Chequers Inn (Nicholson's)

Nice pub with a large outside backyard. Decent cask selection.

This old pub is down an old carriage entrance, and used to be a carriage house. Pretty old building, well maintained with lots of character. Low timbers and lots of dark wood, short bar, with adequate number of taps to choose from. Food menu available, but did not eat.

Pretty standard Nicholson's with two new cask ales for me. It was very crowded, so we didn't stay long, and had to sit outside. Not the greatest of pubs.

10 hand pull, didn’t count the other availabilities, as real ale is my thing, and 4 of them were ticks. Even better - they do 3 thirds for the same price as a pint, so we thirded what we thought would be less interesting and halved the one which had the most potential. Best of all - staff also offered to serve the beers with or without sparklers. Being in the south, my preference seemed to be the preferred configuration. Beer quality was middling, with both ups and downs, but one of them was macro, so I’m not going to blame nicholsons for duffness. Fairly typical Nicholsons feel, food menu, etc. Restaurantey feel upstairs, pubby downstairs, both work. Any pub that can put 4 ticks on my family almost certainly deserves to be in an Oxford crawl, so I’m giving this the thumbs up.

New rating Sep ’14. Recently the pub has been closed for an update and redecoration. There is a cleaner feel to it now and a bar added in the upstairs dining area. On re opening the staff are very thinly spread, the barman was also serving tables yesterday so getting a beer was very slow. All the beers are from the Nicholson’s, M&B list, so nothing too unusual.
Dec ’11Lovely old building in an old medieval passageway off High Street. The building itself dates to around 1500, it is a conversion of old dwellings which gives it a higgledy piggledy look. The beers have improved of late and although it attracts some of the younger crowd, there is generally the odd quiet place if you push through from the doorway. The courtyard is very popular on warmer evenings. Another pub where it is difficult to get served though. Overall, very much worth a visit.

Very impressed with this place: 23rd Nov 2013, one of many on a heavy and long crawl. We sat upstairs (6 of us) and had plenty of room, the place however was packed to the rafters. A good mix of clientele with a well behaved younger crowd being the largest grouping. Good beer selection: I had halves from Orkney, Brains, Great Heck, Rudgate, Daleside and Ilkley. All in good condition. The staff were very good considering the workload and managed to be both pleasant and swift in their delivery of the beers on each order. We also had a selection of their food: everything was devoured and enjoyed, mostly unhealthy fried stuff, but fine all the same. Toilets across the courtyard/smokers area, clean and non-smelling, so another plus for the pub.

Went here during some British Beer Festival thing. They had 15 casks! The bartender gave me a flight of all 15 of them, and labeled each glass with a post-it-note. Holy cow! And the food was excellent. Very, very pleasantly surprised by this place. Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it is great.

Highly touristed, detracting somewhat from the ambiance but the servers are patient and take it in stride. Very good selection.

Visited on 24th April 2013 on start of Oxford crawl. Historic Nicholsons pub in a coaching inn, accessible through a small alleyway off the high street. 10 hand pumps serving ales from a mix of of brewery sizes from regionals to micros. The two beers I tried included Peerless All American which I found somewhat disappointing, however other ratings of this ale suggest the beer, rather than the pub, underdelivers. Friendly staff. I had eaten very well elsewhere and thus did not sample their menu. 70s to 90s background music at a comfortable level. Pub naturally divides into several drinking areas, and is worth a visit on its architectural merit alone.

Interesting casks in a nice old building. The courtyard is overcrowded when the weather is warm.