Are you looking to kickstart your weekend with a vibrant, wonderfully high-energy sports atmosphere, budget-friendly pub plates, and an incredible selection of drinks? Yates Southampton offers an iconic, exceptionally popular all-day public house located right on Above Bar Street within the central commercial quarter where you can settle into spacious booth seating, catch up with fellow sports fans, and enjoy an unbeatable weekend party buzz.
What Is Yates?
Yates is a sprawling, contemporary sports bar, casual afternoon restaurant, and vibrant weekend social hub located directly on Above Bar Street within the central cosmopolitan quarter, serving as the ultimate location for sports fans, value-driven dining, and relaxed group gatherings.
- How it works: You enter across the main front terrace into a spacious, beautifully lit main room, select a traditional table or head to the long main bar counter, and choose from an excellent menu of classic pub food and cold drinks.
- Why people love it: It remains a dominant local favourite because it provides a thoroughly reliable, incredibly informal, and high-value experience, keeping drink prices highly competitive while offering an elite pre-match and weekend party atmosphere.
- Who can go: The open, multi-zoned layout caters perfectly to local families enjoying a casual lunch, sports fans meeting up for a pre-match beverage, and large groups catching live sports on television.
What Is Yates Known For?
Familiarising yourself with the premier service features and unique space assets at this standout high-street establishment shows why it stays a central pillar of the local social scene.
- Exceptional Multi-Screen Sports Action: The venue is famous across the district as the premier gathering point for sports enthusiasts, featuring a massive array of HD screens and cinema-sized projectors broadcasting all major fixtures.
- Excellent Value All-Day Dining: It stands out for its exceptionally affordable food menus, running continuous services that cover hearty morning breakfasts, thick gourmet burgers, and classic pub mains.
- Lively Late-Night Weekend Transitions: On Friday and Saturday evenings, the space transforms into a high-energy party venue, complete with top local DJs, commercial music tracks, and a bustling dance floor.
Who Is The Night Out Best For?
★★★★★
An unmatched choice for sports enthusiasts looking to soak up a vibrant, high-volume matchday social buzz with direct sightlines to massive screens.
★★★★★
An excellent standard for value-driven visitors, offering highly competitive prices on cold pints, spirit mixers, and traditional pub meals.
★★★★☆
An exceptional venue choice for informal, dress-down gatherings, providing sprawling table layouts that easily adapt to big social circles.
★☆☆☆☆
Because the establishment focuses on traditional high-street pub values and casual crowds, it is unsuited for anyone seeking high-end VIP luxury lounge styles.
The Food & Drink Experience
Sipping on a crisp pint or enjoying a rapid family lunch inside this massive venue ensures a highly satisfying and simple experience. The kitchen and bar teams work continuously to keep order fulfilment speeds exceptionally rapid throughout the day.
- Classic Pub Mains & Gourmet Burgers: The kitchen cooks excellent, reliable items, including loaded beef burgers, crispy chicken options, and golden fish and chips.
- Loaded Wings & Group Sharing Plates: For a true group grazing experience, the kitchen prepares exceptional hot wings, crispy fries, and loaded sharing platters.
- Extensive Real Ale & Premium Lagers: A massive favourite for traditional pub goers, their long bar lines hold cold international lagers, smooth stouts, and guest real ales.
- Refreshing Spirits & Soft Mixers: Perfect for a casual weekend warm-up, they mix up an exciting menu of popular spirits, long drinks, and chilled soft options.
Important Venue Guidelines & Policies
Familiarising your group with the pub’s standard operating rules and matchday routines will guarantee a completely seamless and stress-free social visit.
- Continuous Seven-Day Kitchen Timelines: While the primary bar spaces serve refreshments straight until late night closing times, food orders from the standard kitchen menu typically finish at 09:00 pm daily.
- Peak Matchday Capacity Management: During major football or international fixture dates, the entire venue hits maximum capacity incredibly quickly, meaning early arrival is required to claim larger tables.
- Traditional High-Energy Sports Vibe: Following standard sports pub principles, the venue focuses on multi-angle television screens and matchday audio, keeping the environment lively and highly social.
- Open Walk-In Terrace Layouts: The establishment runs entirely on a relaxed open walk-in policy for internal tables and external plaza benches, making advanced table reservations unnecessary.
