The Yard Bar

One of the best outside seating places in SoHo; always enjoy my time!
Can be full of suburbian twinks on the weekend (which I find pretty annoying, kids in the big city totally turnt).
Recently tried their kitchen for a snack, pricey but let me tell you: they know how to handle and prepare their sausages! (We all knew I’d go there)
Drinks are ok, bartenders try to keep you not waiting that long.
Upstairs bar and patio (smoking) are usually not toooo packed, but the floors are sticky later at night (no, I am not going THERE!)

Great bar to visit on a Friday night. Had a good crowd with a mix of gay guys and women. Unique atmosphere, themed like an English garden. Highly recommended if you are visiting London.

Literally a breath of fresh air, a trendy inside bar opens to a large leafy open court yard with plenty of tables, great dance music but not too loud and barely audible outside and reasonably priced drinks. Mixed straight and gay crowd and very diverse in age and gender. A relaxed un-​pressured space in the heart of Soho

While in London for work and strolling through Soho with a friend, we stumbled upon the Yard Bar. The bright purple, neon sign threw us off a little bit, but the garden courtyard was calling our name. We easily found a table outside in a cozy corner and both noticed the eclectic groups of people gathered there for some pints. We immediately knew we were in the right place to enjoy the afternoon. The waiter was friendly, the people watching unmatched, and even the bar food we ordered was decent, but nothing to rave about (had to put something in our stomachs to stave off a 2pm bender!).
Although the inside bar area was smaller, a couple groups were situated at the couches and tables. While we didn’t venture upstairs to the Loft Bar, I can see how on a nice, summer evening this place gets packed. Close enough to the theatre district that we walked to our show before the box office opened in under 5 minutes. Strictly for service and drinks, an easy 4-​star bar!

Great place for a drink. Friendly courtyard with seating area and patio heaters. Good choice of drinks. Friendly Bar team. Close to China Town. Seating inside and upstairs Great to meet friends for an after work drink.

I do love this place. Gets pretty over crowded but from staff to the customers drinking they are all up for a good laugh and chat. I love drinking in the courtyard which is upon entrance or up on the balcony. Drinks are reasonable priced, has ample space and an alternative to a normal pub. Toilets need a revamp and need more of them as on a Saturday night there’s more of a queue trying to get to the toilets than the bar ;)

Nestled in an intimate courtyard tucked away off Rupert St The Yard is a welcoming retreat for the hustle and bustle of busy London with a heated, beautiful garden courtyard bar and comfortable balconied loft bar, perfect for spending long summer or cozy winter nights with friends or loved ones.
The Yard attracts a mature sexy, discerning, gay crowd, from suits & gym bunnies to pre-​clubbers and streetwise tourists. Tables and VIP areas can be reserved, free, for special occasions and we also boast one of the most comprehensive cocktails menus in town!
The bar staff are dishy too!

I am not sure why The Yard bar doesn’t have a 5 star rating on Unilocal.It is the perfect place to go, for one of the best Mojito’s in London, for a warm up to a night out or for a quiet drink mid afternoon after a hard day’s shopping.
Yes it gets busy, but that is because it doesn’t need the 5 star rating it deserves to pull in punters. It is a community hub in Soho and let’s face it if you are out in Soho you don’t mind a little topless man in your life.

An upbeat, lively trendy bar located on Rupert Street taken over Soho (and myself) by storm with decently priced drinks and a fun atmosphere.
‘The Yard’ has got to be one of my favourite bars in Soho. Overly the last year or so, I have witnessed the customer intake of the bar absolutely sky rocket throughout this year and I can see why.
Once outside the bar, I can imagine anyone would want to venture in, the purple neon sign, black gates and trees visible outside (due to an alfresco styled garden) sure does make you want to go in. Once in, you have the choice of hanging out at the downstairs bar in the alfresco styled garden (suitable for smokers) or head upstairs to ‘The Loft Bar’ where there are a few comfy seats, another bar and another smoking area.
The Yard is a bubbly, fun and fast busy bar slowly becoming, if already it not the go-​to bar in Soho. I always have a great time here and will keep on going back.

