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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
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The Phoenix Inn, York
York
YO1 9PT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Graham Coombs left this review about The Phoenix Inn
A splendid beer exhibition pub tucked just inside the city walls in a residential area. Deservedly popular with local CAMRA and a frequent award-winner. It retains a proper historic pub feel, as opposed to the usual tourist traps - describing the interior again is a waste of time as it doesn't really change, apart from the ever-increasing collection of pump clips behind the bar. TT Landlord is the regular ale but you are pretty well guaranteed an interesting choice of changing brews.
On 10th July 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Phoenix Inn
Enjoyed my visit to this friendly 2019 Good Beer Guide pub just off the city walls. It was a welcome refreshment stop while I completed the walk round the walls last month. I chose Yorkshire Dales Cafe Amsterdam which was fine.
On 12th August 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Phoenix Inn
Listed on Camra's regional inventory of historic interiors, the Phoenix was built in 1830 and had its last major refurbishment in 1897 - subsequent recent work has been sensitively done in consultation with people who know about these things. It therefore remains a traditional pub in which it is a pleasure to spend a period of relaxation with a beer. I went for the Beer Monkey Bitter Revival, which the landlord was able to inform me is one of the successors to Copper Dragon - it didn't taste very much like their Best Bitter to me, but it was a pretty good drink anyway - the pump clip, by contrast, was a complete mess (see photo). I agree with previous reviewers: this is definitely worth a visit.
Date of visit: 21st October 2017
On 28th November 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3733 recommendations about 3470 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Lester Ford left this review about The Phoenix Inn
The wife's favourite pub in York so after a few beers in various places on Fossgate we made our way here for a couple of night caps.
Fairly empty when we arrived so we grabbed a table seat and settled in, within minutes a large group of lads arrived and livened the pub up, looked like they had been at a wedding before hand.
5 hand pumps with a good range of Yorkshire brewed ales on. I had a couple of very good pints of Bad Seed's Columbus IPA @ 4.6% which rounded the night off just perfectly.
Always worth a visit when in York.
On 15th May 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 80 recommendations about 78 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alex Conway left this review about The Phoenix Inn
Just like a Phoenix a pub rescued from the ashes and now thriving with good custom from tourists and visitors to the barbarian . Five real ales always available with World top bitter, Landlord and copper dragons golden pippin being permanent. the beer is always in great condition but on the pricey side with landlord costing £3.50, The pub has two main rooms, the front room with a bar and a back room with a piano and more tables. the only thing i do not like about this pub is the bare boards and slight lick of decoration sometimes makes it feel slightly cold and uncomfortable but they do have a great open fire in winter time. I would absoloutly visit here again and it is well worth a visit if around this part of York.
On 6th July 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 456 recommendations about 456 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Phoenix Inn
This is a lovely traditional pub just inside the city walls, dating back to the late 1700's although the current layout is the result of a refit by John Smith's Brewery in 1897. The pub supposedly took its name from the nearby Phoenix Iron Foundry, although it was also known as the Labour in Vain for a while. In 2008 the pub became a freehouse, having been purchased from Marstons, quickly establishing itself as a popular real ale and live music venue. The pub today presents a smart multi-room interior with an entrance corridor leading you into a simple front bar with a frosted 'Phoenix' window and another bearing the words 'Magnet Ales' - a reminder of the pub's roots as a John Smith's house. A long banquette runs under the windows with low stools providing additional seating. There is a fireplace on the end wall for colder months and there was a highly fragrant bouquet of flowers on the end of the bar. There are some interesting glazing partition screens high up on the back wall which struck me as possibly being original and the commitment to real ale is ably illustrated by a vast pump clip collection behind the bar. The corridor, which is lined with some excellent old pictures of the pub, including some as the Labour in Vain, has its own small stretch of bar counter and leads through to a larger rear room with pew and low stool seating, an upright piano, a compact fireplace and lots of photos of various jazz musicians, which provides a clue as to the pub's live music policy. The room extends to the right into a small side room where you can find a bar billiards table and dartboard. There is a pleasant garden to the rear, the perimeter of which is former by the city wall.
There were five beers on handpull when we arrived - Half Moon Stellar Oatois and Dark Masquerade, Taylors Landlord, Copper Dragon Golden Pippen and Wold Top Bitter. I gave the Dark Masquerade a try and thought it was in pretty good nick. The barman seemed very friendly and chatted about some of the other pubs we planned to visit and he was selling some particularly tasty looking pork pies.
This is another pub in this part of town where I can easily imagine settling down for an extended session, such is the comfortable and relaxed feel within. This was one of my favourites of a long crawl around the city and efforts should be made to include this one on any crawl around the city.
On 27th May 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Phoenix Inn
Just inside the City walls the Phoenix is a very solid real ale pub, just as any independently run CAMRA heritage pub should be. With a multiple room set up as described by others I really liked this one. Good internal decor, especially the Jazz themed rear room, excellent ales and probably the best pork pies of the day and unlike others I am partial to a bit of Victorian soft porn staring at me whilst in the gents.
Five ales and a couple of ciders were available and the regular house ale of Copper Dragon Golden Pippin was on fine form as reported by other crawl members below.
Would not hesitate to look this one up when next in town.
On 3rd May 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Phoenix Inn
The Phoenix consists of a left hand corridor that gains access to a front bar and rear seating where there is also a piano. A room to the right rear houses a dartboard and bar billiards table. The bar is stocked with limited standard draught products and I counted five hand pumps that were all drawing cask ale.
Out the back is a beer garden that houses some tables and chairs. This area is overlooked by the city wall that is dotted with archers slits, thankfully there were no arrows flying during my recent Friday afternoon visit. This is a decent enough pub that is well worth a visit if in the vicinity.
On 26th April 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Phoenix Inn
Sensitively refurbished pub located just within the city walls, retaining a traditional two-bar layout with furniture and decor to suit. Five handpumps, offering an interesting selection of real ales including Half Moon Stellar Oatois and Dark Masquerade (£1.45, half).
On 26th April 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Phoenix Inn
The front bar was easily the busiest, perhaps because PuG crawlers had just arrived en mass. But it was a great atmosphere, possibly not helped by the powerful aroma of the large display of lilies on the bar counter. As others have said, this remains a two room pub with its original late Victorian layout still intact. Thus it's on the CAMRA Regional Inventory of pubs with historic interiors. The larger back room is traditionally furnished and seems to be some sort of shrine to jazz greats, as old black and white photos of them adorn the walls. This room had a bit of an annex with a dartboard.
Several decent ales, as articulated by others, make this yet another top notch York pub.
On 6th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]