Fun times to follow lockdown in Chester’s brand new Sports Bar! #News

Victoria Hayes
4th November 2020

Enjoyment, amusement, Fun. These aren’t words we hear a lot of at the moment.

But now more than ever before, we need them in our lives. Finding a space to have some fun, to relax and take time out is important, for our mental health, to drown out the chaos for a few hours.

Introducing just that space to Chester is THE OLD DUKES Sports bar.

Located on Bell Tower Walk by the Cathedral gardens in Chester City Centre, we are extremely excited about this new venture. This is really going to be the place for customers to have some drinks, eat great food and most importantly, have lots of fun.  

Going out and about right now isn’t really about “painting the town red” and getting drunk, it’s about having a good time, finding a way to relax and the team at The Old Dukes want to make it as fun as possible. They’ve got dart boards, shuffle boards (something I’ve never seen before!), pool tables and lots and lots of massive screens showing different sports. If you like sport you will love it here. There is a quite literally something for everyone, not just football, basketball, rugby fans, but there’s even a chess board and draughts.

You may very well spot me in future, seated comfortably in the chess nook, drink in hand, pieces artfully arranged on the board so I look like I know what I’m doing!

Take a wander around the building as we did last night. They have divided the two floors into zones and the zones all have fun sport related names…

DOWNSTAIRS…

The Snap – The main bar area is in a league of its own, offering an expanse of seating, 4 large screens and is the perfect place to watch your favourite sport. Coupled with premiership level table service, you won’t miss a thing. 

Old Dukes – A sanctuary away from the crowd, no TV’s, just a wonderfully luxurious space inspired by the heritage of Chester’s Grosvenor dynasty.

The Hanger – One for the players, two shuffleboards, five large screens and a stadium of seating – one game is NEVER enough.

The Fairways – Heated and seated outdoor venue, no TV’s just great conversation and a chance to watch the world go by.

UPSTAIRS…

The End zone – The main bar area, three big screens, stadium levels of seating – your only goal is to sample a range of drinks and some delicious freshly prepared bar bites from the menu. One for the Sports fans.

The Sin Bin – You won’t be sitting anything out here, perfectly created for 6 people you and your squad can play FIFA, or watch what you want on your own big screen. Sunday afternoons were made for this… (booking this area will be subject to a required minimum spend) 

Third Base – Anyone up for a little pool action? No armbands required, just you and the cue. Two pool tables, and generous seating for big match tension oh, and a large screen for taking your eye off the ball.

Offside – Absolutely nothing confusing here – just two tables and one huge TV – the only rule is that you have a good time. Got it?

This is where Briony and I sat last night to enjoy the relaxed vibes, some tasters of the fabulous food and some large Kingdom’s Gins while we had a catch up with the owner himself Kingdom Thenga, who also owns The Yard and The Suburbs.

He spoke about his latest venture with real passion and as he says, “There’s a lot of stuff going on at the moment, we have to live alongside this virus and we can’t change it so let’s all have something to look forward to amidst all the doom and gloom.”

The Suburbs is his heart, The Yard is his lady, Old Dukes is his fun.

We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

We also spent a little time with new ops manager Lenny Cunningham. He is passionate about fantastic team they have put together at The Old Dukes and has been really impressed by their dedication and hard work through a difficult period. Having done an opening with Lenny many years ago, I know his level of expertise and you can see the venue will be well run under his watchful and experienced eye.

It does seem to some, like it could be an odd time to be showcasing and opening a brand new venue, but in fact it’s quite the opposite, it’s really great to see such entrepreneurial spirit in such uncertain times. It’s fantastic that jobs have been created for local people, and despite the fact some may be furloughed during this second lockdown, they are all set to return with a bang and get that fun back into our lives especially on the run up to Christmas.

So Let’s talk about the food a little bit. The Old Dukes looks and feels like a Chicago style sports bar and this is reflected in their food offerings. The sliders we tried were bites of absolute heaven, I loved the meatball burger, juicy and flavourful, I just wanted more! The chicken burger was also perfectly cooked and we had a lot of love for the ranch dressing. The Old Dukes burger is perfect, complete with big mac style sauce! 

The Kanye’s Krab fries are magic. They are dusted with an Old Bay light seasoning which is celery salt, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and ginger. Before I tried them I was dubious….after I tried them, I couldn’t put them down!

We also  tried the Dirty Dog, all beef hotdog with perfect homemade chilli on top, cheese and jalapenos…..Briony doesn’t really like hot dogs she says….but scoffed the lot faster than you can say mustard!

Millennium Macaroni bites are dangerously addictive and should absolutely be scoffed watching people do healthy sporting things on the TV!

All the service we received during our time at The Old Dukes was excellent from the moment we walked in to the offer to order us a taxi at the end of the night. It’s just great hospitality that makes me certain it will feel like a home away from home very quickly.

A special mention for Matt, James, Amy, Julie and Emma who looked after us so well and a huge thank you to Kingdom and Lenny for welcoming us in to their amazing new place.

Just because they can’t welcome you in quite yet doesn’t mean they can’t give you a taster of what their food’s going to be like… So from tomorrow, they’re opening for takeaway! Give their food a whirl this lockdown, bring some of the fun into your home!

Here’s how to order:

1. Choose what you want from the menu

2. Order & pay online at www.olddukeschester.com

– OR Call 01244 885 135 to order, pay and arrange collection time

– OR email [email protected]

3. Collect or they can deliver to CH1, CH2 or CH3 for just £3.99!

TO GO & DELIVERY TIMES:

Tuesday to Saturday – 5pm to 10pm

Sunday – 12pm to 8pm