Angel Row will be familiar to most people who know Nottingham. The city centre street, which links Old Market Square to the top of Maid Marian Way, is littered with big brands.
Restaurant giants McDonald's, KFC, Nando's and Taco Bell sit within a stone's throw of one another, with Slug & Lettuce punctuating its tail-end. However, some of its destinations, including the adjoining Hurts Yard, are lesser known, especially to those not local to Nottingham.
The area's bars and pubs still attract large crowds, particularly on weekends - Japanese restaurant Kushi-Ya has seen a blistering rise in bookings since being acclaimed by Michelin and the Guardian's Jay Rayner, according to a worker at its sister bar.
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However, bar tenders will tell you they still see little action in comparison to venues near Old Market Square or in Hockley. “We are a little bit outside the main area but we don’t get any trouble," said Michael Tyler-Jones, who works at The Dragon.
"I think we are one of the only late night boozers without a bouncer on the door in the city. It’s a bit mental at weekends but it’s been a bit quiet recently, probably because of the prices of everything.
“It used to be more of an old boys' club, people over 50 or 45, now there’s more young regulars coming in. It’s kind of on an ‘if you know’ basis. But we’re not a student bar by any stretch."
The 24-year-old is one of a large team of bar tenders who work on equal authority. "We’re all bar tenders so we’re all equal, we’ve only got two full time members of staff but it’s good because you can always rely on about four or five people," he continued.
Michael said the secretive nature of the pub meant it did not attract many of the football crowd, something it benefitted from when some away Leicester City fans skipped the pub in their spree of destruction on a day the Foxes took on Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup game in 2022.
A portrait of Clare Balding also adorns the wall behind the bar. Michael revealed this was because the broadcaster had once visited the pub and broke a longstanding record on its Scalextric track.
She is not the only celebrity to visit the pub, with Noel Fielding and Phil Tufnell also coming in on separate occasions. Despite it not being immediately visible to the passer-by, the adjoining Hurts Yard, which runs from Angel Row to Upper Parliament Street, has a tendency to get "crazy", said Tom Johnson, general manager of Yokocho.
The all-Japanese bar is an extension of nearby Kushi-Ya. "If they have got a bit of a waiting list they will be sent here for a bit of a drink. People will wait here for a table," said the 35-year-old.
"A lot of people know of us so they see it as a destination. On Saturday it's crazy down here. Everywhere offers something really different. Cucamara is a club, 400 Rabbits for tequila. We offer cocktails, sake and whisky."
Further up the road, Aimee Harbison, who recently took over the ownership of the Barrel Drop, spoke of the benefits and drawbacks of being on a hidden street. "It's becoming a nice little spot," said the 33-year-old.
"It would be nice if it was a bit more known about, especially since Covid. It would be lovely to draw a bit more trade down here.
"But it has its perks, we wouldn't want it to be full to the rafters. Our selling point is that we're an oasis of calm."
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