BITE user comments - SocietalHeretic
Comments by SocietalHeretic
For a comprehensive look at all pubs in Gloucester go to 'We Live in Gloucester'
30 Mar 2011 11:30
A 'housing estate' pub in the suburbs of the town with a large garden and good food served in the evenings. Quite blokey and frequented by a good number of locals but nevertheless comfortable for the out-of-towner. Plenty of room and good service.
31 Oct 2010 18:14
Wonderful proper pub with flagstone floors and open fire, nestling in the Devon countyside next to a tiny stream that provides the water for the pub's own brew. A trip to the toilet takes you out the wooden door, across the shingle stones and into the facilities with the sound of the bubbling brook in your ears. The beer is good as is the food and unusually (nowadays) the pub was full on a rainy Tuesday night outside the tourist season...
31 Oct 2010 18:09
This pub has two bars, the larger one being a restaurant, and a garden out back. The landlord is friendly and a few real ales are available on draft including Abbot Ale which came with a free metal tankard when I was there in Summer. The interior is traditional and inviting and dogs are welcome in the garden. The food and service are very good but inevitably the beer prices are expensive. Worth a visit if you ever find yourself thirsty and hungry in this little town.
6 Oct 2010 13:25
This modern Harvester purpose built 'pub' is more of a restaurant than a drinking den but there's plenty of room on one side to imbibe without eating. The place is surrounded by car parks and a busy duel carriageway so the view's not its attraction. There's no real ale but the Guinness is quite good and not 'extra cold'. The prices are reasonable, especially the food which includes unlimited trips to the salad bar and free cola refills for children and designated drivers.
5 Oct 2010 17:35
Since my last comment on this fine old pub the service has improved and the atmosphere is a little more salubrious. There's a good simple menu offering food all day and dogs are welcome in the courtyard. The prices have risen too but it's still not the most expensive pub in town.
5 Oct 2010 17:24
Since my last comments this pub has improved: a lot cleaner and more staff behind the bar. The real ale is good and very cheap but don't bother trying the Guinness. Still lots of room for improvement ...
22 Sep 2010 17:52
The Cross Keys Inn, Gloucester
Quite relaxing dark old pub with a few tables outside. Never seen it busy and it's not cheap but a safe stop for anyone wanting a good pint of ale or Guinness (I can't take lager drinkers seriously).
22 Sep 2010 17:46
This magnificient old building is the true real ale drinkers pub (8 pumps) in town but suffers from a lack of customers and consequently a lack of atmosphere. The garden is just tables in the car park and could be better. Not bad though for a pint and a meal.
27 Apr 2010 19:16
As Cheltenham is a town for robots it doesn't have any 'pubs' as such but if you ever find yourself in this area then this chain-pub has real ale, a nice big garden and wooden tables and chairs to relieve the monotony of the chrome and leather that furnishes most of the royal spa's pit stops. If you talk to any of the locals though don't forget to let them re-boot before you hear their metallic, microchip modulated response ... But hey guys, hey chics! Enjoy your fantastic evening - wow!
27 Apr 2010 17:04
Anywhere else in the world this pub/hotel would be a thriving focal point and oft- mentioned-in-travel-guides establishment, but this genuine medieval building and wonderful courtyard is reduced to a reluctant centre of hospitality serving a few old blokes and the occasional tourist. The establishment sums up the Gloucester experience totally: medieval building, medieval mentality...
27 Apr 2010 16:50
I�ve had a tempestous relationship with this establisment since moving to Gloucester in 2003. The building, the interior, the well, all seem to conjour up a genuine bohemian atmosphere but in the end there�s just too many Glostovians hanging around to really lift it out of the City�s parochial bias. You might think you�re in Prague or London but a chat with the regulars will quickly reorientate you in the haystack intelligence of the locals. Still, if you�ve stumbled into Gloucester from elsewhere then this place is the closest you can get to civilisation in town.
27 Apr 2010 16:29
Cosy old pub with big open fireplace offering tasty food and a good range of ales. Staff always friendly and garden outback. Only ever been there in the daytime though and it's never very busy (shame).
26 Apr 2010 10:34
The Deans Walk Inn, Gloucester
Fine old pub with flag stone floors and open fire. Full of locals but not unfriendly to the outsider. Very good staff but very rarely has real ale. Generally has a lively atmosphere and is worth a visit if you're in the area, but could be a lot better ...
21 Apr 2010 17:53
The North End Vaults, Gloucester
If you want sample the �low life� of Gloucester any pub will do but if you want to really hit rock bottom then this is the place to be. An assorted crowd of tattooed cackling women and their decrepit blokes, sporting various black eyes, cut and bruises all gulping down Stella. I don�t find the pub particularly threatening though and with Doombar at �2.15 a pint you can quickly become as drunk as the regulars.
8 Apr 2010 10:31
Nice little dark and brown pub, full of character with large tiffany lamps hanging over the tables. You�ll need to take your own crowd to do it justice though as it rarely has more than a few (male) customers. The staff are good but only one real ale on when I was there last week. They have tables outside but you can�t take your drink out which is a shame as that would really make this tavern a place to be in all weathers.
