The Smoke Haus, Bristol

A new opening on the site of what was at one time a Yates’s Wine Lodge and then for many years an all you can eat buffet restaurant called Flavourz, this is now part of a small chain of American Diner type establishments. Whilst primarily a restaurant, there was a good sized bar counter to the right with an array of drinks on tap as well as a few stools at the bar for punters to sit at. As it was quiet when we visited we sat at one of the tables, but I guess that may not be possible if it were full of diners. In fact, despite being the opening night when we visited, there were only a handful of other punters in there, and they were outnumbered considerably by the staff. Décor wise, it’s a bit of a mixture of elegant and industrial with a bare concrete ceiling and visible cable trays, etc. as well as bare plasterwork on the top part of the supporting pillars. Below that though there was dark wood cladding on the walls and a wood strip floor. Lighting was mostly the exposed filament bulbs that are de rigour in any pub renovation these days, as well as a network of LED lamps in the middle part of the pub. There was some exposed brickwork at the rear of the pub, and in a presumed nod to Bristol’s street art scene this had some graffiti on it. There were also some murals and a motorbike. A few TV screens behind the bar were showing the football. Unfortunately there were no ales on tap, real or otherwise. The line-up appeared to be dominated by American lagers, although on the cider front they did have Thatcher’s Gold and Stella Cidré.

Official site of The Smoke Haus - thesmokehaus.co.uk

Official site of The Smoke Haus - thesmokehaus.co.uk