please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Voted the best cider pub in the UK, it's a big room of place with a downstairs bar area and a staggered upstairs bit. 12 handpulls on the bar, including 4 of them were ales from York Brewery. I went for a pint of York Guzzler, which was well kept and an okay pint but at 3.30 is very steep (3.6 percent beer). It didn't look like there were any ciders on the handpull but there's at least 6 boxes behind the bar that hold cider. A pretty decent place, a decent few people in so it seems quite popular. Worth a visit to try some unknown beers and ciders. There was also a dog by the bar on my visit who seemed quite intrigued to see new people coming in but when anyone (including myself) went to stroke him/her they went all timid, bless them, gives it a more down to earth feel.
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Must remember not to go into High Street city center pubs when working away.
Large York Brewery pub. Very different to their pubs in York. I found it to be Bland and souless with not many customers, but then it was pouring with rain.
York Guzzler tasted off and was changed no problem. Ended up with a pint of York- Otherside IPA which was not that good either.
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Yes I think its a York Brewery place but has guests which unfortunately were a bit high on the gravity for us. Nevertheless a decent central pub opposite the town hall.
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I think I am right in saying this is a York Brewery outlet - it certainly had their beers on when I visited (plus guest ales as well) Spacious enough and very pleasant with upstairs seating areas. Nice old building near the spendid town hall. Makes part of a good pub crawl with the Town Hall Tavern; Veritas and Victoria all close by)
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Big place with many levels and Sky sports on. Monday was 'Folk'n'ale' night. Had a Robinson's Crusoe @ 2.90�.
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Nice enough pub and the name gives it away - a large range of mainly local ales, including some from small, newer breweries and those we drank all being in good condition. The offer of 4 third pints of any cask ales for �3.70 was very welcome. Pleasant staff, friendly customers and a good atmosphere so we will certainly be back.
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Agree with others about how cold and drafty this place is. On the other hand, it was pretty empty for a Friday night, and I could get a seat easily (Leeds city centre as a whole was far less crowded and lairy than I was expecting it to be). Had a couple of excellent local brews, and would have given it a higher mark had the temperature been a bit warmer.
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Interesting set of drinking areas, decent range of beer. However, possibly one of the coldest pubs I've ever been in. Couldnt wait to fnish my pint & go outside where it was warmer. Brrrrrrrr.
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Large city centre drinking house very much on the 'circuit'. Main bar area is for standees with upper gallery area frequented by large groups of raucous folk on a night out. Plenty of ales on and the pint I had here was good enough.
anonymous - 8 Jan 2012 11:23 |
Good place for a pint or two in Leeds, Bar area is quite small but the open split level rooms to the side are pretty big with some comfy seating. Ever changing ales which always seem good, worth a try.
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Lovely old building outside with a very pleasant interior. Split-level seating areas although I preferred to stand at the bar. York Brewery/Mitchells own the pub now and their beers were in fine form. A very good and often interesting selection of beers with a good range of bottled products from the continent. Prompt and efficient service - no chit-chat but the staff didn't have time for that as it was early Saturday evening and the city bars were all heaving although this one was just nicely busy without the "push and shove" you can get in many bars. I had a pint of York Guzzler and then a blond beer from another local brewery - Wharfbank. It's about a 6/7 minute brisk walk from the station (maybe 10 if the traffic lights are against you!!) so well worth the walk.
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Great choice of beers, york brewery prominent, which is a good thing. I'm not one to moan about decor but blimey the toilets, must have been a sale on gaudey orange, urrgghhh.
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Fine beer range and a good mixed atmosphere.
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Very comfortable sofas, great selection of beers. York brewery range & selection of guests. Quite liked the different areas on different levels. Definitely worth visiting again.
foamy - 13 Jan 2011 18:37 |
11% Abbeydale Last Rites, Kelham Island seasonal, Roosters seasonal, Crown(?) brewery at 7% ish, maybe another, plus the full York range. BrewDog 5am Saint on keg. Perfect condition. Good pub.
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Nice place to sit and while away an afternoon.
Good selection of ales.
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A good ale pub with a wide range of strenths and styles. Also a good selection of odd lagers (draft and bottled) if thats your thing. Well worth tracking down if in this part of town.
