How is it July already? The year is whizzing by and I’ve barely made any progress on my Bristol Food Bucket List.

The good news is, there are still plenty of fun food times ahead for us Bristolians, hip hip hooray! Don your sunglasses, rain mac and scarf, let’s get ready for July!

4th July Celebrations

It may not be particularly relevant to the UK, but neither is St Patrick’s Day, and why turn down the chance for a good shindig eh?

With that in mind, several bars and pubs around town will be raising a toast (or several) to our pals across the pond, with Milk Thistle leading the way with their Born in the USA party on Sat 4th; for £10 you get a prohibition style cocktail and entrance into their lively party with DJs and a showcase of some of America’s best craft gin, woohoo!

The Barley Mow will be hosting an American Beer Festival on Sat 4th, and The Hare on North Street will be going all out with an American Beer and Whiskey Weekender from Fri 3rd – Sunday 5th, so start planning your yankee-tastic outfits now.

Moor Beer will also be hosting an all American BBQ at their brewery near Temple Meads (a mere hop, skip and a jump from The Barley Mow’s shindig, in fact) from 12pm, so pop along if you fancy chilli dogs, cheeseburgers and some of their damn fine beer in the sunshine.

If cocktails are more your thing then head along to Flipside Cocktail Club on Whiteladies Rd for their ‘Murica party – burgers, hotdogs, DJs; the works.

Walks and talks

Want to learn something this month? For the more outdoorsy among you, you could go on a foraging walk with Martin Bailey and beekeeper Quentin Alsop on the 5th of July (£5) and search out different flora and taste honeys from the plants in Castle Park.

If you want an education of a slightly boozier nature, you could pop along to Weber & Tring’s on Wednesday 8th for their Tequila & Mezcal tasting (count me in), to Goldbrick House on Thur 2nd for their champagne cocktail class, or head along to Gin Club at Milk Thistle on Thursday 9th, where you’ll sample 3 different gin and tonics and get a talk from experts about what makes each of these drinks so special.

More in the mood for food? You could check out Source’s charcuterie course on Thursday 2nd, or book one of Little Kitchen’s many great food classes (I’ve got my eye on the Caribbean street food one).

Spoil yerself

Want to treat a loved one (even if it’s yourself) this month? There are plenty of top notch events happening across town to make you feel a bit special.

First up, The Rummer are doing a Seafood Tasting Menu on Wednesday 1st July, featuring 6 courses of fresh fish and shellfish, including spiced white crab, Cornish hake and cod cheeks – it should be a really special night, so I’d recommend you follow my lead and book online before it sells out.

The Bank Tavern are doing the latest of their incredible Adventurous Eats events; Bovine Dining will be held on the 6th & 13th of July, featuring several courses of beefy treats and surprises (including Beef au Carrot, and cheek dukkha with beans & wine, yum!) – these events are always amazing, you should definitely check one of them out!

If you’re more of the veggie persuasion, River Cottage Canteen will be reprising Veg Out, their monthly vegetarian and vegan dining event, on 7th July, with porky nose-to-tail dinner Pig Out following on 14th July.

Party on!

Of course you’d be mad not to know that the weekend of 11th & 12th July sees the return of Grillstock Festival to the harbourside, featuring BBQ competitions, eating competitions, live music and more grilled meat than you can shake a slow-cooked rib at. I’m just hoping they bring back the hot sauce and mustard cocktails – those rocked my world last year.

Later in the month, you can have a further fill of meat at The Royal Oak’s Pork & Cider Festival on Saturday 25th, or educate yourself in the more exclusive and unusual rums of the world at Rumageddon #2: Rum Harder, with a chance to try 5 rums and an exclusive rum cocktail for a bargainous £15!

The Volunteer Tavern is also doing a mega beer & cider festival from 9th-13th July, featuring lots of real ales, traditional cider, live music and a BBQ. Bristol EATS will be returning to Tobacco Factory on Friday 10th for a street food market which includes DJs and other fun stuff – it’s also themed around the British seaside 😀

Want to try something a bit different? Kansai Kitchen are doing a Japanese food pop-up at The Hillgrove from 21st for 2 weeks (excl. Sundays and Mondays), or you could munch on some deli sandwiches and pecan pie whilst watching When Harry Met Sally (one of my all time favourites) on Thursday 23rd.

Want something even more differenterer? Try Bingo Wings at Pata Negra and indulge in some Bristol lingo bingo and chicken wings – raucous fun!

Finally, Aviator in Redland are launching their Rotor Club on 2nd July – come along for some free drinks (!) and talk to them about becoming a member of their beery gang.

Dates for the Diary

Wed 1st – Seafood tasting at The Rummer
Wed 1st – Meet the Brewer at Beer Emporium: Celt Experience
Thu 2nd – Champagne cocktails at Goldbrick House
Fri 3rd – Cafe Mulino pop-up in St Werburghs
Fri 3rd – Gingerbeard’s BBQ pop-up at Cafe des Amies in Easton
Fri 3rd-Sun 5th – 4th July American beer & whisky weekender at The Hare
Sat 4th – American Beer Festival at The Barley Mow
Sat 4th – Born in the USA party at Milk Thistle
Sat 4th – American BBQ at Moor Beer brewery
Sun 5th – Spotless Leopard vegan cream tea
Sun 5th – Bee foraging walk in Castle Park
Mon 6th – Bovine Dining at The Bank Tavern
Tue 7th – Veg Out at River Cottage Canteen
Tue 7th – Gourmet steak evening at Steak of the Art
Wed 8th – Tequila & Mezcal tasting at Weber & Tring’s
Wed 8th – Charcuterie class at Source
Thu 9th – Fever Tree Gin Club at Milk Thistle
Fri 9th–Mon 13th – Vamanos Beer Festival at The Volunteer Tavern
Fri 10th – Clifton Wine School: Bubbles Night
Fri 10th – Bristol EATS street food market at Tobacco Factory
Sat 11- Sun 12th – Grillstock Festival
Mon 13th – Clifton Wine School: Loire vs. New World
Mon 13th – Bovine Dining at The Bank Tavern
Tue 14th – Pig Out at River Cottage Canteen
Fri 17th – DIY Pizza and dine at Little Kitchen
Mon 20th – Clifton Wine School: Rhone & Alsace vs. New World
Tue 21st-Tue 4th – Kansai Kitchen pop-up at The Hillgrove
Wed 22nd – Caribbean Street food class at Little Kitchen
Wed 22nd – Sherry Club at Pata Negra
Thu 23rd – Cannoli & Gun: When Harry Met Sally at City Deli
Thu 23rd – Bingo Wings at Pata Negra
Fri 24th – Rumageddon #2: Rum Harder at The Rummer
Sat 25th – Pork & Cider festival at The Royal Oak
Mon 27th – Clifton Wine School: Burgundy & Champagne vs New World
Mon 27-Wed 29th – All in Kitchen Poker & Dinner pop-up at Pata Negra
Thu 30th – Tapas evening at Little Kitchen
Thu 30th – By the Sea; Seafood feast at Goldbrick House
Fri 31st – Cider lunch club at The Ox

If you liked this, you’ll also like…

• Bristol’s Best Pub Gardens
• The Top 12 Brunches in Bristol
• The Best Burgers in Bristol
• Bristol’s Best Pizza Joints