The Golden Lion

Want decent live music, cheapish drinks and a bloomin’ good atmosphere? Then look further!
The Golden Lion is where it’s at on Gloucester Road. It’s somewhere I don’t go very often but always have an absolute blast every time I do.
During the day it feels like a standard pub and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a bit flat. But come early evening the place starts to rock with live music. They support and promote a lot of local bands and solo artist as well as booking bigger names during the weekend.
The Golden Lion is brilliant and even looks impressive from the outside, with its full graffiti make-​over!

This is a proper pub, it’s your typical boozer with a slightly cooler edge.
The golden lion offers a modest range of drinks, ales, ciders and lagers as well as a good array of spirits. All from pretty average prices. They also offer a guest ale each month.
They have fairly recently started doing food and offers a burger menu which looks fab, all for around £6. I will definitely be going back to try them.
The pub it’s self offers 3 main sections, front bar which is your usual pub bar, there’s also a slightly quieter seating area to the rear of the bar. And there’s a cornered off area for live music, they pull across a deep red velvet curtain and it gives the feel of an old fashioned smoking lounge/​gentlemen’s club, I love it! I’d imagine when it gets busy the curtain comes back and everyone gets involved!
The live music is great, they have listings on Thursday to Saturday and have a pretty eclectic mix to choose from. They also have regular nights including an open mic night on a Monday and film club on a Sunday– this month is Schwarzenegger month!
Great pub, you should definitely visit as Arnie would say ‘I’ll be back’.

One of the finest meals I have eaten out in a long time, tonight, whilst dining on the golden lions burger theory.
Reasonable portions, great tasting burgers and good vegetarian options meant even my sister was happy and pleased!
Simple yet effective, now to work my way through the list of veritable burger feasts!

Lovely little homely pub that plays host to number of music gigs and events. Friendly staff and good choice at the bar. A nice touch is the barrel seating at the back.

The Golden Lion is the local pub for the school my husband works at but I only made it there recently. Teachers (who behave exactly like that group did in the 90s Bristol-​based sitcom Teachers) don’t tend to go to the pubs nearest their schools for fear of bumping into the parents of the kids they teach, so by default, I tend to avoid it too. However, last year, there was a one day Oxjam festival raising money for Oxfam (see what they did there with the name and all!). One of the venues was the Golden Lion so we headed up there. It’s quite a way up the Gloucester Road, practically in Horfield to be precise. But what a nice pub, light, new-​looking, decent stock of booze behind the bar, plenty of seats and a pretty good place to see live music. We saw a brilliant named band there — Harmonica Lewinsky, basically a guy with a case full or harmonicas playing Abba covers and other such gems.

The Golden Lion is yet another pub along Gloucester Road, there are so many to choose from you start to wonder how they all manage to get custom! But this pub definitely has got something right, because on the few times I have visited for drinks it’s had a buzzing atmosphere and always seems to be really busy! However, they do have quite a lot of seating which is great, so you should be able to find somewhere to sit…
The best thing about this pub is its emphasis on live music, you’ll often find that they have some sort of live music night going on, whether it’s local bands, low key independent bands, or open mic nights, the entertainment is always good fun and makes for a bit of a different evening! They tend to stick to a weekly structure of different music nights (such as open mic — Mondays, funk — Tuesdays…), but check out their website to see upcoming events — they have all their listings available, and some you might need to get tickets up front so it’s worth checking before…
In terms of customers this pub is pretty all round — it attracts lots of students and young people from the area, as well as older locals, but it’s not especially children friendly so perhaps not somewhere for a family meal out with the young ones! I’d definitely recommend this pub — especially if you’re from the Gloucester Rd area — in my opinion its one of the better and more fun pubs!

The Golden Lion is golden indeed, presiding over Bristol’s pub music scene like the shining animal from which its name derives. A new graffiti paint job on the outside has revitalised this one-​time fusty old man’s pub and changed it into one of the few businesses worth trekking up to the top of Gloucester Road for.
Every night showcases a different style of music, ranging from hiphop to reggae to funk to rock… just about every genre is welcome in its four walls. The soundsystem is good, the space for live bands is intimate, and the names they attract are excellent.
There’s a wide range of drinks and although the pub is almost invariably (and perhaps annoyingly) packed, there’s a fair amount of seating space. Friday and Saturday nights are recommended for music lovers only as the noise levels get so high and the space so tight that a relaxed conversation is almost impossible. Not that that’s a bad thing if you’re standing at the front of the crowd, checking out an fantastic local band.

