please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Quite a surprise this - I remember going in years ago when it was a live music venue. After looking around the town centre to see if there was life in Berkshire - I couldn't bring myself to pop into the myriad wetherspoons and chain pubs like O'Neills.
Not that there was any sign of life in any of those.
So I though a short walk down to a previous haunt.
Three real ales on at £4 a pop. The Hogsback was in superb condition and poured in a handled jug without prompting. Who would have thought the best real ale of the night would be drunk to the lovely refrain of "Bitch better have my money" by Rhinnana?
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This used to be a good venue for music. It was Readings best rock and metal music pub. (With drum and bass downstairs.)
Drinks were the usual town centre bottles and pumps so nothing special. It has now been refurbished so it became popular with the chavs of Reading.
I hear the decor is now impressive but I cannot bring myself to listen to the awful music that is now played.
The day I heard Beyonce and Ronan Keating being played in the Turtle was the last day I went in there.
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A real sh*thole. Always has been.
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In case anyone is actually interested - they now serve 3 real ales at around £3.25 a pint and are in the process of extending the "venue" out the back (including new loos - thank you,thank you, thank you!!!)
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I know nothing about this place but this phrase caught my eye...
"Me and me husband went for a very short holiday to Reading."
Apart from the fact that the grammar calls into question the literacy of the writer, who the hell goes on holiday to Reading? You deserve all you get and probably more.
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Like the commentator below I'd have to agree this venue is a festering dung-hole with the client�le to match. I'd wager the only reasons it stays open are the late licence and the fact the local Law know the majority of Reading's lowlifes are housed under one roof!
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Give it a wide berth! Me and me husband went for a very short holiday to Reading. After the dinner we wanted to drink a pint of beer, i ordered, and i paid for it, but we couldn't finish it. He went to the toilet and on the way there, he asked the member of the security staff: where is the toilet? The guy grabbed his neck, and kicked him out. It took me half an hour to find him... :((( This is just messed up our great weekend. (i did complain, but still very bad experience) We are planning to visit England again, but definitely NOT the Purple Turtle.
ircsi - 26 Mar 2012 12:15 |
Correction - they did sell draught cider for a short while but it looks like it's gone now. Sadly.
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now sells westons draught cider on handpump !!
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this is the place to be for MUSIC and beer, Don't be alarmed on some nights when there is a huge crowd waiting to get in sometimes dependant on visiting top DJ's.
also do not be worried about the door staff as they do a great job to protect the public from idiots that are high on drugs or try and take drugs into the venue they have a ZERO tollerance, with door staff doing random searches if your carrying drugs or weapons such as knives Dont Bother going there.
I go there sometimes and in my wheelchair if it is not too busy at the weekends and sometimes they have asked me to not go in as the place is too crowded for the wheelchair, other times no problem they keep an eye on you so there is no problem with anyone getting too drunk and falling over you,
a great atmosphere throughout the place,
basic furniture and fittings but plenty of beer selections,
reminds me of the old spit and sawdust pubs of the 60's
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OMG !!!
I've been ejected from here with friend(s) for "sexual indecency", been refused admission rightly so cos I was way 'gone ... but each day is a new day, and if you can stand up straight you get admission, even at one in the morning, and you don't pay - just get ripped off �3:50 for a Leffe !
C'est la vie ...
- Laura
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Music venue.
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"Where have all the decent staff gone?" Is all I am left wondering once I've been to Purple Turtle on a night out. It used to be the place where all the alternative, interesting and quirky bar staff worked, but now they have been replaced by miserable, grumpy people, who can only be described as "chavs". Sure, some of them are O.K and are having the normal teething problems when joining a new bar, but the rest are some what less desirable. The old staff created half the atmosphere at Turtle. Now the "Younger" generation has moved in again, some who I even doubt are over the age of 18, they need something to save them again. Pull your fingers out from where ever you've buried them, guys, or else you are likely to loose half your decent, undrunk, undrugged customers.
anonymous - 24 Jun 2010 10:36 |
A good bar.
Yep it is good, you know what to expect here a Legend in terms' of Reading. Good drinks and average customers. You can certainly have a good chin-wag with some of the boys' down here.
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Rough venue, Really poor.
