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    Garlic & Shots

    3.6 (79 reviews)
    ModerateBars, Scandinavian
    Closed 5:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

    Garlic & Shots Photos

    GARLIC & SHOTS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Classy
    Casual
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - Garlic & Shots

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    Reviews With Photos

    Our pots of parsley to ward off the dreaded garlic breath!
    Mick C.

    Two of my good girlfriends are obsessed (that's putting it lightly!) with garlic, and were eager to come to Garlic & Shots, so I tagged along. I'd read about this place in my Time Out London Top 1000 things to do, so I prepared for the Gothic / Vampire feel going on in this place. Yeah, it was pretty dark and coffin-like cramped. I just have one question though, aren't vampires supposed to be repelled by garlic? Seems like a serious fatal flaw in the decor if that's the case. Everything is garlic, well most anyway! I, of course, got garlic bread (which was some of the best garlic bread I've ever had), and on the recommendation of the waitress, the 'Garlic Pops', which were interesting to say the least (kind've like popcorn shrimp, but with garlic). My friends got the mussels (drenched to perfection with butter and garlic) and the Garlic burger (served with Garlic dressing, natch). Another thing Garlic & Shots is known for is the 101 shots, and, as you can imagine, some of them are garlic inspired. I went for their 'No 1 shot', the Blood shot which was vodka, tomato, garlic, chili and spices. So very close to a Bloody Mary (which I adeeer)! And to end your evening, Garlic & Shots are gracious enough to offer pots of parsley to help rid you of your garlic breath. A little factoid: garlic is exceedingly good for your health, among which it's been proven to lower cholesterol and blood pressure! So maybe Garlic & Shots is on to something?

    Halloumi boca de ajo
    Lissa E.

    Love, love, love this place. In fact the only thing I don't love about it are the toilets. They're pretty grim which is pretty bad for an eatery. Oh and the steep stairs because they aren't great if you're there taking advantage of the extensive shot list (101 shots!). On the first floor you have the restaurant - reservations are almost always necessary although if it's early a small group may get lucky with a walk in. The food is delicious - and it all contains garlic. I highly recommend the chicken quesadiila - the portion is generous and it's a really flavourful, garlicky, spicy twist on Mexican. The marinade and sauce in the dish (and a few others on the menu) features the Bloodshot - the bars most renowned Bloody Mary like shot. The corn tortillas topped with halloumi are fantastic for a lighter bite. And you have to have a side of the garlic bread - not only is it amazing, it's basically half a loaf! If you miss out on a table in the restaurant, they will serve bar food (including the garlic bread!) to the basement 'Vampire Bar'. It's a good bar - dark, dingy and with excellent music of the heavier persuasion. I recommend getting their early to try to get the table in the crypt - a little out of the way cave like booth. Drinks options can be limited - beer choices are very few and soft drinks are limited to Coke (full fat) and Sprite.

    This guy had too much to drink
    Matt B.

    I've come to this bar periodically since I first started visiting London in 2003, and 16 years later it continues to be one of my favorite spots. The people here are just so damn fun and inviting, and juxtaposed with the metal music and macabre theme it makes for a really enjoyable time. The shots are basically small shooters of various cocktails, with creative names like "Black Death". The shots are small but cheap, so you can get a whole bunch. Go downstairs to the crypt for the real magic.

    Kristine T.

    If you like shots and metal music this is your perfect place. While it looks like an average bar on the outside, if you go down the stairs you will discover a dark gothic vault type room. That is where you need to be. There's not much space but if you are lucky enough to get a table just sit down and pick some shots. They are about £3 and they are quite strong. I recommend stopping there for a few shots before continuing your night out on the town. It is something unusual to take your friends to as even if they are not into that type of music and decor they will appreciate how unusual it looks.

    Martina O.

    I brought my friend from New York here not so long ago for some garlic shots and she is still raving on about it. I've actually been here a few times, there is a restaurant on the ground floor, never eaten here but the menu looks delicious. The bar downstairs is quite gothy and dark. If you have a penchant for metal music and the goth scene then check this place out! they have a mummy in a coffin in the corner and a dark corner with lots of candles. I tried the garlic shots once and they are not my cup of tea. You really wouldn't want to plan on kissing someone after as your breath stinks of garlic for ages after.

    Joseph T.

    Garlic & Shots on Frith Street is a garlic themed bar, which also has bars in Stockholm and Parma. It is a pretty obscure concept, but they pull it off with garlic in all the food and drinks. The bar/restaurant is arranged across two floors with the main bar downstairs. I've been a couple of times and had fun, though I could feel the garlic coming out of my pores for the next two days, so perhaps not the best if you need to be looking sharp afterwards. The crowd is quite mixed, both in age and style, and everyone there seemed to be having a good time. Definitely worth checking out, at least as a one-off.

    Garlic Bread
    Georgia J.

    A friend took me here after bragging about it for months on end and I was not disappointed. The name is pretty self explanatory and their menu is pretty much garlic food and 101 different shots. It's a restaurant upstairs and an atmospheric dive bar downstairs, all my favourite things in one place! We came for dinner and I had the deep fried halloumi and we shared a garlic bread. I thought I should go for the garlic beer to really try the essence of the place! It was all pretty delicious though those last two mouthfuls of beer were possibly a bit strong for my liking! 4/5 stars purely because the waiter was rather disorganised with his seating and we were moved twice and hurried along at the end of our meal. The 2nd time we were moved was completely unnecessary too. Only mildly frustrating.

    Katy I.

