The Record Café listed as one of the best in the UK

The Record Café, in North Parade is a much-loved fixture at the top-of-town and anyone from Bradford and its surrounding areas knows all about it and its popular owner, Keith Wildman.

But the bar-come-vinyl-collector’s dream has received recognition from further afield this week.

Graeme Sharp, a journalist by trade in his seventies, has dubbed The Record Café as one of his 10 favourite record shops in the UK in an article for The Guardian.

His love of vinyl records stretches back 58 years, when he bought his first vinyl, Duane Eddy’s 1962 single (Dance With the) Guitar Man.

The bar area of The Record Café (Image: Telegraph & Argus) He is also the author of newly released ‘On the Records: Notes from the Vinyl Revival’, a follow-up to his ‘Vinyl Countdown’ book, which was published in 2019.

Graeme has visited record shops across the globe, in cities such as Amsterdam, Warsaw, Berlin, Budapest, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm and Vienna, as well as countries as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

But he told The Guardian that his focus now has been on visiting every record shop across the UK and to buy something at every stop.

He picked out The Record Café for bringing together “the best local and world beers with new vinyl releases, Spanish charcuterie and cheese”.

The Record Café sells new vinyl records and reissues (Image: Telegraph & Argus) The bar area is supplemented by a mezzanine level where the latest records and classic albums are available to peruse and purchase.

Keith said: “It was a nice surprise to be included in that article.

“It’s always nice to get recognition from further afield. 

“It’s even more special coming from Graham - someone who is visiting every record shop in the UK.

“For him to mention us as one of the highlights really justifies what we try to achieve at The Record Café.

“I’d like to think we would stand out though! We were the first place in the UK to pair beer with records, and we’re just heading up to our 10th anniversary this November.

“We’ve worked really hard every day over the last ten years to maintain our high standards, create a cosy atmosphere and are still passionate about everything we curate and sell - from the records to the beer to the food.

“It’s a testament to myself, Pullmayra, and our colleagues here past and present to be mentioned alongside other great, longstanding, venues and shops around the UK.”

The Record Café made it into CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) Good Beer Guide for the 10th consecutive year at the end of last month, alongside 22 other drinking spots in Bradford.

Graeme’s listed also included:

• Derricks Music, Swansea
• Grooves Records, Orkney
• Casbah Records, Greenwich, London
• Futtle, East Neuk of Fife
• The Record Deck, mobile on a barge
• Vinyl and Vintage, Wolverhampton
• The Record Album, Brighton
• Skeleton Records, Birkenhead
• Second Scene, near Watford