The Hatchet Inn

Loved that place. Beer is quite good, the place has 400 years of history. Walls have pictures depicting the old Bristol. Has a small, nice backyard. Music is great too.

Friendly staff great food, awsome live jazzy music, cool vibe ! I recommend good and drinks before going to the 02 academy across the way!

Great hidden bar in Bristol. Free wi-​fi and a nice atmosphere. I went mid-​afternoon and stayed for a couple of drinks.

Since moving from Cardiff we’ve noted there are plenty of places in Bristol to check out live music but were baffled by the lack of rock/​metal venues? Fortunately this is a corker! We’ve been down a few times and have always had a cracking evening.
We’ve been a few Saturday nights and the DJ has been more than happy to accommodate us & our random drunken music requests. Lamb of God, Tool, Killswitch, 36 Crazy fists, Maiden. A few pints of Guiness with all your mates I tell you it’s picture perfect.
Prices for a pint are pretty reasonable and we’ve even staggered down during the day when it’s always quiet to eat Sunday lunch in the beer garden. (Herself still rates this as her favourite as it’s exactly like her Mums!)
Make no mistake this is a pub for metal heads, nobody else need apply. Fucking god bless this pub and all who sail in her!

This pub is in a fantastic location in the heart of the city. Although a popular rock/​metal venue it is ideally situated to start a night out on the tiles or before going to a gig at the nearby Academy.
It may well be useless trivia but apparently this is Bristol’s oldest pub and the door is made from layers of human skin. I am quite gullible though so you might want to Google this to be sure…
I never quite feel at home here in bright, floral dresses as everyone else seems to favour black, neon, leather and metal but when you’re in a large group this is a great place to go. There is a live music/​club space upstairs but I prefer the beer garden/​smoking area outside where there are patio heaters and plenty of picnic tables — perfect for drinking in the evening sun.

The ‘atchet (or Hat Sh*t as it is also known, as of this weekend) is the only ‘proper’ music pub left in Btown, since the Chavs came and bought all the decent pubs and turned them into Chinese Karaōke bars and R ‘n’ b style lounges. The horror.
Basically this pub used to be the perfect before and after spot for anyone watching a gig at the Carling Academy (sorry, O2 Arena or Music Bowl… whatever the hell it is now), but really The Hatchet is so much more. I even saw Badly Drawn Boy do an acoustic set here after a show. Beautiful.
Don’t expect anyone to smile at you here; it’s not that type of crowd. Just keep your head down, tell yourself you’re cool enough to be in there, enjoy the music, get your pint of Guinness and sit at a table in the corner somewhere — oh and try not to make eye contact with the skinhead with the skeleton tattoo, you’ll know who I mean. At least that’s what I do.
Seriously great pub though. Check out the DJ every weekend, if you really want to hear great music. Expect at least three Rage tunes a night, The Deftones, The Cure, The Cult… actually I’m going to stop listing bands. They just play the best music in town. Got it? Good.

This is such a stunning building in a really odd location. I can’t work out whether it would be better off not being opposite the Academy or not. Obviously a large slice of its clientele comes from pre-​gig punters who want to sink a few pints in an actual pub setting rather than queuing in a scrum at the meagre Academy bars only to get some overpriced lager that tastes like watered-​down urine. And I have only come here before gigs to avoid such a situation. But perhaps if it wasn’t underneath Park Street and was on a main drag it would be more of an institution. It’s absolutely vast inside with dozens of little off-​shoots from the main room and loads of places to sit. And the bar staff are friendly and boisterous. Yes there are loads of emo kids and rockers in here but that doesn’t really bother me. What bothers me is how lacking in personality this pub is despite being so beautiful and more than 300 years old. Apparently in the daytime it is a lunchtime haunt for office workers but what I’ve sampled of the food isn’t great. However, saying that it fulfils a purpose and people would probably miss it if it wasn’t there.

The Hatchet Inn sounds like the name of a very gory very average film.
It is not that in real life. I have only been here at night and I belief it is a little different during the daylight hours. It is a little too much like Propaganda in a pub to go for a quiet night, that being said it is a good spot to go before you go to the O2 arena.
There is not much else i can say if you enjoy anything i have mentioned above then go and if not then don’t!

Although a rockers pub at heart, The Hatchet always has a good mix of people, and is always a friendly (although sometimes very busy) place to go.
If you’re there on a Friday or Saturday night, you’ll find mainly rock-​types, punks, goths and emo kids hanging out drinking cider and listening to loud music, and as a previous reviewer stated, it’s sometimes pretty hard to hold a conversation inside, and sometimes even harder to find a seat.
If you pop down in the day or afternoon, you’ll find the pub to be a more relaxed affair, with people just popping in for a lunch time pint or some food.
There’s quite often different music nights going on upstairs, so if the rock music downstairs isn’t to your liking, you can always pay a couple of quid and pop upstairs for a dance or some relaxing.
The Hatchet is always a good place to go, and on the weekends is usually open until around 1am.

I’ve stopped by The Hatchett Inn a few times before going to a gig at the 02 Academy (formerly the Carling Academy) and each time I’ve been surprised that this seemingly sleepy pub could be so packed with sweaty teenagers.
Emos, punks, Goths and rockers are welcome here to sip a pint of cider and avoid being asked for their ID. Hard to enjoy if you yourself are not in one of the groups mentioned above. Great location for a pre-​party pint, everything else is a bit of a disappointment.

