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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
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The Blue Bell, York
York
YO1 9TF
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about The Blue Bell
The Blue Bell is an old traditional York pub with a small front bar and small back ‘smoking room’ seating area. I counted seven hand pumps on the bar and noted the presence of Guinness, Staropramen and Carling. I was warned about the governor not permitting groups which at the time I found a little mean-spirited. However, after spending the weekend in the pubs of York I completely understand why the governor and locals would not want groups of drunken hen and stag parties converging on their pub. Taking the advice of my peers I entered alone and was served by a very friendly lady. I managed to perch at the end of a table in amongst some old Yorkshire gentlemen. No mobile phone conversations are permitted and there are no gaming machines, televisions, or music playing facilities.
Before venturing up to York from the South Coast this is how I imagined a Yorkshire pub to be. To be honest all that was missing were a few whippets. This is a good pub that is well worth a visit, just don’t go mob handed.
On 25th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5970 recommendations about 5936 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Blue Bell
This was my chosen “off piste” visit from the planned route of our Pubs Galore crawl of York and it did not disappoint.
I positioned myself in the Smoke room through the rear door, ordered a pint of Rudgate Ruby Mild through the serving hatch and could have easily settled in for the duration had not this been only pub no3 on the crawl.
Fantastic old school boozer with a good range of ales and a fantastic 100 year old plus pub interior as described by the reviewers below. However as it attracts customers of a similar age bracket , not one recommended to the younger fraternity.
On 19th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Blue Bell
A very small, old-fashioned (in a good way) pub featuring a compact bar at the front, a couple of seats by the closed serving hatch in the corridor and a (slightly) larger Smoke Room to the rear. Traditional furniture and decor throughout. Seven hand pumps on the tiny front counter, with offerings including Farmer's Bitter and Blonde (£3.40) from Bradfield, Landlord, Rooster's Azacca, Acorn Eggcracker and Rudgate Ruby Mild. Very little in the way of food, just a few sandwiches and pies at lunchtimes, but features a basket of artisan breads for sale. Understandably, perhaps, given the size of the place, its layout and city-centre location, they have a strict policy about not letting any big groups in (and several got turned away whilst I was there). If you can get in, it is certainly well worth a visit.
On 12th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Blue Bell
A fantastic, unspoilt old pub consisting of a couple of bars served by a central bar counter. This was my favourite of all the pubs we visited during our long weekend in York, and there is some pretty stiff competition. Food looks to be limited to a jar of pickled eggs on the end of the bar, although a chalk board advertised a few sandwiches that were available at lunchtimes only.
The rear bar is known as the smoking room and this had dark wood panelling on both the ceiling and the walls with the latter looking as though it had been varnished in some way, a tiled fire-place with a fire blazing away (gas I think though), various caricature pictures on the walls as well as old black and white photos of sports teams. Tables were of the round, copper topped variety and there was etched glass on the internal doors. Access to the rear of the servery was via a small hatch with frosted glass partitioning blocking off the rest. We didn’t investigate the front bar but did notice various accolades on the wall including a Pub of the Year award. Locals and barmaid all seemed friendly.
Beers on tap were Timothy Taylor Landlord, Farmer’s Blond and Farmer’s Bitter from Bradfield, Acorn Eggcracker, Ruby Mild, Great Heck Simcoe, and Rooster’s Azaca. After all that, the cider choice was a little uninspiring with just Stowford Press being available. All in all, well worth seeking out on any visit to York.
On 9th April 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2060 recommendations about 1962 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Blue Bell
For once I was in York when the racing wasn't on and managed to enter the pub. Proper old style bar and lounge serving 7 real ales on my visit.
On 13th December 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2933 recommendations about 2866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Blue Bell
Left my other half in here with Durham Black Velvet while I explored the area, but I was soon back to join him over an Acorn 7seas. This is truly a great pub to get into for friendliness, and we are so pleased it has got its place back in the 2015 Good Beer Guide.
On 21st September 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Blue Bell
Got stuck in this little gluepot again on Saturday. Friendly banter and a couple of strange visitors kept us here for a while. The landlady said she thought that there was probably a village idiot conference going on somewhere in York that day and someone had sent a coach to the outlying villages to pick them all up. :-))
04/01/2013
Still going strong, we call in here every time we're in York, which is several times a year. Yesterday was no different and the intended one turned into three as we swapped pubs visited and drinking tales with a couple of the regulars in the back bar and some other visitors. It's a bit of a timewarp pub, with a wormhole somewhere which means that every time you call in for a quick one it takes a hour or two. It's a fine little pub and long may it prosper.
26/04/2010
Doesn't look much from the outside, but is an old, small traditional local inside. You have to bend down to order at the hatch in the back room which looks like a 1930's sitting room. The front room is also small and has a really friendly vibe with both locals and some tourists in the know (us) calling in. Good selection of well kept beers always available. Has a charity do once a year when they close Fossgate and have stalls/seats spread out across the street. Proper pub.
On 27th January 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3286 recommendations about 3196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Blue Bell
As the horse racing was on they had signs at the entrance saying private party. It was late on and I was on my own so might've got served but the notices weren't a welcoming sight so I took my custom elsewhere.
On 17th May 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2933 recommendations about 2866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Blue Bell
This is a lovely traditional two room pub in a good central location. The exterior alone is well worth a look, with unusual pink glazed bricks around a beautifully etched window with a Blue Bell in the middle. Inside we find a two room layout with a central servery and connecting corridor. The front room had a sign up stating that there was a private party within, but having made our way round to the rear room we discovered that this wasn’t the case and, as a previous reviewer has noted, this is probably put up to deter large groups. The rear room is accessed via the corridor which runs down the left side of the pub and has a large serving hatch and an unusual folding seat. A doorway with an etched glass window ushers you into the ‘Smoke Room’ – a carpeted space with a low serving hatch to the bar on your right and a curved banquette (with bell pushes above) around a few copper topped tables to the left. There is some lovely old panelling within and the walls are decorated with various old photos, paintings and drawings including a few depicting the city’s football club. These may well be here as the result of a previous owner who became of the club’s first directors after holding several meetings in the pub which eventually led to the club’s formation in 1922.
Blackboards around the serving hatch list the ale choice and detail a few bottled beer options as well. The ales available on my visit were Rooster’s Yankee, Taylor Landlord, Bradfield Farmers Blonde and Bitter, Salamander Gun Jumper, Rudgate Ruby Mild and the house beer, Goose Eye Blue Bell Ale. The Yankee was on absolute top form and the other half enjoyed a bottle of Lindemans Framboise. The blackboards also listed a simple sandwich menu and explained that mobile phone use was not permitted inside.
This is a beautifully preserved turn of the century pub and a real haven of peace away from the touristy pubs and bars elsewhere in town. The pub would be worth a look for its beer selection alone, but when coupled with the wonderful interior, it becomes an essential destination for anyone visiting the city.
On 27th June 2012
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
OogyWawa . left this review about The Blue Bell
A legendary York pub with a perfectly preserved Edwardian interior unchanged since 1904. There are usually 6 handpulls dispensing beers from Yorkshire and beyond with Taylors Landlord and Farmers Blond as "always" beers. Leaving the massively over-rated Landlord aside which has been so over-produced to be a pale imitation it's former self, the other beers are very well kept and you are sure to leave as impressed as most by this tiny gem. The "Private Party" signs on the door at weekends are to discourage stag parties - you'll still be made welcome in this "must-visit" York pub.
On 13th May 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 15 recommendations about 15 pubs]