Look, we’re hardly anti-student here at DrinksWorks. Students bring back business by the dozen to the city, and as well as that, it can’t be ignored that around the end of August, Bristol starts to look a bit lovelorn, faded and empty. Plus, with the benefit of the student market, we get more music, shows, exhibitions, and exciting things to do. Bristol students are an important part of the ecosystem of our city.
… having said that, here’s a couple of things we reckon you should take full advantage of before they show up again.
Stokes Croft
Bristol’s famous hippie street has a lovely vibe to it, day or night, but we reckon the best time of day is that early dusky evening: get a bite to eat at one of the myriad of good places along there (we’re partial to Mr Wolf’s noodles) and then spend your evening with a casual stroll from pub to pub along Stokes Croft and Gloucester Road: we recommend some of our favourites, like Junction 51, Halos, and the Bell at Bristol.
Stokes Croft is, of course, lovely all year round, but we’ve got to admit there’s a special something about it when you’re not being asked by drunk freshers if you can help them find their way home.
Enjoy the supermarket discounts
If you’ve never stopped and taken a quick peek at the reduced shelf in Sainsburys, you’re a liar. Most of the time there’s never anything very appealing about some rotting produce and ready meals that look like they’ve seen better days, but once in a while there’s something truly magical: a punnet of still fresh strawberries for 20p, a whole chicken that can turn your boring dinner around into a last minute roast affair. Once in a while, the reduced shelf will offer up marvels.
Anyway, enjoy it while you can, because once the students are back you know their hungry, broke little selves are going to be patrolling that aisle like wolves waiting for their feed, and you’ll never get your hands on it again.
Wetherspoons
Look, we know. We know.
We just have to admit: sometimes there’s nothing better in the world than a nice hamburger and a pint at the UK chain with the nicest bathrooms in the world.
But that’s only for three short months in the summer, because when students are around, ‘spoons is an adolescent hellhole.
