The Shakespeare Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff are very friendly and serve you fast."
• "Bar staff were nice and cheerful."
• "Very friendly staff and very helpful."
• "Excellent service from great staff."
• "Bar staff extremely welcoming, manager present and very pleasant too."
• "Staff seemed very friendly. The place as a whole had a nice feel."
• "Staff friendly and the place was clean."

Cons:

• "One horrible/rude bar staff, I was waiting to be served on Saturday afternoon about 5:15/5:30, clearly busy stood there for 5 mins."
• "Horrible door staff. Provided suitable ID but they refused as it was not a passport."
• "Staff all ok but not the friendliest young girl behind the bar."
• "Bar staff ok, tolerant but not welcoming and will serve regulars first even when you've been waiting for 10 mins to get served."
• "Experience ruined by a power tripping bouncer."
• "Staff tell you what beer they have, hurriedly and not over friendly has to be said but still ok overall."
• "Great pub..good selection of ales.but let down by bar staff serving others before ones who have been waiting first."

Food and Drink

Pros:

• "Soup was great tho!"
• "Food for me was excellent and well worth the money."
• "Claims to be the best fish and chips in Birmingham. Might just be true."
• "Burger was a double and was a very good size and cooked well, chips were great, sandwich was fresh and nice."
• "The Nicholson's Breakfast was excellent. Quality sausages. Food was hot."
• "Delicious fish finger sandwich and bar snacks!"
• "The food is great, plates are big and made with very good ingredients."

Cons:

• "The pints were 3/4s full and the ladies had no loo roll."
• "Average food, was busy with Christmas market nearby but got a table, staff good given how busy they were. Food seemed warmed up in a microwave, carrots soggy and inedible."
• "For the price of the food. And as a chef. The food quality is poor. Very very disappointing."
• "Portobello pie filling was not tasty and the crust was hard. