-Sotano-
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Look & Feel:
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Toilets:
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Review:
Sotano is a bar born from Kennedy’s basement in a miraculous and impressive feat of engineering and interior design. Access is now from the old fire escape which has been lovingly cladded in rich dark wood with industrial wire framed lanterns leading you deep down to a very trendy and well-presented underground bar. Open brickwork, timber cladding, silver air-conditioning pipes and low lanterns give a soft industrial sauna theme with a wonderful ambience. The novel way the beer pumps are piped down from the ceiling over the bar with its huge selection of spirits and international craft beers just adds to the atmosphere, backed nicely by stark white tiles. This is really a specialist bar, focusing on cocktails and craft beers but prices seem incredibly steep, especially considering that all beers are served in schooners. Sotano isn’t the only bar to focus on US style craft ales now so it does give a better idea as to the pricing. That being said the staff are mostly friendly and polite. Obviously it is rather small but there is plenty of seating and the toilets are a treat with a quirky bucket and tap as a basin, all well looked after and rather plush. They also have regular guest DJs playing and live acoustic nights, but the clear pulling point this their very late licence, meaning it’s pretty much the only decent late night bar in York for a relaxed atmosphere if you can stomach a bit of pounding music. It’s a far better choice than the alternatives that York has to offer. Although if access is an issue for you, you don’t have much chance of getting down into the basement.
Sotano is a bar born from Kennedy’s basement in a miraculous and impressive feat of engineering and interior design. Access is now from the old fire escape which has been lovingly cladded in rich dark wood with industrial wire framed lanterns leading you deep down to a very trendy and well-presented underground bar. Open brickwork, timber cladding, silver air-conditioning pipes and low lanterns give a soft industrial sauna theme with a wonderful ambience. The novel way the beer pumps are piped down from the ceiling over the bar with its huge selection of spirits and international craft beers just adds to the atmosphere, backed nicely by stark white tiles. This is really a specialist bar, focusing on cocktails and craft beers but prices seem incredibly steep, especially considering that all beers are served in schooners. Sotano isn’t the only bar to focus on US style craft ales now so it does give a better idea as to the pricing. That being said the staff are mostly friendly and polite. Obviously it is rather small but there is plenty of seating and the toilets are a treat with a quirky bucket and tap as a basin, all well looked after and rather plush. They also have regular guest DJs playing and live acoustic nights, but the clear pulling point this their very late licence, meaning it’s pretty much the only decent late night bar in York for a relaxed atmosphere if you can stomach a bit of pounding music. It’s a far better choice than the alternatives that York has to offer. Although if access is an issue for you, you don’t have much chance of getting down into the basement.
