please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
BS missed the large courtyard at the back that was busy, so the bar itself was quiet, had Bath Gem which was reasonable. I missed the CAMRA discount sign until I'd paid - they didn't offer to refund the balance
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Nicholson's pub tucked away down an alleyway off the High Street. This is the sort of place that will always attract the tourists. There are 2 rooms on different floors. The upper one has its own bar and appears to be primarily for dining. Although, it was closed seemingly for a refurbishment on our visit. You can also sit outside in the alleyway. Toilets are the other side of the alley and the gents were in a pretty poor state. Ales were St Austell Nicholson's Pale Ale, Thornbridge Jaipur, Sharp's Doom Bar, Thwaite's Wainwright & Black Isle 20 Hours Of Daylight. Ciders were Westons' Rosie's Pig & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask. £4.85 a pint was quite expensive, compared with other Oxford hostelries and whilst a 20% CAMRA discount would have been welcomed, apparently two halves does not equal a pint. Not a bad option, if shopping and you have money to burn though,
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Good range of beers in good order (tried Old Dairy and Nicholsons Pale Ale), reasonable prices, a nice old building and friendly staff. Better than the average suggests in my view and would happily recommend.
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The Celt Experience Galaxy was the pick of the beers,flash your CAMRA card for a 20% discoun,t which made the beer £3.26 each over the four pints bought,a good atmosphere and a wide range of age groups.Heraldic badges adorn the walls where we sat.
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Nice old inn located down narrow medieval passage.
5 ale on sale, including a decent pint of Brakspear.
Worth a visit.
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Nicholson's pub, very clean and tidy. Good selection of real ales. Worth a visit.
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Quiet on a Friday lunchtime, so we ate here. God range of meals, served quickly and efficiently, and a good slection of ales too.
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Called in on spec. Had been in the covered market opposite and after the good lady's shopping experience I needed a beer.
Several bers on plus 3 or 4 ciders. Tried for a Stewart's beer, hardly local, but it had just gone so settled for Vale - Latitude. Well kept tasty pint.
Only criticism - majority of ales were light.
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Pub number one on a day of 6 "ticks" in Oxford.
Was in town for the rugby league game so being in the guide this place was the starting point.
Being a Nicholson's house and having their beer festival on meant there were 18 beers to choose from...superb. Unfortunately due to time constraints I only had 1 pint here, a very interesting beer from Strathaven named Ginger Jock @ 4%. This is a nice alcoholic beer / ginger beer.
Really great bar staff who actually couldn't do enough
This is a great old inn with real character. With the weather being so good we took advantage of the lovely courtyard.
Shame I live in London as this is really a top pub that I would almost certainly call my local if I could.
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The range of beers in this very old inn is supurb. There were 8 on as well as a cider from Scotland. The ales went from golden to black to porter. Highly recommended. I wish this range had been available when I was at the Polytechnic 40 yeatrs ago but sadly all was Ind Coope and Morrells in those days.
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I liked this pub, dark outside and warm and inviting inside. Came here as it was a GBG entry. Good range of about 6 ales of which 2 were 'common' and the rest micros. Had a pint of Wood Hand Black Pearl which was good - not overly cold. A worthy addtion to a town centre crawl. Promptly went to the other Nicholsons pub the Crown round the corner. As we liked this place the other pub must be Ok as well (it was).
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A decent enough pub with a good selection of ales available as you would expect from a Nicholson,s outlet, the only gripe would be the served temperature of beer, never had such a cold pint in my life, obviously the taste was hugely impaired.
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Suprised by the poor reviews, my honest opinion was this place was fantastic. But i admit i have only visited once. To address the most common complaints from the reviews below: The beer was good - 4 different IPAs to choose from is a nice dilema to have. Service was good, tables were clean and atmosphere on a saturday evening was nice and lively.
will be back.
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Below par Nicholson's pub. Down a side alley. Wood floor and fittings Tables littered with glasses and plates and the cleared ones were sticky. Chairs up at last orders.
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Thornbridge's Jaipur IPA and Brakspears Oxford Gold went down well in this oddly rangy pub entered down a side alley.
The pub was busy on Tuesday night and very chatty. Decor armorial with different themed rooms including one room high up at the back where there was a trapped pigeon which had to be shooed out via the emergency exit door. Nice enough place with a good beer yard too.
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i have been going to the chequers for a while now, and i have found the staff to be very helpfull and curteous, i only have to wait to be served when it's busy which isnt a problem, the beer is top notch and always a good selection, maybe things have changed since the last visits of other people here, for me the manager is doing a cracking job, as are his staff.
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Good beer but let down by extremely rude staff. Best avoided, especially near closing time when customers are made to feel most unwelcome.
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What a poor pub!
The service was disgustingly bad. The staff were grumpy, and were badly trained. It took over 15 minutes to receive the drinks I ordered. It was obvious that the staff just did not have a clue about how to treat customers, pour dinks or look after the cellar.
