The Metropolitan Bar, Littleworth, Stafford

a lovely pub with a great friendly atmosphere, having been going to the metropolitan for nearly a year now i have become quite a local, since the pub was taken over in the summer it has become a great place to be, the new food menu is made by a fully qualified chef, they do several different offer nights including free juke box and free pool, the drinks are reasonably priced and the entertainment is great. although it is no longer a sports bar they still show a lot of the sports and a lot of big fixtures. the pub also likes to get involved in sports and games, offering sponsership to teams of any sports and having their own pool and darts teams. all in all a great pub with great owners, a place where everyone can go and enjoy

This pub has recently been taken over by a young couple who have lots of drive and energy, they have changed the ethos of the place trying to draw it away from the Lager sports bar, they have introduced a food menu created a comfortable area with book and classic games. There Cask ales are excellent with a choice of three or four ‘guest ales’ (not so many tv's)

A detached 1930s styled undressed brick corner bar, with front patio, formerly the Gate Inn, I believe. The interior is open plan and has a central wood serving bar in the middle. There are several different ‘areas’, with different decors. The first, in no particular order, is a mainly white and wood panel area, which had a big pull down screen showing the sport. The second area is in red and cream ‘classical’ wallpaper, with Greek temple ruins, as well as wood panel and has a brick fireplace and, yes, a TV – with sport on. The third area is a games room, with a pool table and dart board. It is in cream and wood panel and yes, has a TV, with sport on. The last area is the bar area that you enter into going through the main door. It is in cream and brown and has vases and – errr, a TV, with sport on. There are lots of arty tree/landscape pictures, yet the music was loudish heavy rock. The service was fine. The clientele clearly a mix of locals and it was quite busy. Beer; tap stuff, with about 5 handpulls, some of which were turned around, leaving Bombardier, England’s Pride and a solitary Potter’s Gold, which I had and it was rancid. I didn’t fancy the other stuff, so had a bottle of Mann’s Brown Ale. I really couldn’t make my mind-up about this place. The name is off-putting, being termed a ‘bar’, but apart from several TVs, the décor is that of pub lounges and it has the games of a pub bar room. People sat and read newspapers to loud rock music (I actually prefer rock to the charty tosh I expected), but it was a bit loud. They advertised what seemed to be a good choice of handpull beer, national and local brews, but it transpired only two were on – Bombardier being ubiquitous.