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The Abbey, Gloucester

53 Northgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2AJ
Phone: 01452304357

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


hondo . left this review about The Abbey

Large corner pub (2 old pubs knocked into one). 5 real ale taps 1 on.

On 20th October 2022 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blackthorn _ left this review about The Abbey

A very large, street corner pub located towards the end of Gloucester’s pedestrianized shopping street, it is presumably a couple of buildings that have been knocked together at some point to for one large open plan interior.

Décor wise it reminded me a bit of one of those brew pubs that are springing up all over the place and consisted of various shades of wood strip on much of the floor along with some patterned tiling around the bar counter, and a mixture of cream plaster and some whitewashed brickwork on much of the walls. Elsewhere was aqua blue paintwork, and a couple of feature walls with flock wallpaper with painted white boards on the ceiling. Numerous TV screens were dotted around showing a sports channel, as well as a large projector screen at the end. Somehow it didn’t really strike me as a sports pub though, perhaps because the volume was off and low background music was playing. It could well be different at other times of course. A small courtyard garden was accessed at the far end, and next to this was a slightly cosier area with some padded seating.

A quick glance at the menu suggested that pizzas were something of a speciality, along with a selection of burgers and a few pub classics such as fish & chips, beef & ale pie or a smothered chicken. Most of the main meals seemed to be somewhere in the £7.50 - £9.00 price range.

Beers on tap were Gloucester Gold, Old Golden Hen, Goff’s Black Knight and Cheltenham Gold, whilst a fifth pump appeared unused. In addition to this there were half a dozen or so “Craft Beer” taps mounted on the wall behind the bar. Ciders meanwhile were Strongbow, Mortimer’s Orchard, Rekorderlig Strawberry & Lime, Lilley’s Apple & Pear and Lilley’s Apple & Blackberry. Overall, whilst this wasn’t perhaps the more traditional style of pub that I would normally favour, I thought it was pleasant enough and would happily pop in again if passing.

On 6th February 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Abbey

This modern student-friendly bar was formed when two pubs, The Kings Arms and The Tabard, were knocked through, creating a large street corner pub in the heart of the city centre. Previously known as Cleopatra's and Varsity, the pub underwent a major refurbishment in 2012, before opening in its current guise. You enter to a carpeted front seating area with lots of standard tables and chairs, modern wallpaper and a few partitioning screens. Sadly, everything has been painted a dull shade of grey, which does the space no favours and makes the raised seating area which runs under the right hand windows a much more attractive proposition. Here you can find some nice padded, low back bench seating, arranged into open booths, each with a decorative lampshade hanging from above. Moving further into the pub, you eventually reach the bar area, with the servery on the left displaying a modern bar back with some fairly pleasant back-lit glass for decoration. Beyond is a large, open rear section, screened from the rest of the pub by a few structural pillars and presumably this was once the dividing line between the two former pubs. You can find some high table and stool seating back here, but it seemed a bit gloomy to me and not as inviting as the front half of the pub. TV screens were showing rugby and football simultaneously, but once the matches had finished, this was replaced by loud music. We stopped in here for a bite to eat and found the menu was nice and cheap but the quality wasn't really up to much. The staff seemed a bit disinterested and tables were generally pretty dirty.
There were six hand pumps on the bar offering Sharps Doom Bar, Greene King IPA, Courage Best and Wells Bombardier, with two pumps unclipped. My pint of Doom Bar was pretty poor and my other half had a glass of wine that was undrinkable.
This pub doesn't really seem to be making much of an effort, content to attract students, passers by and other non discerning pub goers. I was pretty disappointed with the food, drink and service here which overshadowed some of the pub's more promising aspects. There are lots of good pubs in Gloucester, so this one will remain well down the pecking order.

On 17th May 2014 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]