please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
The Artful Dodger was the final of 22 pubs sampled in York this time round and was on my route back to the station. It's a long, thin rockers bar with more ciders than ales. The 3 beers were Hop Studio Fire and Ice, Sonnet 43 Steam Beer Amber Ale & Anarchy Sublime Chaos Breakfast Stout. The ciders were Snails Bank Orchard Dry, Farmer Jims Sweet, Twisted Desert Dry & Pure North Have 'n' Apple. Two new ciders for me. I felt the place lacked a bit of atmosphere. Although this was Monday afternoon.
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Decent little boozer. No complaints here.
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The highlight was having a tv screen in the beer tap, but other than that, unless you're on a pub wander, there isn't much reason to drink here.
Which is probably why as I walked up to the bar, the two members of staff looked so bemused when someone other than their buddies walked in.
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Beer & service were ok but not sure that we would go back there again....
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tis ok, 6/10 for beer
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Give it a miss and nip into the Ackhorne instead.
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Used to go in here a lot 10 years ago when it was Walkers Bar. Ale is ok, decor a bit weird, like a lot of Micklegate pubs there are better options for a quieter pint but seemed ok for the football crowd.
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Some cask ales on, but more of a bar than a pub. If you want to listen to the music or watch football on TV, I'm sure it would be fine. If you want a quiet drink, there are far better places around.
alexw - 17 Feb 2010 17:42 |
Really disliked this place. For a start the shape of the building makes it totally unsuitable to be a pub. Long & narrow its like drinking in a corridor. This makes it very difficult to move around, & the bar area is terrible to try & get served because of the "barflys" who won't move out of the way. Loud music & sports on several TV's. 3 real ales but mine was far too cold. The rear part has large muralled walls featuring Dickensian scenes in keeping with the pub's name. The only thing I did like was when I finally managed to push my way to the bar one of the beer pumps had a tiny built in TV showing football. Quite quirky, but not enough to get me to return.
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On the plus side, there's a decent choice of drinks (york brewery ales, good selection of bottled and draught lagers, alco-pops and a very good range of spirits) and opening hours are good. There was a poster advertising the super bowl, so must have stayed open til 3 at least!
Unfortunately the barman was unfriendly and intrusive. Didn't feel welcome in this bar at all. (I got the impression I was expected to purchase huge amounts of alcohol, as opposed to enjoying a pint slowly).
Despite being pretty much empty, the music was still very loud (heavy metal). Not quite sure what this bar is trying to be, a decent cocktail bar, a warm-up for the nearby clubs, or an 'alternative' establishment like cert18.
Probably the only place on micklegate that'll still serve you at 2am apart from the clubs though.
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Very cramped, crap drinks selection and unfriendly staff.
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Good for cheap beers and chatting up drunk girls. Nice bar staff. Can get very busy/noisy on certain nights, other times quite quiet.
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Forgot to mention the well presented layout of the drinks and also the special offers at this pub and the artful dodger card for a pound. This entitles you to other special drinks offers.
Make a visit here
You will be glad you did
Scouser Larry
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I visited this pub in Februay 2006. I must say a welcoming manager and the trendy long bar. Also the cocktails they were great and I nearly had them all. I met quite a lot of nice people here. The t.v. on the bar pump. Not to mention the funny and very helpful bar staff.
I went back to the artful dodger in March. I consider this establishment as a my local when I visit York. I believe the real ale they sell has been approved by CAMRA for an award. Can't fault this pub.
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Called in as I'd never been before, must say not my cup of tea but Timothy Taylor was one of the best I've had, one long room bar staff quiet friendly, like the small televisions on the bar pumps.
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The last time this place was anygood was when the guy from Grimsby & his wife had it back in 98/99, used to get well busy for the 3 hour daily happy hour, nowadays just smells like a bad day at a fart factory.
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This bar has been through various name changes and refits in recent times (previously known as Bar W, and Walkers Bar). It does not seem to have changed much despite this and is still atmoshpere-less and uninspiring.
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