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Bit of strange place this, looks like its going to be relaing and comfortable with good food and drink. On examination, drinks are not bad.. food is unmentionable and its trying to be a bit of a sports bar. Seems busy enough though so will try again. Owned by Mitchells of Lancaster though which is a bit disappointing in Yorkshire!!
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This one didn't really work for me. Odd furniture on many levels makes it less like a bar and more like reading rooms in a library. The food is very poor and should be avoided. Saved by the ales which were very good, especially the Yorkshire Terrier.
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Smashing place for a pint. would certainly reccomend
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York brewery pub which always has good beer, including the non-York guests. Often has stouts/porters. Two large-screen tv's dominate the split level front section :( and somehow it just doesn't really have a pub atmosphere. A bit like a waiting room with chesterfield sofas and large tvs. And good beer.'
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Situated opposite Leeds City Hall and Art Gallery, Mr Foley's Cask Ale House will be remembered by many in its previous incarnation as Dr Okells, when it sold beers from The Isle of Man Brewery of that name. It's now the first pub outside of York to belong to the York Brewery.
The pub is housed in a former Pearl Assurance office building. I gather that the pub is named after Patrick Foley, the founder of Pearl Assurance, although I don't recollect seeing any relevant pictures or photos to confirm this.
The main bar area is in front of you as you go in, but the pub is housed over several floors and is much more spacious than is immediately apparent. The mezzanine floor has a mixture of sofas and chairs and tables and has the feel, in parts, of a rather loungey gentleman's club. There's a number of TV's dotted around the place which were showing the one day cricket international between England and Australia. Although I was only half watching, as indeed were a number of other customers, the TV's were promptly switched over to the World Cup later on in the evening without as much as a by your leave.
On the real ale front, the normal York beers - Constantine, Centurions Ghost, Guzzler and Yorkshire Terrier - were all on. The Yorkshire Terrier, described as a "rich malty session bitter" - was in good form. Other beers on, inter alia, were from Saltaire, Rooster and Tring. The pub is listed in the CAMRA 2010 Good Beer Guide. There's also a good selection of foreign and bottled beers.
Do note the splendid collection of pump clips on the walls as you go to the toilets downstairs.
Live music is offered on Sunday and Monday evenings.
I imagine that the pub can get quite busy and noisy with the after work office crowd at times and you might want to avoid it at peak times, but otherwise it's worth dropping in.
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A pub Kafka may well have appreciated then again.................
Very strange layout which gives you a dizzy spell walking up, down and around it. On the plus side however a good range of ales with york supplying their own tasty offerings supplemented by guests from other local microbreweries. Overall worth at least one visit, although the gents was less than hygenic!
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Great choice of real ales and a pleasant environment to enjoy a drink. Definitely worth a visit if you enjoy a wide choice of ales.
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Went to Leeds for the weekend with a list of pubs from BITE. This was the first and the nicest one of the lot. Good beer and comfy settees.
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A good range of York beers plus other micros on tap, I do like the layout of the pub with the sofas. The pumpclips on the walls on way to the loos are a nice touch.
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Likable pub, great selection of ales in very good condition. Now run by the York Brewery I believe, certainly had a few of their beers on, probably aimed at a slightly trendy crowd with the emphasis on the word 'slightly'
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This is a good pub. I can definitely say that it no longer smells of vomit -- there was a sign announcing temporary closure to deal with it, then the next week the admittedly smell was completely gone, and has not been detected since (that was a good six months back). Really good choice of beers, nice and cosy, plenty of space.
mynci - 19 Jan 2010 15:11 |
Has a good choice of real ales but thats where the compliments end, the pub smells like the sewers and in the 3 years i have visited this place i have NEVER seen the landlord smile. Not an inviting pub at all, shouldnt have been voted pub of the year there is a lot better places to go in leeds city centre,.
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Didn't have time to stop for long as had to catch the train back to Doncaster after a disastrous England performance at the cricket. The pint of Black Country Mild, though, was very fine indeed and a good selection of ales was available.
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Visit this pub every three months or so to meet up with an ex-colleague. Early doors mid-week you can usually get a pew - beer variety is usually excellent and usually very quaffable. Hot evening on Thursday this week - I did think the beer was a tad on the warm side, even on beers that were being drunk frequently. Haven't eaten there at all but what I saw delivered to an adjacent table looked very nice, with reasonable prices. The only complaint I have, not against the pub, was a group of "business men" - one built like a motorway support, in a cluster stood at the bar right in front of the pumps. There were plenty of seats for them to sit at but instead they preferred to block other punters access to the bar. I'm going to start a consultancy running courses on Spacial Awareness for Dickheads!!
