Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Crown at Wells, Wells
Wells
BA5 2RP
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Crown at Wells
A Bistro but with a separate pubby area.... although on a saturday lunch, of course every table was full of diners.
Plenty of descriptions below - so I'll add trivia. Exterior shots for the pub in the film Hot Fuzz. Interior shots were from the Royal Standard in Beaconsfield.
Found it quite laid back for a tourist food pub. Dogs are welcome and the only sign forbidding things was a polite request to close the door on exit. We've all been in these sorts of pubs that are full of "stop that, pack that in" type signage.
Cheddar Ales Pot Holer in fine condition.
Good Beer Guide 2023 entry.
On 19th March 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Crown at Wells
Well described by others, below, this former coaching inn feels like something is missing. On entering we were functionally shepherded to a table rather than being allowed to order at the bar, the staff seeing us more as an inconvenience than as customers. Two taps on the bar were dispensing Tall Tales Pale Ale and a keg cider. Ales appeared from elsewhere; these were Potholer from Cheddar, Doombar and Butcombe Original. I had the Potholer, which was in poor condition and took a long time to arrive at the table. It feels more like a cheap café than a pub, certainly not an enjoyable place to spend any time
On 9th March 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3280 recommendations about 3245 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Crown at Wells
Arguably Wells’ most prominent pub thanks to its location on the Market Square, this is a very large, rambling traditional inn with many different rooms to explore. You enter via a central passageway which leads you past the hotel reception desk and what appeared to be a bar or maybe hotel restaurant through a doorway to the right. Pub goers are directed to the far end of the passageway, where another door leads you into a rear room which was already full when we arrived, resulting in us turning left where several more seating areas can be found. The first of these is a rather nice, relaxed feeling dining space with bare boards and a grand fireplace on the end wall, all furnished with simple tables and chairs. From here you can head back towards the front of the building, where you’ll find the main bar area, with the servery on the back wall and long banquettes with dated upholstery around the perimeter, including in the large front bay windows. The walls are fairly plain, with some odd bits of breweriana providing most of the visual distraction, although there is also a framed stab-vest on display, which is a prop from the movie Hot Fuzz. The Crown was used as a filming location for this movie – a fact that is further attested to by a photo of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright all stood behind the bar. The servery has a modern tongue and groove panelled counter and well stocked, mirrored bar back and moves through to the front central section of this side of the pub, accessed via a single step down into this stone-floored space. Comfy tub chairs and more banquettes are available, but it’s otherwise a fairly open plan and uninteresting spot which was the last area to fill up on our mid-week evening visit. Steps over to the left take you up into a raised side room of sorts with rough stonework walls and some standard table and chair seating, although the Covid restrictions in place at the time of my visit prevented me from having a proper look around this side of the pub. Music played quietly in the background during our time here and the pub slowly filled up as the evening progressed, despite the chatty barmaid’s frustrations at having had several pre-booked parties not turn up (to her credit, she was quick to give these reserved tables to other punters rather than turning good custom away).
The fact that the pub is still drawing good crowds meant they were able to keep four ales on the bar – Sharps Doom Bar, Cheddar Ales Crown & Glory, Wychwood Hobgoblin and Butcombe Original. I tried the Original which was in excellent shape and the Crown & Glory which was very tasty and also in good nick. We also enjoyed some food here and found generous, high quality portions of some pub classics.
This is an interesting pub which really needs more flexibility to be able to properly explore all the various rooms than is afforded by the present Covid protocols. I found some of the rooms were quite cosy whilst others were a little devoid of character and perhaps the place relies a little too heavily on its prime location for passing trade rather than establishing a genuine reputation. Having said that, the food and beer we tried was all very good and I’d put this high on my list for a revisit if intended to dine out in Wells again.
On 24th November 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Crown Hotel
Decent enough pub right on the market square. Quite a strong food offering with a seperate restaurant area, although we didn't sample the food on our visit. Two beers on tap, Butcombe and Cornish Coaster. It looks as though they usually have Doom Bar as well although this was off when we visited. Also Gaymers Original and Olde English ciders.
Unfortunately on a busy Saturday lunch time, there was only one young girl serving behind the bar. We waited around five minutes during which time she only dealt with one customer who was paying by card. As there were another three or four people in front of us, we decided to go elsewhere. There were several other staff around, but apparently they were unable or unwilling to assist behind the bar.
On 1st November 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]