Popolo in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, made some of the best cocktails in town

Changing face of Newcastle cocktail bar that became a BBQ restaurant then a games hub

We step back in time to see how a prime city centre location changed over the years with images showing Popolo, Intermezzo, Bierrex and NQ64

28 Sep 2024, 15:00 by Barbara Hodgson · ChronicleLive

Over the past two decades or so, 82 Pilgrim Street has proved one of the most popular addresses in Newcastle for those socialising with mates.

And during that time the impressive corner building has catered for everyone from classic cocktail lovers to retro games fans. The much-missed Popolo opened on the site in 2002 and its red and black decor, chill-out music and laid-back vibe set the scene for many a big night out.

Its cocktails were legendary, made by staff who really knew their stuff - where else would you find manhattans made three ways, with options of 'sweet', 'dry' or 'perfect'?. You could have spent half the night reading through the full drinks menu - and the rest trying to negotiate the long staircase down to the toilets after you'd had a couple.

In 2005 it was reported the bar's staff invented a schnapps-based cocktail, called Newcastle-Gateshead, which was showcased at a tourism event at the British Embassy in Paris to help promote the area as a cosmopolitan and cultural tourist destination. It served food too, which Chroniclelive reviewed in 2009, but booze was its thing and it was a sad day for its regulars when it closed in 2014 after 11 years of delivering cocktail joy.

At the end of that year the building opened as Bierrex and it was all beer, booths and brisket in the building's new life as a restaurant. The hop and smoke venue offered ‘brew & cue’ with more than 30 guest ales - plus cans and bottles - and a selection of BBQ meat cooked on a special smoker.

A food review in 2015 described it as 'the kind of American diner you would find in a David Lynch film' with its walls lined with meat cleavers and posters showing the parts of a pig. It was reviewed again the following year but a return to the venue's cocktail-making days was on the cards and, following the closure of Bierrex, Intermezzo opened there in 2019, reviving the name of the popular cafe-bar which was originally based at the Tyneside Cinema.

At the start, the venue was split into three bars: Intermezzo, Ray’z Backroom Bar and underground speakeasy The Poison Cabinet, with plans to turn Ray’z into part of Intermezzo. By 2022, it was all-change again.

That August, the now-closed Intermezzo was taken over by NQ64: a retro gaming company keen to offer something new in Newcastle. Now, customers to 82 Pilgrim Street can find old-school consoles and pinball machines over its two floors and a pick of around 30 retro arcade games - such as Pac Man and Space Invaders - to play against a backdrop of neon and UV lights, spray-painted graffiti wall murals and hip hop tunes. And, yes, cocktails are back on the menu, this time with names taking inspiration from the games in the arcade.