Latest reviews from Bolton
| 78 /100 Great Ale at the Vaults (Bar) MARKET PLACE “My favourite location for a beer in Bolton city centre, located in the fairly newly discovered ancient vaults with a shopping centre now above. A good choice of casks with a few tap options. Warm & inviting pub which is hard to leave. Friendly barman & locals.“ |
| 62 /100 Olde Man & Scythe (Bar) 6-8 CHURCHGATE “Historic popular bar in the city centre, with 4 cask's. None new to me, but a lovely drop of Flat Cap. Juke box was providing some classic tunes.“ |
| 74 /100 THE PACK HORSE, NELSON SQUARE “Highly enjoyable tap house to have a few beers. Good range of cask & keg options, plus a stocked fridge. Friendly service“ |
| 68 /100 One For The Road (Bar) BOLTON MARKET, F14/F15 LIFESTYLE HALL, ASHBURNER ST “Nicely positioned in the interesting Bolton Market, this bar seems popular with the morning / lunch time drinkers, with % off deals. A good choice of 6 casks, with many new to me. Happily return“ |
| 50 /100 Millstone (Holts) (Bar) 12 CROWN STREET “Holt's pub on the edge of town. Large-ish one room pub nut the beer selection was fairly terrible. Just had a half of Holt's Black and quickly moved on
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| 68 /100 Olde Man & Scythe (Bar) 6-8 CHURCHGATE “Visited Aug 2023. Historic pub close to the town centre. Stone floored, multi rooms. 4 cask options plus a larger range of ciders. Friendly service.
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| 62 /100 One For The Road (Bar) BOLTON MARKET, F14/F15 LIFESTYLE HALL, ASHBURNER ST “Situated in the first of three adjoining halls at Bolton Market (not to be confused with the Market Place in the very middle of the town centre), this is a central area of street food stalls in a rectangle around bench seating, and of course One For The Road occupies one of these. The bar takes up much of the stall but a few stool seats are available upon it, although drinking in the general public seating is fine too. It doesn't have an extensive cask or keg selection but the several options available on both do have a local or regional focus. It used to have some takeaway bottles available but as they've just opened a shop at the Market Place across town these have now finished here.“ |
| 68 /100 Great Ale at the Vaults (Bar) MARKET PLACE “Although there's now a modern shopping centre above, the vaults of the Market Place building with their exposed brickwork now house chain and independent eateries, and in this case small pub and bar, which also acts as a bottle shop as there's a fair few locally produced brews available in a fridge. Lot lit with a relaxing atmosphere it occupies a square area between brickworks but its tables extend beyond and into the pedestrian areas between establishments. Cask and keg are both available and there's a focus on local and regional brewers.“ |
| 70 /100 THE PACK HORSE, NELSON SQUARE “In an attractive red brick building facing into Nelson Square with the Wetherspoon pub directly on the other side. This is a split level ground floor concern with the bar in the middle of the back wall. Food is served here as well as a couple of their own brews, but guests dominate its cask and keg options. Fairly modern interior.“ |
| 44 /100 37 CHURCHGATE “Large chain pub, quite well furnished, although the alarm bells were ringing when I walked in given there was Horse Racing on every television screen. No brewing by Hogarths currently, just two Marston Family regulars on its cask pumps when I visited.“ |
| 24 /100 Great Ale Year Round (Beer Store) LIFESTYLE HALL, BOLTON MARKET ASHBURNER STREET. “Same venue as the micropub now called One For The Road, except they've ceased selling bottles and cans here now as they've opened up a small bottle and can shop on the exterior of the Market Place on the other side of the town centre.“ |
| 70 /100 THE PACK HORSE, NELSON SQUARE “Great place to visit“ |
