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Wig and Gown, Highbury

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user reviews of the Wig and Gown, Highbury

please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.

As a previous review has stated. Staff unhelpful, the 'manager' is loud obnoxious and very rude. An unpleasant environment. Tried to have a few drinks with friends but the manager just kept cranking up the music. Beer is tasteless and the venue has an unpleasant odour.

There are much nice venues to have a beer on Holloway Road.
Stevie_75 - 17 Feb 2016 15:39
What a great bar. Super friendly bar staff that really go above and beyond to accommodate their punters as much as possible are a credit to their fantastic Aussie manager. Cold, cheap and wide ranging beer, this place is absolutely perfect for arsenal fans and rock/punk/metal fans alike!! Rock and metal at a level you can actually have a conversation at is a refreshing change from bars you have to shout at your mate sitting next to you at, whatever your music taste. I cannot wait to celebrate New Years Eve here!! This is a little gem of a bar. Could not recommend this place more!
HelKat13 - 10 Dec 2014 23:15
This is a very very boring pub, The manager is very violent and aggressive towards his customers. The beer is disgusting and all beer tastes like washing up liquid or some sort of detergent.The decor is very dark and ideal for goffs . I don't recommend this bar to anyone.very dull ,dirty,and unsafe. Also the staff don't know how much the beer is. The price goes up and down like a lift. I do hope it closes down very soon. I would like to see the back of it.
dannycannon - 23 Oct 2014 05:56
Completely renovated into a rock pub. Classic rock on the stereo, reasonably priced booze, and a foosball table into the bargain.
A great option for beers before a gig at The Garage. Shame not many people seem to have discovered it.
NikiJ - 13 Oct 2014 14:05
More of a bar than a pub although nothing like crappy chain bars. The interior is longish and narrow with a low ceiling giving the whole place a slightly claustrophobic feel. It is very popular with Arsenal fans before matches and the team's record during the 2003-4 is proudly emblazoned above one end of the bar. Cheap and cheerful food is available on match day (burgers, hot dogs, chips etc of the sort you would get from a van).

There were two pumps without clips and the juke box was too loud.

This is a convenient place for a pint before and after Arsenal matches but has nothing other than that to recommend it.
murgatroyd - 15 Mar 2012 12:14
Stay away, normally empty, but when it's not you wish it was,
Buyusadrink - 13 Aug 2011 13:44
Now a gourmet buger pub!!!! Had a swift pint here recently, only me, the barmaid and a double amputee, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife!!!
dalglish - 4 May 2010 14:46
The Wig and Gown is an excellent football pub on the Holloway road, I have gone their with friends for a few years now before and after Arsenal matches. The beer is excellent, usually Carling or Guinness is my preferred drink and it is always so fresh. The bar staff are excellent, very effiecient and you never wait more than a couple of minutes for a drink, even on a packed match day! The pub has about 8 Tvs around the walls, a couple of which are large screens, which show football from all around the world.

The atmosphere is always great, the crowd are friendly, even with a few away supporters, it is just a good all round football pub

The Wig recently had a massive make over inside and out, it is now looking even better, brand new bar, decor, flooring and seating areas, the bar pumps even have televisions on them...its great!! The wallpaper does take some getting used to though if im honest!

A wonderful pub that i hope to go to before and after Arsenal for years to come!
Swale_Gooner - 22 Jan 2010 12:52
There is only a standard draught selection in this small pub/bar, like most places in the local area. There is a pool table at the front and a dartboard at the back. There are also a few plasma screens for showing the football on Sky and there was some R and B droning from the speakers.

I found the barmaid to be friendly, but I cannot imagine drinking here again.

