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In late 2022, Budweiser’s parent company closed esports and gaming event platform Cooldown, but as a farewell bid, Kerry Waananen produced a handy guide to London’s gaming and esports bars for us at Esports News UK. Here are 11 gaming-related bars recommended to visit in London.
Platform
East London’s Shoreditch area is well-known as a hipster haven, but Platform possesses none of that pretentiousness – the bar modestly opened its doors in 2019. Just a stone’s throw from Moorgate, Liverpool Street and Shoreditch High Street, Platform is a proper gaming venue. Platform is fit with semi-private gaming booths and a dedicated esports stage area fitting up to ten players.
The venue invites casual, beginner and more hardened gamers. It’s just as fit for date night as it is for a gaming session and a wild party. The group also plans to open a couple more venues in 2023 – one in Canary Wharf by the end of Q1 and one potentially in the West End by the end of the year.
The current menu is equipped with a good selection of drinks, like Camden on tap, a variety of wines, fun and funky gaming-themed cocktails, and hot/soft drinks too. When you get hungry, you can tuck into some wood-fired pizza. It is still Shoreditch, after all.
Esports News UK also held a few events at the bar in late 2022, including Esports News UK’s 7th birthday networking shindig (see a video for that here).
Visit Platform’s website here or stop by in person at 2B Worship Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 2AH.
Meltdown London
Meltdown London is simply put a no-frills esports bar. In fact, it was the first bar of its kind in London. Meltdown London opened over a decade ago when the group first expanded out of Paris. Meltdown has the love of the game and the community at its core, with rotating game and karaoke nights.
There are affordable cocktails (and mocktails) fittingly gaming-themed with a good selection of drafts and cans to boot. Bar snacks are available, but for a more substantial meal you’ll have to look elsewhere – though not too far, Caledonian Road plays host to a number of fast food spots, restaurants and cafés.
If you’re looking for a venue that was built for and maintained by genuine esports enthusiasts, Meltdown is a pub for you. Catch an esports tournament, have a drink, hop on one of the PCs, chat games with the barman – Meltdown is well fit for purpose.
Visit the Meltdown website or stop by in person at 342 Caledonian Road, Islington, London, N1 1BB.
NQ64
NQ64’s neon-graffitied arcade bar chain burst into what-once-was Ballie Ballerson on Berwick Street in Soho in late May of 2022. The concept mixes a night out with a dash of those old-school, blacklight velvet posters, a squeeze of throw-back MTV bangers and a long pour of button mashing into one fine nostalgic cocktail.
In this elaborate arcade bar, the owner has added many Custom Bar Neon Signs. Not only does it provide a one-of-a-kind atmosphere, but it also promotes personal branding and bar logos everywhere. And you can swim in the unreal world of gaming to your heart’s content! Get the ultimate enjoyment.
Londoners are invited to spend an evening inserting tokens (15 for £9) into a selection of over 30 arcade cabinets. If bedroom gaming is more your speed, jump onto one of the console set-ups at no cost whatsoever, but be sure to contribute to the top line by keeping your drink orders coming from their retro-gaming themed cocktail list.
Take the Bowser Breezer for a spin, ask for a pull of Camden, twirl around some noodles if you’re feeling peckish, but whatever you do, don’t forget how to Hadouken. And take a few fluorescent selfies with the squad while you’re at it.
Visit the NQ64 website or stop by to drain some tokens at 53-54 Berwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 8SP.
Four Quarters Peckham
Sprung from the minds of the now-closed Retro Games Base in Streatham, Four Quarters inserted itself on Peckham’s Rye Lane in June 2014 as London’s first arcade bar. The basement area houses 15 original restored arcade cabinets, while upstairs you’ll find retro console stations at the ready. Pages of vintage gaming mags are plastered floor-to-ceiling in the bar’s back rooms and toilets – lending a small town American college bar vibe.
A fiver gets you 15 quarters at the bar, and while you’re there, you can take advantage of the all-day-every-day house cocktails deal: 2-for-£13. Take your pick from Yoshi Sours, Rainbow Roads or the signature Great Mouse Detective – a basil-infused Beefeater Gin Tom Collins.
The Four Quarters crew are craft beer fanatics and the selection certainly reflects it. All locations currently tap a Four Quarters Pale Ale and a Four Quarters Outrun Hazy Pale Ale while supplies last. There’s a fridge full of rotating cans and no kitchen in sight, though it is promised that they serve food from a nearby spot.
Visit the Four Quarters website and come drain some quarters at 187 Rye Lane, Peckham, London, SE15 4TP.
Four Quarters East
Finding success in Peckham, Four Quarters brought its concept to East London’s Hackney Wick in 2017. Guests can enjoy a similar collection of retro arcade cabinets, cocktails and consoles with the added bonus of a spacious canal-side beer garden. Old-school game mags cover the walls enhancing the East London aesthetic with exposed air ducts overhead and ever-so-slightly scuffed wooden floors below.
Four Quarters East follows the Peckham lead with a 2-for-£17 house cocktails deal – this time offering “charming” options like the Citrus Bitch and Captain Pugwash, a souped up Dark & Stormy. Get in between 5-7pm Monday-Friday to enjoy happy hour with £3.50 pints and £6.50 cocktails. At those prices you may even forget you’re in London…
We’re told there’s a projector screen hidden away to be used for viewing parties and even pub quizzes. Beer and gaming have proven to be a match made in London’s socialising heaven and Four Quarters has laid claim to a little slice of it. Speaking of slices, get yourself a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed pizza while you’re button mashing, but wipe those greasy fingers, please and thanks.
