Pubs and Bars / News
One of Bristol’s most distinctive pubs reopens
A pub that once boasted one of Bristol’s best-kept secret beer gardens is secret no more.
The Colosseum has got the ‘C’ back on the yellow lettering of its distinctive Brutalist facade and reopened its doors.
While the exterior of the Redcliffe pub has changed very little, the interior has undergone a fairly dramatic transformation under the new custodians, World Famous Dive Bars Group, who are also behind the Mother’s Ruin and the Crown.
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The well-worn traditional pub interior has been replaced with a polished wooden floor, exposed brickwork and low-hanging light shades, while the bar has been shifted to the back of the building to maximise space in the pub, which was already packed some four hours after reopening on Saturday.
The newly reopened Colosseum was packed within hours of opening its doors on Saturday
“Could I get a Thatchers Haze please?” asked one punter as he made it to the front of the queue that had formed at the bar.
The cocktails on the drinks menu were going down a storm with many happy pub-goers as Saturday afternoon turned evening, while steaming tapas plates were carried out to crowded tables and people laughed and talked over the music.
“Isn’t it different,” marvelled one woman, joining her friends at a table as she took in the newly transformed pub.
It may have been a dreary February evening but every table on the outside terrace area was full.
Look out to one side and you have a view of the majestic St Mary Redcliffe Church, while to the other, you look down on the semi-hidden Quaker Burial Ground.
A pub that once boasted one of Bristol’s best-kept secret beer gardens is secret no more
Speaking to Bristol24/7 the day after reopening, World Famous Dive Bars director Marc Griffiths said: “It was great to see so much interest and love for what we have done with the Colosseum.
“From our perspective, it’s validation that it was right to save this little piece of Bristol’s history from the march of the developers and stop it becoming lost to luxury flats.
“The Colosseum is 50-plus years old, I hope that she is still happy serving customers another 50 plus years, long after myself and (co-director) Patrick are gone.”
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All photos: Ellie Pipe
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