On Womanby Street, the narrow lane beside Cardiff Castle long associated with the city's campaign to protect its live-music venues, Bootleggers is a prohibition-style cocktail bar and live-music venue. Behind a small, unassuming frontage, the venue opens out across two floors, blending an American speakeasy theme with a busy programme of bands and DJs. The interior leans into its 1920s inspiration, mixing reclaimed wood, beaten metal, and local graffiti to create a deliberately worn, characterful look that recalls the Prohibition era. Upstairs sits a cocktail lounge with a menu of more than ninety made-to-order drinks built from fresh local ingredients, alongside a dedicated gin bar stocking over a hundred gins, both mainstream and independent. Downstairs is given over to music, with live bands and a resident DJ playing jazz, blues, swing, rock and roll, soul, and funk that can run well into the early hours. The mix of a relaxed upstairs bar and a livelier music floor lets the venue work both as a spot for cocktails and conversation and as a late-night live-music destination. Independent and family-run - operated by two siblings and a friend from the same area - Bootleggers in Cardiff is part of the wider Bootlegger Bars group, which runs similarly themed venues in other British cities. The whole venue is available for private hire for parties, corporate functions, and celebrations, with capacity for a few hundred guests across its two levels. Womanby Street is one of the oldest streets in Cardiff and a focal point of its independent music scene, home to venues such as Clwb Ifor Bach; in 2017 a high-profile Save Womanby Street campaign successfully resisted development that threatened its grassroots venues, cementing its identity as the city's live-music quarter. Bootleggers fits squarely into that character, pairing a Prohibition-era American theme - moonshine, speakeasy styling, and a long cocktail and gin list - with a strong live-music programme. The bar runs cocktail masterclasses and takes private bookings, and its mix of funk, soul, blues, and rock and roll, played by live bands and a resident DJ, keeps the lower floor busy late into the night. Its place just below Cardiff Castle puts it within a few minutes' walk of the city's main nightlife and the Principality Stadium.

Type: Bar / Pub

Address: 5A Womanby Street, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Website: https://bootleggerbars.com/venues/cardiff