The Skull Bar in Maidstone

An excellent place, good music, nice drinks, great food! The food is so good and portions are huge. My 2 complaints about the food are that the wings were dry and had hardly any sauce, and that the nachos could do with some jalapeños. We will be back for more food, thoroughly recommended

Well to be met by a smile is a rare thing now days so off to a flying start straight away. The feel of the restaurant is great really liked the decor and theme! The menu is great with some great sounding food and this was backed up by some great flavours, will definitely be returning soon. Hats off to to the staff for the food and service

Discovering this gem in Maidstone feels like stumbling upon a hidden treasure—a much-needed breath of fresh air amidst the sea of cookie-cutter franchises that dominate. From the moment you step inside, it's evident that this place is something special, a unique haven that dares to defy the norm. And let's not forget the music. The jukebox, with its eclectic selection of tunes, serves as the perfect soundtrack to the vibrant atmosphere. But perhaps what's most remarkable about this place is its ability to make everyone feel at home. Whether you're flying solo and looking for a spot to enjoy a sneaky drink, or rounding up a group of mates for a night, you wont be disapointed

These burgers are to die for! I urge you to try them. The best 👌

Big portion for what you are paying. Staff is very friendly. They confused our order, and the last burger came 45 minutes later from the first order delivered to the table. Small place and cosy. Definitely recommend this place to start your night with.

Love this place. Been a few times. It's easily accessible in my wheelchair, not need the loo yet, so can't review that. Staff are super friendly and welcoming and the food is amazing, so filling that I have trouble finishing lol

The food is 10/10. The wings are to die for. You must eat here if you’re in Maidstone.

Great music and food, nice atmosphere to sit and drink in

While walking through Maidstone with my wife and child we came upon a sign enticing us into the arcade. As we approached The Skull Bar the smells of big meaty (🍆) burgers and the sounds of the heaviest of metal drew us ever closer. 10/10 would smash...again.

Food, service and Armosphere was amazing. Absolutely recomend

Solid smash burgers. Not many places in Maidstone can deliver on them. Nice work folks.

We happened upon this place when passing through on a road trip. It's a hidden gem! Great vibe, funky decor, tasty food and the staff are lovely! Well worth a visit, will be back!

Wife left me to my own devices for the evening, so I decided to give this place a try. The decor unashamedly makes no effort to be bland and neutral - nor does the jukebox - which really sets the scene for what the food is like. If you order cheesy chips, don’t expect 9 chips in a tiny metal bucket, with a delicate wafting of cheese curds - what you’re getting is a small mountain of chips buried under a blanket of gooey cheesey gloriousness! And as for the burger….. Look at it, just look at it. Double beef patties, double layer of sausage, and just because why the hell not - bacon. The food was amazing, and everything a burger should be. It was dense, hefty, flavoursome, and immensely satisfying. Great choice of craft beers to wash it down with too - I opted for a NEIPA that paired really well with the beefy flavours. I’ve been here for a cheeky mid-week burger on my own, and with a big group on a Saturday night for a few drinks, and always felt welcomed and appreciated as a customer. Happy to reconnected it, whether you’re eating or not.

We visited after a friend claimed she'd had the best burger ever in Skull Bar. Let's just say the burgers did not disappoint...they really were the best. The cocktails were lovely too. Great atmosphere and super friendly staff...we will most definitely be back :)

This is genuinely the best bar in Maidstone, by a long shot. It is a compact venue but the atmosphere was great, with a great selection of beer and spirits. The bar staff were great, really friendly. The burger was insane, I enjoy burgers however their "Meatallica" was one of the best I've ever had. If you like organic/vegan food, probably not the best place for you and if you don't enjoy classic rock/metal, again, probably not for you. If you do however enjoy tasty and satisfyingly dirty food, great beer and fantastic music, Skull Bar is a breath of fresh air, compared to "other" venues in Maidstone.

My favourite bar!!! Great drinks even better veggie burger.

Had a lovely chilli burger (and dirty chilli chips, it almost sent me into a food coma). The beers are great too, and whenever I have been there the atmosphere has been chilled and the music indie/rock.