During the week this place is filled with local office workers on their lunch break and during the evening it is filled with Goths, punks and emos listening to hard rock music. At least I think that’s what they’re listening to. Probably has a specific name I’m unaware off.
I don’t fit into either of these two demographics comfortably, but I have worked in an office before and have been here during the week for lunch. I found it to be lacking in atmosphere or personality, which is surprising for a pub over 300 years old. I also thought the food was nothing more than your bog standard pub grub.
I have never been here during the evening I must add, as I’ve walked passed it many a time on a night out and based on the music coming from inside and the people entering and exiting the doors, I’ve always decided to give it a wide birth.

Legend has it the door is made with a layer of human skin…

A big sweaty metal pub, The Hatchet is loud with a good humoured clientele. Expect to see lots of leather and piercings, Bristol’s emos and metal head have adopted this as their home and concentrate themselves in its various rooms.
To make things slightly odd, the building is an old timber framed one; it’s an odd sight to see a queue of ever so slightly scary looking people outside what you would expect to contain a museum. It sort of makes sense inside, with the vaulted ceilings making things seem sort of gothic. Or maybe I’m stretchings things.
It gets very chaotic in here with people always moving around and the music pounding away. Holding a conversation is sometimes a struggle and you’ll end up probably end up squashed. If you’re into metal then this is the place to be (I don’t think you’ve got an awful lot of choice to be honest). The drinks flow freely and everyone’s having a laugh, so The Hatchet can’t be a bad pub really.

Don your black garments and bare your tattoos and piercings for a rocking night at the Hatchet. This Tudor-​stylee establishment behind the Hippodrome welcomes with bargain drinks and head-​banging tunes, the upstairs houses a monthly ‘Bang’ night of alternative classics. Ace of Spades!
Love it or hate it, the place has been entertaining student-​types and moshers for years now, and it aint going away. Just a (rolling) stone’s throw away from the Academy, pre or post-​gig boozing is an absolute must.

Claiming to be the oldest pub in Bristol, the Hatchet sits in the centre of town opposite the Academy and gets most of its business from pre-​gig punters, students and what we called in my day ‘jitters’. For the uninitiated, the latter are the unkempt (and possibly unwashed) types who are attracted by the rock and punk noises that the DJs blare out on Friday and Saturday nights.
If you don’t fancy joining the moshing throng, you can seek solace in the large garden while enjoying the cheap booze, with bottles of Fosters at £1 and some eye-​watering double deals. There’s also a club upstairs, which doesn’t increase its prices at all, and has lots of seating, a small dance floor and an indie sensibility. Oh, and there’s also a cheap pool room with lots of tables. What more do you want?!

The hatchet is a dreadful pub. Situated just off park street and right next door to the carling academy and bristol ice rink, having been built in the 1600’s it stands out quite a bit from the modern buildings surrounding it.
In the day it’s a lunch time retreat for office workers, at night it’s a rock, grunge, goth, punk place. Now, I work in an office, I also like rock, grunge, punk etc but I think this place is awful.
The interior is 16^th century with exposed beams and tar black floor boards, where as the upstairs is more 1960’s. with a lino floor and mirrored walls. To me it lacks character and never feels a truly comfortable place to be.
The drinks aren’t cheap or expensive, but the selection is poor, the staff are not very helpful and the food is crap. It’s shining features are it’s pool tables up stairs and juke box (a good juke box is an absolute rarity). Yes they do do club nights where you get the pleasure of imposing and unpleasant bouncers waisting your time.
Saying all this, this pub is very popular and the location next to the carling academy does help this. They have a good sized beer garden (but it is not family friendly here — no kids allowed). The pub has lots of seats and as mentioned they have usual pub entertainment eg pool tables, juke box, table football, fruit and quiz machines etc
It just doesn’t do it for me though, it feels dirty, cheap and fake. Some people like that though.

I really like The Hatchett. It is cheap, plays good music and is handily placed for moving across the road to the Academy for gigs and club nights.
The Hatchett also does its own clubnights upstairs which play pretty good music like New Wave and 60’s stuff.
Expect to see lots of leather jackets and rockers in the pub!

A lovely old building situated across from the Carling Academy. The main bar is a basic sort of place with an outside seating area. It’s a perfect place to kill some time if the opening act at the concert venue isn’t to your liking and you want to pay less for your drinks (and save your eardrums from the noise). The location is on a road by the venue and a car park, so there isn’t much ambience if you prefer the outside area.
The upstairs hosts alternative club nights and (sometimes) gigs for trad and cyber goths and industrial and emo kids. An interesting space with a chill-​out room off to one side.

The Hatchet is one of, if not THE, oldest pub in Bristol and the interior is a proof of this. Its cosy and warm feeling with lots of exposed brickwork and old wooden furniture. The atmosphere is equally cosy and warm, its very popular and the people are lovely and friendly, if a bit on the gothic side ;-)
The drinks are good quality and not overpriced, and its in a great location, right next to the Carling Academy, its the perfect pre-​gig drink pub!

This is a great pub for the alternatively inclined. Lots of leather jackets, Camden clothes and hair of many colours. The background music is great too if you like MTV2 (and I do)…they even play things like Metallica and Pink Floyd.
They sometimes have a comedy open-​mic night, and a regular gig upstairs called «give me shelter». This is always worth checking out because the atmosphere upstairs is really upbeat and not soulless like other music venues tend to be, and has sofas for those who feel like they’re getting old and don’t like constantly standing up at gigs (like me). The live music there is always great and mostly dancey. The price for drinks and entrance is also a bargain. All in all, a great night out!