The Old School Yard

It has been a few months since my birthday, where I reserved a table for 17 people at The Old School Yard. The bar was quiet for our early happy hour arrival, which was great for catching up and analysing their extensive but very affordable cocktail list. I was really happy with the long bench table they’d placed me at, at the front right of the room between some of the games they offer. A pizza was ordered (which was pretty tasty), drinks were had (I don’t think I disliked a single cocktail, and I drank many) and conversations flowed until later on when the bar began to fill up. The only downside is my beer drinking buddies couldn’t get anything on tap as there was none. I don’t drink beer though, so I don’t care.
Maybe it was the alcohol, or the joy of getting to play Mario Kart 64 for free while my SO was demolished by a stranger in foosball (also free), but getting to spend my birthday here was awesome. The place is fun, not too fancy and the other patrons were incredibly friendly. Definitely recommend and I’ll definitely be going back.

Stopped in here for a friend’s birthday drinks and was pleasantly surprised! Happy Hour mojitos were strong and tasty, and the music was great as the night went on. A friend got pizzas and was lovely enough to share — definitely a good way to line your stomach before getting a few rounds in.
Food — good, but not something to go out of your way for.
Drinks — very good — get there for happy hour and pay £4.50 for cocktails
Atmosphere — good — great music, lots of space, and you can reserve areas for the evening.

Great place, fantastic atmosphere and awesome TMNT Machine and Mario Kart.

This place is so much fun. I spent a loooong time on the pinball machine — it’s so addictive! They also have a Nintendo 64 and a Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles arcade game (which I was terrible at).
But, it isn’t really just about the games… it’s about the amazingly designed cocktail menu that looks like a comic book, it’s about the delicious pizzas named after the different Turtles that are ordered in for you, it’s about the throwback music, and it’s about the hidden karaōke booths downstairs. Such a great vibe at this place!
The only thing that let me down was one of the bar staff, who was kind of an ass, and clearly didn’t have any customer service skills. There was however a great barman who made up for his colleague’s incompetence. So it didn’t put me off wanting to come again!

Probably one of my favourite places in all of London. I’ve come here with colleagues and friends alike, and always have a great time. They have a generous happy hour (until 9pm, I think) but even if you miss it the drinks are super reasonable.
This seems to be especially popular with the mid-​20s and up crowd, and especially young professionals, which is unsurprising given the retro feel of the entire place (replete with classic arcade games, N64 with Mario Kart permanently on rotation). There’s also a foosball table, and karaōke and Wii in the less-​ventured-​to downstairs area. The music appeals to everyone it seems, ranging from Journey to JT, Blackstreet and Biggy (and everything in between).
Basically, if you’re near London Bridge and looking for an unpretentious, fun place, definitely hit up the Old School Yard.

Great place with decent drink prices. I booked the karaōke room for a group of friends They got a bit funny about the minimum spend, but mainly because there card system wasnt working. There wasn’t a cash point near there so check thats back in action but despite that great cocktails and good prices. The karaōke room is well worth the minimum spend. You can sing and dance for a few hours and the place was clean and tidy. They also have games which a few people used during the earlier hours. Pizzas also pretty good!

OK so if you haven’t been to The Old Schoolyard, you are completely missing out. This is by far my favorite bar in London. The theme is fun, the staff are friendly, the drinks are reasonably priced and the music makes you want to dance all night. I’ve always had a fabulous time during every outing here and sometimes find myself wondering why I don’t come here for often. My only request is that they stay open longer on weekend nights — 12:30 is way too early to close!

I did have a bad experience here, my friend accidentally spilt his drink and the barman would not replace it for free even though this happened right in front of him, some do, some don;t!
Despite this, The Old School Yard is a decent place The downside is that the drinks are from bottles or cans so no draught pumps so not advisable for real ale or beer drinkers. Good for cocktail drinkers though.
There was a surprise with a downstairs area I never knew about, which has free Karaōke booths and a nice seating area, also Table Football and retro video games so all in all, not bad.

