Old Brewery Quarter

The Old Brewery Quarter is a lovely little spot in Cardiff with a great atmosphere and design.
First, I need to say that places like these are why I love cities. I’m a city girl through and through with a love of places bustling with fun and excitement. Locations like the Old Brewery Quarter is a great example of this.
~ Atmosphere:
To be honest, it’s pretty lackluster during the day, but during the night when it comes alive is when the atmosphere is fantastic. The place is clean and well-​kept, with 2 levels of restaurants combined with an outdoor area. Charming, to say the least.
~ Variety:
There’s plenty of restaurants here to take your pick from. If you’re having trouble deciding where to grab your lunch or dinner in Cardiff, it’s pretty easy to just head over to the Old Brewery Quarter and work on instinct. There’s a decent range in the price-​tags of restaurants (you can get the affordability of Nando’s or move up in the chain for something more ritzy) so there should be at least something that fits the bill. There’s even an ice cream shoppe you can stop at for dessert!
TIPS:
~ Grab outdoor seating in the summer for a more atmospheric touch with the view into the rest of the Brewery Quarter. You won’t regret it!

Plenty of option here, this year especially the weather was amazing and the brewery quarter is a sun trap I found myself relaxing here most weekends having a bite and a few drinks, all in all I think most people enjoy themselves here a warm buzzy atmosphere.

The price is unacceptable. Taste is good. We got a fish, 5 wings, 3 chicken breast meatballs and something like pizza. But it took about 30GBP! Unbelievable…

I visited Cardiff twice in my time living in the UK, and have been to the Yard at Old Brewery Quarter both times: the first while looking for a table to have a bite, and the second time when I was actually able to sit down and enjoy a meal. That being said, I can understand that it might be the busy place on the weekends, since there aren’t a ton of options in Cardiff, and they have a huge bar, good kitchen, and plenty of space for big parties.
When I ate, I had the burger, onion rings, and chicken wings… I was a bit hungry, okay?! They were all great, especially paired with a Brains.
I’d definitely recommend it for a meal, but I’d also be interested to see what the nightlife is like. It sounds like the place gets very exciting and lively as the night wears on. Also, my friend who I dined with and who lives in Cardiff said this is one of the places to be for live music. As a local, I take her word on it!

You practically cannot move in the brewery quarter on a Friday night because it is completely filled with people in big groups enjoying their night out in some of the restaurants that are in the quarter. There is a range of choice for everyone here. If you like spicy then you could go for the Nando’s there, if you want something more homely then you could go to Yard. If you fancy something different and unique then you can try the Hard Rock Café. There is something for everyone to try.
I have eaten in most of the restaurants there my favourite being Nando’s. What makes the Brewery quarter so great is the outdoor area with seating where you can sit and enjoy your meal and drink or just your drink. It has a good vibe and atmosphere on certain nights when filled with people who have had more than their fair share of wine. There are restaurants like Spice Root and Bella Italia if you fancy something different and even a little place called the pancake house where you can have the best pancake you will ever try in your life.
The Brewery Quarter is great for going out in groups over the weekend. So pick your favourite restaurant and enjoy the night

I never saw this place before it became the restaurant chain hub it is now, but I have to say I don’t see the big deal.
Home to every recognisable chain you can think of, the Brewery Quarter is one of those ‘lets spend lots of money and attract lots of people’ places that has a lot of cheap burger options but very little soul.
The lights and signs of chain restaurants detract from what was, I assume, an attractive looking set of buildings. It’s part of modern Cardiff now and looks fine, there’s nothing horrible about the place, but I wonder how many years it will be before areas like this lose their appeal, and their restaurants.
Brewery Quarter naturally gets extremely busy at certain times and would be worth avoiding (unless queues are your thing) altogether if your there on a Friday or Saturday night.
By all means, have a visit, just remember that you could have gone to one of Cardiff’s many, many independent restaurants and done something different.

The Brewery Quarter — the twilight zone of St Mary’s Street. With its cunning location near Caroline Street, I have found myself drunkenly wandering this area of town many a night out following a few too many; confusedly searching for the whereabouts of my beloved Chippy Lane, only to eventually find it just metres away.
After visiting in an altogether more clear-​headed state of mind, I could actually appreciate what was on offer in the area. With many bars and restaurants on offer, this is actually quite a nice place to go for a meal or a quiet drink on a sunny day.
The range of food on offer is also quite attractive; varying from Mexican with Chiquito to Italian with Bella Italia, as well as a number of others dotted around the vicinity.
This is also a largely overlooked area of Cardiff, when it comes to nightlife, more so since the rise of larger clubs and chain bars such as Oceana and Tiger Tiger on Greyfriars, as well as Revolution opposite the castle. Although this area does erupt when it comes to match day in the stadium, with red shirts everywhere and a sports-​mad atmosphere that can rival the stadium itself.

