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Detail Pages
The Cross, Kings Cross, N1
N1
N1 9RY
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Driver
Below is a rosy review from Carly Ross who is undoubtedly the manager. Why do managers always make their identity so obvious by posting one review and a flawless one at that?
This is really more of a trendy wine bar rather than a pub and is certainly not a boozer. Features include metal and glass tables, jazz funk sound and mood lighting.
There was one ale on - actually off - the tedious Gloom Bore with the clip reversed; my half of San Miguel cost £2.50.
Enough said really: not my kind of place so I won't be returning, especially with the revamped Scottish Stores just down the road.
Note: closed on Sundays.
On 23rd May 2016
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Driver
I visited the Driver at midday, just after it had opened, on a recent Monday. All but two of the tables were reserved for lunchtime diners that had the forethought to ring ahead. In attendance during my visit were a group of students, some late twenty-somethings and a couple with a baby in a buggy. I wasn’t surprised to see an absence of televisual devices or hear the tiresome easy listening background music.
I didn’t look at a menu, but I did note that the bar supports eight fonts for dispensing premium and standard keg products. I also noted the presence of two hand pumps that were drawing Box Steam Brewery’s Tunnel Vision and Portobello Brewery’s Star.
The toilets are located downstairs and I do not recall seeing any disabled facilities, but I would be surprised if a food led establishment like this did not cater for all. Upstairs are three almost identical floors that are all available for hire and there is an advertised roof terrace. The opening times are midday until midnight during the week, 18:00 until midnight on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Times are negotiable when hiring for functions, refer to pub website.
I found the service to be polite enough and I wasn’t made to feel at all uncomfortable whilst I sat at the bar with a pint. If I was to feel a pang of hunger as I walked by with the missus I would return to try out the food, but this is scenario is very unlikely.
On 12th October 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5254 recommendations about 5222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Driver Bar
In its days as the General Picton, I could be found most lunchtimes propping up the bar here with a selection of workmates. In those days it was just a straight forward local’s boozer with darts, pool and a pleasantly tatty, run down feel with maybe the odd questionable character. Like pretty much every pub in the area it has now lost its original identity and resurfaced following a trendy and no doubt expensive makeover.
The exterior has now been turned into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon with greenery clinging to the brickwork whilst the interior is equally unrecognizable from its Picton days. The basic layout remains the same but the interior now has more of a wine / cocktail bar feel. The once unused fireplaces now house collections of candles and stuffed deer heads now adorn the walls among a few old adverts. I have often wondered who thinks that exposed pipes and wiring makes an attractive ceiling feature and whether I should have bought shares in grey paint manufacturers. The lighting is intimately subdued and where the jukebox once emitted a steady flow of Britpop, now it’s urban R&B and funky drum & bass club rubbish (fortunately not particularly loud on my recent visits although they have been early evening). A half open staircase leads up to another bar, more of a clubby area I understand and also a roof garden but I can’t say that I felt the urge to wander up there, even for research purposes.
The beers are mainly top end draught continental lagers with just the one ale, Tribute, that presently comes with a £3.50.price tag. If you think that is too cheap, the staff invite you leave a little something on the silver tray presented with your change.
The Driver sits in comfortably with the visions of the regenerated Kings Cross area and will no doubt appeal to the late night under 30’s crowds but it’s not my scene and I can’t help lamenting the loss of, not just another traditional style boozer, but one that I used on an almost daily basis.
On 30th March 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
carly ross left this review about The Driver Bar
Beautiful refurbishment a really nice menu and good selection of wine, really friendly staff and amazing roof garden area, is open late on the weekend with dj's playing every week
On 4th June 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Driver Bar
Certainly better than I expected for the area, and surprising quiet for mid-evening. Decor-wise, an interesting mixture of old and new, and the food looked good. Reasonable pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord.
On 15th February 2008
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about The Driver Bar
Used to be called the General Picton. Is much better now, although gets busy Friday lunchtime. They seem to forget you, I ordered a Guinness and while it was settling, the woman served someone else. When she came back behind the bar, I tried to remind her, but she said wait a minute, so I waited. When she returned again she asked me if I had been served yet, so I just casually mentioned that someone had started to pour me a Guinness and I was still waiting for it. The penny dropped then.
On 19th March 2007
- rating: 8
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]