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Visited early May.A York Brewery pub,but no York beers when I visited!!!Never mind,Elgood's Black Dog mild went down nicely.
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I'm a big fan of the York Brewery beers and the pub had a good well kept range when we visited. Leeds is not the best for getting good beers but I'd definitely go back to this one. To be honest I don't care about food and stuff, I like to drink good beer and talk rubbish, so I was well at home.
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Mr Foleys has been announced as 'Leeds CAMRA Pub of the Year 08/09'
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After closing for a day and having the bar floor dug up and reset, the smell has now gone!
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Agree totally with sharp. Smelt of vomit. Didn't stay for a drink dispite good range of beers
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Been in a couple of times over the past few months including at the weekend. This pub REALLY smells unpleasant and I have no idea why. You can't get away from it. As a result, we left and went elsewhere. It was unbearable.
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Good range and quality of beer, and a lot bigger than it looks so plenty of room for everyone!
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Late review from November, but we liked this pub. Lovely interior and the beers were varied and in good condition. Believe it may belong to York brewery from the number of York beers on, but we enjoyed Steaming Billy, Elland and Highwood beers on this occasion.
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I feel sorry for 'love_good_ale' ... try Wetherspoons round the corner. Open early on a Saturday.
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Was in the same group as the comment below. Could not believe how rude the bar man. If you advertise you open at 11am, then you should. If there was a problem all the barman had to do was tell us!!!!
Gets a 0 from me.
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Well this was going to be our first stop on our pre football ale visit. It was raining quite hard and it was not quite due to open. The signs on the door stated that the pub opens at 11:00am daily. Most of our group decided to move to another pub and come back here when it was open. Two of us decided to wait as it was less than ten minutes now to opening. We waited patiently as it was not quite opening time, then another different group of friends arrived. We talked and waited then realised it was now 11:05 so we knocked on the door. The barman who was having a beer at the bar looked up then without any care carried on drinking his beer. This must have been a barman as he had no worries about opening on time and no consideration for potential customers. Well because of that barman�s attitude and the way he could not be bothered to open on time this pub lost 15 customers today. This must be a very profitable business to let potential customers leave when they should be open. We made a point of not returning and in the end Wetherspoons got our custom round the corner for an hour until other GBG pubs on our list would be open.
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Despite living in leeds for 4 years I somehow managed to miss this place until about a fortnight ago. Since then spent four very pleasant afternoon/eveings in here.
Beer excellent and pretty varied and Ive found the food to be delicious and a bargain as well. Also the staff Ive seen are incredibly friendly and helpful, maybe the ones mentioned a couple of months ago on here have moved on?
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Great for a sit down with friends or family. Great pint of Leeds Best and Yorkshire Terrier when I last went. Old building which is a nice place to be.
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Popped in herte on my way home from the Central library. A friendly girlie behind the bar and three Sunderlanders propping the bar up actually introduced themselves and nearly offered to buy me a drink. only an urgent meeting made me leave.
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Very good pub in Leeds' city centre - the ales are always excellent and wide-ranging. Who cares about there being fewer continental lagers than before? Drink local! Very impressive, footy on (if that's what you like) possibly too much but generally this is a super pub.
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I recently returned after over a year since my last visit - when it was previously called Baroque - and it is as good as it ever was. An interesting selection of ales (York Brewery sitting proudly alongside Kelham Island - very nice to see!) and a treasure trove of bottles behind the bar. It still has sky as well so this is a lovely, quiet, unobtrusive way to watch sport without Carling-swigging numpties spoiling it.
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Probably has the widest selection of continental beers in Leeds. Although I'm not normally an ale drinker, the vast selection of real ale has made me appreciate the taste more, thus I am now partial to 1 or 2 real ales on a night out, thanks to Mr Foley's. The layout and atmosphere of the pub is rather ordinary, and seating can be an issue at times. However, due to its wide variety, I will certainly visit each time I'm out in Leeds.
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This place can not compete with Pivo in York although the staff are talkative. The prices are a bit steep and the continental beer though vast is poor in quality.