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Like its Camden sibling, this original branch of the Purple Turtle mini chain (the Islington branch has disappeared) has largely abandoned its goth roots to become a flashing lights kind of place for the football boys. A well above average juke box is its saving grace.
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it is indeed a dump, you ought to go here when you are pissed and everywhere else is closed. then it's great.
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This place has really hit rock bottom, the door men have atitude and the place is so dirty, for the amount of trade it has surley the managment could aford to clean occasionly.
Guiness now �3.50 per pint (rip off)
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best pub in reading! ace!
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Great music. Great people-watching place. Great drinks. GODDAMNED DEAREST PUB IN READING!!
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I love this place - I think its where they film the 'Phone-4-U' TV ads! The 'locals' can be 'interesting' to say the least. Draught beer is a little mixed - best to stick to bottled. Music is great and atmosphere is warm, sticky and welcoming. Usually end up here having been for a few light ales in Reading; it's a nice way to see the night out. Has the distinction of being just down the road from possibly the WORST curry house in the world (but that's another discussion altogether)
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Gone down hill alot since the chavs have moved in!
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Stinks of piss, the clientele look like ex druggies. Only go if your completely pissed and DESPERATE for one last drink.
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I do like this place but the drinks are so expensive!! Good jukebox and lots of different nights on. Toilets are a bit of a pain, up all those stairs when drunk!
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Best place in the country for a cheeky Snakebite. Full of fine people and oozing with character - literally. Saying that, what's happened to this place?! Its gone so up market - I mean - tented patio? Whatever next...
anonymous - 29 Nov 2006 15:17 |
good place, but poor for disabled people. Putting chairs in disabled toilet which gives no access for wheelchair users.
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Went in here quite early in the evening, not overly busy. Looks to have plenty of character and a quaint beer garden out the back.
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Mere memories...and no ale. Still the musics good, eh?
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what happened to this place?
i used to swear by it!
now i cant afford to get a soft drink,
and where the hell has everyone gone.
i remember that reading had a community of bartenders.
and the turtle was the venue.
now it is desolate of them.
and the drinks all got so expensive.
the bouncers got ruder...
and the chavs are there!
what is going on?
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Nice pub during the week, but avoid at the weekends.
All the chavs seem to spill out from places in Friar street on Friday and Saturday nights and over to the Turtle as it is open later. This is what causes all the fights and confrontation within the pub. Would be good if they had some kind of post midnight membership thingy where only members could enter (I don't think most of the chavs would be bothered with something like this) then it could be returned to its former glory. The chavs bring this place right down at the weekends!
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Used to be great, a place you could go to get away from the usual crowd in the town centre but now its just the same full of chavs and attitudes.
anonymous - 20 May 2006 19:05 |
know this pub v.well. getting a bit bored of it, but good as a basic starter for a night. friendly bar people on the whole.
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Probably the best place to meet interesting people in Reading (and lets face it-there are few enough of them)-met a guy who claims he is table football champion of the UK. Soon showed us why-he is amazing! Usually lurks near the football table (unsuprisingly) if anyone fancies a challenge. Good range of bottled beers to(for Reading)and other interesting drinks available for the brave/foolish. Door staff relaxed and bar people friendly in an eccentric sort of way.
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Bit stinky, bit crowded (later on) and definately grungy.
but its very different, can be super social, and they dont hold it against you if you get kicked out for being lashed up or split yr face open on the corner of the downstairs bar and have to be karted off in an ambulance.
probably the best place to actually meet new people in Reading (pubs) but make sure you havent strayed from Risa / revs.... as you might get a shock.
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Rude bar staff, and full of Reading's "alternative elite". The outside bit can be alright though.
anonymous - 20 Feb 2006 17:11 |
Really good night out to be had here.
If you don't want to listen to the music you get in 95% of the pubs in Reading. Or if you wan't to be able to walk into a pub without your complete outfit scrutinised by neanderthal doormen, GO TO THE PURPLE TURTLE!
Music is out of the ordinary and atmosphere is great
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Been coming here on and off for years and it doesn't really change. Saying that it has always been good so that is no reason to complain. Service is good, staff respond to conversation and bouncers are decent and fair. Pricer than you would think from outside but it really is a haven where you can mix with all kinds of people and nobody really cares what you look like or say. Well worth a visit.
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Nice place to go and no Chavs - Heaven!!
