April Digest: Bristol food and drink news
A Greek mystery, a fried chicken turf war, and Bristol’s burger boom
It always warms my heart to see comments from Saucers like the following:
I am so glad people value our writing and insight.
The Bristol Sauce exists for three reasons:
To connect the people of Bristol with great food via honest, paid-for and informed writing
To elevate Bristol’s dining scene by highlighting the best and separating the wheat from the chaff
To support Bristol’s hospitality businesses by encouraging locals and visitors alike to explore our local independent food and drink establishments
If, like Veronica, that is something you can get behind — please consider supporting us for just 88p a week. Thank you! ~ Meg
Last updated 30 April 2025
Blimey, four months has gone fast, hasn't it? April has brought with it highs and lows. The new national insurance and employer contributions have come into effect, which has felt like a kick in the teeth to our friends in hospitality who were already on the proverbial floor.
But it did also bring a relatively sunny Easter bank holiday weekend — one of my favourite weekends of the year — and a whole lot of Bristol food and drink news. Grab your remaining Easter eggs and let’s dig in.
First up — the news that had my jaw on the floor. Greek restaurant Sousta is moving into The General, next door to Paco Tapas*. Why is this surprising? Well. Sousta was previously on Clarence Road, in a huge and very odd site that was almost always completely empty. My ex-colleague Betty reviewed it for Bristol24/7 back when it opened and was taken aback by how expensive it was for perfectly mediocre food. That was over a year ago, and it’s had little to no attention since. I don’t know anyone who’s bothered eating there; I have cycled past it many times and peered into the window, only to find it completely deserted. So how on earth will the team behind this be able to afford rent in The General, of all places? I would have thought a year of being open with few, if any, customers might have already bankrupted them — but no. Quite the opposite — they’re upgrading. I smell something fishy — and I don’t think it’s just a soggy plate of fried squid.
Not content with having just opened her third site in St Anne’s, Hannah Catley is already planning her fourth. The news broke (via a tease on Hannah’s Instagram) that she’d been offered a site in Old Market the same week that 25A announced they were sadly closing. Coincidence? Maybe.
But it’s sad news from 25A, which was a popular cafe spread over two floors on Old Market. I really liked their coffee, though I didn’t think the pastries were up to much. If Hannah Catley does move in, the pains au chocolat will definitely be getting an upgrade.
There’s been a host of new openings this month. Tapps, a wine and listening bar on Whiteladies Road, has opened to plenty of buzz — much of it from those invited to eat and drink for free. It looks great, and I know the owners and chef — both of whom I have huge faith in. Still, the same familiar crowd hyping their latest comped meal leave a sourer taste than any natural orange wine you’ll find there. The same company doing their ‘PR’ also represents Four Wise Monkeys — the sister restaurant to Seven Lucky Gods — who announced last week that they are closing their doors for good.
Four Wise Monkeys was okay, but in my eyes was never as good as Seven Lucky Gods — though these days even that is not a patch on what it was when it first opened. Fortunately, in an Instagram post the team wrote that the very good cocktail bar, The Raven, will be allowed to remain upstairs. Silver linings.
Burger and beer lovers rejoice — Bristol’s best burgers are now being served at Bristol’s best taproom. It’s a match made in heaven. Squeezed have already started serving their creations to hungry beer drinkers at Wiper and True’s taproom in Old Market, so don’t dilly dally now.
In fact, burgers are having a bit of a moment (again) in Bristol — this month has also seen the opening of ‘Really Good Burgers’ at Greyhound in Fishponds. Really Good Burgers, and indeed their home at Greyhound, are both from the minds behind World Famous Dive Bars who are A) not in fact world famous, though it is a fun name and B) the company behind Mother’s Ruin, Colosseum, The Crown and The Dame. Sadly, despite being ‘world famous’ and ‘really good’, they still felt the need to get Bristol’s biggest influencer to be the face of their brand. If you need that plastered all over your Instagram to succeed, it does make me doubt whether your products are indeed really good, but I suppose time will tell.
In further burger news, Oowee has just announced a series of very cool collabs taking place next month. They’re teaming up with the likes of Paco Tapas, Wilsons and Wangs to produce a series of one-off burgers that will only be available at their Picton St branch on certain dates in May. I expect that this will be more than worth a detour.
Little Chai is an Indian street food stall that has opened in Clifton Village serving samosas, chai and wraps. It’s from the same team behind the well-regarded Chai Walla in Bath.
Chi, a Pan-Asian restaurant franchise, will be appearing soon on Gloucester Road. Their website reads like a cultural appropriation playbook — choose your fighter. ‘Come and immerse yourself in the tantalizing world of Chi, where the essence of Asia comes to life’, ‘From the aromatic spices of Katsu curry & the artistry of bao to the soulful donbori rice bowl’, or ‘Chi is a Pan-Asian and Asian fusion restaurant, bringing together the best of Asian cuisine for a truly unique dining experience’. Chi is taking up residence just a little further up from Lona Bar and Grill and conveniently right across from Horfield Prison, which is where whoever came up with this concept belongs. Unique it is not.
A new Nigerian restaurant has landed in Stokes Croft in what used to be OmBurger. Beyond Tastee opened a couple of months ago and is serving egusi, abula, pounded yam and goat. Head chef Oluwaseun Odunlami was inspired by cooking with her mother at home in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving to Bristol.
Become a paying Saucer to continue reading about a fried chicken turf war, two new cafes, an ex-Paco Tapas chef’s new restaurant and more.