Tobacco Factory

Very good value drinks, we discovered The Snug area, hidden away with sofas and armchairs where you can chill out and still listen to the live music! Check out the Snug!

Some of the best food in Bedminster and plenty of tables, so you’ll always find a seat. Try out the lamb and chorizo chickpea stew. You won’t regret it at all!

This is a tricky review to write, as there are many different elements that make up this venue.
The Theatre — which I would give 5 stars.
The Bar — 2 stars
The Sunday Market — 4 stars
So, let’s talk about them in that order then:
The Theatre — a great space upstairs, with some award winning independent shows — Comedy, Theatre, Ballet, Pantomines, Fashion Shows — Ticket prices are generally reasonable too. If you love Shakespeare, this is your venue for a performance, and the chairs are much more comfy now that they’ve been replaced.
The Bar — a large space, it’s friendly, but lacks atmosphere. Pretty echoey, and not at all cosy. Still it is a bar, and they do have an outdoor area, which is much nicer.
The Sunday Market 10am — 2.30pm — local produce, vintage stalls, craft stalls and a lovely place for a stroll on a Sunday morning — pick up a cake, purchase a battered leather jacket, or vintage dress, a spot of meat, and some veg. Most things are reasonably priced for the quality you get, although meat is tad pricer than other places.
So there you go, a mixed bag — but do pop the Theatre and The Market on you to do list — you won’t be disappointed.

Everyone who lives in Bedmo has to go here at some point. More of an institution than a night out!
So why the 3 stars?
The good: they have a good selection of drinks, again, it is a pillar of the local community with tons of events going on and generally a good atmosphere with great outdoor seating.
The notso good: would love to see a better menu in this place. The nibbles are fine, but haven’t been terrifically impressed with the mains. It’s a little pricey, not quite London prices, but very close. Well, pricey in contrast to the other local cafés, bars and restaraunts!
To summarise; A little pricey, but still a great place to start or finish a tour of North Street.

My wife’s food arrived after 45 minutes, mine didn’t (refunded) and then we had to leave after 15 minutes later to go to the theatre. We had some starters, homous which was course and bland, olive oil based bread just got out of the fridge with olive oil drizzled over it. My wife’s goat cheese patti she said was good, but the salad was wet, soggy but not through the salad dressing Will not be going back for the food theatre madhampton very good thoughshame really

Been there twice now; twice disappointed. The issue is the service, or lack thereof. Both times the staff have been ambivalent at best. I get the impression they are certainly not trying to develop a career in hospitality. Fair to say that both times the place was quite busy but they don’t cope with that very well. The queuing system isn’t entirely obvious which again doesn’t help. One place for food, another for drinks. And you can’t be sure if someone will show up to serve you. And when they do, it certainly isn’t with a smile. Others tell me the food is good. And it does seem to be popular. However I don’t think I’ll try third time unlucky.

Not a bad little place, avoid on a Monday night live music to loud.

Theatre, bar, tapas, Sunday market, comedy, arts and crafts. What else do you need?
Situated at the far end of the vibrant and ever up and coming North Street in Southville. The Tobacco factory is a shining beacon of light for people on the south side of the city. As the name suggests, it was formerly owned by «Imperial Tobacco» and was renovated as an urban multi purpose arts venue by George Ferguson and has been an enormous success ever since.
The bar and seating area is nice and spacious with a decent selection of reasonably priced draft and bottle bears, as well as ciders and the usual soft drinks. The tapa’s menu isn’t extensive, but the food is delicious and the perfect place to grab a light lunch should you be in that area on a Saturday or during the week. I particularly like the Panini’s and recommend the chorizo and mozzarella every time. The market is very popular with plenty of stalls and something for everyone. The theatre isn’t particularly large, but that gives you something of an intimate engaging atmosphere.