I’ve never had a bad meal here and the staff are always welcoming and happy. Quiz nights are a buzz too. Maidstone’s most slept on venue.

It’s hard to find a good food joint that not only provides great food but accompanies it with quality service with a background of rock music! I love a pint with a dose of def leaopard!

Great food, pints and atmosphere 5*

Great atmosphere Great music Great staff Great drinks And the food is amazing, fresh burgers and the loaded fried are fantastic, I cannot recommend this place enough. I will be going as often as I can

Banger of a bar! Solid food and great beer with awesome decor and great music. It wouldn't be for everyone. If you happen to be, oh I don't know, an uptight vegan who doesn't like originality in their bars and considers Tofu a food then maybe go munch on a tree in the local park.

Absolutely love this place. Great beer, great food and great music. I’ve been quite a few times now and it’s always been brilliant. Keep up the good work.

Would be better if it wasnt card only

After moving to Maidstone and thinking I wouldn’t be able to get a good burger anywhere! I gave Skull Bar a shot and have been hooked since! Love this place! Banging burgers, fries and beers. Outstanding atmosphere, been here on weeknights, weekends, week days and the service has always been outstanding. Beer selection is impeccable, fridge full of obscure cans and bottles which I love! Best place to get a burger in Maidstone hands down!

Just ghastly. The bar was garishly decorated - which sat ill with its location in a sedate and leisurely indoor arcade. The vegan burger was like a yellow label vegan burger, and the loaded chips came smothered in a red wine gravy that had more in common with masonry filler than with any gravy I've tasted. And the plastic vegan cheese grated onto it hadn't even melted. And my friend had to return his vegan burger as it was charred and inedible. To top it all the service left a lot to be desired and they don't seem to like vegans. Which is just weird. Because vegans like me are just lovely

The bar staff were lovely, drinks were good and I loved the variety of fruit in my gin. We will definitely come back!

Honestly one of the best burgers I ever had! Also I absolutely recommend the cheesy garlic bread, so tasty!!!

Fantastic food quick service very reasonably priced would highly recommended

Great burgers, really good food.

Went there on my lunch break. Food was quick and VERY nice. Very reasonably priced given the portion sizes were at least twice what I expected; nice, big burger, absolutely loads of fries. Service was friendly and helpful. Nice to be there when it's quiet but I'm sure a busier period would have a really fun atmosphere. Can't recommend enough!

Great bar love going here, great range of craft beer and friendly staff.

So when I moved to East sussex I have struggled to find a decent metal bar in my area without having to travel into London. Then I came across these guys and gals on insta so of course I popped in. And I'm so glad I did; great atmosphere straight off the back, the metal was blaring out of the jukebox, the beer selection was fantastic, local craft beers and their own skull bar lager. We tried two different types of wings (garlic parmesan and Buffalo) and disco fries; all I can say is wow, proper chicken wings on the bone and the discos fries in the gravy was sublime!!! The staff were incredibly friendly and the clientel were great (one guy complimented me on my music taste as I threw all my credits in to the app assisted jukebox) I can't wait for their expansion next door and above, Kent needs more metal venues and this is already a great place to visit for dive bar food and feels!!!

Really enjoyed the Meatallica, filling. Sort of glad they had tots rather than chips, made a welcome change! Had the chicken chaser also, wasn't a huge fan of the chicken but it was a good burger, I am just very picky with chicken and I'm taking that into consideration and keeping the 5*. Nice selection of beers, I was designated driver so just had coke but nice selection! Finished with a round of wings, not your standard wings, you get the FULL wing, not just people passing off the flats and pops as individual wings! Will return as soon as I'm back in Maidstone :)

Grabbed a takeaway and a week later me and the wife are still talking about how good it was. Best burger around.

Great staff that was ever so welcoming. Then had food. OMG the food is amazing , fresh , succulent, flavoursome and the craft beer was banging. The disco fries are to die for and the blue cheese chicken burger with spice was immense.

A real gem. Amazing food and atmosphere, highly recommend the limp brisket burger

Love this place! Food, staff and drinks are all excellent.

