Wharf Chambers

This is a great place to bring your own food, get great cheap beer and listen to good music. It a slice off the real world amongst the posh cocktail bars in downtown Leeds.

I’m not afraid to say that I think that Wharf Chambers is probably the best bar in Leeds. Some will think I’m weird because from outside the place looks like a crackhouse, but the place has a lot of character! Unlike a lot of places in Leeds it isn’t overpriced and full of yuppies and hipsters. Yeah the crowd can get a bit ‘hippyish’ at times; full of anarchists, vegans, ageing hippies, poets, underground artists, socialists, etc… but the crowds are more interesting. It’s arguably Leeds’ most ‘underground’ bar!
I came here to attend the launch of a good friend’s poetry event. The live performance area is surprisingly big and offers and intimate atmosphere. Some may moan the place is a bit of a ‘hole’ but that’s part of the charm. There’s also a nice garden, which agin could do with a bit more love, but the atmosphere is great when people are in there and the weather is nice. You also get a nice view of trains passing by!
The beer is very cheap, good value and of excellent quality. Mainly local beers from all around Yorkshire (a lot of great beer from Samuel Smith; one of the oldest breweries in Yorkshire). There are also crisps and other snacks priced very reasonably.
To use the bar you either need to come with a member as a guest or join yourself and it’s only £1 to join, which is a steal!

Before going to Wharf Chambers, my friend commented that it’s a bit like a squat. That didn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Anyway, off we trundled and right past the front door I walked. This really is the sort of place you have to be looking for — you’re not likely to stumble on it by accident.
Once inside we paid our £1 membership fees and headed on to the bar. I opted for a bottle of the raspberry beer, and my partner had a G&T. Getting change from a fiver was a very unexpected treat. Looking around I could see where the ‘squat’ comment came from. It’s not a neat and tidy establishment, but it does have a friendly atmosphere. I also seem to recall there being a foosball table in the corner, which is always a winner in my book.
We headed into the back room for a gig. It’s not a particularly impressive venue, but it has a stage, standing room and the music was played at a decent volume (loud, but not deafening!) — what more do you really need?! Oh yeah… good music… the Backyards were great!
The one big downside of Wharf Chambers has to be the loos. I’ve never been a big fan of unisex (or «genderless» as the writing on the wall declared) loos, but am even less so when the door barely locks and the handwash area is open to the rest of the pub.
As it stands now; I’d go back for a gig, but otherwise, I’m not so sure. However, this is a members club, and it’s up to the members to make it what they want it to be, so perhaps I should stop moaning and get involved instead!

I have walked past this venue many a time so the evening we were meant to attend a Gig here we did just that! Walked past! It wasn’t until we saw some others going in that we realised we’d arrived at the venue!
So, you’re greeted by a ‘door-​man’ (a guy in the doorway who is rather busy with his laptop who quizzes if you are a ‘member’. We weren’t unfortunately however we had paid to attend a gig so this was enough to get us in.
I would never have expected the sight which greeted me. It’s like a youth club for adults! Table football game, books, cosy benches and a bar.
Wharf Chambers is a bar and multi-​use venue in the centre of Leeds run by a workers co-​op in partnership with a members club.
The bar offers ‘Taddy lager’ just now (the staff said they buy & sell whatever is cheap at the time to keep costs down for the members)
The people who use the facilities are all members and contribute to the upkeep of the space.
The backdoor leads to a large cavernous space which gives a great stage for live music which is why we were there– to see The Backyards (and great they were!).
The venue is rough and ready, feel a bit like a squat but hold definite character and we’d seriously consider being cool kids and becoming members!
Word of advice– wear warm clothes if going there!

I’ll echo much of what others say about this excellent little club.
It’s unassuming and small, but is efficiently run with really nice people — both punters and staff alike — filling the place. A well priced bar with one quality draught ale available — it was the superb Roosters Yankee when I went but is likely to change at any given point — and a relaxed room in which to meet friends, chat and catch up.
Connected by a small corridor is the venue itself. Not too large again but comfortable and with a half decent sound system too. I’ve seen 2 shows here and both both were very enjoyable with a casual approach on the door and enough space to move about. One thing — if you see something heavy in here it’ll be pretty intense as people are very close to the stage. I saw local Leeds heroes Hookworms here and 2 of the guitarists had to stand in the audience as the stage simply wasn’t large enough! But no matter — it just felt more cosy and laid back!
Very conveniently sited by the bus station it’s dead easy to get home after too. As others have said this is a members club, but membership is a quid or something so fantastic value. Just make sure you are a member before turning up and expecting to get in!

