please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Recently reopened under its former name, The St. Aldate's Tavern and early signs fro this free house are hugely encouraging. Friendly service and an excellent range of food are supplemented by a well chosen selection of ales (Black Sheep, White Horse, Old Hooky). The duck egg blue colour scheme might be a bit tooo tasteful for some but care has been put in and let's hope the location of this pub doesn't encourage too much of a transient following.
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Closed when visited on saturday 21/5/11
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The St Aldates Tavern seem s to have come on leaps and bounds since the new people took over. Had a very pleasant night in there recently and enjoyed good real ales and a divers group of people.
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Now re-opened. Pretty much unchanged from before.
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Currently closed. Rumour is that the pub owning company have gone bust.
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Called in after the Oxford beer festival as someone said it had changed, but although it looked cleaner from being painted, the basic character seemed the same as previous visits. Always call in when doing a crawl of Oxford. Enjoyed Wizard Lundy Gold before heading back for the train after a wonderful real ale day out.
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Visited on and off over the years (I'm sure it was something else before this - the Bulldog??) and always found it to be consistent, although not excellent, reliable town pub. The ale selection is reasonable (always Wychwood on which doesn't float my particular boat but White Horse and others were available on my last appearance), and usually in good form. Friendly service, and plenty of seating. However, the place does resemble a barrack room and sadly, it just somehow manages to exude no real atmosphere.
Undoubtedly a worthy stop-off on an Oxford crawl; my recommendation would be to perhaps pick up a swift half here before launching oneself into the bigger-hitters. But I can't go so far as to say it would be worthwhile to stay for an all-evening session. Make up your minds for yourself when you go.
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Good pub but can lack atmosphere if you go out of peak times. Recommended for a pint and a chat. Good Juke box
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More popular with locals than tourists or students. No frills here, just a solid basic boozer opposite the Town Hall. Food served lunchtimes only. Usually five real ales available including Wychwood Hobgoblin and a couple from the Wizard brewery. They have recently installed Sky Sports making this one of the very few pubs in Oxford centre to have it.
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Usually 3-4 ales on. Hobgoblin is a mainstay and always very nice.
The client�le can be a bit on the mad/chavy side but they don't seem overtly horrible and I have never seen any bother in there. In fact, the tourists who seem to wander in, look around and then wander out are more of an annoyance as far as I am concerned.
Staff always efficient and friendly enough, although I get the feeling that if I were a posh student with plumbs in my mouth, this would not be true and rightly so.
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I agree with other reviews, slightly scruffy with more of a town than gown feel to it,some excellent ales on tap and friendly enough service. As has been said already not outstanding but worth a visit if in the area.
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Ex Hobgoblin pub and still has that scruffy student feel. Seven casks from Wychwood, White Horse and other breweries. Flags and pump clips on the ceiling. Good relaxed atmosphere. Nice place. Nothing really special - there's a pub like this in a number of towns - so not one to single out, but great as part of a crawl, or if you happen to be in this part of Oxford.
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Better when it was the bulldog a proper Oxford pub !
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Another pub we always call in when visiting Oxford for its good beer range. Enjoyed the real ales on offer.
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I visited this pub recently on a Saturday night after an absence of 9 years. The beer and service were pretty good, the pub was busy and tidy, there was lively Heavy Metal/Hard Rock crowd in which added to the good atmosphere. Felt like a real town centre pub again. Worth a visit if you're not the conservative type.
anonymous - 6 Aug 2007 16:18 |
Once one of the better pubs in Oxford, now a quieter backwater. The beer range is safe and steady and the feel of the place is dowdier.
Cheaper snacks at lunchtime make it worth going in to, but not a pub for the evening.
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Not one of my favourite Oxford pubs, but is slightly larger than some of the others, and it doesn't seem to get the tourists in, so there was room to sit down, which there wasn't in some of the others, notably The Bear.
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Good beers and honest food. Student discount, but by no means a student pub. Very friendly staff in general, and fantastic location. Possibly the town centre pub most worth a visit. Curious lack of places to sit or stand for such a large building.
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Definitely consistent with its Hobgoblin past, some of the beers were from the Wychwood range on our visit. Good seating areas and plenty of room for sociable drinking. Recommended.
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UPDATE: Pub now known as St Aldates Tavern. New photo uploaded. 4 or 5 real ales on tap, mainly regional breweries. Fullers/Brakspears on when I visited on 21/04/06. The Good Beer Guide entry, which states food is available all day, is out of date. Food is no longer served in the evenings.
The staff were friendly enough to recommend the Old Tom down the road for that. Live music Thurs/Fri.
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This is now called the St.Aldates Tavern, and it's still excellent.
�1.50 a pint on Monday and Thursday evenings = bargain. Get there early if you want a seat though...
The bar staff are nearly always foreign, and always interesting!
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tatty pub frequented by crazy people. barmaid was nice tho.
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Not bad for central Oxford, but nowhere near as good as the Reading Hobgoblin - no decent cider and a bit too cavernous for my taste.
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I agree with Monty - this is second only to Reading.
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As a previous member of staff, I am glad to see our efforts to make patrons feel welcome, and to help them have a good time ;) were not wasted. It is definitely down to the managers' (Pam and Andy Wilson) excellent training and care for their staff's happiness that people like this pub so much.
I hope Pam and Andy are still there. I haven't visited for a while because I was trying to wind Andy up and I don't think it came out the way I meant it :/
I'm a bit embarrassed :)
I miss the atmosphere there. It's one of the best.
Tristan - 24 Feb 2004 23:06 |
If you want friendly barstaff, this is definately the place
Gizmo - 16 Feb 2004 18:18 |
excellent pub, used to be a bit of a favourite when i lived in oxford. very easy to get very drunk and partake of the services of the conveniently positioned kebab van outside.
watched an england footy match in there when it was still the Bulldog - now that was scary....
Duncan - 23 Dec 2003 09:58 |
its not that small mate. easily medium sized
alex - 26 Oct 2003 01:55 |
A nice pub with a proper atmosphere. The staff are good and there is a decent rage of guest beers. Not as good as the Hobgoblin in Reading but against the others in the chain I have visted it comes second.
Monty - 13 Aug 2003 12:34 |
Tiny little pub, with masses of character, semi - decent pub grub and a wide range of beers. Nice atmosphere - can get a little noisy when there is a sports event on. It gets crowded in the evening too. Well worth a visit if you like Wychwood ales.
Lucy - 13 Jun 2003 11:05 |
