The Old Library

Cardiff, United Kingdom

3.4

13 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+44 29 2066 6566
Address:
Trinity Street City Centre, Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF10 1BH
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.2 miWyndham Arcade
0.2 miGQ megabus
0.2 miPhilharmonic
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Music
DJ, Live, Juke Box
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Wed, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
Yes
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (Cardiff) 05:15 Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Home cooked food, Fantastic drinks offers and the best in live music and DJ’s

Food…

— Home cooked Specials 2−4-£10 Monday-​Friday

— 2 10oz rump steaks for £12.99 Monday-​Friday

— Kids eat free Monday — Friday

— Christmas bookings now being taken! 2 courses and a drink for just £9.95! Please call for more details or to book.

Buffets from £69.50 for ten guests

— Tuesdays: Kickback. Cardiff LMS presents an open mike night with fantastic drinks offers from 8pm.

— Thursdays: Music Book. Cardiff LMS brings you the best in live bands and 2−4−1 cocktails and Jagerbombs all night.

— Fridays: Half Price Bar from 5−9pm followed by Hullabaloo bringing you live music and DJ’s till 4am.

— Saturdays: BANG. DJ loveless making your ears smile from 9pm till 4am

History

Established in 2008.

Occupying part of the Old free library building in the heart of the city centre. The bar has previously been known as Que Pasa, The Slurping Toad, and Geo’s.

Meet the Manager

Rhys M.

Manager

Operations Manager for Durston Leisure Limited.

The Old Library — CLOSED also recommends

Metros

15

reviews

Clubs

Rhys M. says,

«One of the best nights out in Cardiff!»

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13 reviews of The Old Library

