Italian restaurant near Scala, King's Crosspizza and pasta before the gig at Fiena

The building at 275 Pentonville Road was designed as a cinema and was nearly finished when the First World War broke out. Instead of showing films, it was used to make aeroplane parts, and after the war as a labour exchange. It finally opened in 1920 as the King's Cross Cinema, with more than 1,000 seats and an orchestra to play along to the films.

Over the following decades it became the Gaumont and then the Odeon, and in 1972 it hosted Iggy & The Stooges' only UK concert; the photographs taken that night became the cover of their album Raw Power. From 1981 it was the Scala Cinema, a much-loved repertory cinema that opened with the 1933 King Kong, until it closed in 1993 after losing a court case over an unauthorised screening of A Clockwork Orange. Since 1999 it has been the club and music venue it is today. Background from Scala's building history and Wikipedia's Scala page.

• No re-admission: once you're in, you're in, so eat before the doors open.
• Age and ID: most events are 18+, and if you're under 25 you'll be asked for ID. Some events require original physical photo ID for everyone, so check the event details.
• Standing venue: Scala is a standing venue with limited seating and plenty of stairs. If you need a seat for mobility reasons, contact the venue.

Details from Scala's admission page; see scala.co.uk for what's on.

From our door it's about 640 metres, roughly a 9-minute walk (walking route from OpenStreetMap): via Leigh Street, Cromer Street and Argyle Street, then up Gray's Inn Road to King's Cross Bridge and Pentonville Road. Scala says it's a 3-minute walk from King's Cross and St Pancras stations, so if you're coming by train, you can eat with us and still be at the doors in ten minutes. See our posts on eating near King's Cross St Pancras and Platform 9¾.

Our main menu starts at midday. A pizza is the classic pre-gig dinner: the Margherita, the Diavola pepperoni with spicy nduja, or the Capricciosa, with a gluten-free base available. For pasta, the Spaghetti carbonara, Linguine Fiena with chicken, mushrooms and cream, and Penne arrabiata are favourites, and gluten-free penne is available for every pasta dish. The Fiena burger, with smashed beef patties and chips, is a filling option too. See our posts on the Margherita, carbonara and the Fiena burger.

Tell your server what time doors open and we'll do our best to keep things moving. From the bar, a Draft Moretti, a Margarita or one of our spritzes gets the night started; alcoholic drinks are served from 10:30. See our post on pre-theatre dinner.

Plenty of guests come to us straight off the train. Anastasia wrote: Straight from Kings Cross to this cozy warm food in December, exactly what was needed (Anastasia, Google review) And Ciara's group were fitted in as walk-ins on a busy day: The service was quick and friendly (Ciara, Google review).

“A hidden gem not far from Kings Cross or Euston”

Celia, Google review, 2026