“Trouble brewin’ at the Mothers’ Ruin” is a slogan on a t-shirt behind the bar of this St Nicholas Street pub. A right racket it can be at times in here with regular live music from acts you will never hear on daytime radio. Although when I visited on a Monday evening there was a surprising calm.
The Mothers’ Ruin is a small pub spread over several levels. Interconnecting staircases are like an Escher drawing, with the stage on the top floor.
Named after a nickname given to gin, it is now the sister pub to landlord Marc Griffiths’ Madame Geneva’s on the Gloucester Road, also another moniker for tonic’s best friend, and also the Three Sugar Loaves at the bottom of the Christmas Steps.
There are thankfully more drinks on offer than just gin here, but when I visited there was not one ale on tap out of three hand pumps on offer. BrewDog beers were among the bottles, while cider fares better on tap with Old Rosie and Thatcher’s Gold.
Old gig posters cover every inch of the stairway down to the toilets in “the dungeon”, and if the trouble gets too much, there is a dart board in one corner and a selection of boardgames behind the bar.
The Mothers’ Ruin, 7-9 St Nicholas Street, Bristol, BS1 1UE
Didn’t Madame Geneva’s close a while back? Back to being a Hobgoblin/chain again?
Yes, Madame Geneva’s closed last year and was briefly a squat before reopening as Hobgoblin recently. It’s not part of a chain and it recently introduced a very on-trend ‘dude’ menu with burgers, pulled pork et al….
Thanks both for pointing out the error. The writer has been reprimanded and force fed Tesco Value gin foie gras-style.
I think it should be Asda gin and Tesco Value foie gras, with added horse of course
Do you guys just visit one pub/week then call it “the pub of the week” or do you visit several then pick one? I find it hard to believe there were no better pubs than one without anything on tap…
If there was space, the full title for Pub of the Week would be ‘Pub in Bristol visited in the last week or two which is usually pleasant but sometimes not’.
haha fair enough
One of my favourite things about this place is you can bring your own lunch and eat it inside. Great when you’ve got a pork roll from Grillstock and want a beer to soothe the chilli sauce fire.