| 70 /100 One For The Road (Bar) BOLTON MARKET, F14/F15 LIFESTYLE HALL, ASHBURNER ST “How fitting that this place was my last pub in Bolton. Also known as 'Great Ale at the Market'. It's inside Bolton Market and therefore only open four days a week (and not at all on weekends). However there is a decent beer list for the weary traveller: three handpumps dispensing session-strength cask ales along with a few beers on keg (including a lager and an IPA from Outstanding). Not a massive can/bottle selection but still a couple of beers of interest here. I had a day of travelling so settled for a half of a golden beer from Weatheroak which was in perfect condition. Lots of seating which is shared among the customers of several stalls, and the market has free WiFi.“ |
| 80 /100 THE PACK HORSE, NELSON SQUARE “Bolton doesn't seem to have loads of craft beer bars, so the presence of this wonderful brewpub is all the more welcome. I came to Bolton on the weekend when they were holding a 'Best of Bolton' festival but to be honest I didn't get past their own beers. Four cask and eight keg, including seven house beers which range from the sessionable to the reasonably strong. A few cans/bottles available from decent outfits such as Mobberley. Friendly and convivial. Well worth checking out.“ |
| 74 /100 Great Ale at the Vaults (Bar) MARKET PLACE “First of all, for those of us not in the know concerning Boltoniana, the Vaults is the below-ground area of the Market Place shopping centre. This gives Great Ale at the Vaults a middle-of-the-road upmarket feel as it rubs shoulders with Prezzo and Nando's. The beer list is surprisingly good: three casks (two Deeply Vale and one Hopstar), a few kegs mostly from Outstanding, and a fridge full of interesting if random goodies from Glen Affric to Beerlao to Pohjala. It's quite well-attended considering its secret subterranean location. Not a destination, but certainly worth stopping by. Very friendly as well.“ |
| 68 /100 Sweet Green Tavern (Bar) 127 CROOK STREET “Very traditional pub by the station with a few separate open areas. The three cask ales available are from Slaters, and they also had a sessionable keg beer from Holts among the macro taps. So not the most varied selection in the world but the beer is very well-kept and incredibly cheap (my pint of a 5% beer was £3). And from the pump clips adorning the pub, theyve had plenty of beers here iver the last few years. Not anywhere full on a Friday night which is a shame. Dog friendly.“ |
| 66 /100 Sweet Green Tavern (Bar) 127 CROOK STREET “Visited on 15th April 2017. Closest pub to the railway station and interchange. It’s got a large green and yellow sign to guide you in, it’s got a couple of rooms, décor is tidy but not spectacular. Beer range had 3 cask beers, 2 from Dunscar Bridge and one from Kelham Island. Service was friendly, prices decent and beer quality was good. Serve rolls as well. It’s one of the better places in town but the selection is fairly poor.“ |
| 50 /100 Alma Inn (Bar) 152-154 BRADSHAWGATE “Visited on 15th August 2017. Music venue pub not far from the station. It’s small, décor was OK, maybe a little scruffy. Beer range was 2 beers from Marstons on cask. Service and prices were OK. On the basis of this visit I would not return for beer ticking.“ |
| 50 /100 7 BRADSHAWGATE “Visited on 15th April 2017. A scruffy bar in a little courtyard and further up the road than the RB map suggests. It’s an L shaped bar, looks pretty run down with the clientele to match. 3 beers on cask from local brewers. Condition and prices were OK, service OK. Same beer available in nice pubs in town. Really would not bother again“ |
| 70 /100 Spinning Mule (JDW) (Bar) UNIT 2, NELSON SQUARE “Visited on 15th April 2017. Spoons situated on a nice little square with a few other bars. It’s a nice looking building and inside it’s an open plan venue. Bar on the right as you walk in. 2 banks of handpulls. Pretty decent range of beers from across the UK, well kept and low priced. Service was solid too. Not a bad Spoons at all.“ |
