Photo: CAMRA / WhatPub
Effra Social: Darts in Brixton, London
Effra Social is a big, characterful Brixton pub in the old Effra Conservative Club on Effra Road, with a 1970s dance hall still intact and a games room called Studio 180 where you play the darts. This is not a scruffy free pub board in the corner. It is a bookable room with two lanes, an interactive dartboard and automatic scoring, the same gamified setup you get at the bigger darts bars. You can drop in for a single game or block out the whole room for a group. The most useful thing to know: the darts is paid and the room is 18+, so it suits a night out with mates rather than a quiet afternoon throw. Pints and a Jamaican-Turkish kitchen keep you going, and the place runs late at the weekend.
Contact
- Phone 020 7737 6800
- Website Visit site ↗
- Address 89 Effra Road, Brixton, London, SW2 1DF
Opening hours
- Mon 14:00-23:00
- Tue 12:00-23:00
- Wed 12:00-23:00
- Thu 12:00-00:00
- Fri 12:00-01:00
- Sat 12:00-01:00
- Sun 12:00-23:00
Good to know
- Darts
See the full pub page for Effra Social →
The darts setup
Darts here lives in Studio 180, the venue's dedicated games room. You get two lanes fed by an interactive dartboard with automatic scoring, so nobody is chalking up totals on a board or arguing about checkouts. Alongside the standard 501 you can run through the venue's range of gameplay challenges, the kind of arcade-style modes these electronic boards are built for. The same room doubles as a karaoke space, so it flips between throwing arrows and grabbing the mic depending on what you book. It is a self-contained room rather than a board bolted to the pub wall, which means you and your group get the lanes to yourselves for the session.
Good to know
You book the darts rather than just walk up to a free board. Pay per lane by the hour, roughly from £15 off-peak (Sunday to Thursday, and Friday and Saturday daytime) up to £25 in the Friday and Saturday evening peak, with some listings quoting a little higher. Want the whole room to yourselves? Private hire of Studio 180 starts around £150 plus a minimum spend. The room is strictly 18+, and under-18s aren't allowed in after 21:00. The wider pub is free to walk into, with £4.95 house pints Monday to Friday until 7pm, 2-for-£15 spritzers, and a Jamaican-Turkish kitchen from Jurkish for food.
Getting there
Effra Social sits at 89 Effra Road in Brixton, SW2 1DF, a short walk from Brixton Underground (Victoria line) and Brixton mainline station, so it is easy to reach for a group coming from across town. The building is the former Effra Conservative Club, a proper old social club with a dance hall left largely as it was in the 1970s, which gives the place far more character than a standard high-street bar. It opens late, until 1am on Friday and Saturday and midnight on Thursday, so you can roll a darts session into a longer night with DJs, comedy and the pub quiz on different days of the week.
Common questions
- What is Effra Social?
- It's a large Brixton pub at 89 Effra Road, SW2 1DF, set in the former Effra Conservative Club with a 1970s dance hall still in place. It runs a games room called Studio 180 where you play interactive darts and karaoke, alongside DJs, comedy nights and a pub quiz.
- Is the darts at Effra Social free?
- No. The pub itself is free to enter, but the darts is in the bookable Studio 180 room. You pay per lane by the hour, from around £15 off-peak up to £25 in the Friday and Saturday evening peak, or hire the whole room privately from about £150 plus a minimum spend.
- Do you need to book darts at Effra Social or can you just walk in?
- You book it. Studio 180 is reserved by the lane and you can book either a single game or the full room for a group, through DesignMyNight. It isn't a free pub board you can wander up to and play for nothing.
- How many dartboards does Effra Social have?
- Studio 180 is set with two lanes built around an interactive dartboard with an automatic scoring system, plus a range of gameplay challenges beyond standard 501.
- Is there an age limit for darts at Effra Social?
- Yes. Studio 180 is an 18+ space, and under-18s are not allowed in the room after 21:00.
- What is the nearest station to Effra Social?
- Brixton. Both Brixton Underground on the Victoria line and Brixton mainline station are a short walk from the pub on Effra Road.
Other darts bars nearby
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- The Sultan (Brixton) Brixton Hill (Lambeth), SW2
- Marquis of Lorne Brixton (Lambeth), SW9
- The Alexandra Clapham
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