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If you are looking for a down-to-earth unpretentious bar in Reading where the music is not Top40 and the people don't care what the latest fashion is, then this is your place. Goths, metal-heads, punks, grungy students - this place appeals to all. In fact, without a nose piercing and an array of tattoos, you may feel like a bit of a freak.
Stay clear of the electric-blue pre-mixed slushy drink served out the back...
Shake off any preppy white collar attitude and head straight in!
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A Reading institution and the one place in Reading I never got bored with the entire time I lived there. I've made friends there, met girlfriends there, been throw out of there and generally done plenty of stuff I shouldn't have! Great atmosphere, with a real mixed bag of people (Rockers, Ravers, students, basically anyone who hates the Chav chain bars that dominate the rest of Reading) and decent music (where else in Reading can you hear The Prodigy, stone roses, chilli Peppers, Eminem and Roni size all in one night). Yes it's a bit dingy and the beer is a bit on the pricey side but God i miss it!
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Very studenty and alternative, you certainly won't find your pint of real ale here! However, they do have a good selection of bottled beers and know some cocktails. If you can get past the decor and overly pierced kid lying in the corner you might just love this place.
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What a great place, they have STROH 80 here - what a crazy drink!!
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The Turtle is a Reading staple - and for a good reason. It houses all the people trying to be seen - the weird, the too young, the "alternative" (all dressed in matching face piercings and silly hair, naturally). For your "normal" drinker, the atmosphere can be awesome, and you can meet and hang out with some really cool people. It can also be utterly awful, with so many try hards and kids at the weekends clogging up the (surprisingly expensive) bar. It's a total lottery what you're going to get - but whatever you do, don't dress up!
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Rock bar, pure and simple. Usually populated by Reading's Grunge/Goth/Metal/Rock/Punk army. Great atmosphere. Conventional pub upstairs, cool club downstairs. Beer garden with outdoor heaters and a canopy in the winter months. Drink prices aren't great but the selection is good.
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i used to go to the purple turtle waaaay back when i was about 16/17!!! it seems sooo long ago.. its nice to know that its still around:) my friend that i used to hang with back in the day sent me this link.. brings back a LOT of memories... i dont even live in England any more! :)
i remember a couple of the bouncers/security that used to work there.. i think their names were Leon and Mikey.. anyone know if theyre still around??
email me if you do know them.. [email protected]
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Quite young, but even as an old sod I was welcomed here! Very friendly, nice atmosphere. Recommended
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A decent place to finish the night off due to late licensing, not my favourite, but ok, no ales though, john smiths it is :)
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Really cool place. Like the atmosphere, the prices and most def the music. A few moody grungy Readingites though. Grin...It wont hurt!
amumd - 10 Feb 2005 16:27 |
Beware the heaters, they are mean to hats! i have had some awesome nights here, when its really busy you end up talking to complete strangers, and somehow they are alays cool!!
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Great place most the time, Wednesday's are the best if you're into Rock! Or if "Hey Mickey, You're So Fine" is more your thing, then definitely be in there on Monday's! Pure cheeeeeese! Haha!
Bar people are mostly great, except one girl, who obviously thinks she owns the place and has a right attitude problem! And watch ou for the Werewolf! The barman with hilarious hairy hair haha! Well funny!
People-wise, beware Dan and Sean: particularly Dan, unless you go for the 'convieniently' forgetting to tell you he has a girlfriend thing!
Also beware Andy, unless you like your drinks being spiked!
And any Ian's...!
Oh yeah, and look for the words of wisdom on the walls in the girls toilets, some are pretty good! Others are hilarious! I have sat on the throne many a time in hysterics!!
And outside is great, because they have those heated things, so even if it is cold out there you still keep warm!
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Plenty of lost nights here.Love the place.Its more relaxed than pubs in town and play top music.Serve Red Stripe 2!
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purple turtle is my favourite hang out. one of the first bars i ever went to, and remaining my favourite place to be. getting boring recently... but mostly coz all my friends keeping going to battle of the bands at another place...
mooosy - 31 Oct 2004 08:58 |
Bit of a non-entity. Promises a good atmosphere, but i would say a bit dingy and average. Maybe i've just been on bad nights?!
