The Best Cocktail Bars in Leeds

The best cocktail bars in Leeds are Jake's Bar on Call Lane, open since 2004 and listed among the UK's top 50 cocktail bars, The Domino Club, hidden behind a barbershop in the Grand Arcade, and Below Stairs on South Parade, a basement bar that tells stories with its drinks. After those three, Leeds has a cocktail bar for every mood: a 13th-floor balcony, a rooftop on Swinegate, a chefs' hangout on Eastgate and a tiki bar where they ration the Zombies. Here is where to go and what to order.

Jake's Bar & Still, Call Lane

Jake's, at 29 Call Lane, has been going since 2004. It makes its own liqueurs on a copper still called Tabitha, and changes its specials monthly. The order is the Martini Flight: four mini frozen Martinis, Classic, Dirty, Pickled and Floral. It is a small basement and fills up quickly, so go early or go midweek.

The Domino Club, Grand Arcade

The Domino Club is behind a barbershop in the Grand Arcade and has live blues, jazz and soul. It holds a Pinnacle Guide pin, and every week one premium spirit is sold at cost price by the shot. Order the Coffee & Cacao Old Fashioned, made with single barrel rum. Expect a queue at weekends, sometimes up to half an hour. It is worth it.

Below Stairs, South Parade

Below Stairs, at 12 South Parade (LS1 5AL), is a subterranean bar with a storytelling theme. The Old Fashioned uses two whiskies and a cognac, and the Small Joys menu has drinks named Bread and Butter and Clean Sheets, which are better than they sound. It does the classics properly too.

Tabula Rasa, Eastgate

Tabula Rasa, at 8 Eastgate, is stripped back, does aperitivo and nibbles, and is where a lot of Leeds chefs go after service. That tells you most of what you need to know. Order the Crime and Punishment: Laphroaig 10, honeycomb Cocchi Americano, ginger and lemon liqueur and applewood smoke. It can be hard to get into.

With a view

Sky Lounge, at 2 Wharf Approach on Granary Wharf, is on the 13th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton with a wraparound balcony. Order the Mula, pisco with strawberry, lime and ginger ale. Farrands, at 18 Swinegate, has a rooftop terrace and a barrel-aged tart cherry Negroni, plus spritz and Negroni offers from Sunday to Thursday. The Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Bar on Briggate does a short, sharp list, with a Spring Garden Gimlet made with Monkey 47.

Call Lane and the late crowd

Roland's, at 39 Call Lane, does a 50/50 Martini with Boatyard gin, Cocchi and orange bitters, and has a sun terrace out the back. Neon Cactus, at 35 Call Lane, makes a frozen Classic Margarita with house-distilled Quat Sec and Maldon salt. Power, Corruption & Lies, at 36, does a Pink Smokey Disco with tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, chilli and rosemary foam. Upstairs at 38, Tiki Hideaway limits its Zombie to two per guest. For everything else on the strip, see our Call Lane guide or the Leeds-List Call Lane guide.

More worth knowing

• Smokestack, 159A Lower Briggate. Soul, blues, funk and jazz, with a signature Hurricane Smokestack and a New Orleans Sour.
• Distrikt, 7 Duncan Street. A basement with DJs that has been running for over 15 years. The Smokin' Hot Paloma, with mezcal and chilli, is the one.
• Outlaws Yacht Club, 38 New York Street. About ten cocktails at a time, including a Kirkgate Market-Rita, plus triple-cheese toasties and board games.
• Lazy Lounge, West Point, Wellington Street. Over 300 gins and 100 whiskies, at prices that will not ruin your night.
• Rita's, 42 Woodhouse Lane. A Margarita specialist up by the university. The Margarita Slushie is cheap and very effective.
• Jamrock, 31 Kirkgate. Jamaican-themed, with a jerk Mangorita and a reggae rum punch.

For a date

The Maven runs a cocktail tasting where you are guided through five drinks themed around famous drinkers for £30 each, which is a very good second date. The Domino Club, with live jazz, is the first. More ideas in the Leeds-List date ideas guide.

How to drink cocktails in Leeds

Start early, because the small bars like Jake's, Tabula Rasa and the Domino Club fill up and do not have much room to stand. Weeknights are kinder: several bars run offers from Sunday to Thursday. Menus change seasonally, so treat specific drinks as a starting point and ask the bartender what they are excited about. In Leeds, they usually have an opinion.