READ ME..... Well ordered here a few times now as working away. And just want to say thank you... That Mac n cheese was amazing 😍 the burgers are banging as always... The fries are good and also them cheese bites are good.. keep up the good work 😎

Absolutely incredible burgers!!! Good beers on tap too!!

I've been here a few times now. Good drink selection, food is really outstanding and the place has a good feel to it. Staff always friendly too.

Great atmosphere and music. The burgers are also excellent. Highly recommended!

The food is fantastic and the staff are brilliant! Amazing decor and really cool atmosphere with great music! Definitely worth a visit!

The Blue Monday burger was delicious. Great pints, awesome atmosphere, and great music.

Popped in with a mate before a night out. Had some really good food with house draft beers. Enjoyed the music as well 🤘.

Interesting quirky restaurant in Maidstone. Good variety of beers. Good burgers!

Quirky little bar where you can get best burgers in town, cool atmosphere and decent music. Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had a great burger here and a glass of beer. Nice quirky place. Good service too. So much better than the chain burger places, and only a tiny bit more expensive.

I googled the 'best burgers in Maidstone' & I was not expecting what I got.... An EPIC BURGER! Great service Great food Great atmosphere Thank you, I will return with bigger trousers.

By far the best burger in Maidstone and the best burger I’ve had in a while. Cool vibe and great staff.

Ordered off Deliveroo last night and I got the Kevin Bacon amd OMG this was one of the best burgers 🍔 I have had in a long long time.

An absolute EPIC burger !! Had the BBC - crispy chicken, bacon, cheese, pickles, Brie & cranberry - to make a few ingredients !!! WOW !!! Hubby had a double patty cheese burger ( he’s fussy and doesn’t have any salad or sauces - no problem, it came exactly as he wanted ! Huge portions, and the girl who served us was delightful. The atmosphere was brilliant - exciting, edgy but still intimate and niche - if that makes sense We will definitely be back.

Friendly bar staff, tasty burgers and a great selection of beers too... what's not to like? The door shuts if the karaoke from next door is a bit too loud.

I heard so many great things about Skull Bar that I decided to grab some lunch on my way through town the other week and I have to say, it was just amazing! The wings I had to start were just incredible and to top it off, I had a burger for mains which I can say was probably the best burger I’ve ever had! Great taste, huge portion sizes, great drink selection all at a very reasonable price! The decor was right up my street also, was very cool and had great vibes! The owners are so lovely too, real friendly and chatty :-) I will definitely be going back for more great food real soon! Highly recommend The Skull Bar if you haven’t been already!

Great atmosphere! Lovely service! Excellent burgers and cocktails! Can really tell the kitchen and front of house care about the food and drinks they serve- one small issue was the menu was very difficult to read so maybe some difficult formatting to make it a better read! Overall amazing charismatic place will come again! Thanks :)

We have been telling a lot of people to visit this place (we like supporting small local businesses) but as we went to visit this afternoon with an out of town friend and were rather rudely told 4:45 “we are about to close”. Mind you the website and social media says open until 11pm and the door 9pm (I think). Not only was the way we were told unfriendly, a small business will not survive when the do not keep consistent hours or falsely advertises hours. Will not bother coming back again or recommending.

Great beer and delicious burgers. The vegan burgers and chips are awesome.

The food was great. Best burgers in town. Will definitely be going back 😀

Really nice food, guy behind the bar was really pleasant, went for a date night and wasn’t disappointed at all. Price was on point for the quality. Branding spot on too!

Best burgers in town. Great beer. Good staff.

Great beer lovely chilled vide, delicious hot dogs and burgers. Will be back for sure.!!

