The Crown, St. Albans

Pub SignMan left this review about The Crown

This is a large pub on a busy junction next to Clarence Park, in the 'wrong' direction for visitors heading to the town centre from St Albans City station. You enter to a smart, Ember Inns style bar area with the servery directly opposite the entrance and sizable seating spaces to either side as well as further back down the left-hand side. The main room is mostly bare boarded, but has carpeted spaces either side of the front door and a very nice mosaic tile floor around the bar. The servery is L-shaped and has a tongue and groove panelled counter front and modern glazed brick-tile bar back with built in fridges. The walls have been painted in various shades of grey and cream, so it all looks a little bit bland and typical of generic dining pubs up and down the country. Seating comes in the form of standard tables and chairs mixed with a few short banquettes and tub chairs. A nice fireplace stands to the left of the front door, with a smart stove inside, but the surrounding wall has seemingly been left undressed after having its tiles removed, and was very scruffy as a result. The decor is a little corporate - for every old black and white photo of the local area, there's a dumb slogan poster or some promotional material on display. Many TV screens are dotted around the pub, all showing live FA Cup football to a good crowd prior to a St Albans City fixture, whilst a raucous kid's birthday party occupied the left-hand function room. The rear space is essentially a large lounge diner type area with lots of nice banquette and bench seating, including a few booths down the side wall.
There are four handpulls on the bar, but only St Austell Tribute was available, with Taylor Landlord and Tring Side Pocket clips turned around and the final pump unclipped. The bar was understaffed and service was a bit curt as a result, but the Tribute was drinkable and the prematch atmosphere was much better than what I imagine a normal afternoon in here would be like.
For a very corporate feeling pub I quite liked it here and was glad I added this as a last minute addition to my crawl around town. I think I got lucky with the lively crowd who brought the pub to life, making the bland styling less of an issue, and whilst I might have had better fortune with the beer range, I still enjoyed a decent pint and wouldn't mind popping in again if I was looking for a drink on this side of the tracks.

Date of visit - 27th January 2024

On 17^th June 2024 - rating: 6
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