Bar review: Mr Schnapps Sports Bar, Roundhay Road, Oakwood, Leeds

The brazenly-named Mr Schnapps Sports Bar is the latest in a rapid succession of new watering holes to sprout up along Roundhay Road in north Leeds.

The stretch of road, just below Roundhay Park, features the likes of North Brew Co.’s Preston Bar, Gron Kafe by Foundry x chef Matt Healy, the ever-popular Stew & Oyster pub and new-to-the-scene joint Tobias.

And while there’s blatantly an abundance of hipstery bars offering plenty of craft beers, ale and fancy gins, there isn’t much by the way of live sport on that side of the tracks.

It is that gap in the market that Mr Schnapps’ - adorned with cool sport-inspired wall art and bright, jazzy televisions - is aiming to exploit.

First Impressions

It features an impressive 14 screens, meaning that whether it’s rugby, golf, boxing or, (let’s be honest) football, they certainly covered.

The place is set across two tiers: the first, ground level, has the main bar, a large wall projector, and a host of screens dotted around the walls. It should be noted that this place is really making use of its space. There’s plenty of tables and comfortable chairs too, giving it an almost lounge-type feel.

Upstairs there are toilets, what looks like an overspill bar for busy nights (there’s only a handful of punters in when this reviewer attending, mid-week), more seating and, you guessed, more screens.

There’s also a pool table and a football table but, to be frank, these are too close together, and actually seem to hinder the walkway to get to further seating to the side of it.

It also gives it a bit of a 1980s social club’s games room or youth club feel to the place, tailored towards youths. It just feels a bit odd to the eye but people were using them, even when it was quiet.

The Drinks

There’s a basic tap offering and, as previously stated, do not expect fancy craft ales here - that isn’t what Mr Schnapps is trying to be (there’s plenty of other bars in Oakwood for that).

Beers on tap include Stella Artois, Amstel and, of course, Heineken. There’s also a decent selection of wines and a load of special offers. One offer we spotted was a crate of Corona for £10 and a four-pint pitcher for £12. Not too shabby.

The Atmosphere

The vibe fits for what it is offering (sports, many screens) and while you’re watching you can overhear the typical light-hearted banter, laughter etc. It opened recently so still feels quite new, like it’s trying to find itself and cement its position on Roundhay Road.

Also a note here on the wall art. There’s some beautiful full wall-length paintings of world-renowned sports stars, including basketball legend Michael Jordan and Brazillian football superstar Pelé, which really add to the sports vibe here, look fantastic and also set it apart from most other sports bars in the city. Well worth the effort.

The Service

Service was decent, no qualms there. Staff are also considerate in trying to get the match/game/sort of your choice onto the TVs - be that upstairs or downstairs. There's actually a reasonably extensive food offering at Mr Schnapps too for those who are peckish at half-time.

The Verdict

There were a few technical glitches during our visit (wrong channel a few times, confusion over what TVs were showing which game etc) but that’s to be expected in fairness during the early days, with so many screens.

The art is fantastic and, overall, Mr Schnapps does what it says on the tin - live sports - well