The Bank Tavern

Great pub. Lovely, but small interior. Great location. Izzie behind bar was a star. Friendly place. Meals very very popular. Good ales. Definitely recommend. We will return when next in Bristol.

Incredible food, lovely staff and great vibe in a little square, off the main roads so nice and quiet. Lots of cool walls and the building is traditional. Loved it, thank you!!!!!!

Booked in for Sunday lunch ( booking is essential, as there fully booked 2025) that says it all, outstanding lunch. Crab taco starter was spot on, the main event was rare topside of beef, brisket bon bon, Mrs B had the Ham hock bon bon all cooked perfectly With Yorkshire pudding, creamed leeks & seasonal veg..the gravy was another level finished off with a beautiful light lemon tart. The service and atmosphere was ideal. We will definitely be going again ... 👏👏👏

Absolutely hands down the best roast we've ever had! We came for the Christmas menu and it did not disappoint! Beef was extremely tender, the black pudding stuffing was incredible. We can't wait to try and come back when the diary opens again! Amazing staff too!

This is our second time back in 2 months - first time was the usual Sunday lunch (beef) and this time the Christmas lunch (turkey). Both meals have honestly been the best roasts of my life - which admittedly only 12 of those years have been in the UK but it's just so amazing. Cannot wait to return to try the normal menu. Really lovely staff too - definitely recommend it when in Bristol!

Popped in for lunch on my way to an appointment at BRI. The staff were helpful, attentive, and nothing was too much trouble. There are a good selection of ciders and ales, and the prices are reasonable. A small menu is available, and while not the cheapest it is well worth the money. As a visitor on a weekday lunch time it wasn't very busy. The music was just to my taste - classic rock from Bowie to Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac to Sade. I would definitely come back if i am in the city.

Visited for their award winning Sunday Roast. Everything was 5/5 with the exception of the roast potatoes 🙈 A crucial element to any roast so a bit gutting but when we spoke to our server, they already knew. Think they were having an off day - would still happily return/recommend. Particularly enjoyed my chocolate cheesecake, really need to go back and try the weekday lunch menu!

Amazing place, best Sunday Roast I ever had, and super nice staff – a pleasure meeting Sam. Super recommended.

Fantastic little pub. Was stopped in Bristol for a few hours and decided to walk to this place. Delicious Sunday roast and some good local real ales. If you're in Bristol, I highly recommend this place!

Cancelled my reservation after 15 months of waiting, and the waiting list for a Sunday roast is now several years - so long that there are no available Sunday reservations. They didn't bother to contact me to explain or offer another day, I just got an automated email from their booking system. Emails to the landlord take several days to get a response and he has also not been reachable by phone. The only response from the landlord has been to say that they've decided not to be open Sunday January 1st 2023, but if they're going to take reservations so far ahead they should honour them, and simply block out days on the system for future bookings that they won't be open for. Their website says they are uniquely inhospitable. I agree with that assessment.

A rainy Friday night in November, but this place is pumping. Lively would be one way to describe it... and it's unexpected too, looks like an unassuming small pub on the outside. The regulars span a generation - young groovers out for a drink before hitting the clubs and old guys supping their pints of ale at the extensive bar. Live local bands and quiz nights (every Tuesday), curry nights, DJs, it seems that every night is a party night down at The Bank. No boring folk in pin-striped suits here.

We just ate a Sunday roast at this place today and I was flabbergasted by how good it was. Initially, it didn't look like the sort of place where one would expect to find a great meal. No one was eating and the place was half full with a few regulars. There was a good selection of crisps and pork cracklins hanging over the bar which could easily have been mistaken to be the main food source in this place. We ordered our roasts as soon as we got inside and were offered the choice of chicken, pork or beef. The food took a long time, but once the plates arrived I understood why. At our table we had examples of each meat choice but the beef was certainly the standout (the pork being a close runner up). I was confronted by a perfectly rare, inch thick, slice of prime rib that took up the entire plate and was then folded in half to make room for an au-gratin leek casserole, green beens, peas, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots, perfected roasted potatoes, and a giant yorkshire pudding. None of the vegetables were frozen from a bag, everything seemed homemade. They also bestowed on us little pots of good quality horseradish, mustard, and applesauce for the pork. It must have taken some time to put all this magic together. Our table mates critiqued the roasts here in comparative terms to the Lansdowne, which they promise is as good as it gets in this vicinity. Apparently The Bank was almost as good. Having never been to the Lansdowne for the roast, I was thoroughly impressed. I couldn't even get close to eating it all. The barman seemed awfully disappointed that I didn't finish my food (everyone else's plates were so clean they looked licked), but he happily packed up the rest of it into two cute little microwave-safe takeaway boxes. I predict a mud wrestling match with the hubby to see who gets to take it for lunch tomorrow.

A little bit of a strange one, this place. It's on a very quiet road in the centre of town, on John Street. Probably very good for the residents of the road, but I've never seen this place busy - it's just not that kind of place. But for the centre of town, that's probably not a good sign. When I've been in for a pint, which are at pretty low prices, it's always seemed a bit dead. Having said that, I've always been in the daytime - they've got a good menu, which a few of the local office workers clearly make use of at a lunchtime. They do have live music and Dj's in here occasionally, which would definitely liven the place up. It's got a very traditional feel to it, which is nice for the centre of the town, but maybe a bit too much so as there's definitely an old man locals feel as you walk in. The selling point is the cheap prices.

