Nova in Bristol, City of

Very bad heaters don't work properly. Won't recommend this place.

Always loved this place and will miss this place as moving away! A lovely international vibe with a friendly owner, who has always welcomed me from the start. Nice food and drinks too.

Awful staff, very rude, shisha was foul. DO NOT bother. So many other great places in bristol within walking distance

Great shisha and drinks. Lovely staff. And with new decorations it's even better

I would recommend it, the music and atmosphere were nice although most weren't in English so I couldn't understand it. Drinks are okay, I felt it was a little watered down. Had the Long Island iced tea tasted watered down.

Fun little bar. Good for beer and spirits, has a cocktail menu but they are bit too sweet for me

Myself and my wife went here a while ago. We enjoyed a shisha together which lasted a very long time and tasted great before we went inside. The atmosphere was lovely with everyone dancing (mostly salsa). It definitely has a safe feeling with everyone just having a lovely time. People of all ages were in there too which was lovely. I also think the drinks were really fairly priced and the staff was very welcoming.

Nice sisha service and dance night

Went dancing at novas as they have a dj quite regularly. Good night, but the 1 female toilet that is available is disgusting!

Worst shisha and service I have ever experienced anywhere. Please don’t waste your time and money here they really don’t respect or appreciate their customers

First time I have been here and was advised it was one of the best in Bristol so I decided to travel to experience this sisha and to my disappointment i was over charged and never got what I ordered . When doing the shisha all I could taste was buring . The only good thing out of it was the pint of Corona was best pint I had in a long time.

Really lovely place. They have a range of musicians and dancers most evenings. Really fun! It's a very small venue- perfect to book for an event. They serve food and drinks. Reasonably priced. Staff are very attentive and friendly.

I love it, good music, very varied. Let's have fun. It hasn't proven anything. It's very nice. They have free classes on Saturdays from 9pm to 10pm.

Terrible service. Explained that there was no refunds. Gave us the wrong flavour. We asked for a different flavour. They refused. Its costs them pennys to refill a different flavour. Very money grabbing

I only go to this place for bachata classes on Monday and Wednesday. We dance indoor, after clearing the floor from tables and chairs. It's cosy, not too large. It has toilets. I see plenty of people on the terrace having a fun time and smoking shisha. I am not sure if they serve food, but there are several places to grab food late at night.

Salsa Dance Bar every thursday night

Shisha was ok, average prices. Drinks are expensive, even just soft drinks. The outside seating area is less than ideal, not very comfortable and better heating required.

Really liked this place on my first visit 😄

Swietny lokal z klimatyczna muzyka

Good experience, open late, fun environment and atmosphere, shisha was okay, could do with slightly stronger flavouring.

Buen lugar para bailar salsa, conocer gente nueva y beber.

Buen ambiente, música latina variada y el personal muy servicial. El espacio muy pequeño, no hay suficientes mesas para sentarse dentro y la pista ocupa casi todo.

Nice to chill out with friends , Nice music

Fun good music good vibes shisha zumba vibes people enjoying Latino music

Chilled out bar with a great atmosphere. Staff were great too! Will be back next time I'm in Bristol!

We went for a kizomba night and had so much fun! Friendly people, great music, we will be back soon!

Great ,cheap drinks, shisha bar

Worth visiting purely for the atmosphere! Blankets, warm drinks and flavoured Shisha. Excellent.

Nice atmosphere, had some board games which was nice. Shisha was ok

Great place to start the night out.

Cosy place. Neat and clean area.

Good atmosphere, great staff outside in shisha area👍

Bueno ambiente, shisha, gente amable

Can’t even get through to them, tried every possible communication service there is and nothing. I could be ringing for days and they still won’t pick up. Very poor customer service

Nice bar with good thematic parties.

Nice musique and dancing people

I’ve got literally the best Espresso Msrtini there ! And hookah is really good. Nice place !

Worst Shisha I’ve ever had!! The flavour was awful. We smoke Shisha most weeks in london so I know what’s good and what’s bad. The service is non existent. Pizza wasn’t too bad but let’s face it it’s not hard to get a pizza wrong.

Excellent as always, friendly bar staff and great range of shisha flavours. Personally recommend the melon and grape.