2 Apr 2010 10:52
Another 'Spoon pub that only serves as a public toilet when I'm Stroud. Full of unhappy blokes drowning their self-inflicted sorrows in the cheapest lager in town. This pub was cheap and cheerful a few years ago but now it's become cheap and NASTY. I'm not against Whetherspoon and their ever expanding national pub empire but their low pricing policy seems to be turning their pubs into community centres for chavs' dads.
28 Mar 2010 16:37
Great little music themed pub with garden out back. Friendly staff and friendly crowd enjoying themselves and although many of them knew each other I didn't feel like an unwelcome stranger butting in on a private conversation. Good age range and dogs are welcome. Cheese toasties available for �2 and other simple meals too. Best pub I've experienced in Stroud so far ...
28 Mar 2010 16:12
A interesting small city centre pub that reminds me of many London pubs. Plenty of good real ales and some heavy drinkers around the bar. Good staff and tables outside to watch the busy street.
26 Mar 2010 20:57
I don't how this place survives - it always seems near enough empty. Nothing really wrong with it though but not much right either. Good food served all day and very clean are it's strong points, but no atmosphere, no character and no customers...
24 Mar 2010 20:22
A great �real� pub situated near all the pretentious crap places along the waterside. Serves food at lunch time and has a good selection of real ales. Friendly staff and always a pleasent atmosphere even when empty (which isn�t often).
24 Mar 2010 19:47
The Varsity Gloucester, Gloucester
Wetherspoon type large pub serving food all day but with more atmosphere and a sporting theme. Better food than �Spoon though and more expensive. Attracts mostly a young crowd to watch the large screen sports coverage, but a few old displaced agricultural workers hang around the bar to remind you that you�re in Gloucester. The real ale is cheap though sometimes of dubious quality but, all in all, it�s not a bad place to imbibe for a (short) while.
24 Mar 2010 19:36
Another Wetherspoon pub for Gloucester opened about three years ago. Modern decor and not as large as many �Spoon pubs. The usual cheap beer with a good selection of real ale and passable grub to line the stomach. Not much atmosphere and usually understaffed, but a nice garden out back and an acceptable stop for the thirsty shopper.
24 Mar 2010 14:02
This used to be an acceptable place for a cheap pint before retiring to a proper tavern for the real pub experience. However, lately I�ve found the place to be a real dive with loud swearing locals, dirty plates with half finished meals strewn across the tables and long queues at the bar waiting to be served by the ever changing harassed staff. As an ex-cinema it�s still big enough to find a quiet table away from the rabble but you�d have to be desperate...
24 Mar 2010 13:56
Robert Raikes House, Gloucester
More of a museum than a pub after the expensive renovations carried out just a few years ago, which included a name change to 'The Robert Raikes House' A magnificent three storey Tudor building authentically restored both in and out. An unusual layout for a pub as it comprises separate -quite small rooms- rather than large lounge areas. The decor would suggest an expensive country hotel rather than a reasonably priced drinking hole in an unfashionable city, but the latter is the experience offered, albeit with tasty food on the side. As a Samuel Smith pub the beers offered are all from that brewery � all excellent quality, many still below �2 a pint. I recommend the Wheat beer especially! Great with food and easy to drink a lot without feeling ill. The staff are excellent and a large patio lies behind the pub for the smokers to shiver in through the long Gloucestershire winter (October to July).
Referring back to the layout of the pub, perhaps one criticism might be that the bar is rather small and contained in a separate room in which the inevitable collection of male regulars congregate and become louder and �friendlier� as the drinking day progresses. I�ve heard a few female friends of mine complain of going to the bar to order as an uncomfortable experience...
23 Mar 2010 17:37
This pub has had a number of management changes over the last few years as well as some periods of complete closure, but it looks now as if the current regime will restore it to the fine pub it was about six years ago.
Nestling in a pretty courtyard and reached by a little alley from Westgate Street the charming old building provides a cosy place to eat and drink (log fire burning in cold weather). A good selection of real ales including a delicious pint of Tribute are offered next to a decent pint of Guinness and the usual cold lagers for the younger patron. The staff are amazingly efficient and professional (I can only assume they�ve all been recruited from outside the city), and the food served is of very good quality. Neither the food or beer are cheap but that�s not a criticism as the quality of this pub experience is maintained throughout your visit, and ultimately no �real� pub can survive offering cheap booze anymore.
My only criticism � a minor one � is the background music selection which seems to be an insipid collection of eighties electro pop, endlessly repeated! A would suggest a more intuitive approach to musical choice might improve the ambience somewhat.
23 Mar 2010 17:28
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Linden Tree, Gloucester
Probably the best pub in the city of Gloucester - old building, old furniture, garden, loads of real ale, Guinness and Murphys. It even has what very few pubs have these days: a friendly landlord and CUSTOMERS!
To read about all pubs in Gloucester, Google 'we live in gloucester'.
31 Mar 2011 11:19