Bristol Neighbourhood Guide: St Pauls

Bristol Neighbourhood Guide: St Pauls

Posted on: 04 May 2023

We’re back with our guide to Bristol’s diverse and vibrant neighbourhoods – with some cherrypicked spots to showcase just how much is going on in each corner of the city.

 

This week, we’re taking a look at St Pauls: home to one of the biggest street carnivals in Europe, this tight-knit and diverse community is a creative hub that houses a range of popular bars, breweries, restautants and much more.

 

Read on for our guide to all the nightlife, food, shopping, cultural and historical highlights of St Pauls…

 

Nightlife:

 

We’re beginning our nightlife rundown with a newer establishment, Mickey Zoggs. Located on the same premises as legendary music venue Surrey Vaults, Zoggs has become the go-to pub for the Bristol music scene. The venue is also home to much-loved local radio station Noods Radio, with DJs playing live from the studio inside. So, why not grab a drink and dance the night away at one of Zoggs’ regular events and radio takeovers?

Next, we have the New Bristol Brewery Taproom. Quietly nestled away not far from St Paul’s Park and Portland Square, the brewery is a small but daring enterprise run by husband and wife team, Noel and Maria. The NBB tap bar is a pretty unique space, regularly opening its doors for music, comedy and other outlandish acts as well as screening various major sporting events. With a celebrated roster of beers on tap, you will never be disappointed with a trip to New Bristol Brewery.

A real favourite with Bristol’s student scent, Cosies is a Portland Square-based basement bar/micro club with a particular focus on reggae and dub. Perfect for a cheap and cheerful night out, entry is normally under a fiver and the busy bar opens until late. Dub Studio Sessions, Music Box and Bristol Reggae Society all host regular events, whilst the weekly Reggae Sunday events are an institution within Bristol’s nightlife scene.

Another venue with an almost legendary reputation within Bristol is The Criterion. A proper pub through and through, punters can expect a quirky interior featuring both Irish and Jamaican memorabilia as well as a well-stocked bar, a pool table and live sports. Located on Ashley Road, The Criterion is popular with locals and has a tight-knit community around it.

Our next pick is a slightly lesser-known venue. Upper York Street’s Basement Beer began as a weekend hobby in 2019 and has since grown into one of the newest microbreweries in Bristol. With a tap room that is open on Fridays and Saturdays, Basement Beer has collaborated with a range of local independents (including Bird & Blend Tea Co and soon Lost Horizon Coffee) to create truly unique beers that never fail to disappoint 

Speaking of Lost Horizon, the team behind Glastonbury's legendary Shangri-La’s HQ is located on Elton Street - perhaps just outside the official boundaries of St Pauls but we’ve included it anyway. After first opening in VR, Lost Horizon is an exciting new venue that boasts a mix of dub, club and live bands that's given the Shangri-la stage Glastonbury Festival's most cultish following. As well as music, the 350-capacity venue is also a visual and digital arts hub allowing for art sales, exhibitions, residencies and more.

Finally, in this section, we have one of Bristol’s most historic club venues, Lakota. An integral part of the city’s nightlife for over 25 years now, the club has seen and nurtured a wide range of musical genres and movements over the years, from Bristol's world-renowned drum & bass scene to early iterations of dubstep and much more. Indeed, several of Bristol's biggest electronic music exports of all time - including Eats Everything, Roni Size and Pinch - have been regulars at Lakota at one point or another and, even after so long in the business, the venue is not slowing down.

Food:

 

Beginning our food rundown for St Pauls is local favourite Baba Ganoush Kitchen - Jerusalem Falafel. Offering authentic, delicious and freshly prepared, traditional vegan/vegetarian Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Food, this popular St Nicholas Road eatery specialise in falafel, wraps, Mezze plates, fresh juice and coffee. With its vibrant painted exterior, you won’t miss this hidden gem.

If it’s a community-run cafe that you’re looking for then Glen’s Kitchen is the place for you. Attached to the St Pauls Learning Centre, this colourful kitchen offers delicious Jamaican food at an affordable price with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere to boot. The cheap lunchtime special of curry goat, rice and peas in particular should not be slept upon!

