And so on a balmy summer’s evening, when the Olympics were creating a global village in Paris, and when the temperatures were encouraging men to show milk-bottle legs in shorts, the Lounge was heaving. As well it might be. Lounges were formed in 2002 by a trio of longstanding friends, Dave Reid, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop.
Having spent years in the restaurant and bar trade – not to mention just as many propping up the bars in Bristol (all of course in the name of research) – they decided it was time they did their own thing. The motivation was simple and very selfish; they wanted somewhere to drink themselves. An empty opticians on North Street, Bristol, seemed to fit the bill.
It had the necessary planning permission, was just about big enough and in reasonable condition. The ‘shell’ included a kitchen so they accepted that they would be doing a bit of food, and after a few months of sort-of-not-knowing-what-they-were-doing, Lounge opened on Tuesday August 29, 2002. They liked it a lot and so, it seemed, did a lot of other people.
They pondered whether they should open another one, maybe on Gloucester Road, and in what was an absurdly short space of time they did, and Lounges was born. The rest, as they say, is history..
. There are now Lounges across the UK with menus that are brimful of personality and fun. The interiors are equally noteworthy, not to mention irreverent.
Think sinking into a battered old club chair under a tremendously tassel-y lampshade, overlo.