A NEW bar and street food venue has opened in Shipley adding to the town’s night life.

Hullabaloo is in premises in Westgate formerly used by The Connection restaurant, and more recently the Connexion American diner.

Jimmy Greenwood, who lives in Saltaire, started work transforming the long-empty building into a new bar and eatery earlier this summer.

As well as serving craft beers, it will offer an ever changing menu of street food from around the world.

The venue opened as a bar at the weekend and food will be added in the coming weeks.

Mr Greenwood, who has worked in catering for more than 25 years and previously worked at Salt’s Diner and The Boathouse in Saltaire, said: “We want to get the bar sorted first before we launch the menu.

“We will be looking to change the menu regularly, we think it is really important that the food reflects the beer.

“Although the food will change there may be some things that remain, but the menu will reflect the different world beers we have.

“It will be smaller, affordable dishes. That’s the key for me, it is almost like Tapas, although not just Spanish food.

“There will be a mix of all foods from around the world. Our logo is an air balloon so it has that ‘around the world’ feel.

We won’t just focus on one type of dish, we’ll have lots of different bits and pieces from around the world. There will be a lot of international flavours.

“We’re making sure we do a bit of everything, we might have dishes from Korea, the Caribbean and Morocco.

“You’ll be able to get something substantial for around £6, but you won’t be getting three course meals.

“The fit out took a bit longer than we’d anticipated, and one of the reasons for this is because it is a unique concept.

“It is unique for the Shipley area. It has almost a beach bar feel. It was in a pretty bad state when we moved in, it hadn’t been used for years.

“There is a nice little route of bars forming in Shipley now. I hope that us opening here might inspire someone else to open another bar in the vicinity. Shipley is developing a good bar scene.

Mr Greenwood said the hope was for Hullabaloo to eventually open seven days a week, and the business will create about five jobs.

The bar will be the latest business to open in Westgate. Earlier this summer Skulep Boutique fashion house opened a few doors from Hullabaloo.

And work is due to start next year on the refurbishment of the Shipley Pride pub in nearby Saltaire Road. That business has been bought by William Wagstaff, who runs Jacob’s Well and The Beehive in Bradford, and who plans on returning the historic pub to its former glory.

The new venues mark a resurgence in the bar scene in Shipley and Saltaire. Recent years have seen establishments like The Fox, Cap and Collar, Tallulah’s, the Quays, The Bar and Bar 56 become thriving bars.