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Detail Pages
The Chequers Tavern, St James's, SW1
SW1
SW1Y 6DB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Chequers Tavern
This is a very small pub, with a warm and welcoming feel to it. Clientele seemed a mix of regulars and tourists. It was very comfortable throughout, being carpeted (I always think that carpets make a place more “warm” than bare boards), with a panelled ceiling and lots of dark wood. I noticed that all the tables were reserved for diners – I suppose in these days a pub can't afford to lose the income generated by diners if those only drinking are occupying the handful of tables.
Ales on were Deuchars IPA, Pride, and Bombardier. The IPA was fine. I also had a hot turkey and stuffing baguette which was pretty good at £4.25 – with Fortnum & Mason cranberry sauce no less. There was a large plasma screen TV – It was turned off on the Saturday lunchtime I was in, but maybe they switch it on if there is something worth watching. Won't get a lot of use, then. Definitely worth dropping in here for a pint if you are in the area. Oh, and thanks for the history lesson, Roger!
On 20th December 2008
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Chequers Tavern
Originally the Masons Arms after the stone masons yard situated behind pub.According to Pub history, the pub was opened for the masons prepraing the stone work for the building of the nearby St James Palace and they used the pub as a base for playing chequers. By 1751 it had simply become known as the Chequers pub and the name has stuck ever since. The earliest records date from 1731 however as the nearby Palace was built some 40 years earlier, we can assume that there has been an pub here in one form or another since the end of the 17th century. The current building has a Victorian facade but theinterior is considerably older. The quaint, carpeted L shaped interior is quite small even allowing for the original rooms being knocked through. The décor is fairly simple with plain walls and a slightly wonky but heavily painted burgundy ceiling. There are various plates, bottles and figurines dotted around the high shelves and traditional features like patterned windows and a bar frame are still intact. A quite disproportionately sized plasma screen dominates the front of the bar. There are usually 3 Ales, Pride, Directors + 1 guest (Theakstons on my last trip) and an orderly collection of previous guest beer pump clips can be viewed behind the bar.
60's music lovers will be interested in taking a short detour down the passage at the side of the pub into Masons Yard itself. No 6 was the art gallery where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono who was holding an exhibition there, No 9 was the photographic studio of Gered Mankowitz who took many classic photos here of legends such as Hendrix and the Stones and No 13 was the Scotch Of St James Club that hosted many famous 60's bands and was a famous Swinging 60's hang out. I think we can safely assume that the Chequeres was probably the 60's equivalent of Camden's Hawley Arms.
On 6th February 2008
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]