As the year draws to a close, the hospitality industry in Bristol has seen its fair share of ups and downs. This year we have not only lost a number of big names, but we have also welcomed some new bars and restaurants to the city, too.
And, as we look ahead to next year, we already know of a few venues that we can look forward to opening in 2025. From unique cafes and wine bars to pub transformations and bakery rebirths – there’s plenty to come in the new year.
We’ve compiled a list of those confirmed to open in the next 12 months, as well as those we are still awaiting an official date for…
Key Cafe
The Key Cafe’s ‘Jail Jar Jam’ has been jarred and labelled using labels printed in the prison workshop – you can buy them from the local Papadeli on Alma Road
(Image: The Key Cafe)
The Key Cafe is being run and built by former prisoners and is set to open on Bristol’s Gloucester Road next year. The project has been established by The Restore Trust, an organisation whose mission is to reduce reoffending rates by providing practical skills and work experience to individuals transitioning from prison.
The cafe will be partnering with local and popular brands, including Single Variety Co, Canton Tea, and Triple Co Roast, and promising visitors “a space where high quality food and social purpose intersect”. One of the standout features of this initiative is a unique partnership with the award-winning jam makers, Single Variety Co.
Known for their ‘commitment to using single-variety ingredients to craft premium preserves’, the company will not only supply the café but also lead jam-making workshops with prisoners. These workshops aim to equip participants with valuable culinary skills and confidence, helping them build a foundation for life beyond incarceration.
Pots of ‘Jail Jar Jam’ are currently available to purchase from Papadeli on Alma Road in Clifton, with proceeds going back into the project and raising funds for the jam making equipment. You can read more about the new venue, here.
Tapps Wine Bar
Olivia and Neil Greenwood run The Shakespeare in Redland and previously transformed The John Cabot pub on Gloucester Road into The Royal Oak – they left the Bishopston pub in 2021 after 14 years and are now set to open a wine bar on Whiteladies Road
(Image: John Myers)
A new Bristol wine bar is currently in the works, and hoping to open its doors on Whiteladies Road next year. Tapps Wine Bar and Kitchen promises “drinks, food and music”, and will be situated at 87 Whiteladies Road, the former home of restaurant Thai Classic.
It’s set to be the new venture from the owners of The Shakespeare Pub in Redland. The historic pub, rumoured to have stood on the same site since 1803, has been in the hands of Neil and Olivia Greenwood since 2014 – and now it seems the couple have taken on a new challenge.
Neil and Olivia will also be known to many Bristol pubgoers as being the landlord couple who took over and transformed the former John Cabot pub on Gloucester Road, reopening it as The Royal Oak. They announced back in 2021 that they would be ‘moving on’ from the Gloucester Road pub after 14 years at the helm, as building owners Stonegate wanted to operate it as a managed house.
Read more about it here.
Bristol’s BoxHall development
An artist’s impression of how Boxhall will look inside
Despite several delays – and the closure of the original London site earlier this year, the team behind the long-awaited Bristol BoxHall development say that progress is being made and work is ongoing at the harbourside site on Welsh Back. While there is no official opening date confirmed as of yet, more updates are set to be released in the coming months, however back in July things were said to be “moving ahead”.
The development was originally planned for summer 2023, before being pushed back to ‘sometime in 2024’, and now as the year draws to a close, it seems that 2025 could be its year. Once open, it will boast a line-up of seven kitchens in the food hall and will ‘feature only the best local and independent food traders’, with the aim of offering ‘an all-day social dining experience’ that includes food, drink and events all under one roof.
In addition to its food offering, the venue will host a complementary events programme ‘showcasing the best of Bristol’s music scene’ throughout the week, as well as a mix of other cultural events. Its food ambassador is Josh Eggleton, chef patron of the multi-award winning restaurant, The Pony Chew Valley (formerly The Pony & Trap).
According to the team at BoxHall: “As a born and bred Bristolian and culinary entrepreneur having set up multiple food ventures, Josh is an incredibly active member of the city’s ever growing food scene. He will be working closely with the BoxHall team to ensure we partner with the very best of the Bristol food scene.”