Yates Southampton Menu
Reviewing the menu choices and average pricing tiers before finalising your trip ensures your party samples the absolute best high-street value options.
- Hearty Gourmet Burgers & Main Dishes: Premium stacked beef burgers, crispy chicken options, and classic pub mains served with seasoned fries generally range from £9.50 to £14.50.
- Loaded Wings & Matchday Bar Snacks: Freshly prepared hot chicken wings, crispy halloumi bites, and sharing baskets of seasoned fries typically cost between £4.50 and £8.50.
- Artisan Hand-Stretched Pizzas: Freshly baked thin-crust pizzas featuring classic toppings like double pepperoni or loaded garden vegetables range from £10.00 to £13.50.
- Chilled Selected Pints & Refreshments: Premium international draught lagers, smooth stouts, crisp ciders, and traditional real ales range from £4.00 to £6.00 per pint.
How to Get to Yates Southampton
Travelling to this iconic high-street bar at 113–117 Above Bar Street is straightforward due to direct road links and central transit networks serving the main commercial quarter.
- By train: Southampton Central Station acts as the main railway hub, leaving a convenient 8 to 10-minute walk tracking straight east out of the northern ticket hall up past the Civic Centre before turning north onto the main Above Bar Street pedestrian promenade.
- By bus: The city’s primary bus lines and main municipal transit corridors stop continuously right outside the venue frontage and along the adjacent Guildhall Square, leaving a brief 1-minute stroll to the entryway.
- By car: Navigate southernmost into the city center via the main A33 corridor, tracking directly down The Avenue before entering the central Above Bar Street multi-storey access loops.
Parking Near Yates Southampton
If you are planning to travel by private vehicle before heading into the bar, locating secure public parking facilities within a very short walking distance is quick and convenient.
- Civic Centre Car Park: A reliable open-air surface parking area positioned just a 3-minute stroll west, offering exceptionally quick pedestrian access directly to the main retail and bar districts.
- Grosvenor Square Car Park: A spacious multi-storey council parking facility situated just a 4-minute walk north, providing extensive covered spaces and secure evening parking rates.
- Marlands Shopping Centre Car Park: A large, secure multi-storey parking garage situated within a 5-minute walk, providing alternative covered spaces close to the main entertainment strip.
Nearby Attractions
Pairing your high-energy sports viewing session or casual weekend gathering with a stroll through the immediate neighborhood allows you to experience the absolute best modern and historic landmarks in the city center.
- The Southampton Guildhall and Cultural Quarter: Located directly outside the venue perimeters, explore the vibrant public plaza, magnificent civic venues, and grand architecture that frame the city’s main entertainment square.
- The Southampton City Art Gallery: Walk just a short 3-minute stroll west to view the remarkably expansive collection of high-quality modern British art housed inside the historic Civic Centre building.
- The East Park Greenways: Situated a short 2-minute walk east, this expansive, beautifully landscaped public park delivers a scenic, tree-lined sanctuary right in the heart of the urban retail district.
Yates Southampton FAQs
1. Do we need to book a table in advance to watch major sports fixtures?
While casual walk-ins are completely welcome based on daily capacity, the venue experiences exceptionally high demand during major football tournaments or local derby dates, meaning early arrival or advanced table booking is highly recommended.
2. Is there a strict dress code enforced during the evening hours?
The management runs a relaxed smart-casual entry standard, meaning stylish shirts, smart trousers, dresses, and clean fashionable footwear are ideal, while heavy sports tracksuits, athletic team wear, or muddy workwear are restricted during peak late-night sessions.
3. Are children and families welcome inside the bar complex?
The venue warmly welcomes families and younger children for daytime meals and casual afternoon dining, though standard licensing policies restrict visitors under the age of 18 after 09:00 pm daily.
4. When does the kitchen close for hot food and main orders?
While the primary bar spaces remain highly active late into the night for social drinks and dancing on weekends, hot food orders from the main dining menu typically finish at 09:00 pm daily.
5. Is the Above Bar Street bar venue fully accessible?
The primary ground-floor internal dining rooms, main bar counters, spacious booth zones, and the front outdoor seating terrace are completely flat, level, and step-free, ensuring excellent access for all guests.