Brilliant place founded on ethics and a sense of community.
There’s always great gigs going on here — WC is at the very heart of a very rich music scene here in Leeds.
Great drinks, great prices, friendly crowd, lots of arty events going on — keep your ear to the ground for stuff going on here, it’ll be well worth going to!

What more can I say? Wharf Chambers is a fantastic hidden place. It’s a co op so if you go you’ll need to sign in as a guest or pay your quiddage and become a member. But for that membership you’ll gain access to one I the cheapest places to drink in the city centre, where some of the best gigs go down, and the most exciting range of styles and haircuts are viewable. Truly, it may be a place where one can observe the habits and antics of the modern day Leeds hipster, but I’ve never had a bad time here. Never seen trouble, only some of the most interesting bands.
In the summer their wee beer garden will be a top spot to chill with a pint, and their quiz (whilst really difficult) is tons of fun. All kinds of interesting things happen here, so I’ve already gotten my worth from membership. I shall be back!

Become a member for £1?! Fantastic. And fantastically cheap beers and an excellent array of bands and music on an almost nightly basis. Two thumbs up.

So much good has already been written about this place (and well deserved i feel). But still i’ll add my penny’s worth.
I think its rare to find this kind of place in a city. An almost town hall vibe (if that makes sense to the country folk). You know the place. The bars bussed in from some friend of a farmers, the seating’s all handed down and its manned by the local PTA. Basically what i’m trying to say, in the same way any village without a pub manages to put together a sort of community bar, the chambers manages to fashion a real atmosphere of here but for the grace of good people.
You feel like everything is built on goodwill and i think the vibe tells. As soon as i entered on my first visit i was asked what i wanted to drink, on uming and ahhring i was suggested a beverage (tick the box for effort). I clocked the table football in the corner (tick the box for free to all fun) and then i was charged a pound for my drink and 20p for space raiders (tick the box for affordable and tick the box for space raiders — yes there’s a space raiders box, every bar in Leeds knows it and that’s why they all fail!).
They were friendly, it was cheap, it was nice space just to be, not overcrowded, not full of people who «just love the cultural aspects that are soo…» (whatever hipsters these days say).
It might feel a little out of the way but i can quickly see it being first stop before the calls if i ever have to show my face at parties with less «local savy». A proper little find i feel and well worth dropping in!

A great little co-​operative of friendly people really trying to create a venue that caters for good local and ‘international’ music. A rough and ready bar, I love the feel, it’s like going back to the venues from the early eighties and late seventies,(so i’m told, hrumpfh am i really that old?) anyway, it’s excellent. The beer is Sam Smiths which is not to everyones taste, but they have a good selection for a reasonable price, i’m a bit partial to the Sam Smiths Cheery beer, marvelous. There’s also usually a guest beer from an independant brewer.
The main part of the bar room is good solid wooden tables or comfy sofas, plenty of magazines and books to browse, the music (when there isnt a gig on) is at a good volume so you can chat easily. The Walls are mostly those White ceramic tiles that do have a bit of a feel that it may have once been a sauna/​abattoir/​swimming pool, something like that, you’ll know what i mean when you see it.
And there’s a small walled area out back for al fresco drinking.
I went to see an up and coming band ‘Howlin Rain, there the other week, who were amazing, and leads me nicely to the gig room. Certainly no frills in here, but the sound was very good and the sight line to the stage is pretty good from anywhere in the room. It has that feeling that it’s a cold room to start with but very quickly becomes a hot venue depending on the amount of people, just right for seeing a band in my opinion. A very underground vibe.
Wharfe chambers has been open for several months now and is slowy getting known, so hopefully will become known enough to build up a big following, which i believe it’s well on it’s way to doing.
There are plans to open as a café in the near future during the day, in which case i shall be there a lot, and i intend to check out their quiz night on tuesday.
Crackin’ little place, try it!