Yard Bar is becoming a bit of a go-​to bar for me when I’m in Soho. It is quirky, conveniently located for meeting friends and has a chilled atmosphere.
The entrance to the Yard is definitely impressive. You are drawn in from the street by the bright colours to make your way along a leafy passageway decked out with disco balls, fairy lights and stone lions — part gay bar, part garden centre. Inside there’s a cosy courtyard area with seating to lounge on and all-​important heaters. There’s a small ground floor bar area with a few tables but there’s much more room upstairs, with another bar area and a mezzanine above the courtyard.
I’ve visited several times now, usually to meet friends for a drink or two when out and about in Soho. The Yard is perfectly situated for nearby theatres. The bar offers good choice, with a selection of wines and beers on tap, as well as cocktails.

Another great joint in London. Went here a few times on my trip to London. Great crowd, friendly service. I love the outdoor seating. Sigh* I miss this place!

A bar with its own unique ambiance. A central outdoor courtyard giving it a fresh air feel, apart from smokers also allowed to smoke freely here (not so sure it meets UK/​EU laws!). The staff friendly, even the door security had a sense of humour! Its certainly worth including this place on your tour of the local gay bars. All people are welcome here, gay and straight alike.

Always a good place to start a night out with, but not to stay for too long. In my opinion the best feature of the place is the entrance way, underneath the arches and through the trees gives it a mysterious and exciting feel. The inside is less fun, standard bar with topless men to excite. Tacky but it works.
The outside is better though, as long as it’s not raining there’s a nice courtyard feel to the place.
Only 3 stars for this because it’s a good starter and overpriced and was bsy (Friday night though, what cna you expect)

Auf der Suche nach einer Gay freundlichen Bar, sind wir am späten Abend im Londoner Vergnügungsviertel Soho in The Yard eingekehrt. Die Atmosphäre ist nett, das Publikum gemischt von jung bis alt. Die Barkeeper bedienen mit freiem Oberkörper :-) Einen Stern Abzug gibt es für die recht hohen Preise.

I went here a few weeks ago and I can certainly
say that the outdoor heating keeps you nice and warm. The courtyard is beautiful
and so unexpected when you consider its immediate surroundings, which only adds
to its majesty.
I was here on a weekend, arriving at around midnight, and whilst the place was
busy it wasn’t so packed that you have trouble walking around, which is an
issue with so many places in Soho.
The general clientele here are generally more bohemian than they are in the
other places in Soho. Which makes the place much more casual and easy going.
Talking to strangers here is not an issue as most people seemed to be friendly.
Drink prices are the same as they are in the rest of Soho with a cocktail
generally costing you £10. I only have a few but the ones I had were nice.
I found the half-​naked men serving shots a bit out of place to be honest. Like
I said the yard is a casual and easy going place and the ambience was not
really right for half naked men. You expect it is a properly nightclub or
sexually alluring bars, neither of which the Yard is. The Yard is a great pre
drinks place if you’re planning to dance (or drink) the night away in Soho.
Plus if you want to catch a bus to Vauxhall (gayest part of London/​great gay
nightclubs) it will only takes you 10 – 15 minutes to get there.

Years ago, the Yard was my favourite Soho gay bar. These days it’s dressed itself up a bit too camp for my liking and has lost some charm, but it’s still pretty good.
The courtyard used to be the place to escape the smoke inside, but these post-​smoking-​ban days it’s difficult to breathe there so I always head upstairs to the Loft. They have plenty of beers on tap, all seem to be international brands, and the bar men are still topless even on a winter’s night.
It’s not cruisy, but then again, it could be — I just don’t notice things like that when they are subtle (things have to be completely unsubtle for me to notice them). But what I see is a lot of people, young and old, just meeting up and having a few drinks before maybe heading somewhere else. It used to close at 11pm but now seems to stay open until 12pm on a weeknight.