The beers are very nice, The Skull beer is a mild and one of the nicest I have had. I wanted to add that, I have visited a number of times since I wrote this and found the beer is always served in excellent condition. I made this review below before the Rainbow Skull Bar closed. It has been renamed and introduced meat options. As before, it has a very friendly atmosphere. At present there are no paper menus yet, the website needs to be developed, and no Wi-Fi, but the basics are excellent. It is now looking like a very successful business that is doing what it does with excellence. Some changes to the decoration, but the basic decoration has not been ripped out as could have happened and is so wasteful. Maidstone if you look up above the shopfronts has very many old buildings, I have included some pictures of those. The underpasses in Maidstone needed a map, because it is too easy to pop up the wrong side of a very busy road. I sent a comment to Maidstone Borough Council about it, suggesting a map be placed like a table in the centre of the underpass where different walk ways meet. The vegan burger is called bubble and squeak with extra vegan coleslaw and a vegan beer. I also used the power socket, which includes a USB charging. I have also tried the signature vegan skull burger, it is also very nice, and better than most I have had. --- my review from 4 months ago --- I had Sunday lunch today it was very good, the veg was not over done as is common elsewhere. I have in the past had a number of other things on the menu, and they are better than you might expect. The venue is noticeably very clean though it is styled like a motor-bikers pub but clean, and they also like bikers they visitors and staff are very friendly. The decoration and the large mirror and lighting in the toilet are also a feature, which tellingly is also very clean. So it is 100% vegan with unique decoration.

Came here a few weeks ago and it was faultless. Nice staff great burger great beer and rum selection 👍

Love this unique place. Hidden away in the Royal Star Arcade, is this little gem of a bar. The food is amazing, value for money, tasty and a decent portion. Had the 'Kevin Bacon' and WoW!! So tasty, loads of quality bacon 🥓 and the sauce, well yummy is an understatement. The chips also are filling and tasty wedges cooked to perfection!! You will not get any better in Maidstone. Also grab a craft beer or cocktail while you're there... Definitely the best food I've tasted in town. Thanks for your fab hospitality guys!!

This place is much improved since it transitioned from a vegan venue.

Independent bar in the centre of town with a really great vibe. Great beers and cocktails. Definitely recommend!

Wasn’t sure where to go for lunch but ended up here and I will definitely be going again. Absolutely love the punk/dark theme going on, especially the music. The staff member who we were served by and made our food was so kind. I ordered the Kevin Bacon with double cheesy fries and I actually think it’s the best meal I’ve ever had. 10/10 recommend 😋

Outstanding vegan burgers and other options. Like the chips with gravy and cheez. Good prices and great service. Will definitely come back next time I'm in the area!

Nice great location at town center. Safe área for the little ones

Amazing vegan and vegetarian burgers! Perfect hangover cure 👍🏻

Good music and good drinks! Staff were very friendly

Rocky bar with food to match. Friendly staff that know how to advise on both food and drink. Even if you have no idea what you are coming for, you will enjoy your stay... I ate the food too fast, so no pic

Amazing food and drinks! 😍 burgers and topped fries were so good. Need to go back for hotdogs! I loved the decor in there, music was great and the two owners were so lovely😊 couldn’t recommend more!

Nice quaint atmosphere with decent craft beer and food selection, and an alternative-friendly vibe

So disappointed to see the only vegan restaurant around fall. Let down, won’t be returning 😮‍💨

Lovely burgers, chips and chicken wings. Polite friendly staff. Catering to meat eaters was clearly a good decision. Vegan options are also still available for those who are into that kind of thing. Will definitely eat here again.

Excellent food. Burgers are banging!!! Service is quick, polite and efficient. Many menu options and great drinks menu. Will definitely be going back .

Outrageously good food. Best wings I've had in years. Very nice staff. Well worth checking out.

Great little burger bar located in Royal Star Arcade, serving burgers and beer. The burgers were great, plenty of options include veg/vegan. I went for the chicken burger which was crispy and juicy and probably one of the best chicken burgers I've ever had. The cajun chips were good, but covered in way too much salt. None of my table could finish the chips because of the seasoning, but we all agreed the burgers were awesome. Update: When I visited a second time I went for regular chips and they were much better. Good choice of canned craft beers and ciders, plus some on draught. Looks like there was a good choice of spirits too. Uniquely decorated toilet that was clean. Tables are mainly high tables and stools and a few benches. No chairs with a back! They have a quiz on Thursdays and plenty of offers through the week. Prices seemed reasonable for the quality. I'll definitely be back.

