CHester
Drinking in Chester
We have a fantastic selection of bars and pubs within walking distance. You’ll find somewhere that suits no matter what your tipple! Champagne, cocktails, wine or beer, check out our favourite places…
COCKTAILS & BAR
Barlounge Cocktail Bar
Barlounge is renowned for fabulous service and beautiful drinks. It opened in 2000 and in doing so changed the course of hospitality in our beautiful city. A fair few refurbs later, they are still at the top of their game 21 years on. Book a booth in the bar or a terrace table for a top-notch night out.
75 Watergate St, Chester CH1 2LB. Telephone 01244 327394
COCKTAILS & BAR
The Champagne Bar at The Chester Grosvenor
The Champagne Bar at The Chester Grosvenor has been serving the great and the good of Chester since 1865. This is a glamorous Champagne bar that takes centre stage in La Brasserie, serving everything from cappuccinos to cosmopolitans and an exquisite selection of Champagne.
Grosvenor Hotel, Eastgate Street. Telephone 01244 324024
COCKTAILS & BAR
Craft & Company
Ideally located up on Watergate Row North, opposite their sister venue Liquor & Co, this gin parlour & taproom will have you feeling fabulous! With live music and DJ’s at weekends this is a fun place to be to let your hair down.
24 Watergate St, North, Chester CH1 2LD. Telephone 01244 312588
cocktails & bar
Liquor & Co
The culture here is all about good liquor and good company. They open from 3pm daily and serve cocktails, craft beer and fizz. Oh, and if you’ve come here looking for the caretaker… if you know, you know – and if you don’t, well that’d be telling!
31 Watergate St, Chester CH1 2LE. Telephone 01244 319417
COCKTAILS & BAR
Popcorn
Popcorn has a pretty eclectic and super-welcoming vibe with a super-cool team delivering great service in an informal yet attentive way.
The Exchange, 1 St John St, Chester CH1 1RE. Telephone 01244 313165
COCKTAILS & BAR
Kuckoo Cocktail Bar
Kuckoo was founded in 2010 with the vision of sharing their passion for fabulous cocktails, incredible service and awesome music. They turned an empty and unloved Chester building into a beautiful boutique bar and filled it with highly trained, customer-focused and fun-loving bartenders, multi-serving incredible cocktails to an Indie Rock’n’roll soundtrack.
58 Watergate St, Chester CH1 2LA
COCKTIALS & BAR
Prohibition
Our favourite. Prohibition has always been a little bit of a secret! We think this tiny bar is one of the best bars in Chester for cocktails. The entrance is somewhat of a mystery on Watergate Street (after all it’s the Prohibition and so drinking must be kept a secret). If you do find your way in, you could well by greeted by the sound of a honkytonk piano and the vibe of an underground cocktail crowd breaking all the rules! Ask us for directions – and if you are a larger group ask our Edgar House concierge to try to book some space for you!
66 Watergate Street. Telephone: 07957 592594
COCKTAILS, BAR & RESTAURANT
Oddfellows Chester
They have certainly put the ‘Odd’ into Oddfellows! Instead of falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, you climb the stairs to a very curious place indeed! From upside down tables on the ceiling, an enchanted secret garden full of giant furniture and surprises around every corner, Oddfellows is a magical venue located in a stunning Georgian building on Lower Bridge Street – just a hop, skip and a jump from Edgar House.
20 Lower Bridge Street, Chester. Telephone: 01244 345454
COMEDY & BAR
Alexanders
Alexanders Live has been the home of Comedy in Chester for over 30 years. Located in a gorgeous hidden courtyard off Northgate Street, Rufus Court comes alive throughout the year with fabulous live performances of every kind. They are well known for putting on the best Tribute acts in the UK, and of course their Friday Night Comedy acts are legendary with a fusion of major headline comedians and superb local talent. Take a look at the schedule well in advance of your visit and let us know if you’d like our Concierge service to help book for you. Shows sell out well in advance.