Pop in at Unit 8, Canalside, East Bay Lane, Hackney Wick, London, E20 3B.
Four Quarters Elephant Park
The final entry in the Four Quarters trilogy can best be described as the arcade bar mini-chain’s final evolution. Launched in 2021 at the new Elephant Park development, Four Quarters Elephant Park is the culmination of years of learning and development from the Four Quarters team. Drink in the fully realised patented gaming-mag-covered-walls with the exposed industrial interior and dozens of gaming cabinets and consoles.
In a first for Four Quarters, the Elephant Park site serves a selection of burgers and hot dogs along with its typical game-ified drinks menu. Still the noise between your ears with a Gi-onic Boom or suit up with a Knightrider, which hits like a Black Russian after a fight with a Boilermaker.
Heads up – stop by on Tuesday or Wednesday to swap a tenner for a burger and a beer, or pop down after class on Wednesdays for student nights with £4.50 house drinks and £8 cocktails with a student ID.
Come drain some quarters at 20 Ash Avenue, Elephant Park, London, SE17 1GQ.
ESC Bar Stratford
ESC Bars are the result of a 2019 fork in concepts from previous Loading Bar locations in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush. Two locations have also branched their concepts away from each other in the time since. ESC Stratford tweaked the original formula, but has kept key elements: arcade cabinets, pinball machines, console booths and board games. Its sister site, ESC Shepherd’s Bush, is geared towards live entertainment and open mic nights instead of gaming.
A visit to the Stratford location gives the feeling of being in a traditional pub with gaming elements, rather than a full-blown gaming bar experience. A browse of the cocktail menu reveals a few gaming-inspired drinks, but by-and-large the gaming concept has been more subtly baked into the quaint ambience of the pub itself.
It’s an atmosphere that lends itself to a variety of occasions. A great location for a Monday night pub quiz, for a Mario Kart session with a few friends, regular Smash Bros meetups, or simply a nice pint after work.
Visit ESC Bars online here, or stop by at 25 W Ham Ln, Stratford, London, E15 4PH.
Loading Bar Stoke Newington
Loading Bar is arguably the blueprint for the London gaming bar. Founder Jimmy Dance brought Loading Bar from Cornwall to Soho in 2013, bringing the iconic game-themed cocktail menu with him. That venue has since changed hands (see ESC Bar above), but Loading Bar has found a new home in Stoke Newington.
An exciting development recently saw the bar open a brand new basement lounge in partnership with indie game publisher Devolver Digital, almost doubling the size of the venue. The bar features a collection of board games, along with a tucked away games room packed with arcade cabinets and console booths. It’s all free to play, but you can help keep the lights on by getting food or drink from the bar.
The menu, by the way, includes some fabulous concoctions such as the G&T-Virus – an official collaboration with Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise, and Assassin’s Mead – yep, in partnership with Ubisoft. On top of all of its claims to fame, Loading also hosts regular video game-themed karaoke nights, cleverly deemed Maraoke.
Visit the Loading Bars website for its wondrous blog, and of course pop your head in for a drink at 129 Stoke Newington High St, Stoke Newington, London, N16 0PH.
Loading Bar Peckham
Loading Bar’s newest location in Peckham opened within Mountview University in 2021. The location offers more of a cafe vibe compared to Stoke Newington, though there’s no lack of wall-mounted screens for watching live entertainment or playing your favourite games. Naturally, there’s plenty of seating for board game nights and a host of consoles in the back.
You’ll still find internet-famous game-themed drinks on the menu to pair with a variety of food options for bonus points. Burgers, hot dogs and loaded fries make for a solid selection of elevated pub grub for any palette. For the youngsters, they’ve got smoothies and milkshakes, and for the older patrons, plenty of shots!
Visit IRL at 120 Peckham Hill St, Peckham, London SE15 5JT.
Four Thieves
Describing Four Thieves as merely a “gaming bar” would be something of an understatement. An entire entertainment centre would be more fitting. The core of the venue is a Victorian Music Hall converted into an arcade (recently reopened), complete with VR setups, RC racers, skeeball, air hockey tables and an escape room!
When you’re done with all that, cool off with a drink from the Tap Room – stocked with a hefty lineup of craft beers and complemented with stand-up comedy nights, pub quizzes and a weekend brunch. If you get hungry, grab a bite of the Italian-inspired street fare. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Four Thieves is an actual microcosm of the London nightlife.
Check out the Level Up Brunch Club combines the arcade experience with bottomless brunch – all you can eat and drink pizza and mimosas, bloodies and house pale ales.
Visit the Four Thieves website or hop on the tube and head to 51 Lavender Gardens, Clapham Junction, London, SW11 1DJ.
New Meta Gaming Arena
New Meta Gaming Arena is one of London’s newest esports bars. New Meta opened in North London last year, and its CEO spoke to Esports News UK about the launch and what it’s all about for a separate article.
The two-floor venue boasts 44 gaming PCs, a streaming booth, console booth, food and drink and is running a range of esports tournaments. There are two tournament rooms, each with two sets of five PCs.
The bar also works with up and coming esports teams to provide them with ‘an affordable space to bootcamp, train and meet like minded people’, and hosts viewing parties.
Visit the New Meta website and head to the bar at 116H Upper Street, London, N1 1QP.
Other recommendations
UK Rocket League and esports personality Gregan suggests Rule Zero:
Any bars missing from this guide? Let us know in a Twitter DM to Esports News UK