It was a risky decision to take on a pub with the reputation for violence that The Golden Lion was infamous for… and it took more than a few stern words to dissuade the vicious regulars to calm it down and chill it out. After a while it became apparent that they needed to be flushed out entirely in order to recreate a new atmosphere within its four walls.
James (landlord) took on the task with the implacable determination that he invariably employs in all of his attempts to realise his objectives, and after sustaining a few black eyes, he accomplished what some people thought would be impossible. He liberated The Lion from the clutches of intimidation, securing the first stage in a long sequence of events that would transform the place out of all recognition.
Next came the equally ballsy decision to paint the rendered walls with a two-​storey mural that shrouds the entire building. A local graffiti artist was commissioned to do the job. And it’s amazing. No amount of ludicrously expensive advertising and PR could have delivered such a succinct message to the public. The mural is not simply a fresco, it’s a visual manifesto! A statement of intent that could not be misinterpreted: The Lion had transformed itself for good.
A new set of regulars began to frequent the bar; music lovers and creative’s soon replaced the bruisers and boozers, and the nightly live music and DJ sets began to really happen.
Despite an increase in popularity, money was still really tight, so James turned his hand to sound engineering and Stuart, the owner of The Golden Lion as well as The Old Duke in town, took on the daunting task of working the door. But money was spent where it mattered. Good staffing levels were necessary to ensure a minimal wait at the bar, and to keep the 200 capacity venue clear of empty glasses and detritus. And the moment it was possible, the management dug deep into their pockets and invested in some decent sound equipment, ensuring that The Lion can summon a fair old roar.
These days it’s difficult to gain admittance after 9.00pm as the place is well packed with party people soon after eight. The £3.00 admission charge means that the venue can afford to book increasingly impressive bands, keeping the upward spiral rotating in style.
There is only one detractor in my opinion. The layout of the back rooms means that people needing to use the toilets are forced to walk directly in front of the stage en route to the urinals. This problem could easily be addressed with a lump hammer and a book on Feng Shui. A different arrangement of the tables and the removal of minor non-​load baring petitions (presumably created for their questionable aesthetic appearance by the previous owner, who had clearly studied interior design by consulting the ‘Bung It Up And Bodge It Builders Guide To Home Improvement’, would make all the difference.
But this is a minor consideration when all is said and done. The Golden Lion is an unmitigated success story, an incredible triumph in the face of very real adversity, that is not only a credit to the people who have made it happen, but to the city of Bristol as well.

I used to go past this pub everyday to and from uni and would marvel at the wonderful graffiti on the outside. And this was the main reason why I eventually ventured inside.
A friend of a friend was doing a gig here and I was very impressed. They seem to be quite selective with who is allowed to play, so you are pretty much guaranteed a good line up whatever night you go. I like the fact that they encourage local artists meaning that a few little gems come along who aren’t used to the big arenas and therefore really know how to make an good, intimate show.
The drinks are reasonably priced too, so all in all its a great place to pop into with your friends.

What the Old Duke is to jazz I think the Golden Lion aims to be for everything else. Various Bristol based acts (including the world famous DJ Derek, a sixty year old that likes to put on reggae nights) play here, as well as a few from out of town.
There’s something on every night with covers almost always very reasonable. Have a gander at their myspace to get a feel of what they put on, though the range of stuff is pretty eclectic so you may well get a surprise when you turn up.
The drinks aren’t to badly priced. Given how busy it gets they could probably jack up the prices a fair bit actually. There’s some cool art on the walls, with new artists regularly getting put up. It’s all based on the name of the pub in way or another — a smart way to advertise I reckon!

This used to be a bit of a dilapidated old mans pub, but a few years ago it had a complete change around, when the inside was refurbished and they got a swanky new graffiti paint job on the outside, turning it into the cool joint that it now finds itself to be. It’s the sister pub to the massively popular Old Duke in the centre of town, and it’s equally focused on music, providing one of the better pub gig venues in Bristol — they’ve got a constantly good line up of local talent and touring bands on their listings.
As well as music, they also support local artists, putting up a new exhibition on the interior walls every 4 weeks, with the constant theme of the ‘Golden Lion’. There’s pool tables in the daytime, which get cleared away on gig nights to make way for a dance floor around the stage, and the whole pub stretches further back than you’d expect from outside.
As for the bar, it’s well stocked, with a few good ales and cider on draught. It’s always pretty busy when I come past here, even in the daytime, and it gets pretty rammed on the weekends and gig nights. All in all it’s a good place to be, and definitely a pub that’s made a mark on the Bristol scene.

This is possibly my favourite of the exciting array of pubs on Gloucester Rd, in Bristol. There’s rumours that it’s a gay pub, although I’ve never seen any evidence to support this theory. Every time I’ve visited there’s been an assortment of students and locals, of all age ranges, frequenting the pub. This seems to work well, and there’s a variety of drinks on offer, live music and other entertaintment that suits the tastes of everyone.
The drinks are reasonably priced and the pub also serves the usual bar snacks and a few meals, as well as packaged sandwiches. The side street outside the pub hosts a few outdoor entertainment shows so I assume the pub attracts some of its custom from these, but I’ve never seen any trouble in there, either at those times or during the showing of a popular sports game.
There are 2 sides to the pub — a lounge scattered with tables, and the other side hosts a pool table and has a large area set aside for live acts and performers. The bar area is towards the front of the pub, separating the two sides.
There’s a fun atmosphere and the pub is different to the usual bars and pubs on Gloucester Rd which gives it a little charm.

This is a grealittlen pub based on the lively gloucester road. A good atmosphere and friendly staff lead to an ejoyable place to go to enjoy a quiet daytime drink. Although it might not look like the most exciting pub with its tiered décor it does attract a wide range of people. Students and locals come together to enjoy the live music on display.