Very simply the best burger in town... And potentially the country. A must have.

Great food and great beer with very friendly staff and a super relaxed atmosphere. Definitely recommend if you want somewhere to eat, sit and chill.

Lovely place, yummy burgers and chips and kind staff. I hope this doesn't come across as patronising, but it's really nice being in an establishment run by an LGBTQ member. I only went in the early afternoon but I would imagine it to be a safe place to go to on a night out as an LGBTQ member myself 🥰

Great little bar! Great food and cocktails and a really punk rock feel and music taste.

food was fine. plenty of it, flavour was meh. needs some effort to improve here. beers on tap: two lagers, perfume Ipa and cider. nothing I would drink. cans good though... imperial stout and several good ales Inc. cloudwater. staff lovely and other patrons friendly. recommend it for that.

Amazing as always. Kevin Bacon burger is banging. Perfect place to eat out as well.

Love this place, such a chilled out atmosphere with good music and makes everyone feel so welcome! Highly recommend the toffee shots

**EDIT** I used to love this place and used to rate them 5 stars! Unfortunately, quite recently they sold out and are no longer vegan. Which begs the question as to whether they even were in the first place 🫤. They even had a closing night where they stated they couldn't afford to run the business anymore as prices have gone up everywhere. Feels like a lame excuse now they're selling animal parts.... (Previous review with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I've loved this place ever since they opened up the road. Their chips are the best you'll get anywhere, and getting them "loaded" takes them to the next level! Staff in here are fun and friendly, always happy to chat.)

Absolutely fantastic- food was amazing, service brilliant, drinks ✅ highly recommend

Best burgers in town, great beers & always a smile. Can’t wait to visit again!

Visited this establishment several times, after being recommended by a friend as even not being a vegan I was curious about the cuisine. I must say still to this day one of the best non meat burgers I have ever tasted. I have since visited other establishments and been very very disappointed. On that note, I recently saw they have expanded their horizons and started tailoring for all dietary preference’s…… Anddddd wow!!! I can not even describe into words how insatiable my pulled pork burger meal was 😍 my mouths watering thinking about it. Honestly a must must visit it won’t be regrettable. The food is 110%, the service is great and very welcoming. Does food that tailors to all sorts of dietary’s. Definitely recommend! Again and again and again!!!

Fantastic food. Great atmosphere 👍👍

Great food, great beer and well decorated.

Great atmosphere and amazing food.

Came here for food a week ago and can honestly say it was the nicest burger I've had in a long time. The atmosphere was lovely and I really enjoyed the rock music playing in the background, great taste! Have also been to the quiz and allthough we failed miserably I will definitely be back again!

A lovely little resturant that caters to both carnivors and vegans alike! My friend group all have differen't catering needs, some of us like meat, other don't, but we all gotta eat! The Skull Bar go above and beyond to serve some the best drinks and food that don't break the bank. I can vouch for the vegan selection, excellent munch. The owner, Tammy and the team are all very approachable and wonderful people, which is great as I have problems with anxiety and find it hard to communicate. The atmoshpere is warm and the music is actually good! Some decent rock music with the odd cheesy hit thrown in for giggles. Whether a group or on your own, this is a fantastic bar and resturant, that does its best to cater to all needs!

The best burger and chips me and the 8 members of my staff have ever tasted. The wings to are a credit to Tammy and the team.

This amazing spot is not only very welcoming, but the food is amazing! They have so many options for everyone, vegan, or carnivore! Tammy is one of the sweetest people I have ever met!

Great food, good people, and a nice atmosphere. I enjoyed it back when it was a vegan restaurant, and I like even more now. Usually some decent music playing too.

Awesome place, all around! We used to visit when it was the vegan skull and always loved the food (we aren't vegan) and were so happy to see the awesome, friendly team behind it return with The Skull Bar! We popped in for lunch and a drinkie and had a lovely time. Burgers were amazing but the cajun chippies were our favourite! Can't wait to go back soon... this time for wings! Also awesome decor and music! Go give it a visit!

Great place, food fantastic 👌 lovely friendly staff and atmosphere! Would highly recommend