There is nothing better than a multifunctional venue that caters for all things cultural and Southville’s Tobacco Factory is just that. Although primarily a bar downstairs and a theatre upstairs, they also sell food, have Sunday craft markets, farmer’s markets, graffiti festivals and gigs too.
Although I have come here for lunch or a quick drink before, it is quite away to come from the north of the river so I prefer to come for particular events such as the Sunday markets and the annual UpFest, the Urban Paint Festival that celebrates graffiti by inviting artists into the Factory to paint over a weekend. Although not the brainchild of the Tobacco Factory it is a great space to hold the event as there is a large car park and outside seating area perfect for some decks and watching the action happen.
The theatre upstairs is also fantastic, although small there are annual Shakespeare productions that take place here and there are plenty of concessions for students and young people. Comedians often come here too and the small stage downstairs is perfect for spontaneous gigs in the evenings.

Named after the original use of the building, (I have actually met people drinking in here that used to work for the cigarette company), The Tobacco Factory has got that kind of industrial kudos thing going on. The steel front doors are as easy to access as the vault doors at Fort Knox, but everything gets a whole lot easier once you’ve grappled your way in. The lay out is simple in this cavernous space, and the bar, with its dedicated food severing area, practically stretches the full length of the room. Amply staffed to cope with the numbers that often descend on the place, the team work well together, and so there’s never too long to wait at the bar.
I like to call in to make use of the free wi-​fi and to plug in whenever I’m in South Bristol. I always order myself some tapas, usually manchego (which comes with a selection of delicious bread) along with some olives — the servings are incredibly generous, and so this is more than enough for one person.
Up Fest will take place at the Tobacco Factory on 5 and 6 June, and promises to be a blast. with live music, dj’s and 250 artists exhibiting their work.
Tobacco Factory has a huge beer garden with a covered section for smokers if the weather turns nasty.

i spent the whole of my first year being told to go and see things at the Tobacco Factory, and i have spent most of my second year going to them. I am glad that i have made it to this clash between culture and capitalism!
The enormous building houses everything i enjoy, food, theatre, booze and music, and it does all of them so well. The theatre is so good that i will now go to see almost anything put on there. That might not be because everything they put on is good, it is probably, just that i love going to the factory.
Whether it is Shakespeare or Mark Watson, get yourself down the the factory.

Whether it’s shopping at the Sunday market, catching a play, dining on tapas, investigating an exhibition, wifi and a coffee or a drink or two of an evening… The Tobacco Factory is an innovative space which does more than most, better than most.
Offering some of the most innovative theatre and comedy to be found in Bristol, whether its the well reputed Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory season or an experimental Fringe theatre sketch, the Tobacco Factory all but guarantees quality.
For pre-​theatre food and drink (or any excuse, really) the tastefully modern bar serves up some of the best tapas platters I’ve tasted in the city, with an excellent drinks selection and a range of seating (beanbags anyone?).
Once a — yes — tobacco factory, the space was spared demolition thanks to eccentric, famously red-​trousered architect George Ferguson. Now a hothouse of creativity, the aim is to provide a space in which to foster the independent businesses for which this part of Southville is acclaimed.

As the name suggests, this venue used to be a tobacco factory. Bristol was very big in the tobacco trade and you can still see remnants of this era evident across the city (the Tobacco Family being just one of them). As a venue this is great for both theatre and comedy. It is quite small and dark and you might want to be careful not to sit behind one of the pillars holding the building up, but it certainly has character. I recently saw Chris Addison there (from In The Loop and The Thick Of It). In coming months they’ve got the wonderful one-​liner stand up comedian Stewart Francis and a rare funny female comedian Lucy Porter. Some people head to the Tobacco Factory, not to go see a play or a comedian, but simply to have a civilised drink and a catch up with friends. The café bar is fully licenced, but serves good tea and coffee as well.

Theatre, bar, tapas, Sunday market, comedy, arts and crafts. What else do you need?
Situated at the far end of the vibrant and ever up and coming North Street in Southville. The Tobacco factory is a shining beacon of light for people on the south side of the city. As the name suggests, it was formerly owned by «Imperial Tobacco» and was renovated as an urban multi purpose arts venue by George Ferguson and has been an enormous success ever since.
The bar and seating area is nice and spacious with a decent selection of reasonably priced draft and bottle bears, as well as ciders and the usual soft drinks. The tapa’s menu isn’t extensive, but the food is delicious and the perfect place to grab a light lunch should you be in that area on a Saturday or during the week. I particularly like the Panini’s and recommend the chorizo and mozzarella every time. The market is very popular with plenty of stalls and something for everyone. The theatre isn’t particularly large, but that gives you something of an intimate engaging atmosphere.