| 60 /100 Olde Man & Scythe (Bar) 6-8 CHURCHGATE “Visited on 15th April 2017. Nice old pub, reputedly the most haunted in Britain in one of the nicer parts of town. It’s got lots of trad features, all low ceilings and beams inside and flag stone floors. Beer range wasn’t too exciting with a Bank Top, Shepherd Neame and Summer Lightning on cask. Had a few ciders too. Service decent, prices OK. One for the pub enthusiast over a keen beer ticker.“ |
| 64 /100 37 CHURCHGATE “Visited on 15th April 2017. Large venue in quite a nice part of town and not far away from Jason Kenny’s golden post box. It’s a vast place with a TV screens on pretty much every tables and a small brewing kit in a corner. Lots of booth style seating makes it a quite nice comfortable place although a little loud. A decent mix of local beers including one brewed onsite. Also have a decent array of gin. Service friendly enough and prices OK. Worth a visit to scoop the brewery but not my favourite spot in town.“ |
| 54 /100 Elephant & Castle (Bar) 4-10 DEANSGATE “Visited on 15th April 2017. Large Spoons knock off around the corner from the Millstone, it’s a huge place, all open plan with tables crammed in, seemed popular, lots of TV screens. Beer range supplied by the larger regional brewers such as Bank Top and Moorhouse. Prices and service OK. Wouldn’t rush back.“ |
| 58 /100 Millstone (Holts) (Bar) 12 CROWN STREET “Visited on 15th April 2017. Holts pub on the edge of the Town Centre. Looks great from the outside with a lovely stained glass sign and looks really smart. The interior is similarly smart, looks clean, modern and well kept. Beer wise had 2 handpulls with no clips on but did see beer dispensed from them later on, 3 Holts lagers on keg plus a few Holts bottles. Service OK, prices OK. Unless you’re ISO Holts, don’t bother.“ |
| 70 /100 Great Ale Year Round (Beer Store) LIFESTYLE HALL, BOLTON MARKET ASHBURNER STREET. “Visited on 15th April 2017. More of a micropub than bottle shop and situated in the centre of the indoor market this is a pretty good stop. Market stall, fridge and a few shelves with a few local and more exotic beers plus a bar with 3 handpulls and a couple of keg beers. Beer was a decent mix with one from Colchester. Seating is provided by a number of tables in the market, Bolton FM providing the tunes in a Phoenix Nights style arrangement. Seemed popular. Service friendly, prices good. Nice spot and one of the best in town.“ |
| 72 /100 Spinning Mule (JDW) (Bar) UNIT 2, NELSON SQUARE “’spoons are the cheapest pubs in Bolton! They’re still cheap but the amount of cheap swill on offer in this area is mind boggling. I liked this ’spoons. Service was good, atmosphere laid back and a decent selection of well kept ales. Might be interesting on a Saturday night....“ |
| 66 /100 7 BRADSHAWGATE “Basic hotel bar, though the hotel is now just a night club. Felt grubby, but with Bolton’s litter tumbleweed and copious amounts of bars selling fizz for £1.60 a pint the whole area feels down at heel. Beer was cheap and not in the best condition.“ |
| 100 /100 Great Ale Year Round (Beer Store) LIFESTYLE HALL, BOLTON MARKET ASHBURNER STREET. “Just what Bolton has been waiting for! Cracking little Micro-bar in the indoor market. Visited on my lunch hour to collect some bottled beers, must have over 50 different beers in bottles to take away, 2 cask beers, 1 larger and 2 ciders i think.
They had a few London beers but mostly beers from Manchester brewers and they were cheaply priced - i’ll be back for more!“ |
| 92 /100 Great Ale Year Round (Beer Store) LIFESTYLE HALL, BOLTON MARKET ASHBURNER STREET. “Newly opened stall at Bolton Market, with a couple of draft taps and a small and changing selection of bottles for off sales.
The owners were very pleasent and seem ambitious for the shop. There is the promise of new beers stocked regularly so should merit repeat visits.
The selection was predominantly local but included Quantum and Beavertown when I visited.
The prices were very competative.