    As a young, fresher, new to London, I went to Garlic and Shots and thought "I've made it." I felt that I had officially graduated from the shame and heartache of wandering aimlessly around Leicester Square with my NUS funded guide to London. I walked into the dimly lit cavern of that underground bar and thought "Yeah, this is what its all about." Now as a slightly older and more cynical graduate (that's right) I realise that I may have been slightly naive in my appraisal. It's not that I mind sitting in a dungeon with what I suspect to be Ramstein fans, it's just that I don't think I should have to pay normal drinks prices for it. It's a dripping cave, resembling the unwelcome abode of Gollom and has the feeling of something trying to be really edgy but only succeeding in being a bit dirty and crap. Saying that, you could hardly describe me as a mettler, lots of my friends love the place which is why I end up there so often and it's better than being in one of the super swanky bars on the streets above, it's just that I prefer something in the middle, something less like a weird troll cult who's mission is to take over the world by smelling strongly of garlic.

    garlic fried poppers with a bloodshot spicy garlic and vodka shot in the background
    Porch G.

    Great little Swedish run bar offering all kinds of shots and tasty garlic based food. It's cozy and the service is warm

    John S.

    I went here in a large group last Friday and I have to say I left thoroughly underwhelmed by Garlic and Shots. They serve 101 types of shot - which were a lot of fun, along with bottled beers and wine. We also tried the garlic beer - but as another reviewer mentioned this is just a glass of normal beer with chopped garlic added. A few people tried it but couldn't bear to drink more than a sip. In terms of shots I tried the bloodshot (tomato, garlic, chilli and vodka), chilli vodka (pretty spicy as expected), and instant margarita (all the ingredients of a margarita in a shot glass). The shots are £2.50 each - although don't try and order from the bar at the front of the restaurant as I did and got told off. Food wise, as a starter the garlic bread was the probably the best I've ever had. The main dishes however were a major disappointment. The Swedish/American influenced dishes such as the garlic burger, or Swedish sausage with garlic mash would have been pretty tasteless were it not for the vast amount garlic added to every part of the dish. One of our party was so disgusted with his main the he took one bite and left the rest. The waitresses and other members of staff seemed really unfriendly and we didn't feel welcome. We managed to rack up a £40 bill each - but I didn't feel we got a great deal for this so would say it represented poor value for money. We had been considering heading to the downstairs Goth bar afterwards, but after finishing the meal decided we really didn't feel like staying any longer. I might go there again for a shot or a few drinks, but not for food.

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    Garlic & Shots Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Garlic & Shots

    OH and if it's your first time visiting you have to get a 'bloodshot', good luck with that (buy a strong chaser hah!)

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    Carlsberg Sports Bar

    Carlsberg Sports Bar

    3.5(6 reviews)
    0.2 miLeicester Square
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    My bf and I have come here a few times now whenever we are in the area and need to pop by to watch…read morefootball or rugby. Whilst it's not the most posh place I've been, it usually gets the job done well. Drinks are how you would find at most pubs, and service is decent too, given how a waitress came to ask us what we wanted and served us amidst a busy rugby game (at other times, we had gone to the bar to order ourselves). There are quite a few tv screens as well as a big home theatre-like one too, which always adds to your sports watching experience. I've never had food here before but would like to try sometime. I hear that their wings are good. Be sure to bring an ID -- as its part of a casino facility, they check your ID even if you're here only for the bar and not for gambling.

    Fun sports bar inside a casino. One of the ONLY places in London where they show American…read moreFootball! Oddly, to open a tab, you have to give them both your credit/debit card AND your driver's license/passport/ID card. They give you a "badge" which you then show every time you order, apparently so they know which tab to bill it to. A bit weird to me, but maybe that's the norm in London, or at least in high-tourist bars in London. Also, they won't let men inside if you are wearing a hat-- you must remove the hat to enter. Fortunately, once inside, I put my hat back on and didn't have a problem with anyone saying anything. Glad my hat hair didn't have to be on display!

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    Carlsberg Sports Bar

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    Waxy O'Connor's

    3.8(206 reviews)
    0.2 miLeicester Square
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    Very cute and ascetic pleasing pub in London. We were looking for a place to have a drink and sit…read moredown for a bit after a long day of sight seeing. We came across this place and decided to give it a try. We were greeted by two people at the door and invited inside. There are multiple floors that you would not expect from the look of outside. We sat on the second floor by the fireplace. There was a bar where we sat. Staff was extremely friendly and attentive. We ordered some drinks and food. There was music playing but it wasn't so loud you could not hear the people you were with. The service, food, and atmosphere was great. I would definitely recommend this spot to others.

    The lead lady on the bottom bar treated my family with discrimination because of her political…read moreaffiliation. Completely in poor taste, and should not have happened. We were respectful and nonpolitical, she assumed from our ethnic backgrounds and treated us accordingly. She verbatim said she will not serve our kind. Then proceeded to tell all her bar tenders to no longer serve us. Regrettably we had to get our drinks upstairs. She went out of her way to stare at us from the top, making my mother uncomfortable. If you want a pub without employees making every thing political, this is not the spot. We do not even entertain politics, she just put us in a basket. This is the first time in my life I had to exit the pub because of the brainwashed ultra lefty employee. I love all people and people on the left, it sucks that this extremist ruined the night after spending our hard earned money. Honestly the pours were weak, the lighting was poor, and the drinks were heavily overpriced. It's some fake Irish bar.

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    Waxy O'Connor's - Left bar near the fireplace

    Left bar near the fireplace

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    Landing

    Garlic & Shots - bars - Updated June 2026

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