A candle lit rock and roll dive on Upper Street, with free live music and a famously cheap happy hour.
Slim Jim's Liquor Store sits halfway up Upper Street in Islington, and it has held the same line for years. This is a late night rock and roll dive bar, dark and almost entirely candle lit, with a ceiling famously papered in donated bras and a jukebox loaded with rock. The Infatuation files it under the city's reliable dive bars for a reason.
The draw is the combination of cheap drinks, loud music, and free live bands most weeks. The bar runs a grassroots music programme that supports local acts and brings the occasional touring name, always with free entry. If you want polish, this is the wrong door. If you want a late, unfussy whisky and a band, it is one of north London's best.
Slim Jim's is halfway up Upper Street in Islington. Walk in, entry is free, and live music runs most weeks. Cards and cash both fine.
The room is small, red and black, and lit by candles, which is the American dive template done with conviction. The ceiling of bras and the wall of stickers and posters do the decorating. It gets tight and sweaty once a band starts, which is the intended state.
Downstairs is where the music happens. Expect to stand, expect it to be loud, and expect the crowd to be there for the room rather than the lighting.
Drinks are simple and cheap. The back bar carries a solid spread of whiskies and liquor alongside cold beer and classic cocktails, and the weeknight happy hour from 5pm to 8pm is the headline. Reviewers report four bottles of beer for twelve pounds, pints under four pounds, and double house spirits as low as one pound fifty in that window.
Order a whisky or a beer and keep it uncomplicated. This is a place to drink fast and cheap before a band, not to study a cocktail menu.
What to order
- 01
Happy hour double spirit
- 02
Whisky from the back bar
- 03
Cold beer
- 04
A classic cocktail