Strongers - 23 Aug 2009 21:29
looks OK, pool & darts but no real ales
oftenscore6 - 16 May 2009 15:37
you wont get me going back in there any time soon, trouble is all i'll say!
zardra - 16 May 2009 12:00
Very sporting. 7(?) TVs and football-fan beer choice (ie. only lager and bottled ale). Nice food.
PDofA - 23 Feb 2009 09:56
Well, barstool chummy obviously hasn't bothered to return to see if anything has changed, Lil' Red (ha ha!) has gone back to the old fave Wig and Gown, Football is again King and the place has had refit!!! Food on the bar on match days et al, no complaints except they have no real ale on draft.
funbrian - 23 Sep 2007 04:32
This dark, dank hell-hole is only worth visiting in order to admire the �up-yours pal� attitude of the two female bar-staff, who seem to think they are serving in some upmarket members-only club in the West End instead of a gloomy, empty, lager-joint on the Holloway Road. The comments of �Mr Monkfish�, who is clearly the owner, are just laughable. Yes, some American bars are great, but you have to do something a little better than sticking some pictures of the Mid West on the wall, kicking out the real ales (why, when all the best US bars pride themselves on their range of microbrews?), and upping the prices in order to reproduce that kind of atmosphere. When a place is completely empty every night of the week, with the exception of the barmaids� boyfriends, and a few overpaid footy fans when Arsenal are playing at home, there is a possibility that it is a �hidden gem�. Or there is a possibility that everyone has tried the place once, been outraged by the attitude of the staff, the dullness of the drinks (if you aspire to be a US bar then why is the range of beers the usual Eurofizz?) and the lack of any decent food (again how unlike a good US bar) that they have vowed never to return. I could add a mark for the pinball machine and the rootsy music, but really you wouldn�t want to stay here long enough to play on one or listen to the other.
barstool - 20 Nov 2006 20:06
Went here tonight to watch the match. It's a little pub with big tv screens. It's not smokey and the crowd is mixed - both ould fellas and a younger crew. It was very relaxed. I'll definitely go back here again.
anonymous - 12 Apr 2006 22:41
THIS PUB IS NOW A BAR CALLED "LIL' RED"
Did you know that when you come out of Highbury & Islington tube station you can also turn left? Who'd have thought it! Should you take this option you can avoid the familiar parade of Upper Street boozers and find "hidden" gems like this little beauty. A quick note to those who are strict traditionalists or footsoldiers in the CAMRA army however; this place won't be to your tastes.
This is essentially an American style local neighbourhood bar transplanted onto the Holloway Road and yes, there is Americana on the walls. For some of you this may instantly set you against it and you'll start mumbling something about cultural imperialism and all that. I take the view however, that if we have no choice but to tolerate the presence of unwelcome facets of American culture such as McDonalds and Starbucks on every high street; we might as well enjoy some of the things that they actaully do very well and that includes this type of bar. That said this American style and not actually American as nobody working there had an American accent.
The bar is basically one long but fairly narrow room, with folding windows/doors at the front and benches around tables or chrome stools lined up at the bar for seating. It also has one worn-in but not yet worn-out set of leather armchairs and a couch set around a low table at the rear, which are without doubt: The most comfortable seats in any pub or bar in the world.
The selection of lagers is good (both draft and bottled) and there are ciders and Guiness to be had as well but nothing in the way of real ale. Barstaff are faultless and as for the price it's safe to say that you can, have and will pay more for your drinks in the locale but that it's not remarkably cheap.
There are a couple of huge flat-screen TVs which were tuned to the Scuzz channel all night but the sound was down which meant that you could enjoy the benefits of the cheap and unusually ecclectic jukebox.
Never got too crowded even on a Saturday night, but always had just enough people in to give it a bit of a buzz. Apparently they also have a live band on once a week and a DJ on one of the other nights.
Ultimately a very mellow, chilled-out place to spend the evening whilst enjoying a few beers, some good company and varied but quality background music. I've been searching for a bar like this for most of my adult life and now I've found it I'll be back as often as possible.
Absolutely lovely.
Mr.Monkfish - 9 Apr 2006 08:40
To much football on the TV's ? Look at the pub's location to Highbury ? Of course its going to be a football pub you muppets !
JMascis666 - 7 Jan 2005 20:03
This pub has an unmitigated love of televised football and nothing else!
Baroness Monklord III - [email protected] - 9 Feb 2004 09:14
It's a place which shows a lot of live football. How can you have "too many tellys"?
Chris - 30 Dec 2003 13:28
disgusting hole yobs galore. too many tellys
dave - 7 Sep 2003 19:35
Has hoegaarden and leffe blonde on tap. Says it all really. Good pub.
Chris - [email protected] - 31 Jul 2003 09:33

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