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Detail Pages
The Fitzroy Tavern, Fitzrovia, W1
W1
W1T 2LY
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Ian Mapp left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
Impossible to rate, as I am no fan of Sam Smiths beers/drinks - but love their pubs.
I have just finished a book about the place - The Fitzroy by Sally Fiber. Its short and free on the Internet Archive, should you be interested. This documents the glory post WWII years of the pub - which gave Fitzrovia its name.
Its immaculate now - with wooden partitions separating multiple rooms. Lovely mosaic on the main entrance floor. Outdoor seating.
What few customers there were on a Monday evening were outside. The barman (single and delivering food as well) were equally elusive. Which allowed for investigation of the photos from the glory years - very much bringing the stories to life. They used to collect money by having punters fire notes attached to darts into the ceiling. This paid for day trips for the poor kids of the area. A photo of Attenborough collecting the darts is on the wall. Along with one with Tommy Cooper.
On 23rd September 2026
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1926 recommendations about 1886 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
A splendidly turned out Sam Smiths pub and although not authentic it's a fine recreation of a Victorian pub.The beer keg range is as you would expect from this company, there are two handpulls both clipped up for OBB and claiming to be drawn from the wood.I don't mind calling into a Smiths pub now and again, but they're not normally what I'd want as a local.
On 28th July 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2410 recommendations about 2373 pubs]
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Rex Rattus left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
This pub did indeed win the 2017 Refurbishment category of the annual CAMRA Pub Design Awards. The reason is of course the typically magnificent Sam Smith's reconstruction of a Victorian multi-partitioned pub. The screening separating the drinking areas is modern (but excellent) work; I'm not quite so certain about the tiling in the entrance on the right and in the room at the back on the right. It was too dark to have a good look at the tiling in the back room, but the tiling in the entranceway was in good condition, which I wouldn't expect in tiling that is 120+ years old. Whatever, it all looks very good. The toilets are downstairs.
This is one of the few Sam Smith's pubs that has the handpump version of Old Brewery Bitter on - at £4.70 a pint. It's a long way from being my favourite ale, but it was in very good condition. I didn't see any sign of food, but I was in at early doors of a weekday lunchtime. This pub is certainly worth a visit to see what a traditional Victorian multi-space pub would have looked like.
On 24th November 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2629 recommendations about 2544 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
A man at the bar was querying with the (foreign-born) barman whether the seemingly original internal features here were merely reproduction, turning to me to confirm his view that it wasn't like this five years ago. I had to inform him that this was my first visit, but I have to say, if it's not original then it's a painstaking and careful restoration. I went in through the corner entrance, labelled "Public", which shares a very small section of the bar counter with the other rooms, one to the left and two (I think) to the right, the first one being separated by a glazed screen of about six foot in height. If you find yourself in the wrong room, you can put it right by either leaving the pub and entering by another door, or by descending to the toilets and following signs to the other side.
As well as the usual range of Sam's keg and bottled beers, there is hand pull Old Brewery Bitter here, and on the occasion of my visit it was in excellent condition. There was a decent crowd in for a Monday evening, which is not surprising with OBB at the equivalent of £3.50 a pint, compared to almost £5 in other pubs in the area. I would certainly include this one on a return visit to Fitzrovia.
On 15th January 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4937 recommendations about 4518 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
A rather wonderful recreation of a Victorian boozer. Multi-roomed and you can't move between most of them. Instead you need to go outside and use another entrance or, as I later discovered, go down to the traps which traverse both ends of the building like an underpass. The layout upstairs; to the centre and right is the etched glass and wood bit, and to the left is a darker and quieter area which houses the locals who are less fussed by the ornateness elsewhere. Cask OBB available here and so, the following week, would be the Stingo. Went for a Strawberry beer in attempt to complete the whole Sam’s set. I liked it here but it is a place where you need to time your visit well as there aren’t really that many seats and service at the single bar, encompassing many areas with no visible sight line, can be variable.
On 20th December 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 6368 recommendations about 6346 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
This pub has just one an award for best refurb but this style of pub leaves me cold.Tastless half of old brewery bitter.Cheap but not cheerful.
On 13th April 2018
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
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Tris C left this review about The Fitzroy Tavern
This used to be an office regular 30 years ago, so I can’t recall it at all well. We usually went here in the summer as it was one of the few pubs with substantial outdoor seating. You had to be wary though, as an elderly local man had an eye on your pint and if you put it down for a second, he’d grab it and start gulping. After that, you wouldn’t want it back.
The pub has a rich history of being patronised by the likes of Dylan Thomas, Tommy Cooper and Kenneth Williams. And Albert Pierrepoint. Recently refurbished to great acclaim, with the wrought iron pub names reinstated which are visible on Google from 2008. Apart from the fantastic etched glass to the picture windows and the superb ceiling, the whole interior looks brand new, I suspect because it may well be brand new, judging by the construction photos on the pub’s Facebook page. There are some partitions with glass infill, a lino floor, the name in mosaic tiling to the entrance floor with the walls and part of the ceiling clad in t ‘n’ g, all stained a shade of Ronseal brown; even the chiller cabinets appear to be integrated into the pub’s 'Victorian' fabric. Lighting comes from some Victorian-style brass lamps. There are a few glass-fronted cabinets full of 'period' household items such as a box of Elastoplast, circa 1950.
Friendly staff and Old Brewery on handpump at a cheap £1.60 a half though too cold.
I may be missing something here and require a return visit: I love my historic interiors and I applaud their restoration, but it just seems to lack character, unlike the recently restored Princess Louise, another member of the Sam Smith's stable.
On 31st March 2018
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2351 recommendations about 2289 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Fitzroy Tavern
Standard tidy Sams pub with the usual stuff on the bar.
On 19th January 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
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hondo . left this review about Fitzroy Tavern
Sam Smith's pub with a central island bar serving the usual own label selection.
On 11th October 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3062 recommendations about 2989 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Fitzroy Tavern
Cheap and cheerful, but although I don't even drink OBB out of choice, I am still offended that it doesn't serve any cask beer. Even if only a few percent of the clientele wanted to buy real ale, there would ample demand to justify installation of at least one handpump. I can't image why Sam Smiths persist with this approach for some, but not all, of their central London pubs (it just seems pig-headed to me) so - as always - had to make do with a nice pint of Extra Stout (£3.40). Apart from that, it has attractive island bar layout plus a separate Writers & Artists Bar downstairs (never visited).
On 16th June 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 9249 recommendations about 9249 pubs]