Away from the city centre in run-​of-​the-​mill Southville, the Tobacco Factory Theatre is unlikely to be found out straight away by a visitor to the city. The building, in red brick, is understated, and this isn’t a fancy place like the Hippodrome or the Old Vic.
It’s theatre in the round, with seating on all sides of the stage. Apparently the theatre started life the result of ripping out the Imperial Tobacco offices that were here and they’ve managed to keep a clean, sparse feel that actors and directors love. I won’t venture too many opinions on what sort of performances this makes for. I will say, though, that when I went to see Richard III, things felt very intense.
They put on a range of performances here, a highlight being the dedicated Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory theatre company. Don’t let the culture on offer scare you off. With tickets often less than a tenner, there doesn’t have to a big to-​do about going out here though. It’s got a fairly relaxed and informal feel to it too. The Tobacco Factory is a smart addition to Bristol’s arts scene.

In its previous life the Tobacco Factory purveyed the wicked weed, nowadays its business is far more salubrious.
Okay, its satanic-​mills frontage may look like it’s arrived Tardis-​like from the Industrial Revolution, but this belies its interior mojo, which is firm-​footed in the 21^st century offering a compendium-​choice of restaurant, theatre, bar, workshops, Sunday market and adjacent micro-​brewery.
Weekends it comes into its own and you’ll find awfully nice Bristol City fans having a pre-​match pint, bag-​leaden shoppers, and of course those ubiquitous, well-​groomed Apple Mackers hard at the digital workface — stop it now, we know you’re just Facebooking.
Food is essentially Med-​fusion — my spiced lamb matzalan arrived with a big-​gulps glass of Tempranillo and came in at around 15 sovs — but you could easily take a cheaper option from the ‘lighter’ menu.
The Tobacco Factory is a great open-​plan people-​watching place. When it’s busy I like to loll around in its ‘beanbag corner’ coddling a herbal infusion, while staring up at the high ceiling and tune in to the Tower-​of-​Babel mêlée of punters having a good time.
My only complaint is the teabag-​still-​in-​the-​mug syndrome. Can we please have a national campaign for the abolition of finicky teabags littering our tabletops?

A complex that was (reputedly) responsible for the house-​price peak in Southville & Bemmie a few years ago. This is the brainchild of red-​trousered architect George Ferguson (who lives in a huge studio above), good use of space was made when an old cigarette-​filling business was magicked into an ‘art space’ extraordinaire. Theatre, gallery, bar, dance studio and Sunday market. Artsy, but far more unpretentious than, for example, Arnolfini. Scoff sumptuous tapas platters and scrummy beers, while you sit on an ancient school chair and people watch. There’s much good Shakespeare to be perused on yonder stage, mixed in with frantic comedy and modern jazz. Damn! It’s a helluva trip south ‘o’ the river!

Such is the influence of this hulking bar/​restaurant/​theatre/​comedy venue/​etc complex that it pretty much picked up Bedminster by the scruff of the neck and propelled it into the 21^st century when it first emerged.
Where to start? The theatre is a tad pricy but puts on a wide range of often nationally acclaimed productions; the comedy nights features regular appearances from well-​known TV comics who have risen above the grind of the circuit (the likes of Ed Byrne, Marcus Brigstocke and Rich Hall); and the massive bar downstairs is a bustling, vibrant affair with reasonably priced tapas dishes on offer. There’s also a quaint little market out the back on Sundays and a Theos asian restaurant next door. What more do you want?!

The Tobacco Factory is a great place for meeting friends in Southville. I haven’t yet been to anything in the evening, but it is easy to see that the space that they have in the bar area would be well used for performances, etc.
The prices of drinks seem to be quite average for this type of outlet. There is also free wi-​fi available

This cultural epicentre provides the heart to an up-​and-​coming area of Bristol.
Combining a theatre, a restaurant and a popular bar under the same roof as an establishment that provides a multitude of classes such as dance, acting and singing was a stroke of genius!
Southville has a variety of cultural backgrounds and the Tobacco factory is a fitting arena that combines and unites all walks of life.