When I finally received my dink it tasted of vinegar but because of teh poor quality of the staff I decided to walk out rather than complain because their attitude was so poor I did not feel as if I could, let alone should, complain.
I'm afraid it's a big thumbs down from me.
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We've been to this pub for several events, and have found that the staff are often grumpy, to the point that we have been growled at for not getting the food-ordering procedure correct (they changed it between visits!). The pub swelters in the summer, most of the windows do not open, and it's very noisy. The food is fairly average, with perhaps too much emphasis on high-priced sausages.
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We were visiting Oxford on Saturday and decided to have lunch at The Chequers Inn. Initial impression on entering the pub was good, however, it soon went down hill after that. There were 4 of us and we all chose what we wanted to eat and drink, then went to order. The drinks were ordered ok but we were then told that we could not have the lunch we had ordered (chicken sandwich, welsh rarebit, etc) because they had no ciabattas. When we enquired whether we could have the sandwiches with standard bread instead, we were told we couldn't as it would mess up their stock level. Have you ever heard such nonsense, and who has welsh rarebit on a ciabatta anyway!!!
It wasn't even 1pm on a Saturday and this pub serves food all day every day. How can they have no stock and why were they so inflexible? It was their loss as we finished our drinks and took our custom elsewhere.
sme99 - 13 Jul 2010 10:15 |
Staff were OK, not much more. A smile is nice, but I can cope without as long as there is not a long wait! And there wasn't Pub is OK, a very nice courtyard, and it's pretty spacious. It was the last stop on our crawl (Maybe that's why we did not get a smile!), so memories are a bit hazy, bit I do remember that the geren Sign of Spring was on good form. As with so many Oxford pubs, beer was good, and no real complaints. It really is a great place for a beer crawl.
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Back when I was a student, this place was a fairly "gor blimey" affair, probably the only out-and-out locals (i.e. non-students) pub on the High Street. It has since moved upmarket rather, and is now a Nicholson's-branded pub (the first Nicholson's pub I've seen outside central London I think) aimed mainly at tourists, by the look of it. It's a large boozer with a multi-level layout: there didn't seem to be quite enough seating down near the door but the ales (Lancaster Blonde and a nutty ale from Thwaites IIRC) were pretty well-served. This is average for Oxford, but would be a bit above average in most other places.
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Rude bar staff? Yes -- that's my experience of this place too.
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This is true. An american tourist came up to us and asked if the pub had been named after the game! Pleasent enough multi-level pub, with real ale.
D_J_C - 19 Jun 2009 11:50 |
A good pub with a central location which used to be one of my favourites for meeting up with friends, but was very disappointed tonight by the rude bar staff who stood by our table demanding we drank up immediately before it was even 11.10.
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I was actually pleasantly surprised by this place. Sure it was heaving, but the beers were in good nick. Slightly surly bar staff though and only 95% of a pint served. On the plus side, cavernous with loads of tables. Seemed to be spread over several floors and the courtyard (not sampled as it was about -5C)
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Nicholsons pub, usual boards with various sausages and the usual beers, Landlord, Doombar et al. Have to say all in good nick and since its makeover a pleasant find amidst the plastic posers paradises that litter the high. Worth a look if only for the courtyard which on a nice summers evening ? is charming.
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Not the best place but you could do worse. A decent pub if you're in the area and want a few pints before heading on somewhere else.
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New favourtite pub for a quiet drink and a game of pool. Very rough around the edges, but thats part of its charm. Amazing old building. The beer and wine, although uninspiring, is good value.
Pool should never be �1.20 a game though.
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Indeed a great place to start a night out, and/or watch major sporting tournaments. Has all the standard ales and lagers, staff are ok, a good amount of seating space. Further in you go however, the crapper it gets. Good outside area.
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More of a bar than a pub. 'Nuff said.
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great pub to start a night out, full of great atmosphere
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great pub, it has a special place in my heart; a fantastic drinking venue before a night out, a brilliant place to party. I had some of the best and worst days of my life in that place. It�s really disorientating because down that alley it�s always dark, so you can lose track of time, days and months in fact, I�m living proof! I have some really special, yet very hazy memories. It used to have a terrible dj, really bad music, and boasted one of the most terrible cocktail bars I have ever come across although the legendary staff made up form all that, it was bloody great fun. Not sure what it�s like now though, I�m still sure that place has got so much potential.
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Incredibly embarrassingly bad dj on the weekend situated just by the pool tables where the disco lights are totally inappropriate! Could be a good pub, just needs some good music.
Alice - 20 Sep 2004 20:49 |
great pub to start the night off with when on a heavy session!
andrew - 9 Sep 2004 16:28 |
Like this place a great deal. It's dead friendly and offers a good atmosphere at weekends. Only once have I seen what I might describe sa "yobbish" drunken behaviour. Worth a visit, but I'm unsure of what the cocktail bar is like.
A Student - 13 Aug 2004 22:52 |
good sports pub. loads of tv's, 2 pool tables, table football etc.
fit birds haven!!!
Pete - 16 Jun 2004 12:27 |
