Eats

The best places in and around Leeds for after work drinks

We've rounded up our favourite watering holes that offer a combination of all the factors needed for the perfect post-work drink.

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith - 19th April 2022

Leeds is inundated with bars, but there's few places that you can guarantee will have space for the whole team and serve a decent pint.

There's far more to consider when drinking with a large crowd too: will you all fit around a single table? Can your team travelling home by train still make their once-an-hour slot back in time? Perhaps most pressing, what will the drinking options be like?

We've rounded up our favourite watering holes that offer a combination of all the factors needed for the perfect post-work drink. Each bar has enough space for businesses big and small with vast drinking options, including non-alcoholic options for those tee-total or driving, and we've even considered places where you can forget about the working day and the proximity to the train station.

Keep reading to find out top picks for places to have a drink after work in and around Leeds city centre.

Salt Leeds City Centre

A cocktail tree with lots of different options underneath a sign.
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Serving up cocktails on tap, there's no worry here about having to waste time waiting for a drink. Both of Salt's bars in the city centre, on East Parade and Granary Wharf, are equipped with the state-of-the-art draught cocktail machines and located within a half mile of the train station, so regardless of if you're a city centre commuter or live within close proximity of Leeds, you can make the most of a post-work tipple before heading off into the evening.

The cocktail trees will be a crowd-pleaser for the whole team too. You can mix and match with the likes of strawberry cosmos, espresso martinis and classic pornstar and passionfruit combos amongst other favourites too- an exciting alternative to buying in rounds that will suit all cocktail drinkers, regardless of their individual preferences.

Read More: This new Leeds bar offers the ‘fastest served cocktails in the city’

Revs de Cuba

A cocktail with tobacco-style packaging next to it.
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Located right in the heart of the city centre, Revolución de Cuba is the post-work hotspot that serves up everything you need to forget about the day's activities and transition into that after hours euphoric state. Helping you to leave those anxieties behind is a vast range of cocktails and specialist rums.

Save the sharer teapots for a Friday early finish: they're refreshing but potent. Made up of Havana Club 3 Year Old rum and Koko Kanu coconut rum with raspberry, mango and fresh pineapple. Served in a giant teapot, it's the perfect way to start off your weekend as you mean to go on.

Pastel

A cocktail held in a hand.
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Pastel may have only opened just a few weeks ago, but it's quickly becoming our go-to for drinks after hours. Promising a unique menu of cocktails- bubble guns, pancetta and Haribo eggs are all featured- this laid-back boho bar will have you in holiday-mode upon entrance.

Plus, every Monday, Pastel offers one of their signature drinks at just a fiver. A new cocktail is chosen every week to keep their menu fresh, innovative and guarantee that your Monday blues will stop the moment the clock strikes 5pm.

Read More: This new cocktail bar serves up dreamy holiday cocktails inside a pastel-coloured bar

Banyan

Three drinks on a table.
Image: Banyan

Banyan has been serving the city worker crowd in their masses for quite some time and there's a good reason why people keep coming back- besides its convenient location adjacent to Leeds train station. There's plenty of outdoor and indoor seating, so regardless of the size of your workforce, you're likely to all sit around the same table.

Designed to serve larger groups, those feeling generous can treat the whole team with cocktail trees filled with the likes of Espresso and Pornstar Martinis or a perfect-serve gin with Fevertree tonic or keep the fizz a free-flowing affair with their vast range of wine options too.

Canary Bar

Two cocktails.
The Spiced Pear Fizz and a mocktail. / Image: The Hoot Leeds

Swap the city's bright lights for a canalside view over at Leeds Docks and leave the day behind at Canary Bar. The shipping container bar is cosy and intimate, but provides plenty of space for large groups to gather, either round huge wooden benches, outdoor seating area or through private hire of their upstairs space and balcony.

Drinkswise, there's plenty to choose from too. Expect a considered list of classic cocktails and lagers from local breweries, amongst a huge range of non-alcoholic options. Plus, if you make it in before 4pm, there's 30% off food and the laid-back bar actively encourage remote workers to make the most of their work-friendly amenities, so there's always an option to work from here before (or whilst) grabbing a drink or two.

Read More: The best food festivals in and around Leeds in 2022 – including tickets, dates and line-ups

Feature Image- The Hoot Leeds (SALT)

Eats

Horsforth Brewery to takeover and save beloved Ilkley tap house

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

A renowned brewery have announced that they will be taking over the reigns of a popular craft beer bottle shop in Ilkley.

