please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Wonderful Sam Smith's pub with a great location by the river. We discovered it on a rail holiday and ended up going there the three nights we were in Durham. Clientele predominantly student which made for a nice friendly atmosphere and my colleague persuaded a group to sing for us on Saturday night which they duly did excellently! The Old Brewery bitter's in good nick but a tad expensive.........£1.80 a pint!
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lovely polite staff very traditional pub but some where nice to relax on a rainy afternoon.
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This has to be one of my favourite Durham pubs and if you can get a seat in the beer garden in summer you will certainly enjoy a relaxing real ale.
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one of my favorite pubs in durham.great location and the beer is really cheap as seems to be the norm with sam smiths pubs.
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Fantastic Sam Smiths pub in a great location by the river, superb beer terrace when the weather allows.
No, they don't sell Fosters, or Magners, and if your too dense to notice this via the use of your own eyes, you deserve the curt response you'll receive from the manager when you request the same.
Unless your a pit yakka or a charver, you will find that this pub offers you the best service in town. Tremendously efficient and polite every time, even on Gala day.
Obviously the range of drinks is limited to SS products, but they're decent enough and a pound a pint cheaper than most other Durham watering holes.
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Great pub - a favorite for fifteen years
Great pub with a great atmosphere... it may not strike newcomers like that but there is a perfectly good reason why this place gets the trade it does!
I love the cheap and cheerful booze but many choose to complain: if you expect a glass of Crystal for �1.70 you need to give your head a shake to be honest. Food: yes, they sell crisps - i do beleive they sell other food but in all honesty if you're the kind of person who would buy a meal in a pub like this then your opinion is likely worth ziltch to most people! You don't expect fine dining in McDonalds, don't expect it here.
Toilets can be a shocker but thats the brewery and their budgets not the staff...
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Like this pub too. SS beers are normally pretty good too.
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This was my afternoon session pub when I was a student so I have slightly rose tinted specks on this place. First of all the beer is superb and very very cheap. As is mentioned it's a Sam Smith's pub so one would expect this. The interior is quite traditional and there is a comfy room at the back which used to be the no smoking area, two rooms at the front and the bar area which is probably the worst part of the pub. Also great place to sit outside as it's right on Elvet Bridge in the centre of Durham.
On the downside, this place can get busy with the worst kind of Durham student, the noisey, snobbish oxbridge reject type. Also the bar staff are not effecient and some are pretty darn rude!
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Just had a major re-furb, still one of the cheapest pubs in town, if you like Sam Smiths.
I like it, and drink there regularly, but it has it's drawbacks.
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Very average Sam Smiths pub in a great location. It has outside seating areas at both the front and back. The back ones overlook the river. Sells OBB at very low prices, but because of this it gets full of students talking b*llocks. Lots of better places in Durham.
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I bobbed in for a quick fizzypop after a lovely Sunday in Durham. The pub is just average. The smell of disinfectant as soon as we walked was a bit overpowering but far better than the mix of damp and gents toilet smells that hit you as soon as you got to the top of the steps to go to the loos!
Service was ok, location was lovely but the pub needs a good wash!
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Canny location but never feel welcome here. Ok for a couple of swift pints in the good weather. Nowt special!
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Very mediocre Sam Smith's pub. The place is just uninspired, and uninspiring.
The student-staff were know-it-alls, especially that fella wearing a cardigan who got a mention in someone else's review.
The food was disappointing, too. My steak pie was from frozen, served with chips instead of vegetables. Very bland.
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nice location opposite a splendid Italian. Crowded on a weekend obviously.
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nice location opposite a splendid Italian. Crowded on a weekend obviously.
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A relatively new pub dating back some 25 years - I believe it was an electrical goods shop before - and the other Sam Smith's pub. Run by Carol's (from the Colpitts) son-in-law Mark, you'll be assured of a friendly Scouse welcome. The Old Brewery is not as good as in the Colpitts, but through the day, the Swan is a relaxing place to hang out. Be warned, at night the pub gets absolutely packed out.
