help you out with choosing where to go on your next outing.

Vote at the bottom of the article to pick your favourite.

The Apple

With half a pint of 8.6% cider priced at just £1.50 Monday-Thursday for students, what better way to pre than getting drunk on a boat.

Decked in fairy lights and banging out indie tunes, The Apple offers a unique drinking experience. Make sure you wear a coat, as this location is a popular one and a seat inside is a rare luxury.

However, with an outdoor bar and plenty of heating, perhaps it’s worth braving the cold even at this time of year. I would recommend you pee before you go though, in order to avoid the unisex, swing door toilets that stink of shit. – 9/10

Bag Of Nails

They have cats, so that’s a good start.

However, this dingy little pub does make you wonder where the RSPCA are at. It’s dark and poorly decorated – not even Lucifer and Wolfgang (two of the shabby cats) can save it for me.

I also still remain dubious of pubs that serve pickled eggs. I guess the best part would have to be the collection of tatty board games and to be fair the bar staff were pretty friendly. – 3/10

The Berkeley 

The classic Spoons. The Berkeley has pride of place, with a view of Wills and those wonderful cheap prices.

At this time of year the Christmas decorations are enough to cheer up Scrooge and that glass dome in the middle is kind of pretty.

If you’ve just had an exam in Wills then where else are you going to want to pile out to- this could be pretty useful for drowning my sorrows come January.

Also, Emily, a second year Dentistry student, told me her grandparents met here back when it was a ballroom, so it must have some kind of romance to it. – 8/10

The Brass Pig

Over priced, over crowded and highly over rated. You’ve probably been dragged here by your society only to realise you should have stayed at home and had pres.

While the urinals do have games on them, which is pretty cool, I unfortunately do not have a penis. Apparently the free roasts were pretty good though. – 2/10

The Cori Tap

Tucked away in Clifton this pub is guaranteed to be loud, rammed and full of passed out students who have failed the 10 before 10 challenge.

This cider pub seems to be deadly, with a visiting friend recently collapsing on a table for several hours and a house mate projectile vomiting, and then proceeding to spend her night getting with her Tinder date- the poor guy.

It’s basically a more up market version of The Apple, minus the boat. – 7/10

Greenhouse

An average pub, full of average people. The only time you would come here is on a Wednesday with your sports society and even with your discount it’s still pretty pricey.

This pub is either empty or completely rammed- either way the only time you’d find me here is before the Arts vs Science bar crawl, so obviously not worth a trip. – 3/10

The Three Tuns

They played Fairy Tale Of New York, enough said

Sitting in the heated patio area, wearing a rather fetching tartan blanket, you wouldn’t be wrong to confuse this pint with a psychedelic trip. With overly friendly bar staff, known to have made jokes along the lines of ‘I’m going to put my finger so far in it touches your intestines’, this yellow pub is a little abnormal.

On a Monday the locals can be heard belting out Irish bangers and, right in the heart of Bristol, this quirky pub has a great sense of community to it.

The pints are cheap, the people are friendly and the playlist is always banging – (if you are as passionate about acoustic Arctic Monkeys covers as I am.) – 9/10

V Shed

If hen parties and disco lights are your kind of thing, a night at V Shed won’t disappoint.

Unfortunately, that’s not really my jam. However, if you come here earlier in the evening it’ll be a good level of busy, especially on a week night. The view of the river from upstairs is pretty great and with two bars you won’t find yourself queuing for years for a pint. At the end of the day it’s a pretty nice Spoons on the river and the middle aged women in bunny ears are a good laugh.

I also had a solid date here once, so I’ll mark it up a point. – 7/10

The W G Grace

Named after the famous cricketer, The W G Grace is the nearest Spoons for a lot of second years and it is one of the more upmarket members of this chain.

The exterior of this pub blends into the slightly more classy area and the interior isn’t too shabby either. It’s not very big, but it’s one of the cheaper options to be found on Whiteladies.

It’s just not quite got the same feel as The Berkeley, pity. – 6/10