Such a poor spot, Shisha is also not very nice there tbh. Would not recommend or go back

I would have loved to have written a good review but we arrived and was completely ignored by two members of staff despite the restaurant being less than a quarter full. Walked down the road the Bella Italia

This was terrible Went there for a shisha ended up seeing a salsa Why were there people dancing in the bar area - weird. Nobody approached us so we ended up going home Sad

I’ve had shisha from many different place but this was by far the worst. The Shisha was absolutely terrible, it was flavourless and expensive. After asking the arrogant man who manages the shisha if he could change the flavour or if he could somehow enhance it he told us that we must pay for a new flavour. The only good thing about this place was the bartender who was very kind and who tried to assist us even though he knew nothing about the shisha. Very disappointed

Only place for shisha in bristol!

Came for shisha - the guy at the bar said there are none available at the moment and there will be a wait and he will let us know when one is ready. We waited and he later came to our table with a card machine and said the shisha will be out soon and took a payment. Another employee then came over and said it’s not ready and there will be a further wait. My husband went to check about 30 minutes later after this and the employee was really rude and aggressive towards him just for asking for an update. He then he asked my husband “where are you from” (my husband is black). We went to complain at the bar and the guy came over and they both started shouting at us that they can’t be racist because they are mixed race. This is not true - colourism exists! Maybe they should look it up. It is highly inappropriate for staff to ask customers where they are from, particularly in the aggressive manner it was asked and we received no apology or explanation, they just gaslit us, so we left and won’t be back.

Very unpleasant experience and unprofessional customer service especially by the manager. Will not recommend.

Tuesday's open mic night is amazing 👌

This used to be a great bar, when it was called Zoom Bar. This place is now scandalous and well over priced, it's a con! They wanted to charge us £12 each for an Appletons Rum, when in all other bars it's around £4, and that's including the mixer! They are even charging £8 for a single shot of other Rums, which are half the price in any other establishments in the centre of Bristol. I will be avoiding this rip off bar in the future, absolute con merchants here!

The 2 brothers staff members are The best bar men I've ever met Very friendly and well mannered Really go the extra mile!

Perfect place for Saturday boogie.

Excellent coffee and Lebanese breakfast. We ate Akkawi and Spinaci Lebanese rolls for breakfast and both of them were excellent. Spinaci has a little tangy taste to it and cheese is slightly on the salty side. But they are tasty to eat.

Excelente Un joven de DJ llamado david el mejor excelente

Shisha's are very old. Time to upgrade buy new ones.

shisha’s terrible don’t even bother, coming I complained and the staff just said I’m busy! 🤣🤣🤦‍♂️

Buen ambiente latino para pasarla rico en el centro de bristol.

Its not even bloody open.. We walked there in cold and arrived saw its closed.. So misleading. 😤

سي جدا. لا انصح احد بطلب شيشه. كل شي خلط.

it's the best place to dance in Bristol

Really sad how much it changed. Used to be a place where you can have a nice shisha and a dream dink. All the staff was lovely. Now... Bar staff is friendly but OMG the shisha guy... They need to change it. 3 times we went there since they started to have shisha after lockdown. Shisha without flavor and today, being the only costumers... This guy was super rude, even more than the last times. He always looks unhappy and he speaks really rude to the costumers (we are not the only ones that don't want to come back). Today apparently he didn't have charcoals ready (?) He could not give us a time or an answer... It was a really uncomfortable situation. Is sad because we were regulars and now... I doubt we return.

Today's the 19th. Covid restrictions are finally lifted and I was delighted to see the shishas back on the menu. I was welcomed by the ever so lovely Andie and boy is she good at what she's doing. I also work in hospitality and I was able to tell from experience that she gave me the best service she possibly could. She welcomed me with a bright smile, was very accommodating and listened to (and more importantly, provided for) everything I needed. I had an amazing time and almost felt sad i was needed somewhere else and had to leave.