Love, Love, LOVE this place. Being 29 I find lots of places to be full of tiny, young, trendy people with their zest for life and their fancy shoes. This place is for the retro among us. Great music, great atmosphere and a great place to spend an evening (and early morning)

Fun vibe. Very noisy. Happy hour is packed with uni kids but they clear out when the drink specials end (take that as you will!) Not sure I would go out of my way to come back but if I’m in the area i would pop in for a pornstar martini :)

je suis allée dans ce bar dansant pour ma soirée du 31 Décembre et né peut que fortement vous le conseiller! Le lieu est très cool, la musique est awesome (enfin moi c’est mon délire: début 2000) et les cocktails y sont variés, bien dosés, bons et à prix très avantageux! Les serveurs sont Australiens, Grecques, Polonais et les clients de vrais habitués du quartier de London Bridge.
Bref: Go and have a blast!

How is it possible that I’ve lived literally one street over from The Old School Yard all year and never gone here? This is officially my new favorite bar in South London.
All of the previous reviews about killer music selection are spot-​on. I am awful at keeping up with pop music these days (Ariana who?) so anytime a song produced pre-​2010 comes on the radio, I actually stand a chance at knowing it. The Old School Yard feels like it was basically made for me and all the other old souls who listen to music on a minimum-​5-​year lag. I mean, come on. You know a bar is going to be good when «I Want You Back» is playing when you walk in.
It’s pretty crowded on the ground floor because the bar takes up most of the room, leaving not that much space to stand/​dance. There are also some spots that are directly illuminated by hot spotlights, making you feel kind of exposed. feels like the whole bar is counting the pores on my face, haha. I didn’t get a chance to explore the basement this time, but will check it out the next time I go (which is hopefully soon!)

What can I write here to do the Old School Yard justice? It is simply the most outstanding place I can imagine having for a local bar. While it does good business especially Friday and Saturday nights with its great cocktails, friendly bar tenders, comfy couches, and dance floor, you’d be hard pressed to find scenesters, hipsters, bankers… most ers, really. The crowd is an eclectic mix of locals who love to come together to chill while being assaulted by the amazing, usually 80s and 90s, tunes that don’t stop and great cocktails. Last Friday, my girlfriend and I took some out-​of-​town friends there promising good music and American bar food, and we did not stop dancing even as we downed two of their Ninja Turtles-​themed pizza. I even tried to take a break by playing the original TMNT arcade game (yes) but I could not. What I did do is stumble downstairs to finally check out the karaōke (yes) and if is like a whole second bar down there in the basement. On the way to the dance floor, while you sip on rum punch or any of their classic or newfangled cocktails, you might be tempted to challenge a friend or stranger to Mario Kart 64 (yes), and near the end of the night you might get a free shot of something for fun’s sake. Oh and do take advantage of the free stuff you might get by checking in on Unilocal.Wouldn’t want to miss that. As if this place could get any better. Yes, most definitely the current front runner for next birthday venue. I only wish it closed like one hour later on weekends.

I am not ashamed to say that this is one of my favourite bars in London. They have a wide range of cocktails that are all very respectable in quality and far less that most other London cocktails. Not too mention their happy hour which offers even better deals.
The food menu offers average american bar food options as well as teenage mutant ninja turtle themed pizzas. Which leads us to the real reason this place is such a gem.
Where else can you play the original arcade version of TMNT, foosball, and N64 Mario Kart all to the tunes of some of the best/​worst pop music of the 90’s. The music choices here are bizarre and amazing and they definitely accept your most embarrassing requests from your childhood. Every night here has ended in a late night dance party, I only wish they were open later.

Thank you, Unilocal,for the mobile check-​in drinks special.
The place is a total dive, packed with suits, uni kids and otherwise young working professionals.
Really dig the arcade machines and comic books framed against the rear wall — those are totally throwbacks!

Okay! this place is like a piece of america! Long bar that goes all the way around and serves Pisco Sours! This might actually be my favourite dive bar in the whole of england based on those 2 points!
I haven’t a clue what my obsess with long bars is, i assume that it help get people mingling instead of sit in a corner with your head chopped off.
By the time I got here, i was half off my face, sucked down a few pisco sours, and had a little dance to Bön Jovi and moved on.
Great bar tho!

