The Milk Thistle is a speakeasy in Old City, Bristol.
Editorially verified August 27, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Tip: Ask about the whisky vault below street level; walk-ins stand a chance early on weeknights.
Address: Quay Head House, Colston Avenue, Bristol BS1 1EB
Queenshilling has flown the flag on Frogmore Street for decades as Bristol's long-running LGBTQ+ club, with pop-heavy weekend nights and karaoke specials.
Tip: Friday and Saturday are the big nights; arrive before midnight to dodge the queue at the door.
Strange Brew's soundsystem makes it Bristol's closest thing to a listening bar, with record-led early sessions before the club nights start.
Tip: Early-evening sessions are seated and conversational; check the programme before assuming a rave.
Dareshack pairs its coffee bar with a studio stage on Wine Street, hosting intimate Bristol sessions where the room listens rather than talks.
Tip: Evening shows are announced on the venue diary; day visits preview the space over a filter coffee.
The Mothers' Ruin is the Old City's proudest dive bar, gin by name and band stickers by decor, with gigs upstairs and late Bristol pints down below.
Tip: Pair it with Seamus O'Donnell's next door and you have Bristol's smallest, best two-stop crawl.
Filthy XIII hides award-listed cocktails behind a deliberately scruffy Cheltenham Road shopfront, the Bristol bar where the city's bartenders drink off-shift.
Tip: Ask the bar to freestyle from whatever is open; it beats the printed list most nights.
Queenshilling has flown the flag on Frogmore Street for decades as Bristol's long-running LGBTQ+ club, with pop-heavy weekend nights and karaoke specials.
Tip: Friday and Saturday are the big nights; arrive before midnight to dodge the queue at the door.
The Phoenix is an independent queer-owned pub on Champion Square, Bristol, mixing Sunday roasts, a big garden and its monthly DTYM club night.
Tip: Don't Tell Your Mother, the monthly party, sells the place out; the garden is the summer hangout.
Strange Brew's soundsystem makes it Bristol's closest thing to a listening bar, with record-led early sessions before the club nights start.
Tip: Early-evening sessions are seated and conversational; check the programme before assuming a rave.
Dareshack pairs its coffee bar with a studio stage on Wine Street, hosting intimate Bristol sessions where the room listens rather than talks.
Tip: Evening shows are announced on the venue diary; day visits preview the space over a filter coffee.
The Mothers' Ruin is the Old City's proudest dive bar, gin by name and band stickers by decor, with gigs upstairs and late Bristol pints down below.
Tip: Pair it with Seamus O'Donnell's next door and you have Bristol's smallest, best two-stop crawl.
