The Milk Thistle is a hidden four-floor Bristol cocktail bar with a Parlour, lounge, Attic dining room and below-street whisky vault, serving changing twists on classics and house creations.
Description source · Checked 2026-09-20
Plan Your Visit
Quay Head House, Colston Ave, Bristol BS1 1EB, UK
- Style
- Multi-floor speakeasy cocktail and whisky barChecked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Hours
- Tuesday–Thursday 6pm–1am; Friday–Saturday 5pm–2am; closed Sunday–Monday.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Booking
- The owner provides online table reservations through an embedded BookBambi widget; no general walk-in, deposit or cancellation terms are published on the owner page.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Menu
- The drinks page links the current owner cocktail PDF, published in September 2025, and notes that the core menu changes regularly with monthly specials.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
Hours and menus can change. Check the venue’s latest details before visiting.
The score & its evidence
Seven signals. One score.
38.0 / 100
The composite combines the seven weighted signals and the published adjustments. The chart shows each signal before weighting.
Read the full calculation- Guest ratings
- 71.2
- World's 50 Best
- —None found · Checked; no qualifying signal found; contributes zero
- Top 500 Bars
- 30.5
- Spirited Awards
- —None found · Checked; no qualifying signal found; contributes zero
- Regional Recognition
- 45.1
- Serious press
- 12.2
- Social Vibes
- 61.6
Weights: Guest ratings 23% · World's 50 Best 12% · Top 500 Bars 10% · Spirited 12% · Regional Recognition 18% · Press 10% · Social Vibes 15%
Missing evidence, confirmed none and evidence outside a scoring window each contribute zero. We do not redistribute their fixed weight to other signals.
Social Vibes
Score read updated:
Sentiment score
88/ 100
The existing 88/100 remains the proprietary Social Vibes score. This source review clarifies the evidence without recalculating it.
Score context
Hyde & Co's four-floor Quay Head House: taxidermy, whisky vault, Prohibition twists and buzzer entry. Guests praise drinks and rooms; it is not accessible.
Guest sources checked:
This review checks the linked sources. The stored summary and themes remain a proprietary interpretation, rather than a fresh customer survey.
Guest score details
Highlights in the stored read
- four-floor listed building
- Prohibition cocktails
- taxidermy rooms
- whisky vault
Reservations in the stored read
- buzzer closed-door entry
- not accessible
- For current booking information, see Plan Your Visit.
The stored excerpt is retained in the original record but is omitted here because its source text or exact-room attribution could not be independently verified.
This read cites editorial or award context. Those links are distinct from guest accounts; only the reviewed links in Reviews & press count toward Press.
Editorial citations in this read
- timeout.esEditorial source — Betty James · 21 January 2015; visit date unknown
Historical Time Out critic review of Quay Head House. The saved redirect connects the original timeout.es link to this timeout.com page. The displayed 2015 date differs from stored 2018; the stored date remains unchanged.
Award & ranking citations in this read
- thepinnacleguide.comAward or editorial guide · Publication and visit dates not verified
This citation is an editorial or award-guide source, not a customer review. Its role alone does not verify the stored quotation or a guest consensus.
Crowd signal
Google 4.5★ across 982 reviews.
View on Google · Checked . Ratings and review counts can change.
Awards
Results from the three global systems scored separately in our formula.
Top 500 Bars
Regional Recognition
Regional and national lists, local awards and bartender peer picks considered for this room's Regional Recognition score. The strongest result from each program and year scores; assessed guides use the latest accepted dated status once.