Crown, Birminghamback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Now closed.
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You don't go there for the real ale because there isn't any. What this pub does have is a quirky, lively and apparently gay-friendly atmosphere. Saturday nights might not be for the faint-hearted but for a taste of traditional Birmingham life plus some good 1980s reggae from the DJ, it's definitely worth a try.
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Like its namesake on Corporation Street this place should be so much better. It doesn't look much from the outside but inside it seems very welcoming. It's surrounded by restaurants, offices, opposite the station, near other decent pubs that could make it part of a good crawl. It should be buzzing but instead the clientele seem to be the sort that float from dive pub to dive pub selling dubious good from plastic bags.
Somebody should get hold of this place, smarten it up a bit, put a couple of handpulls in and make it worth visiting. Once New St reopens properly this will be the first pub visitors to the city will see and it could be an absolute goldmine.
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A historic pub apparently, near New Street which in common with much of Birmingham's centre is undergoing an upgrade. Has never had real ale when I have been there which admittedly is limited to two visits, both on karaoke nights. Pub seems friendly enough and in many ways more like a street-corner local than a city centre pub.
Items on the walls inexplicably include a rainbow-coloured picture of David Mach's sculpture "Out of Order" which is to be found 120 miles away in Kingston. This next to a notice about a regular who sadly passed away recently, which suggests that this is a pub which has regulars and where people care about them. Beer was Mitchell and Butler's Brew XI which used to be the beer of custom around Brum before all the pubs, it seems, went over to Mad Goose. They can't all have done. This one hasn't.
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I just had a few beers in there last night, the first time in about 40 years (I moved out of Brum in the mid 70's) and I'm glad to say I felt right at home. Very little had changed, the gents was smelly and the bar staff friendly, if a little nervous. There was a minor fight which was quickly dealt with, and there was one of the few differences I found; not that there was a fight, those happened regularly, it just happened to be between two lesbians over karaoke rights. What a great old pub. There was even a little old lady sat in the corner with her pint of stout. I'm sure she used to be there in the 60's. The Crown at the back of New Street station is a real part of the old Brummigem I knew as a teenager. Long may it remain so.
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Someone wants to upgrade about this public house, and actually put down where it is as its no where near the courts.
This place is in station street and hill street, and please visit the place before making comments, about another public house
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berkfromtrapdoor
I think you have the wrong pub, this is The Crown on Station Street at the back of New Street Station, The Crown by the Courts is up on Corporation Street opposite where Yates used to be.
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This pub has recently had a new gaffer take over, and she's made improvements.
Ignore the "no baseball caps, no football tops" sign that welcomes you at the front door, and take a moment to study the large grand interior of this pub. Now bring yourself back to reality, and realise that awful stench is the men's toilets that is situated right by the front door. Not the best first impression, but we'll carry on.
It's a standard M&B pub serving cheap food (not sampled), and a nothing-special range of drinks. Two real ales were on in my visit - an average Pedigree, and a very nice well-kept cold EPA.
The trouble with this pub is that's it's situated right by the courts, so the clientele is often somewhat off-putting and vagabondish to say the least. I've seen the new gaffer throw a few people out in my trips here (since I started working down the road from it a few months ago), which is more than I ever saw beforehand.
The pub itself is inoffensively decorated, but is dirty and riffy through years of neglect, and I was itching and scratching due to the plethora of flies buzzing around. Okay, it was a hot summer's afternoon, but nevertheless, it was somewhat of a dampener. Overall though, not bad, but not good.
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Visited this pub for a bet on Saturday Night and had the best night out I have had for ages..
This is a cracking back street boozer in the best tradition of Birmingham pubs of a few years back - before they invented Broad Street. Only one Ale , but good prices and friendly welcoming staff plus a real cross section of society in the customers - make for an entertaining evening. The Dj played everything from 80s , Rock , reggae , dance , cheese and everything we asked for - definately will be going again - very soon. 8 out of 10 (only deduction being for the ales not being on)
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It's a standard Birmingham Victorian pub, which is good.
It's a bit rough and ready, but the beer was Ok, the barman friendly, and I'll go again.
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Pablos sums this pub up in two words, those words being " eclectic mixture".
Not only is there an eclectic mixture of people who populate this pub every weekend, but also an eclectic mixture of music on their popular disco night every Saturday.
Always have a good laugh in this pub. The ladies toilets are not as bad as what i believe the gents to be and the beer is not badly priced for Birmingham city centre.
Look out for any themed nights, as they always put on a great evening.
If you are looking for modern gastro pub then stay away from The Crown.
If you like "proper" old fashioned boozers then it's a thumbs up (if you can look past its rough and ready appearence).
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A very large pub that despite its faults still retains a charm, not least for its architecture.
The location of the pub often sees us visit for the final drink prior to catching the train home. If i didnt use the train, i would use the pub less.
Yes the pub is a little shabby. Yes, you have to fight your way through the smokers that hang around the entrance like vultures around a corpse. Yes, the clientele is a mix of ALL kinds of Brummies. Yes, you need the artistry of Lionel Blair to dodge some of the 'puddles' in the gents and yes, the M&B MILD is a bit hit and miss, but i agree with pablos13, i have a little soft spot for it.
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Well worn professional drinkers pub. Flat caps and commuters quaff quickly amid the fading Victorian splendour. Not a place to bring a date. Enjoy it while you can as its can't last like this for long.
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Nice to see that the smoking ban is the only thing that's changed about the Crown, as swathes of nearby pubs have been lost in the last two years, with many of the survivors having been gentrified beyond recognition. The Crown remains, in the shadow of New Street station and just off a busy main road, an old-fashioned pub populated by an eclectic mixture of Brummies and the odd rail passenger who just can't stomach the vileness of New Street's effort at a pub.
It's a bit shabby around the edges (though some touches of grandeur, like the carving of the bar area, remain), the toilets are less than perfect and real ale is very much an intermittent feature, but I've always had a soft spot for the Crown and entering at 10 on a Sunday evening recently, only to be warmly welcomed and hear the opening strains of 'Novemeber Rain' start up, definitely helped nudge this up to a 7 for me.
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Have to reduce my rating from 6 to 4..
Went in here just after smoking ban and even though im a non smoker I wish the smell of smoke was back covering the stench of the toilets.
Come on sort it out!
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Bit shabby appearance wise, but friendly enough for a couple of pints later on a recent Friday night.
Prices okay.
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Good laugh everytime I go here. Good mix of ppl. Often only stay fdor one or 2 whilst toruing about town. Was in here on Sat 12/5. Good early evening atmosphere and good lager. Still cheap Newcastle Brown ale. 6/10
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Looks promising for a pint of MILD. This is a proper looking pub unfortunately the MILD is only M&B keg. With the promise of Gravedigger MILD at the Lamp Tavern and Hobsons MILD at The Anchor plus a couple of guests on our mini Birmingham MILD trail decided to give it a miss this time.
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Very good traditional pub. Comfy seats, friendly atmosphere and cheap drinks, There's a good juke box, and sometimes a disco ( mostly 60s and 70s music when we were there) with a dance floor. A great down to earth bar, handy for both Hippodrome and Alexandra theatres.
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Very old-fashioned pub in the shadow of New Street station (leave station by the sideexit by the taxi/bus rank/Stephenson House tower block). Cheap, friendly, has a tv for Sky football, basically a good place to pass the time if waiting for a train, as well as being popular with locals and workers from the railways and nearby construction sites.
Only downside is lack of real ale, but lager kept very well and Newcastle Brown cheap.
pablos13 - 8 Aug 2005 15:48 |
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