Falstaff, Southport

Reopening after a refurbishment Friday 17th July '15. Now claiming to be a sports bar and grill. Still called The Falstaff. Inside is now battleship grey and brown.

A pub of strange contrasts. It's a typical seaside drinking barn, with a large standing area in front of the very long bar, but to the right there is an area of quite classy wood panelling and a lovely fireplace, and here there are some tables and chairs, admittedly a little squashed together. A raised area nearer to the front of the pub houses a DJ console, but behind this are some shelves with some vases and busts on display. On the bar are the usual keg fonts plus a row of five hand pumps. Only one of these was in action at the time of my visit on a Saturday afternoon, with another having a reversed pump clip and three being totally naked. The beer available was Caledonian XPA, an undistinguished blonde beer which was in reasonable condition and fairly cheap at just £2.70 a pint (though there are better beers a lot cheaper elsewhere in Southport). I wouldn't make an effort to come back here, and with the Cheshire Lines just along the road I'm unlikely to need to.