Read more here.
Sandwich Sandwich
The Sandwich Sandwich team opened their first London shop just three months ago
(Image: Sandwich Sandwich/Josh Kleiner)
The Bristol family behind Sandwich Sandwich have announced they are set to open the ‘UK’s biggest sandwich shop’ as they prepare to open their second London location. The family-run business, which began life in Bristol in 2010, arrived in the capital just months ago, opening its first London store in Gresham Street back in July.
The brand’s new store will be situated in the heart of the City of London in Mark Lane, in a spot that connects Great Tower Street and Fenchurch Street – and it spans 3,500 square feet. It’s set to open in January at the latest, while back in Bristol the team are considering the possibility of future home city sites and more exclusive flavours to enjoy.
While the team say this isn’t at the forefront of their minds currently – and they are mainly focusing on their London expansion – we’ve included it in this list because it’s a Bristol institution and we simply can’t get enough!
Read more about Sandwich Sandwich’s new London openings here.
The Pelican pub accommodation
Josh and Holly Eggleton have teamed up with life-long school friends and fellow publicans, Lottie and Josh Bryant
(Image: Ed Schofield)
BristolLive recently reported that TV chef and Great British Menu contestant Josh Eggleton and his sister, Holly, who run The Pony Chew Valley and The Pony Group, have joined forces with life-long school friends and fellow publicans, Lottie and Josh Bryant – also siblings – to launch this new addition to the popular hospitality group.
Sitting in the heart of the pretty village of Chew Magna on the edge of the Mendips, the project will be completed in two phases, beginning with the opening of the ground floor pub, to ‘bring this popular watering hole back to the local community’. However, the team say they have bigger plans for the site, with the addition of ten bedrooms currently in progress and set to launch in the spring/summer of 2025.
The Pelican will form an extension of its sister restaurant, The Pony – which is just a five minute drive, or 40 minute walk across the fields – and will be ‘very connected’ once the rooms launch. Holly Eggleton will be overseeing the room development and guest experience, with the idea being that overnight guests will be able to move between both venues ‘seamlessly’.
There will also be an addition of bicycles and a complimentary shuttle bus service. The team plan to build experiential stay packages around The Pony’s restaurant, gardens and Cookery School, ‘so that guests can have real variety and immersion during their stay, while also being encouraged to explore the scenic Chew Valley – a hidden gem of North Somerset’.
Read all about it here.
Pinkmans in Stokes Croft
Food at Pinkmans Bakery
(Image: Pinkmans)
Award-winning Bristol bakery Pinkmans launched a crowdfunder earlier this year, to help open a brand new cafe in Stokes Croft. The popular bakery site on Park Street was destroyed in a fire back in June 2023 and the team are determined to open a new cafe for Bristolians to enjoy as soon as possible.
The Crowdfunder raised £4,002 on November 10, with 94 supporters in just 28 days, however the local independent business is continuing to collect donations as “every pound matters”. Since the fire devastated the cafe on Park Street, Pinkmans has undertaken many a collaboration and pop-up venture, working with the likes of Anna Cake Couture to create delicious bakes – recently it was announced that Bristol Cathedral would be teaming up with the bakery for its reopened cafe.
When it comes to their potential new opening, Pinkmans director Ross Gibbens says: “There’s a lot happening in Stokes Croft. It’s such a buzzing area, and that fits with us. It’s almost like the soul of Bristol.”
You can read more about their plans, and donate, here.
King Pins bowling in Cabot Circus
King Pins will be bringing bowling, food and drink, and other games and activities to Bristol’s Cabot Circus in January 2025
(Image: King Pins)
State of the art bowling complex, King Pins will be launching its third venue – and first out of Manchester – in Bristol next year, at Bristol’s Cabot Circus. The Bristol site looks set to open in January 2025 and will feature a variety of games and activities ‘suitable for the whole family’, including ten-pin bowling, tech darts, American pool, shuffleboard, ice-free curling, karaoke rooms, and an arcade.
There will also be a bar and onsite eatery serving up a menu of food and drink options. Find out more here.