The Domino Club: Leeds speakeasy listed in Difford's Guide as top hidden bar marks seven years in city

Underground speakeasy The Domino Club opened in the Grand Arcade 2017 by brothers and business partners Alexander and Jonathan Neil.

With decades of hospitality experience under their belt and the growing success of their first business, Call Lane bar Roland’s, the duo were looking to expand.

It was a long dream of Jonathan, 44, to open a speakeasy, while Alexander said he had longed to open a jazz bar. When the venue in the Grand Arcade became available, they brothers jumped at the opportunity to bring live jazz nights and refreshing cocktails to the city centre.

40-year-old Alexander told the Yorkshire Evening Post that the jazz bar has been a hit since the first day it opened - and seven years on, it is a “Leeds institution” loved by many.

Alexander said: “We started to make a name for ourselves in the bar world with Roland’s, we were still kind of unknown. 

“The impact The Domino Club had when it opened, it just blew us away. It must have been the right place at the right time. It was just packed.

“The idea was to have a lovely sophisticated table service with nuts and nibbles, water on the tables and a little jazz quartet playing in the corner - something like that.

“And then, it just got busier and busier and busier, and we didn't expect it. We had to quickly roll the punches and get bigger bands. We've now got a full time music director working for us. We're open five nights a week and we have 12 live acts on every week. 

“We estimate that we've put something like a million pounds back into local musicians.” 

The Domino Club has been putting Leeds on the map too. It was listed among the top 20 top speakeasies in the world by the Difford’s Guide, which Alexander said was an “incredible accolade” to achieve.

FInd out more information about The Domino Club via its website and social media channels.