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The Shakespeare, Birmingham

31 Summer Row
Birmingham
B3 1JJ
Phone: 01212368702

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Pub Type

Nicholsons (Mitchells & Butlers)
Page: 1 2

Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


E TA left this review about The Shakespeare

Victorian, with concrete all around,
A place to get good food and real ale.
A rarity in this part of the town,
And marginally off the beaten trail.
Purity’s Mad Goose and some Ubu
complement the great Titanic Plum
Porter, and there’s real cider too
from Rosie’s Pig and Weston’s, not from Brum.
IPA was Nicholson’s own brew,
but from St Austell’s as I’m sure you know.
Food was from a rather good menu,
Staff were very helpful, but quite slow.
Worth having in a crawl if you are on it,
and maybe write your review as a sonnet.

On 5th January 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3272 recommendations about 3237 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Ian Mapp left this review about The Shakespeare

Traditional Victorian red brick boozer - with some fine opulent features. Leather topped bench seating, chandeliers, gilded bass mirrors. All very consumer friendly.

Beers - three from UBU - Purity in fine nick (as you would expect from a Good Beer Guide regular) and Doombar and their won pale ale.

Bit out of the way - neither the Jewelry Qtr or the City - so an effort is required to get there. I would come back if passing.

On 27th October 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1329 recommendations about 1315 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Quinno _ left this review about The Shakespeare

The other Bard pub in central Brum and also confusingly owned by Nicholsons as well. A real odd one though as it's off the beaten track and had little passing trade whilst the redevelopment of Birmingham went on around it. It shows too, as there was only one lone barman, no soap in the gents and a broken table. L shaped main bar with the usual modern faux Victoriana fittings, apparently a snug is located somewhere but I didn’t see it. A bit of historic interest with wonderful arched windows containing intricate square wood panes and latticing. Behind the bar is a nice quiet lounge-cum-snug. Six pumps with four ales on - genuine guests in Hop Back, Titanic and St Austell Summer Anthem (NBSS 3). One wonders what the future holds here.

On 21st July 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Shakespeare

Initially looks very small for a Nicholsons, with the ceiling of the 'L'-shaped bar seeming almost as high as the room is wide or long. However, there is also a separate dining area hidden away down the back corridor plus a patio beer garden and some more furniture out on the rear pavement. The post-refurb decor is fairly ornate, but the curious glazed lantern space immediately above the main corner door is probably the most interesting and original feature. NPA, Doom Bar, Purity Pure UBU, Black Sheep Holy Grail, Hop Back Citra and Inveralmond Fair Maid from the six handpumps on this visit.

On 9th July 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve of N21 left this review about The Shakespeare

Comfortable Nicholson’s pub which is even more difficult to get to with all the ongoing city centre roadworks with the Parade outside currently dug up and difficult to traverse.
We managed to get a seat in the front bar area to enjoy the atmosphere generated by the high ceilinged dark Victorian décor. As well as the regular Nicholsons Pale Ale, Doom Bar and Purity Pure UBU there was an excellent Castle Rock Midnight Owl. Could have stayed here a lot longer but there is a lot of good pubs to see and do in this part of Brum.

On 8th March 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Al Bundy left this review about The Shakespeare

A quite ornate Nicholson's pub. As noted its 2 roomed with the rear part having a very small adjoining cubby hole that has a single table for intimate little drinks. 6 handpumps with Old Speckled Hen, Belhaven Smoke Stack, Bays Topsail, Nicholson's Pale, Purity Ubu and a reversed Doom Bore clip. Its a pleasant pub and reminded me of a few Liverpool city centre pubs.

On 25th February 2016 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]


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hondo . left this review about The Shakespeare

Bigger than you initially think with a second room round the back. 6 real taps 3 on during my visit.

On 2nd August 2015 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Shakespeare

Close to Victoria Square, but not all that easy to get to (I suggest heading down Newhall Street and turning into Lionel Street), this is a pleasant, compact Nicholson's pub. You enter through a corner door that takes you through a grand dark wood porch with a brilliant decorative internal canopy. The front room is very small by Nicholson's standards and the limited seating options get taken up pretty quickly. The room is bare boarded with a few rugs here and there to dampen the sound a little. Large lattice windows on two sides with bull's eye panes and stained borders at the top allow a good deal of light in and are framed by some huge curtains. The walls are half panelled with some sensible modern wallpaper above and the seating is a mix of comfy banquettes around the perimeter and low stools elsewhere. Some partitioning screens along the front wall have been used to break the banquette up into smaller booths. There are lots of pictures and the odd information board on display and as you move around the right hand end of the bar, a few high tables and stools come into view, as does a narrow staircase with a big M&B mirror. A corridor here leads past a small unlit nook to the right which has room for a single table with a portrait of Shakespeare on the wall, into a carpeted dining room, passing through a doorway with a nice stained glass feature above the lintel. This room has curved button back banquettes, a nice fireplace on the end wall, standard chairs, old maps, paintings and photos of Shakespearian plays, plus a bust of the bard on a shelf in the rear corner. A check tiled floor room leads off the corridor, out towards the toilets or the paved garden with modern garden furniture and lots of potted greenery.
On the bar, the ale range was Oakham Inferno, Sharps Doom Bar and Atlantic, Wold Top Against the Grain, Purity Ubu and Nicholson's Pale Ale. I tried the Inferno which was absolutely spot on and in as good shape as the Oakham beer sampled in their own 'Bartons Arms' pub earlier in the day.
This is a pretty good example of a smaller Nicholson's pub and I found it preferable to its namesake on Lower Temple Street. I imagine it can get a little cramped at peak times, but it's a good place to relax over a few pints and has the bonus of a decent garden for warmer months.

On 17th November 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Shakespeare

A very comfortable Nicholsons pub, serving well kept ales. Our route to get here was from Broad St, heading to the Copthorne Hotel, which is at the entrance to Paradise Forum. We walked down some steps and it was only a five min walk to the pub. Enjoyed the Brewsters Hophead, a good hoppy ale, which is always a superb beer.

On 1st July 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Lee Worthing left this review about The Shakespeare

Only two ales on at the time of our visit. Not too bad but lacking atmosphere a bit.

On 4th January 2012 - rating: 6
[User has posted 4 recommendations about 4 pubs]

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