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Nags Head, Reading
Reading
RG1 7XD
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
picasso 09 left this review about The Nags Head
Best beer range in Reading if not my favorite pub, I find it can lack atmosphere if you find yourself there when its quiet, although its more often busy than quiet.A must visit pub for the ale or cider fan.
On 4th April 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 14 recommendations about 14 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
I L left this review about The Nags Head
It's about time Reading had another good real ale pub apart from the usual long standing good ones, this really is an oasis in a desert of good pubs to the West of the town centre and it is well worth the 10 minutes or so walk from Reading station. A very lively atmosphere with a very good range of background music on from 1950's to present day. The range of ales on the individual chalk boards above the bar shows the next beer coming on is a great variation to other pubs.Loads of pump clips also on display around the bar along with a couple of animal face masks on the optics behind the bar with whisky bottle containers fixed around the ceiling lights! Just a shame we didn't pick up on this place before now but we will still visit the other good ones in town aswell as this one in future.
Update January 2012
This pub is now a true free house and the range of ales is as good as ever. Well worth the few minutes walk West from the centre of town. However on our latest visit it did seam that some like leaving their coats on the seats to save them even though they weren't actually seen using them - I am sure one person was actually sitting on another table with a second pint saving the apparently vacant table just going back now and again to his coat on the chair!
On 9th January 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 287 recommendations about 284 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
dave stray left this review about The Nags Head
Don't wanna be the bad guy but I did not enjoy my experience of this pub. First of all it was packed to the Pat Rafter's, not necessarily a bad thing as it must be a popular pub but when you can't get a seat there is not much point in staying. Plus they seem to have an issue with people swearing here, who does not ever swear in a pub especially after a few pints? These rules seem over the top, and I can't see any point of going again despite the no doubt good real ale.
On 8th January 2012
- rating: 1
[User has posted 265 recommendations about 183 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Nags Head
A former back street grotty Green King pub which underwent a metamorphism in 2007 to become one of the leading Real Ale pubs in the South and now regular winner of local CAMRA awards.
The internal one bar space doesn’t perhaps have the character of other famous establishments and I imagine can be a bit soulless when no one is in.
But fill it with punters, as it was the other evening when the darts team, a couple of card schools and several people to watch the footy on the two screens were in , and it becomes a very pleasant environment for a pie and a pint (or two).
The beer policy is well described by Quinno below and the following were included in the 12 ‘on’ when I visited, Sheffield Brewery Stout, Tring Brewery Colly Dog, Vales Hadda's Autumn Ale, Ascot Ales Galaxy, West Berks Good Old Boy, Andwell Gold Muddler, Stonehenge Danish Dynamite and Ramsbury Flint Knapper.
The food menu is the basic pub grub, but they are well known for the pies and the one I had along with the excellent Sheffield Stout will get me going back next time I’m in town.
On 25th November 2011
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about The Nags Head
Second only to the Hobgoblin, or maybe better these days, in a town of largely dreary pubs, my first visit but certainly not the last. More of a main stream real ale pub than the Hobgoblin but not unrewarding for keg drinkers with varied tastes. 12 pumps in action on two magnificent six pull sets, all clearly labelled above the bar on small blackboards, all from microbreweries, all well kept. Facilities include a big screen over the door, and a dart board in the corner. Décor is very traditional but with daft lampshades made out of malt whisky tubes. Needless to say the customers are largely male and aged 25-65.
Jan 2010 and another visit to sample this fine ale house, no change in the high quality, wide choice or pretty much anything else, there is a tv camera trained on the dart board with the screen visible in most parts of the room. This allows others to see your superb, or lamentable, performance with the added advantage of a first class view of your thinning hair as you retrieve your arrows. I also noticed the beers were mainly arranged in order of strength from right (lowest) to left across the bar. Oh and jugs of ale are available for groups (or big drinkers).
On 28th January 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3269 recommendations about 2978 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Richard Arwkrite left this review about The Nags Head
Surprised I am the first to review the famous Nags Head.Small car park at the rear and if disabled it helps if you can walk a few steps.Plain single bar with little in the way of comforts found in modern gin places.But you come here for the array of real ales, pump after pump of them.Do yourself a favour and visit soon.The pies are a great compliment to the beer.
On 22nd September 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 197 recommendations about 185 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Nags Head
I had to pay a visit to the famous Nags Head and wasn't disappointed. 12 hand pumps and the chalkboard running across the top of the bar with what's on each pump now and what's coming next was very useful. It was clear from this that they try to ensure a variety of different ales is always available. Quite a large room that can get busy on match days when a shuttle bus is available to and from the ground for a small fee. This service extends to visiting fans as well who are welcomed in the pub. Great real ale pub, put it on the list for a visit if you haven't been already.
On 2nd February 2009
- rating: 9
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Nags Head
I popped in here prior to a Reading v Spurs game last season based on some excellent recommendations and whilst the pub is fairly plain and not particularly alluring (both externally and internally), the beers and the welcome more than made up for any aesthetic shortcomings. The interior is one knocked through room, quite plain and basic with a dart board, piano, a selection of board games and a log fire for the winter nights (this was January). There are 2 large plasma screens for sport and a decent selection of music when I was there (not sure if it was piped or a juke box). Pictures of the Madjeski Stadium and the old Elm Park ground adorn the walls alongside signed shirts and ticket stubs. An increasing number of Beer clips expand along the walls and I dare say they will eventually take over given the rotating selection of beers that are on offer. 12 pumps with such a weird and wonderful choice that I didn't even bother to note them down. I just started at one end before the match and then went from the opposite end after. Whether I met in the middle I don't recall. I wasn't sure how the locals would take to me attired in my Spurs kit but the staff and punters could not have been more accommodating. We all rubbed shoulders on the shuttle bus to the ground and enjoyed some post match banter and celebrations (me) / commiserations (them) back in the NH afterwards. I understand that this place used to be a bit of a no go hell hole and, if so, it acts as a fine example of what can be achieved with a bit of hard work, effort and imagination.
On 31st August 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]