Stuart - 5 Sep 2004 16:53 |
i've been living in reading for half a year (am actually from germany) and must say: best pub in reading. became my favourite one very soon. great music, people not so overdressed. AND it stays open late - good thing, especially for s.o. from germany who's used to crawling home totally wasted at 6 a.m. ;-)
Jess - 24 Aug 2004 15:44 |
Very great place....Really good Atmosphere...And I want to defend the pink haired girl..She is lovely..unless need be e.g when you dont say please..or jus have no manners......
Ban - 20 Aug 2004 05:28 |
The bar staff are rude and offensive, look at the customers with attitude, especially the girl with the silly pink hair.
toddy - 5 Aug 2004 12:24 |
I love it as they once gave me a free cheese and ham toastie!!! That's enough to make me go back again and agian!
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good place, not as good as it used to be though - seems to have lost a bit of its charm. can't put my finger on why, but it's still a nice place.
Greg - 14 May 2004 12:24 |
bar staff are very rude and lack customer servie skills.
andy - 19 Feb 2004 17:23 |
Many late nights with mates in here. Not much eveidence of some of the attitude to be found elsewhere in Reading...
Flea - 18 Feb 2004 16:48 |
nearly as good as the origanal. Still the best in reading.
rods - 7 Feb 2004 21:34 |
Not so much a pub, more a dark drinking hole where you can go and spend incredibly happy evenings getting drunk, chatting and meeting random people. No idiots, no dress code, no hassle. Not for people who don't understand the appeal of places that are a bit of a dive. But that's ok 'cause I don't like people like that much anyway. The best pub in Reading by a mile.
John - 6 Feb 2004 14:58 |
i think that you are all wrong the turtle is the best place to go for a great night out and you don't even have to dress up! it's full of very different people and yes the bogs smell a bit but thats just the turtle for you!? and it aint over priced at all, you can get a snakebite black for �1.60 and they are the way to go if you want to get pissed quick! :-)
Hayley - 29 Jan 2004 21:01 |
This is not a pub for wimps. At least it didn't used to be. Any tensions, fights, aggro is probably because there is conflict between the pierced tattooed bikers that used to be in there all the time and the chinos and shirt wearing townies who have discovered the place is open late. Good tunes though.
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Last time i went hear i got some drunk git mouthing off at me and then one of his meathead friends making VERY offensive racist remarks to my Fiencee behind my back.
Ian - 18 Jan 2004 20:03 |
The last time this place cleaned was when it was built. Sticky tables and stinking bogs. Overpriced as well, nearly as bad as Brannigans
Turtle Hater - 15 Jan 2004 18:14 |
Great little bar if you are a loaded media studies student who can afford to spend four or five quid on a drink! otherwise, not much in its favour. although if you happen to live in Reading, there aren't going to be very many options anyway.
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I went to Chicago and met someone who had been to Reading's Purple Turtle! If you go to Reading then you end up here, as its open late every night. Admittedly gets a bit full of pierced students at times, but miles better than the townie infested Oracle and Friar Street. Avoid the "Pubs of Evil"
Harry - 8 Jan 2004 14:11 |
The Turtle is the best place in Reading. Where ever you go you cant beat the scummy joint. Many a moment has been spent there praying the lights wont go on. The Turtle rocks!
Jeds Jems - 30 Dec 2003 19:15 |
Open late, so pile in here when the pubs shut. Excellent.
Jelly - 29 Nov 2003 01:32 |
This is by far the best place to drink in Reading. Cheap liquor and no attitude (unlike the Friar Street pubs of evil)
Seb - 26 Nov 2003 14:50 |
this pub is full of people who think they are being different but actually all end up looking the same! good for a laugh at the end of the night when nowhere else is open; but don't bother dressing up!
dan - 23 Nov 2003 13:04 |
bn here once with a friend last year(dont go 2 reading much)really liked it we spent from about 2pm to 10pm in there,gd music,cheap drinks and cool atmosphere.try it out!
laura - 27 Aug 2003 21:18 |
This isn't a pub, so not sure why it appears on this website. However, it is by far and away the best bar in Reading, offers an escape from the townie hellholes of Friar Street and the Oracle.
Platypuss - 22 Aug 2003 12:23 |
open late. good music. vairty of different drinks. good to start or finish a night.
a chnage from the other pubs on offer
Stuart - 23 Jul 2003 12:08 |
