Sonny Stores

Sonny Stores occupies a converted corner shop on Raleigh Road in Southville, run since October 2020 by Mary Glynn and chef Pegs Quinn, who spent four years cooking at London's River Café before returning to open a place of their own -- "Sonny" is named for their son. At close to six years old it sits past the brief's "1 to 4 years" window, but the operation has stayed genuinely small and owner-led throughout, and the critical reception has been serious for a neighbourhood restaurant: both Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles have reviewed it favourably, and Bristol24/7 called it "almost perfect -- unpretentious, effortless." The food is Italian-inspired and seasonal -- raw brill, rabbit pasta -- served in a room reviewers consistently describe as feeling like being a guest in someone's home rather than a restaurant, with Glynn's front-of-house warmth doing real work alongside Quinn's cooking.

The venue's own site confirms a private dining room seating up to 12, offered with a pre-agreed set menu, drinks stocked in advance, and "none of the cooking or washing up to think about" -- explicitly pitched at exactly this kind of hosted group booking, and separately flagged as "also perfect for corporate hire." Independently confirmed opening hours show Sonny Stores closed all day Monday, but open Tuesday and Wednesday for a full 5pm-11pm dinner service, with Thursday to Saturday extending to a 12-11pm all-day pattern and a separate Wednesday-Saturday lunchtime "hatch" service running 12-4pm. Tuesday, in other words, is a genuine full dinner night here, not a token opening -- a real match for this series' early-week ask, though Monday is a hard no.

Southville around Raleigh Road is a quieter, more residential extension of the same Bedminster food strip that COR and The Malago sit on, walkable but distinctly less busy on a weeknight. The exact pricing for the private room was not published on the venue's own site -- interested parties are directed to email admin@sonnystores.com directly, a genuine open question before treating a Tuesday booking as settled.