Hello DRUNK, Lizzie has arrived and wants to join the party. I love it when you discover something new about a bar. In the case of The Old School Yard, I knew it was a fun bar with great cocktails and great party music, what I didn’t know is that hidden below the main bar is an underground cellar with two karaōke rooms. Oh yes ladies and gent, I did do my rendition of Big Spender and Word Up (
) was performed by a certain superstar.
As far as a night goes, if you are looking for a dirty dive bar party, this is the place for you. Great drinks and perfect music if you are up for cheesy dancing. The amazing thing about this place to is that it isn’t full of tourists and you can actually get a drink at the bar without getting groped.

I love everything about this bar. I had my 25^th birthday party here (the first birthday party I’ve ever had!), regularly ‘drag’ friends here, and have even been lucky enough to attend a Qype/​My Kind Of Phone event here. So why do I love this place so much?
Environment: When I first ever walked in here, I was utterly wowed from the off. There is old style arcade games, a big projector screen that usually has the Wii hooked up to it, a table football table, mis-​matched sofas, and a very well stocked bar. Outside there is a ‘playground’, with ample seats, a tiny patch of grass and if you’re lucky a BBQ going. The downstairs bar (which I was in for said event) is an ecclectic mix of bar paraphanelia and tucked away corners.
Staff: The bar staff are very friendly, up for a chat and a lark around, will suggest drinks if you’re not sure what you want, and are just all round fab.
Drinks: The real selling point for this place. A great selection of cocktails, themed by school subject (e.g. Singapore Sling under geography, Pimms Cup under English), and these guys really know how to mix their drinks. Best of all, every day before 8 and all day Sunday, cocktails are only £4.50 each!
If I had to be picky on anything for this place, I would say that the toilets are a little pokey. But after a Pornstar Martini or 5 (my favourite drink), who cares?

The Old School Yard was awesome. I spent most of my time in the room downstairs and the backyard, so my review will be of these areas.
Staff were friendly, and the cocktails were fantastic. The French bartender in the room downstairs was on fire (not literally, of course), making customised cocktails for anyone who wanted one. This involved you telling him what you liked, and, more importantly, what you didn’t like, and he’d concoct a cocktail designed to titillate your tastebuds.
Surprisingly enough, while I didn’t take part in the snake tournament (I arrived late, yes, that’s my excuse), I found myself revisiting my childhood by playing Streets of Rage on the X-​Box in the room with the big-​screen TV. Absolutely awesome. I loved playing that game when I was a kid, and I still love it now. Beating someone up — whether it’s a bad guy or your partner (accidentally) — is always good fun.
And — I may be the only one to think so — but the downstairs room was rather Jamaican to me. Maybe because it was all the barrels? I don’t know, it just gave off that vibe!
The backyard was really nice, especially given the hot weather which had turned the downstairs room a little bit too humid. It wasn’t too smoky, and it was a great place to chill out and catch up with friends, old and new alike.
When I was leaving the bar, I walked through a group of obviously happy regulars who had started singing and dancing on the bartop. Seemed like a really good atmosphere all round!

If I wanted cocktails, then this could be a good place to have them (if you can find a drinks list that isI didn’t see one in the bar). I love the School related décorthe attention to detail that has gone into it is great. The sofas are nice too and the staff were very friendly. I had a bottled beer, mostly because it was easy to order in the absence of a drinks list, but happy hour prices still tend to work out more expensive when you are getting bottles instead of pints (nothing on tap or draught here and a bottle of ale will set you back 4 pounds.
I was actually a little bit disappointed by my visit here in the end. This place has stormed into my qype recommendations through all the positive reviews and really I guess I expected too much from a cocktail bar, the kind of bar which I rarely like.
We were also the only people there in the early evening, but I’m sure it gets busier later. I have to give it 3 for its unique look and feel. I would recommend coming here with a group of old school friends!

They have the first ninja turtle game in ARCADE MODE whoaaaa! Their drink menu is in a comic book. This place is really chill. And their happy hour goes till 8pm. They even make a drink that involves basically a giant flame, the burnt rosemary and whiskey. The bartenders there are really cool.