The Sparrow, Bradford Central, Bradford

My wife and I visited the Sparrow recently and could not believe how much this venue had changed. The beers and lagers were completely different I had to take my beers back x 2 due to the very poor quality and my wife did not enjoy the choice of lagers. The atmosphere of the place has also changed for the worse. We have just walked passed the place - it is empty. 2 venues we have visited on North Parade today are both very full. Enough said

As Old Boots has said, this is now owned by Kirkstall. It seems to have more pub like fixtures and fittings, though the small formica topped tables are still present, but with more comfortable pub-like chairs. There is bench seating under the front window and a large fire surround on the wall, which I cannot remember if it was there previously or not. It all seems to work quite well especially with the bench under the window and gives it a more pub like feel and is probably a better use of the space. Six hand pumps for cask ale, three of which were Kirkstall ales and the other three guests, consisting of Chew Chew by Fallen Brewing, Okells Bitter and something by Moor. The Chew Chew took my fancy, this was a caramel stout at 6% which set me back £2.20 for a half. In addition to the cask pumps there are some keg taps on the back wall, and a chalk board beer menu to the left of the bar. Had a bit of a strange chemical / sealant smell when I visited yesterday so can only assume they had just had some work done. It certainly didn't seem to be putting the customers off though as the place was pretty full. More full than I remember it ever being when I have been previously. They now seem to do snacky food - pork pies etc - and there were no leaflets on the tables about pizzas so can only assume the previous arrangement with pizza deliveries has now ended. Pleasant, friendly service. I'm pleased to say this is still as good as it was before it changed ownership.

Visited on a weekday afternoon earlier in March as part of my planned session on North Parade. I have been before but was looking forward to a return visit. At the bar were four hand pumps for cask, all of which were available, plus 7 keg options. I concentrated on the cask options and had the Equanot Session IPA by Kirkstall which was rather pleasant, and a bitter called Monument (can't remember who that was by). There was a 9% imperial stout, which had me tempted, and of course I ended up giving in to temptation! Nice mix of styles to choose from. I do like it in here but sometimes I find the wooden tables and chairs to be a bit too café style - but the small tables probably mean they can fit more people in so can't complain too much. I don't think they do food but they have an arrangement with a local pizza place where they will place orders for you and they deliver it to your table. Definitely worth including on any visit to North Parade.

The Sparrow is a newish bar that was converted from a shop. Once inside there is a single oblong shaped room with the bar facing,the floor is bare boarded,the seating normal tables and chairs. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Raw Winter Solstice which went down very well,the other beers noted were Great Heck Washington Red,Great Heck Shanknar and one from Tyne Bank brewery. The pub was fairly busy just after 11am with drinkers,i also had a chat with a friendly barmaid. The background music was different but i quite liked it. I thought this was a very pleasant bar to have a drink in. Deserves a 7.5 rating Pub visited 2/1/2016

One of those cafe abr type places. It seems to be a former shop and is one room open plan with basic, uncomfortable seating that you would not want to spend a lot of time sitting in. The lighting towards the back, where the bar is situated dims from the lighter street frontage. The saving grace is the product, local beers & also wines/coffees/bottled beers. Beer quality was ok