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
Despite only working around the corner, I only ventured into The Old Library for the first time last week. The layout is a little odd with pockets dotted around so finding your friends can be a little tricky unless you know where they are. We only stayed for drinks, but the service was a little inconsistent. We were served pints of lager in oversized glasses (where you pour the pint to the line below the rim and then the head foams up on top like a continental head), but each member of staff filled them as if they were regular pints not a problem for us more beer! But it will eat into their stock :(Also we kept getting charged vastly different amounts for the exact same round and had to query it several times. The toilets also weren’t too great. We went on a Saturday evening, and before 9pm when the place was moderately quiet, some toilets were blocked our out of paper etc.
I think this may be a place to go mid-​way during a night out rather than as a destination in itself
Place rating: 2
Watford, United Kingdom
I ordered the sauage and mash for £5:25
Saugauge: good
Mash: too thick and stogie.
Gravy: weak
Peas: lame
NEVER AGAIN!
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
The Old Library tries to be all things to all people so it can be a bit of a faceless bar. The food and drink crowd, both shoppers and office workers, congregate here in the day but in the evening it’s very much a Latin style cocktail bar. It’s quite popular with students, who usually come here just to get merry on the colourful cocktails. Weekends its open late and plays a mix of dance and cheesy pop. They did have DJ nights and also hosted salsa events both of which they are hoping to restart.
There’s a nice long cocktail list too which comprises all the favourites, plus quite a number of signature mixes dreamed up by their own bartenders and you can even create your own, more expensive cocktail by adding premium spirits (such as substituting Bombay Sapphire gin with Tanqueray in your Collins for an extra couple of quid). Trying to be something for everyone tends to dilute the appeal of Que Pasa. Having said that you can have a great time trying out their exotic cocktails, of which there are plenty.
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
What can I say about Old Library that already hasn’t been said on here? Not a lot really. Like most bars it depends a lot on who you go with a unfortuantely I went with a group of people I don’t care for too much (it was a works do) for if so it wasn’t the highlight of my life.
But hey it’s central, they serve drinks and play a fine tune, enough I would have thought to impress most people. Having said that drinks are not cheap unless you go when its happy hour.
Place rating: 3
Plasnewydd, United Kingdom
Slap bang in the middle of The Hayes and pretty much as central as you can get in the city, The Old Library is in a prime location and perfect for a beer if you’re around town.
The building is a nice one and it’s surprising how suitable an old library is for a modern bar.
The prices are on the expensive side and those people visiting Cardiff, excited about lower Welsh prices will be disappointed to pay top whack for most draught beers.
It’s a good venue for live music and events, with plenty of effort being put into inviting various bands and covering all the big sports dates. The coverage of the World Cup in 2010 was excellent and they showed every live match.
The food is standard fare; simple and I’ve found nothing to complain about. It’s also comparatively cheap compared to the alcohol.
Overall, a fine place to have a drink in the city centre.
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
You know when you never go somewhere and then suddenly you go somewhere twice in one week. This is what has happened to me and The Old Library. I was dragged here by some friends for open mic night that happens every tuesday night in conjunction with LMS, this is an event where anybody can get up and sing a song or play their instrument to the delight or dismay of your ears.
It is stylish and modern inside, nothing particularly striking about it. The drink prices are way too much on the steep side for myself as I drink wine, but there were other drinks that were suitably priced.
Situated in the centre of the Hayes, it is ideally positioned for town revellers. You can also eat here during the day and the prices seem to be not too bad, though I am yet to try the food as there are other places nearby that I have tried and like. I’ll keep you updated when I do.
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
A little bit on expensive side I personally think, it’s quite spacious and to be honest I’ve only been for a few drinks and really it was expensive and I didn’t think it was particularly worth it.
The old library is located in the city centre and around lunch time you can be sure there will be quite a few businessmen and women enjoying their lunch break. I’m not personally a fan bout quite a few people would disagree.
Place rating: 4
Cardiff, United Kingdom
In the centre of The Hayes, where Que Pasa used to be and directly opposite House Of Fraser sits the Old Library. Aptly named, it is part of the beautifully designed old library building converted into one of the newest bars in the city.
Playing the role of the little sister to its associate club, Metros, it has a similar relationship as Y Fuwch Goch and Clwb Ifor Bach in that Old Library serves as a pre-​club meeting place for the Metros regulars; a primer for the later debauchery of the evening.
With music from the Metros DJs through the week, the feel is very much the same as its big brother, but the drinks are just slightly too expensive to hold the Metros crowd for very long; a fact that many of the other punters are thankful for, generally being of the yuppie persuasion. But despite this, the atmosphere is great; there’s not much a dancefloor, but everyone bops along in their place regardless. Whilst it may not be a place to end up on a night out, it’s a good a place as any to set out from.
Place rating: 5
Cardiff, United Kingdom
I’m a fan of this bar, as the staff are always lovely and you can tell that they work exceptionally hard all the night long.
Place rating: 4
Cardiff, United Kingdom
I went to the Old Library the other week for a spot of lunch and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t very busy but we were quickly welcomed and seated. Its one of those places were you order at the bar, so we ordered our drinks and they brought them over and when they brought them over they took our food order too. Its obviously not something they had to do but were being friendly and I appreciated that kind of service.
It also has a lovely peaceful atmosphere which is great for the centre of town.
Our food was served up quickly and I really enjoyed my Nachos with homemade chunky chilli.
There were lots of flyers about promoting their other events so will have to check it out one evening.
Place rating: 4
Bristol, United Kingdom
This independently owned and managed bar is very central — positioned in the beautiful Old Library building in the Hayes area near the entrance to Cardiff Indoor Market. It’s popular with professionals for lunch and after work drinks, and the bar prices reflect this — but while it’s not the cheapest place for a quick drink, it’s smart enough to justify its slightly higher prices. Later on in the evening it attracts a more mixed crowd of people, and plays mainly alternative music on the most popular nights — although it doesn’t seem to target a studenty crowd (probably because of the drinks prices).
They have different themes on various nights throughout the week — with dance DJs on Mondays, open mic on Tuesdays, live bands early on Thursdays (followed by a rock DJ later on), and alternative music on Fridays and Saturdays. They also stay open well into the early hours — 4am on some nights — if you’re out for a late night.
Place rating: 3
Cardiff, United Kingdom
I was quite looking forward to visiting the Old Library as it seemed, from the outside, a savvy music forum/​bar. I used to frequent the place when it was Que Pasa and often entertained the two for one cocktail promotions they had.
To me, it felt like I just stepped into a a trendy London bar after office hours. The place is going for an older, more professional demographic.
Drinks are quite expensive there and akin to going out for the night prices. However, I did enjoy the music there and is a nice change from your usual Radio 1 fodder.
In conclusion, it’s a nice bar with decent alternate (ish) music for your less cash challenged individual. Just not for me.
Place rating: 4
Cardiff, United Kingdom
The Old Library is basically like a pub for people who are looking for something a little bit more interesting. It seems to be popular with people fancying a drink after work, but who are looking for something more upmarket than can be offered by the close pubs.
It’s a really nice bar, actually, especially if you fancy going somewhere quite grown-​up without suffering through the stuffiness of some bars. This is mostly from its Metros-​y feel — it’s fun, alternative music.
The prices are as you would expect from a city-​centre popular bar (which is a round-​about way of saying, it’s quite expensive) but it’s definitely worth it. I went there with a group of friends before heading on to a club. We did have to leave after a few drinks, to go somewhere where we could get better value for money but, whilst there, we had a great time.