This traditionalish place (traditional in terms of the building and having a few ales, but not in any other respects really) is a good day time pub. By that I mean it's good for afternoon pints and pub lunches. This is what people generally seem to come for, with office workers getting a pick me up with their burgers. Not so sure about it in the evening, a bit quiet and a little old in terms of clientèle for my tastes. A good somewhere if you're in the city centre and you don't want too much noisiness on your night out though (especially considering how rowdy Bristol can get on a Friday/Saturday).

The size of this pub is the first thing you notice - it's pretty small and doesn't have much seating space indoors. However, this place is a little hotspot that in the summer months is particularly buzzing in the evenings - especially on Friday and Saturday nights! The Bank is a popular pub with students living in the centre of town, and also as a pre-drink location before heading on out to the Syndicate night club just round the corner. They also have their locals who are regularly sitting at the bar. One thing I would like to add is that the toilet situation isn't brilliant - the ladies room is tiny and there is only one cubicle so there's often a queue. Also, the cubicle door has a blurred glass panel that you can kind of see through - pretty unusual! But aside from this, it's a great place to grab a few drinks with friends, and the outside seating area in the summer months always has a great atmosphere!

Fantastic pub hidden away in the city centre, they have live music on Thursdays and quite an atmosphere all the time. They also do themed events during the summer, rather interesting to see the front of the pub turfed with Morris dancers!

The bank tavern The bank was my local drinking spot when I worked up the road, generally I'd go there pretty often the guys behind the bar are proper and cool and they serve a decent selection of booze, spirits and snacks. I know they do food in the afternoons but I've never had it. It gets pretty busy when there is live music on or even just in the evenings and it can be quite a clique crowd from the after work drinkers there. The good thing is the courtyard if you're a smoker. Friendly staff, umbrellas outside if its raining and right in the middle of everything. They have quiz nights on Tuesdays which are great fun run by Jonny who puts together a good quiz and halfway through your team gets a free pizza.

Looked like a great place, but was told at the counter that they do not sell food after 16:00.

I stumbled in here whilst in my first year at Bristol before going to Panache. They suitably have £1 shots, I recommend the sambucca, and a fire to warm your self by in the winter. Their one pound sambucca's are made even better by some of the nicest bar staff around, whose humour is plastered subtly on the walls, including a fake loo sign (try and work out which one is real), they are also really nice if you break a bar stool, not that I recommend it. Good old fashioned fun.

Layer upon layer of pub goodness! as a local for the last 3 years I've gotten a pretty rounded experience of the bank and all it has to offer and I was surprised at how little of the bank's character had been reviewed. First off, real ales. 6 pumps with 4 ales and 2 guest ciders. Always a good mix of strong & sessions beers with a pale and a dark - a porter or guest stout and the guest ciders are always 'proper' ciders but the staple is Thatcher's gold and dry on the taps (there are lagers and a stout but I don't pay them much heed) There are usually a gaggle of CAMRA boys kicking about and the beer is always in great nick! There are frequent 'Meet the brewer' Q an A sessions with guest brewers like Martin Thatcher of Thatchers cider and guys from Caladonia ales (as far north as Edinburgh!) they tell the punters what they are all about and make sure everyone who attends has plenty of wares to sample. Food - they run a lunchtime menu that is pretty well stocked; all made on site and they boast baking fresh bread every mornings (they tweet frequent pictures of fresh burger rolls and loaves coming out of the ovens) I don't eat lunch there often but when I do I find the dishes to be properly nice, good examples of cooking - last time we ate me and a friend had a cow burger (hand made bread of course) and a spiced lamb tagine from the specials board. Food was awesome, took a bit longer to come out than I wanted but it was pretty busy and totally worth it. Sunday lunch - Best. Roast. In. Bristol. beef cooked perfectly, lamb breast braised for 12 hours. Exiting and interesting puddings - last lunch I enjoyed a dessert of toasted almond marshmallow, chocolate dipped cinder toffee and ice cream. never had as good a dessert before or since Atmosphere - Daytimes.. bit quiet, not many people about but staff always good natured and friendly. always chatting to people if they are regulars or not. bar music is a pretty good mix or relaxed stuff in the daytime. always a choice of papers on the bar. Evening times its a lot more lively. there are events that run in the week. quiz night (always a lively affair) live music at least twice a week with fortnightly 'open jam & bandeoke' where the house band take the stage and invite people to come and play an instrument or sing a few songs. Friday evening the place erupts with the local offices kicking out for the weekend like a weekly carnival! The only way I can see this place improving is if they ahd a bigger bar as it can get a little crowded trying to get a round in when its heaving (wich is more often than not) having said that, when the staff are in full flow behind the bar they are pretty damned quick considering they work in an area the size of the average office desk. If I ever leave Bristol I see myself coming back every weekend just for this pub!

I had the hen burger. Amazing, perfect, a must order item. They don't have a big menu, but the food is great. I will go back.

A lively small pub in the heart of the city it has friendly staff and good food to offer to the hungry shopper who is willing to travel a bit off the beaten track. On the weekends this venue also doubles as a bustling bar which serves drinks to revelers young and old alike. With a wide range of music on offer including special events and live music nights there's plenty to do, also a pub quiz is held every Tuesday a must for anyone who wants a good giggle and to meet new people! Reasonable prices and a brand new menu make this small pub a good place to go and try out!