Business leaders hope a new venture opened on Bristol's Harbourside will signal the end for the binge-drinking culture that has blighted the area.

Instead of blaring music and bouncers, customers at The Harbourside can listen to classical music while enjoying a locally sourced meal and a glass of wine.

The bistro also has a small shop where customers can browse, an oyster bar and sofas outside, where they can relax waiting for a trip with the Bristol Ferry Boat Company, which uses the venue as a front of house for their boat trips.

The bistro, on the former site of The River bar, was opened on June 18 by architect George Ferguson and business partners Oli Wells and brothers Jamie and Matt Pike.

Their venture halts a trend of venues closing down on the waterfront, with three bars closing in recent months. In March, Chicago Rock closed its doors, while The River bar closed in January and Baja Bar shut in 2008.

Mr Ferguson says he and his business partners are on a mission to change the whole perception of the area.

He said: "We are on a mission to change the whole culture at the Harbourside. There is an opportunity now that some of the drinking establishments have closed to make the area nicer and more ethical.

"What we have opened is very different. We will have classical music rather than heavy humping music.

"It is not about being posh. We want this to be for everybody. It is about being a bit more cultured than loud shouty drinking in a slightly threatening culture which has displaced a lot of people.

"We hope that we will be the start of a new culture at the Harbourside that is not reliant on heavies on the door.

"We see ourselves as a new gateway to the Harbourside which will begin to define it as a place for small businesses instead of the big chains that have dominated the area."

Mr Ferguson says the bistro is intent on sourcing local produce and three chefs from the Star and Dove in Totterdown have been brought in.

He said: "There is locally sourced food and drink and a shop selling teas, herbs and remedies. There is also an oyster bar and we are in negotiations with the council about putting a market along the walkway outside.

"We have an ethical stance and are determined to source 90 per cent of food from the local region. There are beers from the Bristol Beer Factory and English wines and bubbly. There are a few European wines but we are trying to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible."

Dick Penny of the Watershed, which is letting the property to The Harbourside, said: "It's just the sort of place we hoped would open on the site.

"It's someone who is committed to localism and really wants to engage with the city and make it a better place. We are delighted."

John Hirst, operations director for Destination Bristol, said: "It's a comfortable place with a nice pleasant environment. I took my seven- year-old son for dinner there and he had a great time.

"As a family we would never have entertained going into what I call 'vertical drinking bars'.

"We want to open the area to everybody, not just people aged between 18 and 25. We want everyone to feel they can go and visit the area – this is another piece in the jigsaw for me."