The Star, Middlesbrough

Owner Teesside University plans to demolish the building as part of its masterplan to overhaul the campus.

The Star is a Sir John Fitzgerald pub located in the middle of the Teeside University campus, which perhaps tells you all you need to know about the type of venue on offer here. The pub is reached via a flight of stairs which take you up to a sizeable front patio area with lots of seating available, making it an ideal spot for a quick drink before dashing off to your lecture. You enter into what feels like a huge open-plan room, an impression made worse by the large spaces left devoid of furniture and the high ceilings caused by the pub's split levels layout. The pub has a vague L-shaped layout with the entrance taking you into a wide raised seating area which has been carpeted and filled with high tables and stools to the right and some comfier chairs to the left under an unusual wooden arch effect wall. Steps lead down to the tiled floor main bar area with the long L-shaped servery to the left and a big standing area/dancefloor to the right. Over on the far right hand side there is a slightly raised space where standard and banquette seating can be found with a DJ booth behind. Down the left hand side of the bar is another raised carpeted seating area, hidden from the rest of the pub and again with lots of standing room and limited bench seating around the perimeter. There is a fireplace on the end wall with a TV screen showing muted football coverage above, whilst to one side there is what must be a pub first - a chicken rotisserie cabinet! The room extends around the left hand end of the bar into another space with high tables and stools and a wall dominated by a large clock. Music was playing at a fairly sensible volume, although I had the feeling it was about to be cranked up at any moment, but having said that, the chatter and echo from the modest crowd was plenty loud enough. There are four handpulls on the bar but only one of these was in action when I arrived, offering Ossett Turning Leaves. I tried a pint which was in pretty good shape, even if this wasn't really the best beer in the Ossett portfolio. The clientele were almost exclusively students, with a few middle aged blokes propping up the bar being the notable exception. I had yet to find a Fitzgerald pub I'd not loved, but I'm afraid to say that this pub is the one to break that trend. I found the large empty spaces created a dull, characterless pub, with only the seating area to the left of the bar offering anything close to a proper pub atmosphere. The provision of just the one ale was also a shame and whilst I've no doubt the pub serves the needs of the local student population well, it doesn't offer much else and is a blot on the otherwise excellent Fitzgerald copybook.