Müde trotteten meine Freundin und ich durch die Straßen. Nach einem ganzen Tag rumgelaufe und shoppen und dem kalten Wind um die Nase war die Überlegung «Mmmmmh gehen wir nach hause oder gehen wir noch was trinken?» Eigentlich hatten wir auch schon beschlossen für heute das Handtuch zu werfen und zurück nach Hause zu gehen, aber dann schauten wir nach links und was sehen wir da? Nackte Männer. Gutgebaute nackte Männer. Naja gut, nicht ganz nackt, Hosen (wenn auch teilweise recht knapp geschnitten) hatten sie noch an. Vornean ein Türsteher neben feuerspeienden Heizstrahlern.
Nochmal die Überlegung: kalter Wind, durchgefroren bis auf die Knochen, da drinnen Feuer und halbnackte Männer. Man sah eigentlich nur noch die Staubwolke von uns, so schnell waren wir im Yard. Sofort durchgeboxt bis an die Theke: «2 Pint, und zwar schnell!» Mit Bier in der Hand ließ es sich durchaus aushalten :) Wenn es unten zu voll wird, kann man übrigens auch die Flucht nach oben ergreifen, denn da gibt es noch eine herrlich große Terasse und eine zusätzliche Bar. Ok, wir können uns auch eingestehen, dass die Musik nicht noch stereotyper nach Schwulenbar klingen konnte: Gloria Gaynor, Village People, Michael Jackson, you name it.
Wir hatten aber Spaß und die Atmosphäre war entspannt. Die Einrichtung ist gemütlich schummerig, lässt aber auch Partystimmung zu. Unbedingt reinschauen, wenn man mal in der Ecke ist!

I love the walkway through the courtyard gates through a white tunnel like walkway with twig like adornment covered in small blue lights, very Santa’s grotto like at Xmas, Which opens out to a spacious courtyard with seating.
There is a nice downstairs bar & a smaller, more basic, bar upstairs, with a balcony popular with smokers, the view of the courtyard from there is lovely, but look up & straight ahead & the view is quite different, the back of grubby looking flats that need a good painting, which is a shame.
The prices are the Soho average, which is never cheap, but there is a happy hour when drinks are much more reasonable. I have always found the punters friendly & have always got chatting to new people whenever I have been there.

I’m a fan of The Yard and have been a few times now with gay and straight friends and have always had a good time. There’s always a good and friendly atmosphere with a few fit barmen thrown in for good measure too which always helps! ;-)
From my visits the service and drinks have been good and the ambience, helped along by the attractive courtyard on arrival and pretty lighting & flamey things there especially when the rare arrival of the sun in Summer time occurs!
In a great central Soho location, so very convenient for other places whether you’re eating or drinking elsewhere or just coming here.
Would recommend and return.

Yard Bar + Halloween = Topless Bar Staff dressed like the joker
This definitely made the queue to be a served a whole lot easier!
The small bar area is cool, the courtyard even better.
Prices were pretty good for the area, but the free-​pouring of single shots was quite stingy. Friendly, fun and not pretentious!

As Soho gay bars go, the Yard is one of the better venues.
You’ll probably already be getting my drift that I’m not generally a great fan of gay bars in Soho: the combination of loud music, high prices and arrogant and inefficient bar staff doesn’t do much for me, and yet they’re packed to the point where there’s nowhere to stand, let alone sit. Still, sometimes you find yourself meeting friends there, so here goes.
On the plus side, the Yard has an excellent situation: it’s located at the end a short passage off Rupert Street, so it’s well placed for central Soho, but lets you feel that you are leaving all the grot in the street behind. The said passage leads to a surprisingly pleasant courtyard with a few tables, behind which is a smallish indoor seating area and bar. A plus is that the loos are handy on the ground floor and kept reasonably clean, and are brightly lit — no treks down darkly lit narrow passages (!)
There’s also a very nice loft-​style room upstairs, although this often seems taken over for private functions (it accommodates up to 110).
It serves the usual range of bottled beers and keg lagers (Grolsch, Stella) and a 33cl Budweiser Budvar will set you back £3.50 — not the most expensive, but I’d rather have a decent pint for less. They have a wide range of cocktails, from £6 to £9, with shots from £3.50. A friend ordered a Sauvignon Blanc and was sure he was served a Chardonnay: I wasn’t so sure, but the fact we could debate it wasn’t a good sign.
Service was pleasant enough, but very slow on the second trip to the bar (how can 4 staff take nearly 10 minutes to serve 5 customers?) and they give your change back in a little dish, with the words ‘Service not included’ in bold block capitals on the receipt — as if tipping at the bar was a British tradition. Sorry guys, that’s not a trend I want to see starting in London.
They have a DJ, pumping out everything from disco to heavy club beats in the downstairs bar Thursday to Sunday — right next to the serving area. You can escape this in the courtyard, but it makes ordering a drink aurally challenging. There’s also a dedicated smokers’ balcony upstairs, but if this area is not open you have to venture into the street. The punters are a typically mixed Soho lot, tending towards the affluent and /​or trendy end of things.
So, not a place I’d personally rush to, but if you like this sort of thing generally, then it’s better than most of the competition, and on a sunny day is quite pleasant.