Great Horton Road,
BRADFORD,
BD7 1AA
(01274) 309175
The ViewBradford Review
Well-established as one of the bars on the party circuit in this part of town, The Varsity is ideal for a weekend wind-down.
The Venue
With entrances on both sides, you get quite a few walk-throughs here, which is Bradford’s version of a drive-by but without the guns.
It’s pretty big and there’s plenty of standing, drinking and dancing space. It’s got a shiny wood floor and a long shiny-topped wood-panelled bar. There are black metal girders in the low ceiling alongside exposed tubing.
A nest of high tables and chairs sits in the middle, otherwise there’s seating at the low slinky banquettes around the sides.
There's a pool table here and thin velvety red drapes casually cover part of the walls, while other sections are left as exposed brick.
The mezzanine has big skylights, a stripy green, yellow and red carpet, more tables and chairs and another wooden bar — and it leads down to a smoking patio which is enclosed on three sides.
The People
Being so near the college, The Varsity is popular with students and with the young flirty and flighty crowd that head for this part of town on Friday and Saturday nights. During the day in the week it suffers from a lack of interest.
The Food and Drink
On draught you’ve got Strongbow, John Smith’s, Kronenbourg, Fosters, Tetley’s, Carling and Stella. And in bottles there’s Bulmers, Corona, Budweiser, Stella, San Miguel, Salitos and Beck’s. You can take your pick between six whites, four reds and three roses with bottles ranging from £10.50 to £16.30.
Cocktails are £3.95 a glass or £10.95 a pitcher and include Chi Chi, which is Malibu, Smirnoff Red and pineapple juice. Antica sambuca shots are £2 each.
If you’re peckish they’ve got sausage and mash for £5.25 or beefburger ad chips for £6.95. Otherwise a Cajun chicken and sweet chilli wrap is £4.75 and a cheese and bacon sarnie is £4.65. For afters, get in your time machine and have an arctic roll for £2.25.
The Last Word
If you’re up for a good let-your-hair-down party night then larging it at Varsity is as good a place as any. Best line to use: “Do you like raisins?” “No” “How about a date then?”
The Varsity has been reviewed by 1 users