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Tried to find the Okells pub (there when I was last in Leeds), soon realised York Brewery had taken over. This seems like a straight swap on the face of it, but I thouht something was missing. Having said all that, the commitment to real ale is absolutely first rate.
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The poster below me is spot on. What has happened to all the obscure Belgian beer? It is still a good pub the staff are all grumpy and never have a smile on there faces but apart from that its very good.
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This place was much better when it was O�Kells.
The beer is still as good but the food isn�t. The menu has gone all fancy (what happened to the huge chunky chip butties?). I was last in a few months ago and the only thing that I found appealing on the menu was burger & chips which wasn�t bad but could have been better.
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I have since had a chat with Dean Pugh the manager & owner of Mr Foley's, he has offered a complimentary meal and apologised for the actions of his staff. I just wanted to emphasis that a poor attitude to customers will drive customers away, I just hope that the relevant bar staff get a good telling of by Dean.
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Did an internship round the corner on Kings St and this became a regular haunt for a lunchtime beverage. Low-key, modern decor, good beers (including Amstel, my personal fave) and just a nice atmosphere.
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I was recommended by quite a few employees from my office where I work, so I took their advice and decided to take some members of my team,
I ordered a Chicken Burger and beer battered chips and a Tuna sandwich (for a friend and I) I ordered this at 13:55,at 14:20 the Tuna sandwich come and at 14:25 someone asked if we ordered Chicken Skewers, I replied no, I ordered a Chicken Burger. 10 minutes later I went to the bar and asked if my Chicken burger was coming? the gentleman did initially show concern when I told him how long I was waiting for my food, he had a discussion with the two other employees behind the bar and explained to me that he would sort this out.
I waited another 10 minutes and went to the bar at 14:35, I approached the barman that said he would sort it out, he just looked at me in confusion, (did he think I would not
ask where my food order would be?) anyway I explained that I was due back at the office and have no time to wait any longer, I honestly don't believe he was going to offer
me a refund as I just stood there until I asked for my money back, he gave me �3.75 back, I questioned this and explained that I purchased a Chicken Burger, he started to
get confrontational and said I ordered Chicken Skewers, ( Not great customer service, could have at least explained himself and what happened) I replied that I had not
however he was handing over the money when I commented that three orders on my table had also been incorrect, he retracted the refund and said that they are not at
fault. (Sorry, but what kind of answer is that?) I did say that this was really poor service, waiting for 45mins on my lunch break and getting attitude from the bar staff is not the
kind of experience I would expect from anywhere, never mind a place that serves food and drink and one that seems to have good reviews on several leeds websites.
The conversation ended when the barman said that I know where to go in the future. (Nice!) I agreed and left with my colleagues.
I have obviously found this experience so frustrating that I am writting this e-mail, to be treated like the way no customer should be treated, I am surprised you have not
recieved many complaints about the attitude and lack of customer service towards your staff.
Needless to say I will post this e-mail to everyone in my company as a negaive experience in Mr Foley's, I do not mean for this to come across as a threat however the staff that is paid wages too have infuriated both me and my colleagues who intended to have a nice enjoyable lunch in you pub.
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Hi Guys
My name is Dean Pugh and I'm the manager at Mr Foleys. I'd like to thank you for your positive comments and to let you know that I am setting up a weekly/bi-weekly newsletter from the pub which will let you know the guest beers coming this week and also of any special events such as live music etc. Anyone wishing to sign up can do so by emailing me at [email protected]
Thanks!
Dean
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The fact that it sells Westons Stowford Press cider makes it an automatic 10 out of 10 in the decent cider desert that is the North!
iyers - 24 Dec 2007 10:01 |
Until recently known as �The Baroque� and owned by Okells Brewery. Now part of the York Brewery stable.
A split level, multi-roomed pub of considerable character, with d�cor to a high standard. The view towards the bar is particularly impressive.
Ten real ales on this visit, with several from the York Brewery, as you�d expect, but also three from Leeds Brewery. A pint of their seasonal brew �Ale Mary� was faultless: Rich, warming and a perfect temperature.
There are also several high quality lagers on draught and a good stock of �world� bottled beers.
The young(ish) male bar staff were friendly and efficient. However, there was an awful lot of �effin� when talking amongst them selves, but still in earshot of the punters. Not the greatest advert for the place lads.
Overall though, I loved the place. Will definitely be back for a return visit.
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