AIL Venue of the Month: Bradley’s Spanish Bar

In case you hadn’t noticed, the East end has been hogging the limelight for the past few weeks so in a dramatic power shift we attempt to redirect your gaze towards Central London and one of our favourites, Bradley’s Spanish Bar. It may be small in stature and its toilets may be the stuff of nightmares but Bradley’s is a classic and we wouldn’t want it any other way – okay, maybe the toilets can change.

Weirdly, for a street linked to Oxford Street, Hanway Street tends to remain somewhat hidden from tourist walk-ins and inebriants ‘out on the lash in central – wehheey!’ So that’s the first thing that Bradley’s Spanish Bar has going for it. It might not seem like much, but in this area of Wetherspoon’s pubs, sports bars and Starbucks, it’s a whole lot of something.

With over 50 years worth of history, Bradley’s verges on institution status. While the bar is in the business of serving Spanish lagers and wines, its wet menu isn’t what inspires the fans. No, that would be the combination of the eclectic Spanish ephemera, warm atmosphere and most of all, the vinyl only jukebox that takes pride of place in the street level bar. Anywhere you can pick Petula Clark, Whitesnake, Nina Simone and Donna Summer from the same 7”-only jukebox has to be a good thing.

Naturally the bar is decked out with hot-red velvet benches for that Iberian flavour and though it is small, that just makes it even more intimate. The basement below is available for hire and better still has taken to screening all La Liga football matches so your El Clasico dilemmas are solved.

Despite the popularity, Bradley’s remains a welcoming place and whether you’re a Spaniard, a regular or one of the tourists lucky to stumble into the place, the staff are forever charming.

Bradley’s Spanish Bar… muy bien, que va, estupendo!