Small Bar Reviews Summary

Atmosphere & Ambience

Pros:

• "Nice atmosphere, good variety of beers."
• "The ambience was buzzing and happy, yet we could still hold an audible conversation."
• "Good food, good beer and an atmosphere you just can't buy."
• "The bar staff were friendly and the place had a nice feel to it on a Friday night."
• "Great character with fantastic craft beers and ciders. Nice and intimate with great decor, friendly staff and a nice warm atmosphere."
• "Small Bar has a real cosy atmosphere and it was buzzing on weekends."
• "Staff were great and place was generally friendly and a good vibe."

Cons:

• "needs a bit of a deep clean, smelt/felt a little sticky/smeggy."
• "Smells a bit inside but not too bad. Mainly just old beer soaking into the wood flooring."
• "Terrible acoustics, so you can forget having any conversation indoors."
• "Playing 'Death Metal' which completely spoiled my meal out and catch up with my daughter."
• "Unfortunately when we attended you were playing 'Death Metal' which completely spoiled my meal out."
• "Last night the door staff were somewhat rude."
• "really bad attention, I came with my wife to eat and a guy from the staff addressed me rudely."

Food & Drink

Pros:

• "The burgers were amazing, highly recommend them."
• "The chicken served here is seriously good - buttermilk soaked and beautifully fried."
• "Obsessed with the dirty chicken fries with Korean sauce - can’t get enough."
• "Excellent food."
• "The fried chicken they do is outstanding. On par with what you get in Korea."
• "The food here can take a little while but is really excellent - burgers, hot dogs and that ilk."
• "The food looks, smells and tastes amazing."

Cons:

• "I feel certain dishes like the one pictured below (veggie dirty fries) aren't amazing quality/price wise."
• "Disappointing food, tired old setting."
• "The food is good but there seems to have been a little drop in the quality lately."
• "Chicken was rank rotten."
• "The food was good, although the crispy chicken coating could do with more seasoning."
• "Changed the menu to stop serving their great hotdogs. This also means no more pickle backs!"
• "This place was a favourite and was great value for good quality food. Unfortunately they have increased their prices way to high for me and friends."

Service & Staff

Pros:

• "Plus the staff are super nice and helpful which all in all makes it a place that I will visit every-time I am in Bristol."
• "Bar staff were knowledgeable about the beers and happy to recommend."
• "The staff are always really friendly."
• "Staff were clearly up to speed and very polite."
• "The staff know their stuff, and are good fun to talk to as well."
• "Friendly staff, efficient service and a great selection of beers."
• "The staff were polite and helpful."

Cons:

• "Absolute joke of a bar, can’t call themselves a safe space for everyone when the staff are so rude and disrespectful."
• "However, I got needlessly kicked out of SmallBar... This is totally unacceptable in my opinion... I think this was incredibly unfair, and I will not be going back anytime soon, as I'm actually genuinely upset by this experience."
• "Double G&T’s are over priced for the area tbh, especially as the tonic is of a lower quality brand."
• "Getting served was a little slow but it was a peak time."
• "We were not told how much time we had available for said drink and chose to treat ourselves to £7 2/3 beers only to be told 30 minutes later we had 2 minutes to finish them."
• "I cant believe the unhelpfulness of the staff the poor quality of service the lack of information given."
• "really bad attention, I came with my wife to eat and a guy from the staff addressed me rudely."

Price & Value

Pros:

• "Reasonable prices and cashless / card only bar."
• "Excellent beers that change regularly."
• "They have such a wide selection of draft beer that you are going to discover some delights, and some duds among them – but that's craft brewing for you."
• "It sells in 2/3rd pints but unlike some bars that do this, they charge appropriately."
• "They always have decent beers on at not outrageous prices."
• "Food was also excellent & cheap."
• "A very good craft beer bar in heart of Bristol, ever changing range of beers, good atmospheres."

Cons:

• "Touch pricey for 2/3s of a pint."
• "Lovely bar selling a tremendous selection of proper ales, but beware the prices - one pint is nearly £9."
• "Great selection of local beers, possibly a little on the pricier side, but hey - this is Bristol."
• "Some beers are certainly over hyped and not worth the money so I'd suggest a bit of research before you go so you don't get ripped off."
• "A touch on the pricey side, especially given that drinks are served as 2/3 of a pint."
• "Craft beer shouldn’t be cheap, I, well used to 'London' prices, and I get that, but some of their offers were a little on the high side."
• "However serves 2/3 glasses instead of pints, which in my book is less about being trendy and more about shortchanging people."

Space & Comfort

Pros:

• "There's plenty of seating inside and out so it is good for fairly big groups."
• "With the extra space upstairs, some great options for even a moderate sized group."
• "Plenty of room. Nice out door space."
• "Nice place, larger than the name would suggest - probably holds getting on for a hundred over the multiple floors and outside."
• "The bar itself is nice, with a bar style setting downstairs and more of a lounge style setting upstairs."
• "A wide selection of drinks and friendly staff."
• "It's a very popular pub so you may still not get a space."

Cons:

• "This place has some fantastic beers on the menu but is almost a victim of it's own success... they probably need to restrict entry a bit and give everyone room to breath."
• "It needs more seating in a way but the name holds true considering it's popularity and the enforced cosiness adds to the vibes."
• "Would prefer some decent ciders too, and sometimes your fave brew has disappeared from the listings after only a few weeks."