Hyde & Co is a speakeasy style bar hidden away right in the centre of Bristol.
The charm of the venue is that everything is set up to make you feel like you’re actually in 1920s prohibition America. When you get there, the only way you know you’re not in the wrong place is a small sign on the wall. Other than that you would think you’d gone to the wrong place. Once you’re sure you’re not lost, you have to ring the doorbell and wait for them to come to get you and take you inside. For all they know inside you could have been the cops!
Inside, the bar is lit very dimly and decorated with an eclectic selection of arm chairs and sofas. It’s all very cool and stylish. The service is great too – they take you to your seating area, bring you some water and nibbles and then present you with an extensive menu of their original cocktails.
The drinks are absolutely delicious and really well made. When I went, we sat at the bar and saw the drinks being made, which was quite cool. All in all, it was a real experience – a really stylish bar with an interesting theme to it.
Hyde & Co is featured on World’s Best Bars and is currently rated tenth on their reader’s top 100 list!
It’s worth a trip but it must be said that the access is not that great. There are a couple of steps to get to the entrance. This means that, if you’re in a wheelchair, you have to go with someone who is not, or else you won’t be able to get to the doorbell and get inside. They don’t have any portable ramps or anything to get people into the building but they told us that they have the ‘manpower’ to get around this. It’s also very narrow inside and there is no disabled toilet.
Hyde & Co is quite small and it gets pretty congested at about ten, particularly at weekends. They advised us that if a less able bodied person, particularly someone in a wheelchair, would like to go there, then they really should call ahead and check that their will be space. They will happily move things around to make space for you call in advance and enough space is available. Also, the bar is only open from 7pm.
To an extent, the problems are unavoidable due to design of the building. Also, in a strange way, it felt that if it had been wider and more accessible it would have been slightly at odds with the speakeasy vibe they have there. The waiters did seem like they would be very helpful if someone less able was to go there.
It’s a great place to go for an experience, a dead cert 5 out of 5 for ambience, but there are accessibility problems, so Hyde & Co gets a provisional 2 BBS Ticks.
