(ad) This post is based on us attending a press event on 19 April 2021. We have not been asked or paid to share this post. Please double check details before making plans/booking as information can change (especially relating to opening hours, the booking process and food vendors/prices).
I have included a menu and prices at the bottom of this post so make sure you scroll right to the end if you want to check them out.
What is Burn It Up North Shields?
Burn It Up North Shields is a new multi-purpose outdoor venue. Expect street food stalls and drinks from 12 April and then live music, events, live sport (including the euros), outdoor cinema, bingo, quizzes and more from 17 May.
You will need to pre-book your table online and at the moment, food and drinks are ordered via a QR code at your table and it is table service throughout.
- Monday - Friday 3pm-late
- Saturday & Sunday 10am - late
Where is Burn It Up North Shields?
Parking and public transport
Burn It Up North Shields - Area Guide
Also, please note that Burn It Up is just in their initial phases of opening. Below is an image of how they hope things to look once restrictions allow:
Credit : Burn It Up North Shields |
- The Pavilion - A covered outdoor ampitheatre where live music, quizzes, bingo and events will be held. Table service food & drinks.
- The Picture Yard - An outdoor cinema area with a big screen home to live sports and cinema under the stars. Please note, this area is uncovered.
- The Village Hall - Another covered area with seating where you can book experiences such as kids cooking classes, arts and crafts, take a mad scientist cocktail class....
- Feasterley Street/ Gin Street - Where you'll find a variety of street food vendors and bars (uncovered)
The Picture Yard - Credit Burn It Up |
The Pavilion |
The Pavilion |
The Village Hall |
Gin Street |
The Village Hall |
The Pavilion |
Booking & Ordering Process at Burn It Up North Shields
Booking
Book your table for Burn It Up online here. Burn It Up will 'hold' a deposit of £5 per person but this will only be charged if you do not turn up. At the moment, tables only fit up to 6 people around them. You can book in accordance to 'rule of 6' or 'two households'. Generally, your table is booked for 3 hours.
If you are two households and there are more than 6 of you, pop a note in the special requests box when booking to confirm you are two households and would like tables next to each other.
On booking, you will be required to complete a few basic details for track and trace. This will be deleted within 21 days of your booking. You can opt in to receive updates from Gutterball at this time too.
Booking ahead is definitely advised, especially during peak times but you can just turn up if there are tables free too.
Arrival
The first thing you will notice on arrival is that there is lots of security. At the entrance, you complete your track and trace information, your booking is checked, you are asked to use hand sanitiser and your temperature is scanned (adults only).
You then walk through the barriers to the box office where a member of staff will confirm your booking and someone will show you to your table. We wore face coverings when moving around between tables which I assume is needed for now.
Ordering
I actually love this way of ordering and think it will work fantastic for groups. Everyone can order their own stuff as and when without worrying about splitting the bill / queuing at the bar. There is no trying to catch the staff's eye if you want to order something and if you fancy you can just randomly order a pizza after a few beers even if nobody else in your group is eating. This system really lends itself well to groups. I know a few places have adopted something similar and I hope it is here to stay.
We visited on a Monday night between 5 & 6pm. It was really quiet (I think there were maybe 6 other tables there) and service was extremely prompt. I couldn't fault them at all.
I know Burn It Up has been a lot busier on weekends and that they did struggle at times to keep the pints rolling on Saturday when Newcastle were playing on the big screen and had to pause service for a while. BUT this was the first Saturday after restrictions eased, it was sunny and the toon were playing. I can't imagine how many pints were ordered over the course of the afternoon and of course they were going to be rushed off their feet and I wouldn't expect service to be perfect on an opening weekend like this. I think as time goes on, they will get to grips with busier periods and hopefully service will be just as quick in peak times as all of the staff we encountered seemed to be pretty on the ball and the food vendors are all experienced in attending large events and coping with demand.
Once your food and drinks are ready, staff (who were all wearing face coverings) will bring it over to your table and you take it from the tray. It just turns up as soon as it is ready so it is fairly informal - don't expect your whole table to be served together. Our pizzas arrived within minutes with the Greek Gyros and Burgers taking a little longer.
If you need to order extra drinks etc.....simply order again via the app.
Is Burn It Up North Shields Child Friendly?
There is a kids menu which you can order from as normal through the app (scroll to the bottom of this post to see it) or you can order snacks / main meals for kids too. There are slushies!
My kids are all aged 10+ and personally, I would feel happy taking them into bars / places where alcohol is sold and the same goes for Burn It Up. At the moment, as everyone needs to be seated and it's table service, I don't expect there to be much in the way of drunkenly bad behaviour. There are loads of security about and I strongly suspect Burn It Up are keen to avoid any kind of COVID fines and will be keeping behaviour in check.
If you aren't keen on large gatherings where alcohol is sold, I would try and visit at a quiet time and avoid sunny weekends / football matches / Friday nights etc.... Although the venue is outdoor and sticks to COVID guidelines when it comes to table bookings, table service etc......, this venue can seat up to 1000 guests so if you are not ready for crowds just yet, I would probably hold off visiting for now. We visited on a Monday night after school/work and it was quiet with a nice chilled vibe. There was music playing and I actually liked it being quiet as service was so quick.
May Kids Fest
If you wish to attend more than one event (ie one after the other) you will have to make multiple bookings - one for each event as they are usually in separate areas.