Another truly unique restaurant/cafe located slightly off the beaten track is Jikoni East Africa. The creation of skilled chefs Iman and James who first collaborated in 2017, the menu is an amalgamation of the former’s love of Nairobi and Somalian home food and the latter’s years of industry experience. The Jikoni (meaning ‘kitchen’ in Swahili) team love nothing more than getting creative with traditional cuisines, while also respecting the people and places they came from - the result: a mouth-watering menu of culinary delight!

Our final food highlight is a bakery/cafe that has been ranked amongst the best in the UK. Perfectly located for those waiting to embark on an arduous Megabus journey, Farro Bakery first began to attract attention for its loaves at farmer’s markets before opening its popular St Pauls venue. Their famous Bristol-baked bread is served alongside delicious pastries, hand-made cakes and steaming hot coffee - just lovely!

Culture:

 

A hotpot of culture, we’re beginning our list with the neighbourhood's most famous feature - St Pauls Carnival. Since it began back in 1968, the carnival has grown in size and reputation to become one of the UK’s most accessible and inclusive events of its kind. A celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture, St Pauls Carnival is an event where every float, stage, performer and person tells a story - a story of music, dance and community. On 1 July, after 3 long years away, the carnival will return to the streets of Bristol for an all-out celebration with a procession, sound systems, costumes, food, musicians, dancers and much, much more.

 

 

Circomedia is a world-renowned centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre training. Founded in 1986, Circomedia are passionate about promoting circus throughout Bristol and beyond and offer BTEC, Degree, and MA courses, combining high-calibre skills and body training with a focus on creative thinking. They also curate an extensive and innovative performance programme from their Portland Square residence - an impressive venue situated amongst the grand Georgian surroundings of St Paul’s Church.

A centre point of St Pauls as well as Bristol’s African Caribbean community, The Malcolm X Community Centre was born out of the St Pauls uprising in 1980 (more on that later) and has served its community superbly ever since. During the Windrush era, the first generation of Caribbean immigrants moved to St Pauls, making it a significant hub for the Black community. With more than 91 languages spoken, the suburb is now one of the most diverse places in the city. Home to the Malcolm X Elders, the centre is one of Bristol’s most important community hubs.

History:

 

“Early immigrants from the Caribbean settled in the St Pauls area of Bristol in the 1950s alongside other migrant communities from Ireland and Asia. Many had been invited here to fill the skills gap following the Second World War and St Pauls provided affordable housing” - Bristol Museums website

 

St Paul’s is home to two Georgian squares, namely Portland and Brunswick. The former’s historic significance comes from its numerous Grade I listed buildings (including St. Paul’s Church) while the latter previously housed a legendary underground venue, The Brunswick Club. One of Bristol’s most prominent alternative art spaces, the club helped cultivate a multitude of local experimental artists such as Giant Swan, EP/64 and Spectres as well as touring artists including Moor Mother, Nervous Conditions (who have since morphed into Black Country, New Road), Yves Tumor and many more.

Another legendary former venue in St Pauls is The Bamboo Club. Opened in 1966, it is historically significant in that it became the first Bristol social club to welcome the city’s African-Caribbean community. Located on St Pauls Street, the venue was famous for renowned hosting reggae and soul music acts (including Bob Marley!) as well as sound systems throughout the 60s and 70s - it was also the location of the Sex Pistols’ only Bristol gig. The Bamboo Club sadly burnt down in the late 70s.

One of the most significant aspects of St Pauls’ history is the uprising of 1980. On April 2nd 1980, tensions between police and Bristol's African Caribbean community, which were already rising, erupted when The Avon and Somerset police raided the Black and White Cafe on Grosvenor Road. A massive crowd quickly gathered and police officers were pelted with projectiles - the first time in British history that riot shields were used against civilians. The uprising had widespread cultural and historical significance as a symbol of retaliation against over-policing in this country.

So, there it is, 365Bristol’s guide to St Pauls. Please note that we have had to be loose in terms of neighbourhood borders so as to fit everything that’s amazing about Bristol into these guides. It’s also impossible to sum up everything that’s great about our city in such a short article, but please get in contact with us here and let us know your favourite neighbourhood highlights.

 

Images: Patrick Bate

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Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.