This place is seriously like being on holiday. It certainly doesn’t feel like your wandering around Cardiff City centre whilst hidden in the modernisation of the Brewery Quarter.
There’s plenty of exotic choice here ranging from a good old Nando’s to a Hard Rock Café and Chiquito’s and Thai Edge. There is literally something for everyone.
My favourite haunt in the Brewery Quarter is The Yard. OK, it’s a little pricey and a tad precocious but I feel all cosmopolitan whilst sipping on the old vino here. Carrie Bradshaw/​New York eat your heart out welcome to Wales.
On a night out the Brewery Quarter is the best place to start. Close to everywhere, it’s pretty much smack bang in the middle of the city and most of it is undercover so girlie’s you don’t have to panic about the welsh weather messing up your ‘do’.
Also, there’s an option for everything; you can eat, drink and dance the night away under this precious covered haunt.

One of the criticisms of Cardiff’s rapid redevelopment over recent years is that the essence of the city centre — its soul even — has been somewhat ripped out. Don’t get carried away with that name: the Old Brewery Quarter is about as ‘old’ as broadband or HD television. And in many ways, it’s the perfect example of the blandification that has occurred. A maze of bars and restaurants predominantly of the chain variety, popping in for an afternoon coffee is no real hassle, yet return in the evening, chiefly at weekends, and it begins to take on the adjacent St Mary Street’s worst nightlife characteristics. Leering gaggles of lads and hooting hen nights aren’t exactly rare, and woe betide anybody who frequents many of the more popular restaurants on a Friday/​Saturday night without a reservation — which seems perverse when so many brilliantly individualistic eateries in the suburbs struggle to pull in enough punters. It’s a money-​spinner no doubt, but at what cost?

The Old Brewery Quarter doesn’t seem to be very aptly named on first sight as it is one of the parts of the centre of Cardiff to be renovated reasonably recently. However, the renovation has incorporated parts of the original vault and clock tower so that it maintains some if its original charm as it embraces the modern city Cardiff is becoming. It’s good place to wander through that links up somewhere half way up St. Mary’s Street with half way up Caroline Street (Otherwise known as Chippy Lane).
It’s home to a variety of bars and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Café and Nando’s that offer the food you know in a slightly different setting to what you’re used to. On a Summer evening when the Quarter is filled with punters sitting around the various tables over a cocktail this becomes a really cosmopolitan part of Cardiff.

Offering a cluster of bars, restaurants and apartments, the Brewery Quarter is probably one of the better haunts on St. Mary Street.
Sometimes during the summer you’ll find live music, with the mezzanine filled to the brim with revellers, invariably sunburnt and jolly, drinks in hand.
It’s worth checking out restaurants like Thai Edge and giving chains like Chiquito’s and La Tasca a miss (saying that, the Brewery Quarter houses a Nando’s, which is a chain that’s always welcome in my book).
The Yard is one of my favourite hangouts to catch up with my girls, although I resent spending £4.20 on a gin and tonic (glasses of wine are quite expensive too), so I normally opt for a beer.
Looks can be deceiving, and the Brewery Quarter is no different — it’s much more spacious inside than you initially anticipate, so have a wander through, and I’m sure you’ll find a spot to waste the day away.

The Old Brewery Quarter is a trendy café and restaurant area set around a kind of open-​air piazza in the heart of the city centre.
It was once the ‘Old Brewery’ site of Welsh brewery Brains, but after being sat vacant for a while it was redeveloped in 2003 into the current leisure area.
You can now find many chain restaurants in the Brewery Quarter, split over two levels — with the likes of Nando’s, La Tasca, and Thai Edge on the upper level, along with Brains’ own flagship venue, The Yard Bar and Kitchen — and Lava Lounge and Chiquito’s on the lower level down some steps. Above all of the restaurants there are residential loft style apartments and penthouses, too.
Although it covers a fairly compact area, the Brewery Quarter offers a good choice of different places to eat and drink, and the whole atmosphere is really pleasant — when the sun’s out you can almost imagine you’re on holiday.