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Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar, Leeds
Leeds
LS1 6HB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar
I really liked the Whitelocks. It's historic, atmospheric, comfortable, tucked away in the middle of the town centre and has a great range of beer.
Others have described the building well so I'll only add that I was struck by the magnificent wide copper bar which deserves a visit on its own. Also there are a few tables snuggled into the alley outside if you fancy drinking alfresco.
Beers available on our visit were: Theakstons Best and Old Peculiar, Kirkstall IPA, which was excellent, and Three Swords, Abbeydale Absolution, Copper Dragon Golden Pippin, Ilkley Mary Jane, Daleside Old Leg Over and XX XII.
Probably the first place I'd head to in Leeds.
On 10th July 2012
- rating: 9
[User has posted 683 recommendations about 682 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar
A fine example of an alleyway pub,hidden away from the modern shopping centre but well know to all as a drinking institution in this fine city.The interior was the most impressive on my guided tour of Leeds,etched mirrors and windows,copper topped tables,stained glass,glazed tiled bar,cast iron table legs with Whitelocks insignia,all housed in a narrow interior with a low ceiling.The tape of interesting blues numbers only added to the great atmosphere.
Ten handpumps dispensed a good range of local micro output along with some other better known brands and the crew reported good quality on offer all round.
A noteable feature for me was the raised floor level from where the bar staff operate,meaning they tower over the throng at the bar and can spot anyone not being served with ease resulting in efficient service even when busy.The perilous descent from the first floor loos is made less risky by the fine brass bannisters railings to the sides.
This is the one pub you must visit in Leeds if you appreciate great interiors,and the ale selection will gladden the heart of any beer tourists as well.The locals also love it.
On 8th July 2012
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar
A Leeds institution, and always worth a visit (if you can find it in one of the side alleys off Briggate). Fantastic, if narrow, interior with numerous features of interest. Some wooden tables out in Turks Head Yard offer a little extra seating. Excellent range of local and regional beers from the ten handpups scattered along the imposing bar counter, and my pint of Revolutions Beat Red was spot on. Overall, very glad to see that nothing obvious has altered with the change of ownership.
On 3rd June 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar
Under new management but beer quality remains high, the décor is unchanged, surely no-one would touch such a classic interior, and the staff attentive and efficient with pin point accuracy.
On 13th May 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3599 recommendations about 3279 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar
A few years ago when I worked in Leeds this was always an interesting pub, but the beer selection always let it down in my opinion. The choice used to be pretty much Theakstons or Theakstons. This has been addressed now and the pub has a good selection of changing cask ales, many of them local. It's a very old establishment (first licenced in 1715 although the building is earlier) with a Victorian interior dating from 1895 featuring an unusual ceramic & copper bar top, loads of brewery mirrors and a clock that tells its own time, rather than the actual time. We couldn't see much of this really on Saturday afternoon as it was heaving. We managed to get a seat, which was very lucky and sat and watched the scrum around the bar whilst drinking a very decent pint.
On 4th February 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3286 recommendations about 3196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about Whitelocks
This is a really nice pub that is up an alley off Leeds main shopping street.
Once inside here the pub is very narrow and was very busy on my visit,i liked the look of this pub and would have liked to have a drink in here when its a bit quieter.
I had a drink of Springhead Roaring Meg which was very nice the other beers i could see were Sharpes Eden, John Smiths cask and Kelham Easy Rider.
I wont try and describe the inside of this pub as Rogers and Old Boots are far better than i could do.
I would be very happy to visit this pub again.
On 26th November 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Julie Windmill left this review about Whitelocks
Fantastic pub with wonderful real ale and great food. Im having my wedding reception in the back room there in November. Lovely lovely Bev owns it and shes a great lady. Very atmospheric place and you can just feel the history in the place. Just be careful if you cant climb steps properly, the way to the toilets is like climbing everest.
On 9th October 2010
- rating: 10
[User has posted 2 recommendations about 2 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Whitelocks
Described by Betjemen as being “the very heart of Leeds”, Whitelocks is the most famous and for my money, the most interesting of the alley pubs that radiate off the central Briggate shopping area. The pub was originally the Turks Head but changed its name in the 18th century to represent the family that had owned it for 9 decades.
The long narrow interior is full of character with low ceilings, patterned glass windows and full of tradition and slightly opulent charm. The marble topped bar is most unusual being a kind of split level shelf which involves service at arms reach from elevated staff on the other side. Note also the “luncheon bar” section depicted in stained glass and the wonderful brewery mirrors on display.
The drinking area around the bar is quite narrow opposite the bar and one end is more of a dining area so seating can be hard to find at peak times, such is the pub’s popularity. Those who suffer from nausea may wish to avoid standing near the bar where a strange vibration can be felt in the floor, presumably from equipment beneath. There are seats and barrel tables outside in the alley where you almost feel that you have been transported back 200 years and seems totally at odds with the bustle of the modern shopping area a few steps away.
The pub has a generous selection of Real Ales – 8 hand pumps with Caledonian Deuchars, Theakstons Best & Old Peculiar, Brains SA, Leeds Ale, York Yorkshire Terrier, Kelham Island Easy Rider and Brass Monkey Bitter all present on my vist although I found the prices a bit on the steep side. A collection of pump clips from former guest beers decorate the bar. We had intended to eat here but the bar food was quite limited with little or no veggie options for Mrs B so we passed on this occasion.
My visit was unfortunately fairly brief and I would like to have spent more time here to sample a few other ales and get a real feel for the place but food and other pubs beckoned. This will however certainly be one of the first places to return when I next hit town.
On 19th August 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Whitelocks
Tucked away up an alley off Briggate, as you may imagine this is a long thin pub along one side of the alley, chairs and tables take up the other side. The impressively mirrored interior is a wonderful example of late victorian exuberance, with a long counter filling one side and bench seats and copper topped britannia tables and stools ranged down the other, at the far end is a luncheon room. The counter itself is a decadent brown, green and yellow tiled affair, with an equally impressive bar back of twisted columns, plain shelves and stained glass, echoing the staining glass windows of the pub. One end of the bar back has a small shrine to Elvis. The counter has a glass and brass food servery at one end, a bank of four handpumps on a raised block dominating the middle and there are two other handpumps to each side. These dispense a mix of regional and local ales, with Theakstons, Daleside, Adnams, Brass Monkey and Deuchars on during my last visit, a single T-bar serves a mundane range of kegs. Oddly for a city centre pub in a major shopping street the customers were quite local and friendly, the staff very efficient. A Good Beer Guide regular.
On 28th February 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3599 recommendations about 3279 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Whitelock's First City Luncheon Bar
Weird, mirrors, arrgghhh, what, huh?!?!
Just go and visit if in Leeds, a little gem, if you can find it!
On 11th October 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1542 recommendations about 1519 pubs]