Zed Bar

Zed Bar seems to attract all ages during the day, including families and I can imagine it really transforms when filled with the lively out on the towners at night time. We came for lunch and would have easily spent the afternoon here if we didn’t have errands to run. I liked that on the menu they listed meals according to appropriateness for lifestyle/​dietry requirements — something I think this age is becoming more sensitive/​aware of but not enough places show acknowedgement of. I went for the the low GI fajita salad (which was huge) because I had skipped breakfast that morning and was close to selecting the mouth watering full breakfast on the menu but the healthier option won as I knew I’d succumb to less healthy evening choices. Low GI because it keeps you filled up for hours and that it did.
Staff were really friendly and service prompt. Shame the weather didn’t allow us to sit outside but inside was cosy and relaxed.

Popped back here t’other day for a final goodnight pint, before heading back homeward from a Chapel A jaunt. It’s still a solid choice for a drink, especially late night on a Sunday, as all other options were done at about 11pm. The chap that served us was rather jolly, and there were plenty of folk tucked into the booths with lagers and cocktails, so it was certainly lively for such an evening.
They’ve also the advantage of the huge, heated outdoor space, which suits us smokers such as myself –especially given the winter chill. You’ve a range of standard lagers, cocktails, and spirits to pick from so you’re not likely to lose. Added bonus, at least for the moment, is their fabulous Unilocal check-​in offer which allows you a percentage off your food bill on a Tuesday! Happy days.
Full of lively folk, has an upstairs area, plenty of space and reliably open late into the eve for all you night owls. The staff certainly make the visit, as they’ve always been lovely! Sound as a pound, and all that jazz.

Absolutely love this bar. Have been lots of different times, day and evening and always had a good time. The staff are friendly and quite clearly enjoy their job. The interior is classy without being overdone, the outdoor space is very relaxed.
Wide range of wine and great cocktails.
Breakfast is fabulous and the sunday roast to die for!
Somthing that really pleased me was that on a very busy friday night there was no fuss made when at 10.30 i fancied a coffee.

Seeing that this is the second bar in the chapel allerton pub run a fellow yank and I decided to walk in and give it a go. Customer service here is quite fantastic we were greeted as soon as our hands hit the bar and we told about the 2 for 1 cocktails and the 3 for 10 pound tapa menu. We said no to the food becasue we were stuffed from my wife roast dinner and went straight for the reason a pub run is fun the drinks. I was dissapointed seeing only one hand pull but I went for a nice pale called Tether blonde and my friend went for a dbl sailor jerry and coke. Cost wasnt too bad it was under seven pounds. The outdoor seating area is very nice and I will have to agree with Rowena the heaters make you feel very warm almost wont need a coat in the winter time. Next time I hope to sample some grub because the interior is nicely set up and the menu seems decent enough to have a stop in and enjoy.

The worst burger I have ever had. The burger was burnt and the bun fell to bits in my hand which meant I couldn’t even eat it. How hard is it to cook a burger without cremating it and buy decent burger buns?
I spoke with a manager who said he would refund some of the money. The burger cost £8.50, and I got £4.00 back, which doesn’t make any sense as chips which came with it are £2.75 on their own.
Overpriced terrible food. I will never eat here again.

My friend came here for tea a couple of weeks ago and said she had a ‘Naked Burger’, which I thought sounded (a) a bit rudey but mostly (b) healthy on account of a distinct lack of bread. So Hot Steve and I ventured there for tea on Friday and lo and behold, other stuff on the menu sounded way better, like the Med Meze and some curly fries and a bowl of olives, so that’s what we had. Tasty noms indeed. I had to knock 2 stars off because (a) the Amstel tasted like the pipes needed changing, (b) the loos were grubby, (3) there was as pronounced smell of armpits everywhere. The bar dude was also cheeky verging on a bit rude but I let it slide because I was a bit drunk.

Oh god. another one. If you had been blindfolded and left in either Trio, The Box and The Arc, I don’t think you’d be able to tell which of these identi-​bars you were in when you took the blindfold off… Although it is a large bar, with lots of space for the hoards of both newly ‘jobbed’ graduates and locals alike, that come down to dance to mainstream indie and old-​school funk on a Friday night, it seems like a bit of a cop out. Despite many of the bars being incredibly samey-​samey in the Chapel Allerton area, I think that Zed overpopulated mass of sweaty bodies is a rather repellent option. They sell cocktails ranging from the typical £5 mark, but also some elite options at £7 a pop. Too much? Maybe, but hey, the barman does do some impressive tricks involving lighting alcohol in a wine glass, which leaves you with a blue fire in a glass and dripping flames into a cocktail, lighting it.
Overall, it just got a bit boisterous in there after a certain point on a Friday. Maybe it’s just me, but if I actively decide I don’t want to go to town for a night out, I don’t feel recreating a city centre atmosphere is my idea of a good time.

Another one of Chapel Allerton’s countless bar/​bistro type places, Zed manages to take the winning, student-​pleasing formula of its sister bars Box and Trio and turn it into a winning, young professional-​pleasing formula by… well by not doing very much at all, really. Other than enjoying a different location, Zed is aesthetically practically identical to these student hang-​outs, even down to the large pavement seating area and posing clientele. The food and drink is pretty similar too, with concessions to the more upmarket crowd in the form of a more extensive cocktail list and some fancier items on the menu, but the similarities between this and the other establishments owned by the company gives the whole experience the feel of a chain pub. As with its contemporaries, it’s a perfectly adequate venue for a few drinks and a dance if you can’t be bothered to go all the way into town, but if like me you find Box, Arc and Trio a little too self-​consciously trendy for their own good, you won’t find anything to change your mind here.

Zed has to be the newly-​trendy Chapel Allerton’s finest bar offering. From the same folk who brought you the Arc, the Box, and Trio in Headingley, comes a bar that is slightly more upmarket of any of the aforementioned student hangouts.
This is simply because Chapel Allerton is the new ‘place to be’ for young professionals in Leeds, and Zed knows exactly what these sort of people need — a bar with stunning casual décor, friendly bar staff and a lively atmosphere. They also do some rather laaavely (and I mean laaavely) cocktails as well as plenty of beers, wines and spirits to keep you occupied.
Though it’s a good place to be on weekend evening (often full of mid-​twenties talent) my best experiences here have been during the day on one of those rare sunny English days — sitting out on their outdoor terrace with a beer and a mate is the stuff dreams are made of.

Pretentious?! I think so. Zed is one of those places that is full of people who think that they are something special. A long time ago, anyone who was in the know, went there because of the atmosphere and ambience. Now, it is populated by mummy and daddys’ children who pomp the place up into beliving it is the mecca for drinking establishments. There are better places to drink in Chapel Allerton than this.
However.a redeeming feature of Zed is that the food they serve is good. Especially the sunday morning breakfast. A completely different experience if you wake up and have a bite to eat. Friendlier staff, less pretentious and a pleasant breakfast experience.
In short, don’t bother drinking there. Get your breakfast/​lunch instead.

When this place first opened a few years ago it was one of the only bars in Chapel Allerton and was a pretty good place. there are now loads of bars, all of them better than this one. Zed thinks it is better than it is and so do its doormen. I say try any of the other bars in Chapel Allerton.