No last call at all - slow service - great location - smells like garbage - dirty toilets~

The sisha place is good and easy accessible location. We had a very quick service not very professional tho as we had the food earlier than the drinks but the products were alright. We had hummus and chips and some drinks. The sisha it was a very proper one despite the fact it was people around which talked very loud. We sit outside and they have no music. Overall we had a good experience

Ordered 2 pints of lager got 2 pints of flat pißwater waited 40 mins for a hookah and was ignored multiple times by very rude staff avoid at all costs

Rubbish service disrespectful staff

If you like a nice atmosphere, good food and Shisha then you won't go far wrong by visiting this place.

I visited Nova on a Saturday I visited Nova on a Saturday night for some food, drinks and shisha with my girlfriend. Firstly, the service was very poor. We were seated and then had to wait ages for a waiter/waitress to come and see to us. No one came over with the shisha menu or to see if we wanted any refreshments. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting we had to flag down a waiter ourselves just to get some service. We ordered pizza and when it arrived it was very sloppy and looked as if it wasn't fully cooked. To make things worse, the pizza wasn't even sliced up. We asked a waiter for eating utensils and they never returned with them so we had to tear the pizza apart with our hands and eat it, which wasn't ideal. Nova seemed like they were either short staffed or need to hire more staff. It seemed that the 3 waiters couldn't deal with it as the chef was bringing food to people's tables as well. The shisha on the other hand was very good. Likely will not be returning and will try out other shisha bars in Bristol.

Super lieu pour danser la Salsa et Bachata le soir 😊!

Unfriendly and unwelcoming staff. Wouldn’t recommend. The host kept making eye contact with us for 10mins but did not once approach me and my friends to seat us. Customer service is everything.

Wanted to check the place out with a friend as we were in town. Were waiting "to be seated". The host/staff made eye contact with us a lot but never actually approached us to ask if we were ok or how long the wait might be. Ended up just leaving.

You’d think during this time they would be more about equal treatment and all but NO. My friend and l arrived whilst there were only 2 other black people waiting to be seated outside for shisha, after us a couple more people came(white) most spoke the same language as the bartender who gave us seats. We waited 30min to order drinks as he attended to other people who came in after us. The 2 guys who were there before us finally said something and they guy quickly got them a table for shisha, at this point i was still calm but my friend wanted to leave we however wait as the bartender acted like we were next to get a table but 3 other couples (who spoke the same language as him) got tables before us . My friend was now upset and the bartender saw it, he quickly got us a table and drinks+shisha.... almost messed up our night but we managed to still have a vibe..if you don’t have patience and you not ok with learning the language the bartender speaks for the night😂 don’t go✌🏽The drum playing is alright tho😀

We was served by Max who was very professional and made our visit at Nova very enjoyable. Max was very fast, lovely and done his job amazingly! We will be coming back soon.

Max was amazing and very friendly. His customer service was 10/10 and we will all be visiting again soon! Thank you

Hands down one of the best bars in Bristol with a wide range of drinks and food. Always lively atmosphere and late closing times. Great shisha’s for £10 with a variety of flavours so can’t go wrong. Staff very helpful and friendly so always guaranteed a good night!

Nice place, quite cosy, small but usable rain shelter and quite good drinks prices

i've been in this pub almost every night after work for five years, and I'm very disappointed about the new stuff! i ordered a drink and I waited 45 minutes before I had my drink, while I was waiting, I was watching the bartender, it took him 25 minutes to make three cocktails and one beer. That's not acceptable! please go back to being serious as before, please!

We paid £60 for two dishes like this , one shisha,1 j2o ,1 cola and one single JD Honestly this a joke The shisha came after 30 minutes was really quite time and this food came after 50 minutes

Amazing food and cocktails fantastic value

We had left it kate to get a pre theatre meal and wanting to use our Tastecard, we were left with a limited choice in the area that wasn't already heaving. We like trying different foods from around the world and were happy to give it go. The street outside of the cafe is jam packed with people sitting chatting and smoking pipes. It was nice to see, but the aroma from the pipes was quite pungent. We were greeted with a smile and polite service from the young lady behind the bar. We pointed out we wanted to use our Tastecard which was fine. However, the menu was very limited and weirdly what ever we ordered we got two of! It was impossible to order different dishes with the second, the cheapest meal free as per normal on the Tastecard. So, we decided on the mixed grill. The portion was enormous! That was probably to detract away from the bland and dry food.The strips of steak were black and tough, the lamb chops x4 were a mixture of pink and over cooked. There was a small salad on one side and the meat was laid on a large wrap with humous which was tasteless. There was also a few pieces of diced chicken and some lettuce leaves. Overall, the meal was overwhelming in size and quite tasteless and dry. I am glad we used a Tastecard! With drinks of 1 beer and a sparkling water, came to £17.40 so grateful for the 50% discount using the Tastecard. The decor was very tired and the music was too loud. The staff were polite and friendly but that was the only posit sadly. We will not be returning.

