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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Sunday, 31^st March 2013
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Requested be closed with reason - Gone away: Converted to restaurant use.

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Shakespeare's House, Leicester

4 Southgates
Leicester
LE1 5SH

Correct details

Served areas

Leicester Central

Reviews of Shakespeare's House (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Quinno _ left this review about Shakespeare's House

It's now a Chinese restaurant and karaoke venue. A crying shame.

April 2013
A proper bit of 60’s architecture that fits in nicely with the ring road if you like your urban topography. After noting the concrete Shakespeare bust by the glass doors, enter via the lobby to find that the inside has also been left fairly unmolested and is worth a visit for that alone, with the original banquettes and dividers still in place. Spread over two rooms (lounge to left, public bar with pool and darts to right) this is a true survivor, even the signage on the toilet doors looks original. The pub is currently up for sale, having been owned most lately by Oakwell brewery whose ales (three of) predominate the bar. As mentioned elsewhere, prices are rock-bottom and frankly this knocks all of the Leicester JDW’s into a cocked hat. On my latest visit the Mild was £1.05 a half and in very good nick. The clientele are local and well-established (yes, that’s a euphemism) however they are very friendly and welcoming of strangers. Service behind the bar is always friendly and prompt. Plenty of things to read, including an old Viz annual. Worth your time for many reasons, let’s hope a buyer can be found who wants to preserve this place and the ethos that comes with it. Rated 8

On 15^th June 2026 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 6179 recommendations about 6159 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Blue Scrumpy left this review about Shakespeare's House

Having never visited this place when it was the Shakespeare's Head, I tried to visit it on Sunday evening, only to find it still closed after lockdown.

A massive pile of letters and leaflets in the front doorway suggests that nobody has even been inside. Although, social media suggests that they were at least serving takeaway food as recently as June.

As such, it is not clear whether this place is still trading. With the nearby Criterion having closed and with the Blue Boar and Two-Tailed Lion also seemingly now closed on a Sunday, this area was pretty much a ghost town.

On 2^nd September 2020 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 3537 recommendations about 3535 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about The Shakespeares Head

Built in the mid 1960’s for the Shipstone’s Brewery, the Shakespeare’s Head has remained pretty much untouched ever since. The building has an unusual wedge shape, and is thought to have been designed this way because there was supposed to be a roundabout built on the busy road that runs alongside it, although the council eventually opted for an underpass instead. The entrance is through a large glass doorway, past two dubious busts of Shakespeare that look like they were sculpted by the blind girl from that Lionel Ritchie video. You emerge into a lobby with a small serving hatch and the two main bars either side. To the right is the lounge, which is carpeted with banquette and low stool seating formed into semi partitioned bays with some rather nice copper topped tables. The public bar on the left side of the lobby has a linoleum floor and is dominated by a centrally positioned pool table, around which run a few banquettes, with a dartboard at the rear and a TV set which was turned off. Throughout the pub there is plenty of original panelling and most of the windows have etched glasswork. The time warp effect was clinched when the barman slipped some Pink Floyd onto the sound system, which sent most of the PuG crowd into a youthful reverie.
Three ales were on at the bar, all from the Oakwell Brewery – Barnsley Bitter, Dark Mild and Senior, with the Mild turning out to be in pretty good nick. Some of the clientele looked like they’d been in situ since the mid 1960’s as well, but they seemed like a friendly bunch and the barman was full of good natured banter.
This was certainly an interesting pub to have a look around and is well worth a stop-off if you’re interested in well preserved post-war pub architecture. The pub is just over the road from the Criterion, and it would be a shame to do one without the other.

On 29^th April 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3387 recommendations about 3387 pubs]

View more reviews of Shakespeare's House (12)

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