Rufus Court, Chester CH1 2JW
Telephone: 01244 401402
WINE BAR, COCKTAILS & FOOD
The Venetian Cicchetti Bar
Created by the super-talented foodie couple April and Max (who also own the hugely successful Greenhouse restaurant on Godstall Lane) this is a traditional and authentic wine bar with a true, continental vibe. The wines are mostly European with a huge selection of Spanish and Italian bins by the glass. They also serve a daily special selection of the tastiest Cicchetti (small Venetian snacks or side dishes) to perfectly accompany those fabulous wines.
52 Northgate St, Chester CH1 2HA
Telephone: 01244 340068
WINE BAR, COFFEE & FOOD
Koji Cocktail Bar
Chester’s first all-natural cocktail and wine bar.
Brainchild of hypha, a new drinks lab combines low intervention wines, zero-waste cocktails, craft beer and fermented soft drinks. They also serve Blossom coffee and speciality tea for the caffeine lovers, not to mention their spent coffee puck kombucha. Located at the entrance to Rufus Court, the ideal location for a quick glass or cosy evening.
5 Rufus Court, Chester CH1 2JW
WINE BAR & WINE MERCHANT
Vin Santo
Located in Chester’s historic 13th Century crypted cellars on Watergate street, Vin Santo is a wine shop and wine bar.
21 Watergate St, Chester CH1 2LB. Telephone: 01244 310455
WINE BAR, BEER & FOOD
Paysan and The Cavern of the Curious Gnome
Paysan serves many wines by the glass and their signature Italian fizz is amazing! We have sunk many bottles of Prunus while chatting to our favourite people over the Parisian style tables (a particularly quaffable red from Portugal) and the vibe is always bustling and cheery. You can also order Rotisserie Chicken, which comes with fries and garlic aioli. Venture upstairs and you’ll find the Cavern of the Curious Gnome and if you love brilliant beer – you’re in luck! This is an independent European beer hall, with the best selection for miles around.
61 Bridge St, Chester CH1 1NW. Telephone: 01244 641704
WINE BAR, COFFEE & BRUNCH
Assembly Chester
Assembly Bar is an all-day destination that will serve you the best in barista coffee and freshly baked pastries at breakfast and weekend brunch, before seamlessly transitioning into the ideal gathering place for evening drinks, conjuring up creative cocktails and perfectly chilled beers by night. This fabulous, independently owned venue has an innate focus on quality experiences. They embrace and promote locally-sourced produce where possible, and their wine selection contains some of the most delicious natural, organic and biodynamic wines imaginable.
55, Chester CH1 2LB. Telephone: 01244 321 482
LIVE MUSIC, BAR & DANCING
Telford’s Warehouse
Telford’s Warehouse has been attracting a pretty hip and Bohemian crowd for well over 20 years and is still one of the city’s favourite entertainment venues today. Not only is it a dining pub with views over the Shropshire Union Canal, it is also an event and entertainment venue with some of the best live music that the city has to offer. From quizzes to the best local and regional bands, paint-a-longs, costume capers and so much more, Telford’s Warehouse really does have something for everyone.
Tower Wharf, Raymond St, Chester CH1 4EZ. Telephone: 01244 390 090
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Bear & Billet
Just a two minute stroll from Edgar, built in 1664 to replace a building destroyed in the Civil War, the Bear & Billet is one of Chester’s finest examples of a black and white half-timbered building. It is said that the Earl of Shrewsbury had leased it to an innkeeper on condition that a suite of rooms was always kept available for the Earl and his family. A drawing of 1820 shows it as the Bridgegate Tavern and it is believed to have acquired its present name soon after. Still containing its original fixtures, The Bear & Billet has subtle hints to its varied past (including the resident ghosts!). Today you will find a welcoming and traditional pub serving good food and ales, with a roaring fire in the Autumn and Winter months.