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Great potential but the beer is poor..so is the decor..
hoagy - 26 Oct 2006 14:09 |
Amen. Wasted opportunity.
anonymous - 22 Oct 2006 12:45 |
A Samuel Smiths Pub
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The Swan never fails to let itself down, its either full of the shameless and tasteless girls nights out, and or durham city students all over the place pretending to be poor with their Christian Dior sunglasses. Although an idilic spot next to the river it is wasted as the pub leaves much to be desired. The bar-staff could do with some sort of training, not only in pulling pints but most importantly in manners. Their motto - The customer is always wrong? Three words - room for improvement.
anonymous - 26 Jun 2006 16:43 |
I love this place, it's a Samuel Smith pub so the prices can be very reasonable. In this particular pub, a pint of lager can cost less than a pint of coke, and you can't argue with that. Very cosy atmosphere with comfortable seats. Unsurprisingly, this place can get very crowded - if you want a seat, get there early.
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Another pub that I'm a bit nonplussed about...
Sometimes it's stunning; the beer is obscenely cheap (Sam Smiths), the staff are friendly, the regulars are chatty, the decor is perfect and the external seating is great and doesn't have poncy patio-heaters (which I always think add an air of crapness).
Sometimes it's awful; watch out for the work-dos on Friday nights, the terrifying staircase down to the toilets, extreme busy-ness and unexpectedly expensive spirits.
In fact, I've just convinced myself it's one of the best pubs in Durham, so ignore the bad points and settle yourself down with three pints of Sovereign.
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Love it! The �1.32-a-pint Old Brewery Bitter is tasty and very kind on the wallet, and it's in a nice spot next to the river.
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A great pub, but probably better to be outside, as it's a bit dark inside (as already mentioned). However there is plenty of seating outside (I have honestly never seen any problems with people on the tables outside), and the grassy area at the back is great in summer.
Beer is usually as expected from a Sam's house, i.e. cheap and good quality. Sometimes I think the students that work there could do with more formal training on pulling a pint properly (not a jibe at any particular bar staff, or indeed Durham students, since I am one myself!).
Overall - well situated, well priced and one of my favourite pubs.
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A very pleasant, well situated city pub. Is a Samuel Smiths house, with everything that entails (cheap draughts and all own brand), with a really pleasant out door seating area over looking Elvet bridge and the River Wear. Inside it can be a bit dark and smokey, but for the most part, very pleasant.
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This to me is merely a decent pub. Not great just decent. Summer evenings are fine here due to it's location at the end of Elvet Bridge and overlooking the river. It is a Sams Smiths pub and therefore you do get large measures of spirits and strange tasting Ayingerbrau.
I only stop off here whilst waiting for a taxi but it's OK
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A lovely pub: great beer, comfy and a friendly atmosphere. There is a problem with offensive drunk homeless people trying to clear the tables outside though, however the management don't care and do nothing about it.
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A faceless pretender to the Colpitts Hotel, inhabited by the great unwashed and checked shirt-wearing buffoons. Sitting outside on beer-soaked picnic tables seems to be 'de rigeur' amongst the plebians that congregate here and the beer is pretty poor. Go to the Collies for some proper Sam Smiths.
Its one redeeming feature is that it now serves white beer which is quite impressive.
Despite this, don't go there.
Ray Dewlance - 13 Apr 2004 22:57 |
Nice pub - great value food - how pubs used to be....
Robin - 3 Feb 2004 17:10 |
it is the greatest pub in the whole world. Great location, nice student/local mix, and a pint of sam smith's for �1.28 what else needs to be said.
george - 23 Nov 2003 14:03 |
great pub for the great minds of out time. if you enjoy staring at the river and the swans having it off. though they do make an excellent pease pudding sandwich for �2.50.
john stiffit - 13 Oct 2003 23:06 |
On the river, so great to sit outside in the summer. However, they don't do bottles (eg WKD or Smirnoff Ice for example), and so if you just order a vodka and coke it is v expensive. However, apparently the real ale and beers are great and cheap!
gogirl - 23 Jun 2003 01:28 |