Nice place, the only downside was the oily food, but if you like your food like that, that's the place to go.

Excellent veggie sharing mezze last night and great service! recommended

The place to be for good Latin dance nights 👌🔥

Me and my friends have stopped at Nova for a few beers yesterday. Soon we started feeling hungry and decided to order some middle-eastern meals from their menu. We were served by super friendly chef Janos, our food was very tasty and the portions filled us up. Nice atmosphere and good service, recommend this place for an afternoon stay.

This was my first time in Nova and I must admit I had a really positive experience. Comfy bar & restaurant with good food and nice choice of spirits. I had a tasty chicken taouk meal prepared by Janosh whom I also had a friendly chat with. Nice, laid back place with good music.

Fui a mi primera clase de kizomba, me encantó el lugar y la fiesta de después. Gente muy agradable 😊

Nice place nice staff and good breakfast nice staff and good service I loved

A very niche shish bar, has a lot to it. Serves cocktails, good draught choices, good light tasty tapas food. Outside seating is covered and comfortable. Service is very friendly and welcoming. Prices are reasonable and they have a fair few offers as well.

Used to be a great place, but the quality of service went down significantly. - They will not turn on the heaters during the day, even when it is freezing. - Sometimes their tea machine will be broken and the dude working there will tell you to go get your own tea somewhere else. - Often times their card machines don't work. - During the day the person behind the bar will be gone and you will be sitting there waiting for them to come so you can order (while other employees are smoking & chatting). - Staff is generally dismissive and couldn't care less. Shame because their shishas are pretty good.

The staff was extremely rude and unhelpful.

Great experience. Delicious pizza. Amazing shisha. Everything was excellent. We would like to come back as soon as possible.

Nova is the place in Bristol to have an excellent time, bite, amazing atmosphere and music.

Great service, very friendly and helpful staff, salsa dancing and tuition, shisha smoking outside always very popular but toilets facilities need improving.

Great place to eat; drink, smoke shisha and dance! Saturday being my favourite day;evening and night well spent @ Nova bar

Had an interesting meal here last night. We were the only people inside who were eating. Everyone else was outside puffing away on pipes. Felt like we were in the middle of a dance floor with the music blasting out. The toilets were disgusting. The cubicle in the Men's was out of order. There was a sign saying to use the Women's. Lots of shady characters coming in and out the place. When the food arrived it was amazing!! Strange place.

This was our first stop on a lads night out for a few beers and a shisha... good vibe and nice to sit outside in the sun. Recommended.

There is dance classes what I really enjoy.

Food was great but the girl behind the bar was rude and unhelpful and generally arrogant. We had a valid discount voucher via CityMunch. She flat out said no discounts on weekends. Tried to contact the manager about the situation and she then got her back up even more. Paid full price in the end. Not happy. Manager was nowhere to be seen. Fair play to the chef he seemed to want to help. Alas we won’t go back tho

My go to place for dance and music. Small, quaint bar, good vibes and love the music friday - sundays. I've not visited other week days. Only wish they'd sort out their aircondition.

Como madre con hija adolescente sola. Las primeras impresiones fueron bastante desalentadoras. Muchos hombres en su mayoría con pipas de shisha.¡Pero qué grupo tan amable! Tuvimos una gran noche charlando con jóvenes de todo el mundo.La comida era deliciosa pero la experiencia 1 tarifa de la calle.¡Gracias a nuestro adorable indio cristiano y libanés Abdul por compartir su mesa y enseñarle a una anciana sobre Shisha!

Great food and good flavoured shisha

A nice place for shisha. Do not expect a lot of attention from waiters.:)