What The Academy Is
Seven snooker tables, seven pool tables, six for table tennis, seven foosball, five dart boards, a PlayStation corner, and screens up to 140 inches. The Academy fills the lower floor of the Arena Zapad cinema complex by Vardar metro.
Spotted by Locals, which reverified the bar in April 2026, puts it plainly: its writer has yet to see a bigger sports bar in Bulgaria.
Table time costs 6 euros an hour. Licensed coaches run snooker training, and amateur tournaments run weekly.
Reading the Room
Five gaming halls and two bars, plus a rentable party room and a VIP snooker hall. The scale is the experience; this is a sports floor with a bar attached, not the reverse.
One housekeeping note: Tripadvisor's listing carries a closed flag, but Spotted by Locals reverified the bar in April 2026 and Google reviews keep arriving. Call ahead for tournaments all the same.
What to Order
Inside The Academy Sports Bar
Who Shows Up, and When
Snooker and pool players first, match watchers second. Spotted by Locals calls it barely visited compared to its potential, which means tables are usually free.
Event nights strain the kitchen; reviewers report hour long food waits during big matches, and one measured the music at 87 decibels.
What Regulars Say
- “Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I have yet to see a bigger sports bar in Bulgaria,” per Simo Stefanov at Spotted by Locals.
- Spotted by Locals again, on the crowds: “Weird or not, The Academy remains barely visited.”
- The Google review consensus: great facilities for snooker, billiards, and table tennis, with understaffing at peak events the standing complaint.
Who It Is For
- Snooker players; seven tables, coaches, and weekly tournaments make it the city's serious room.
- Groups that need five halls' worth of options under one roof.
- Avoid ordering food during a big match. Reviewers report hour long waits at peak.
Before You Go
Vardar metro stands steps from the Arena Zapad entrance, four stops west of Serdika. A second branch runs in Dianabad at Loven Park 5 with shorter hours.
See the competition on our Sofia sports bars list, or line up the evening with the Sofia after work guide.
The bars worth going to, weekly.
One email every week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 168 cities worldwide.
Reach bar-goers in every major city.
Sponsored listings, newsletter placements, and city guide partnerships across 168 cities.