Fuggle & Golding opened in 2015 on Leeds road in Ilkley and quickly grew a loyal following with locals and visitors alike.

Sadly they announced last month that their last day of trading would be Saturday 28 February, news which was met with huge disappointment.

However this is no longer the case, as Horsforth Brewery is set to reopen the venue on Wednesday. Hooray!

Announcing the welcomed news to Instagram, Horsforth Brewery wrote: "When we saw they were going to close we were determined to not lose another great venue from the local beer scene.

"We owe a massive thank you to George and the landlord for getting a deal across the line in quick order.

"We’re going to take a few days to put our stamp on the place and then we will be open on Wednesday!"

"Obviously we will be stocking our beers here but as anyone who knows will know, we love the beer scene so we will continue to have a good amount of guest beer on as well. We’ll even been joining in with the biggest beer launches from around the country.

"Want to know the best news? We’re doing this solo. No outside interests, no investors, no debt. In the current climate being able to organically grow like this is so so hard and it’s thanks to all our team that we’ve been able to do this.

"We’ve always been determined to grow our business in a healthy and sustainable way; it may have (absolutely has) been tough over the years but we’ve got ourselves in a position to take us to the next level in a sustainable way."

Read more: Inside Leeds’ newest Italian cafe and gelateria that’s inspired by the streets of Puglia

Featured images - The Hoot Leeds

Eats

British Pie Week 2026 – all the best places to find a pie in and around Leeds

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Sweet, savoury, filled or plain: pies are a staple in the British diet.

It's the best week of the year...it's British Pie Week, not that we need much of an excuse to celebrate that flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, but we're taking all the excuses we can this week to embrace all things pie related.

We've rounded up al our favourite spots to grab a pie, as a lunchtime snack or on the go in the city centre - so take your pick, whatever the occasion.

Dave's Pies and Ales

Kirkstall Road, Burley | Open from 5pm

Images: The Hoot Leeds

Dave's Pies and Ales is locally known as the smallest pub in Leeds - and whilst the menu and seating area might be teeny, what it does do, it does well.

Choose from a range of pies and peas with classic ales on tap to choose from inside this micropub 12-11pm every day of the week.

Whitelocks Ale House

Turk's Head Yard, just off Briggate | Kitchen open from 12pm

Image: The Hoot Leeds

Whitelocks is known in Leeds for its Sunday Roasts, warm fire and homely pub ambience- but their pies are the unsung heroes on the menu.

The beef and ale pie is made from Yorkshire Meat Co. beef, a Wetherby-based supplier that brings beef from the likes of Tancred Grange Farm in Richmond to Leeds. This one is served with chunky chips and sautéed seasonal veg, seat by the fireplace optional.

Pieminister

Duncan Street, Leeds city centre | Open from 12pm

Images: The Hoot Leeds

Available as a Sunday roast, bottomless brunch or just a plain old (but beautifully presented) pie and mash, Pieminister is famous for its pies for all the right reasons. On the shelves in your local supermarkets and available as a sit-down scran on Boar Lane, Pieminister is a place where pies are guaranteed to make up the majority of the menu options.

Finer Pleasures

Multiple locations

If you don't know about Josh at Finer Pleasures, then you're seriously missing out. Josh is somewhat of a pie-oneer (sorry), and is the master of creating weird and wonderful pie creations from lasagna pies to gammon, egg and pineapple pork pies.

You can find him over in Crossgates most Wednesdays, but you're best bet is to keep an eye on his socials for the best chance on bagging one of his pies. Trust us, they're like gold dust.

Wilsons Butchers

Austhorpe Road, Cross Gates | Open from 7.30am

Image: Wilsons Butchers

Located in Armley, Morley and Pontfract - Wilsons Pies and Pasties is a small indie chain from Wilsons Butchers and crowned champions of the Yorkshire Small Pork Pie Championships.

At lunch time, the shops offer a true Yorkshire delicacy of pie and mushy pies with optional (but essential) mint sauce. All Wilsons pies and pasties are made using locally sourced produce in Garforth, so these a true Leeds pies, and well worth sampling.

Read more: Inside Leeds’ newest Italian cafe and gelateria that’s inspired by the streets of Puglia

Featured images - The Hoot Leeds

More Eats

Eats

Beloved late night Leeds cocktail bar The Maven announces permanent closure

Eats

Luxury Leeds steakhouse to undergo huge £1.2 million renovation

Eats

This iconic Leeds pub is selling 25p pints for the weekend alongside a 70’s-inspired menu