This looks like it might be a nice way to get a few friends and kids together for a catch up. Burn It Up is classed as an outdoor venue when it comes to Government guidelines/meeting others.
These are the timings / areas according to the Burn It Up Facebook page. Please double check this info when booking as we know how things can change:
- Kids Club is in the Pavilion at 9am (select Kids Club from the booking menu)
- Kids Crafts are in the Village Hall at 9am (select Kids Crafts from the booking menu)
- Kids Films are in the Picture Yard at 10:30am (select Picture Yard from the booking menu)
Remember, all of these events are FREE (usual booking terms apply)
- Meet Anna, Elsa, Mickey and Olaf at Kids Club
- Create a Seaside Wreath with Kids Crafts
- Toy Story Movie in the Picture Yard
- Meet Buzz, Rex, Jessie and Woody at Kids Club
- Create a Seaside Glow Jar with Kids Crafts
- Trolls Movie Time in the Picture Yard
- Meet Mike, Sully, Minnie & Daisy at Kids Club
- Create a Dragon Egg with Kids Crafts
- Finding Nemo Movie Time in the Picture Yard
- Meet Elsa, Anna, Sven and Mickey at Kids Club
- Create Wizards and Hedwig Trees at Kids Craft
- Matilda Movie Time in the Picture Yard
Burn It Up North Shields - Food & Drinks
In the past, I have also been out with people on strict diets (hello Atkins!) and friends have met us later in the evening for drinks. I like that with this system, diners and non-diners can all enjoy the whole night together.
There is a dietary menu available via the app and kids meals are available too.
There were no leftovers, I will say that portions are not substantial but that was fine for us for a midweek tea. If you are looking for a larger meal, I would recommend ordering a side as well as a main.
I didn't try everything but I feel like Dee and I raved about the pizzas more so they are what I would recommend. Jack also really loved his chicken wings which he ordered plain (various sauces are available too).
Burn It Up North Shields - Would I Recommend?
Yes! I will probably avoid peak times as I know it will slow service down and slow service does my head in but I will happily visit on a weekday night with the kids again. We really enjoyed our night and the kids thought it was cool too.
I was saying to Steve that it is on a bus route for both us in Cramlington AND Steve's sister and parents so once restrictions allow for more mixing (currently 17 May), it will be a fantastic location for a family birthday tea and drinks out - kids on one table, adults on another. Even better that we won't have the awkwardness of splitting the bill at the end as we will all be able to simply order what we want, when we want.
The staff we encountered were all so friendly and the food and drinks were all perfect too. I couldn't fault a thing. I like that there is a huge menu and variety of foods so there is something for everyone and I am a huge fan of ordering through an app like this and that there's no waiting around for the bill.
I like that you can book a covered area in advance which means you don't have to rely on the British weather when planning a night out.
The COVID procedures in place were excellent - table service, temperature taking, track and trace, lots of security, having to use hand sanitiser on arrival, clean loos and venue, disposable (and recyclable) packaging, the fact that it is outdoors........
My 21 yr old niece visited on opening weekend with friends for a spot of day drinking and loved it too. I can see it being a popular place!
Anything Else We Should Know?
The toilets for the Pavilion are shared with Village Hall. They are actually really decent. For the ladies, they are located inside of a bus. They are proper flushing loos and granted it was quiet but on the night of our visit, they were nice and clean with plenty of loo roll and hand sanitiser/soap etc....Special Events at Burn It Up North Shields
From 17 May, groups of up to 30 people can gather outdoors and Burn It Up are allowing you to make group bookings of this size after this date. However tables can only seat 6 people so you need to book in groups of 6 and then add in the notes section of your booking that you'd like tables next to each other.
There is a £5 booking/holding fee per person which will only be charged if you don't turn up.
Please note, events may change. I am sure there will be many more announcements but at the moment, we have:
Food & Drinks Prices at Burn It Up North Shields
Click on any of the images to zoom in if needed.
Looking for an alternative venue? Click this post to find out why we preferred The Secret Garden
Nearby Attractions to Burn It Up North Shields
For drinkers, Royal Quays across the road has a new Micropub by Black Storm Brewery with regular live music planned and Second Bite is a CIC serving parmos, pizzas, local coffee and lager/cider too.
For shoppers, Royal Quays has recently filled a lot of their space with new vendors including Discover which is a one-stop shop which stocks lots of local North East brands, Hauticulture which is a lush artificial flower store and there is a brand new garden centre next to the Next outlet.
For kids, Inflata Nation across the road re-opens on 21 May, Gutterball bowling and arcades (which shares a site with Burn It Up) hope to reopen on 17 May and Percy Main Playground is a short walk away. You can also easily walk along to North Shields Marina and check out the boats (there is a huge P&O cruise ship docked there at the minute).
Sadly, there is no news on when/if Wet n Wild will re-open any time soon. Their last update was in February 2020.
1 - Click here to buy me a virtual coffee
2 - Join our Days Out Facebook Group here which includes lots of ideas for things to do - you can post your own recommendations too.
Remember face coverings are required for indoor attractions / shops for those aged 11+ (usual exemptions apply)
Check for local lockdowns / travel restrictions before visiting anywhere.
Always check updated opening hours / protocols with venues direct before setting off as things may have changed after this post was published.
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