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| 70 /100 Sweet Green Tavern (Bar) 127 CROOK STREET “This pub sits in front of the brand new supermarket in a very lonely spot, but continues to remain popular not least for its real ale selection. It’s visible from outside the railway station entrance but it’s on the far side of a very busy traffic junction so it can take some time to reach it, and similarly leave enough time to get your train if this is last stop on any pub crawl, especially as the platforms are a ridiculous distance away from the main doors. The pub itself includes a couple of rooms partly partitioned and both serviced by the same bar. It’s a very cosy place and traditional in look with a sports (mainly football) theme on the walls with various pictures of local teams both professional and non-professional. There’s also a pool table room. It regularly rotates its ales.“ |
| 68 /100 7 BRADSHAWGATE “Next to The Swan on one the main road junctions in the town centre, it seems to share a courtyard with this pub. The pub itself is traditional with elements of Irish Bar in its style. There’s plenty of wood fixtures and fittings here including the floor that gives it a fine ambiance, there’s also television screens here showing sport. The bar is not short of real ales including from Moorhouses who produce Barristers Brief as their exclusive pub ale, although I recognise it as a different named brew from the Burnley brewer. There’s lot of other choice though and the ales can come from far and wide across the UK.“ |
| 58 /100 Kings Head (Bar) 52-54 JUNCTION ROAD “If you’re heading in to Bolton from the Motorway the best way to find this pub is to turn left after you see the sign for the Queen Anne (also a cask serving pub) and head downhill for about 100 metres. This is a lovely traditional pub with a roaring fire in the main room with other areas that are almost as cosy to sit in. The bar stretches along most of these areas and serves a couple of cask ales but there’s also some bottles from the local Bank Top brewery available too. It has a large car park and patio area.“ |
| 62 /100 Tavern Fayre (Bar) WIGAN ROAD “Close to Junction 5 of the M61, if you’re heading in or out of Bolton from this point you’ll easily see this pub on the roadside. It’s in its own large purpose built building and is all open plan with lots of defined areas and places to sit at throughout the extensive ground floor area. Much of the space is given over to dining, but there’s a a cosy area more suited to drinking by the ’L’ shaped bar that includes a roaring fire and fireplace against one wall. There’s nothing cheap about the fixtures and fittings and this is probably one of the reasons its a very popular place, but the quality of the food must be good too I guess. There’s a row of three real ale pumps that included two from local microbreweries during my visit. There’s a huge car park attached to the pub and a small outdoor area.“ |
| 66 /100 Olde Man & Scythe (Bar) 6-8 CHURCHGATE “One of the ten oldest pubs in the UK dating back to the 13th Century, although it’s clearly had a few updates since that time in both the current building and decor. However it’s still very much an atmospheric place to drink with stone floors and small cosy rooms with an old-World styling throughout. Has a choice of 4 real ales and 4 real ciders. There’s a small outdoor area towards the rear.“ |
| 58 /100 Millstone (Holts) (Bar) 12 CROWN STREET “The best place to get Holts real ales in cask or bottle in the town centre. It’s directly behind the Elephant & Castle pub and is very bright inside although its a traditional styled pub so comfortable enough to drop in for any reason. One might be the live sport and football that is shown here.“ |
| 60 /100 Elephant & Castle (Bar) 4-10 DEANSGATE “Chain pub with an excellent real ale choice. There’s 5 pumps including a couple of regulars but the others roate and include seasonal brews. They also display some of the used pump clips behind the bar to prove they are serious about ale here. The decor is as you expect for a large pub group pub, wooden with carpets and soft furnished seating, very durable but also spacious and comfortable.“ |
| 54 /100 Alma Inn (Bar) 152-154 BRADSHAWGATE “Live music pub, choice of three real ales including specials and series brews. It’s between the station and the main commercial area on the opposite side of the tracks to the entrance building. It’s quite a small place, but that means ’intimate’ for the musicians and their gigs.“ |
| 66 /100 Spinning Mule (JDW) (Bar) UNIT 2, NELSON SQUARE “Average medium sized Spoons. Quite busy on a weekday afternoon, but not exactly much in the way of character.“ |
| 78 /100 Sweet Green Tavern (Bar) 127 CROOK STREET “Nice little bar,amazingly not demolished given it’s location. Good selection of cask from Micros.
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| 68 /100 Spinning Mule (JDW) (Bar) UNIT 2, NELSON SQUARE “Cosy Wetherspoon in a pleasant square in central Bolton. The look is traditional enhanced by several warm corner areas and some nice bookshelves, but the lighting is right too. The bar has a couple of rows of ales to choose from and can be a busy affair any time of the day.“ |
| 52 /100 Kings Head (Bar) 52-54 JUNCTION ROAD “A relaxed quiet pub with 2 real ales on when I called. Bank Top Flat Cap and Wells Bombardier. Not the most inspiring selection but worth a visit if close by.“ |
| 84 /100 Sweet Green Tavern (Bar) 127 CROOK STREET “Excellent pub that is close to Bolton railway station. 10 pumps on, 2 being cider. Well worth a visit.“ |