94 Lower Bridge St, Chester CH1 1RU. Telephone: 01244 311886
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Pied Bull
Another haunted pub and one of the oldest inns in the city, The Pied Bull has many reasons to visit, one of them being that it is home to the smallest microbrewery within the City’s Walls. Reputed to be the oldest licensed house in Chester, The Pied Bull dates back to 1155 and was originally named ‘Bull’s Mansion’. Today, the interior continues to reflect its distinctive heritage, still housing an original handmade staircase dating from 1533.
57 Northgate St, Chester CH1 2HQ. Telephone: 01244 325829
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Cross Keys
One of the nearest pub to Edgar House, this is a great spot for locals and visitors on the corner of Lower Bridge Street & Duke Street, where you are spoilt for real ale choice. The Cross Keys is a small single-roomed Victorian gem, a charming tavern with a real quality feel within, twinkling stained glass windows, leather seats, oak floors and a Joule’s hallmark finish.
2 Duke St, Chester CH1 1RP. Telephone: 01244 344460
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Ship Inn, Handbridge
Just over the Old Dee Bridge (so an easy stroll from Edgar). The food is honest, home-cooked and locally sourced. They serve a proper breakfast menu including all the favourites, plus the main menu with the best pub classics, a gourmet burger menu and superb Sunday, dessert, vegan and children’s menus too. This is one seriously good dining pub and the upstairs dining room looks just as good as the food served from its kitchen. This space is light, airy and elegantly themed with a nautical vibe – and the fully-folding windows make it even more special with river views. The beer list is varied and also great quality, plus it has enough gin in their gin bar to … well, sink a ship (!) and the wine list is of great quality and great value too.
18 Handbridge, Chester CH4 7JE. Telephone: 01244 678400
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Brewery Tap
A great local, independent pub serving superb ales and proper pub grub using the best local produce. The Brewery Tap has a real sense of arrival. Up some steps onto a very olde world balcony just a short walk from Edgar House, it genuinely feels like you’re stepping back in time to a bygone era, which we love! A stunning Medieval hall awaits you at the top of those stairs, but it still manages to feel quite cosy at the same time, with booths and big wooden tables making it feel every inch a proper old pub with large windows and plenty of natural light. The Brewery Tap is owned and operated by local brewery Spitting Feathers – so the credibility lives up to the proper-pub-vibe at every level. This is a genuine Real Ale Pub, and there are many more award-winning beers on tap with an ever-changing selection of session ales for the most discerning of enthusiasts and connoisseurs.
Gamul House, 52-54 Lower Bridge Street, Chester CH1 1RU. Telephone: 01244 340999
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Boathouse
The Boathouse is a family pub perfectly situated on the River Dee in Chester. It’s as close as you can get to the river (without getting your feet wet!) and yet just a few paddles away from Edgar House. Its unique features such as its outside river terrace, heated beach huts and floating beer garden make The Boathouse a good venue on a sunny day.
21 The Groves, Chester CH1 1SD. Telephone: 01244 328709
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Architect
The Architect is a classic pub restaurant within Chester’s city walls overlooking the racecourse at Roodee. The pub is a story of two halves: turn right through the glass connecting passage and the original Georgian building has cosy, domestic rooms that naturally lend themselves to a series of intimate dining rooms in classic style. Turn left into the new garden room and you’ll find a spacious open plan room with a large bar at its heart and a buzzy, pubby feel to things, with glazed doors leading out to the dining terrace. The food is always excellent and the beer selection is among the best in the city and in the Summer this huge beer garden is one of the busiest for miles around.
54 Nicholas St, Chester CH1 2NX. Telephone: 01244 353070
TRADITIONAL PUB
The Olde Harkers Arms
This is a proper old city of London boozer, only in Chester, it’s a great meeting place over a pub lunch and at different times you’ll find half the commercial and professional heart of the city in there. They have been listed in the ‘Top 10 Whisky Pubs’ in the Good Pub Guide, several years running. Their passion lies in finding quality fresh ingredients and preparing, cooking and presenting them in a modern but unpretentious way. The menus have a spine of classic British dishes complemented by more exotic influences from other parts of the world.
1 Russell St, Chester CH3 5AL. Telephone: 01244 344525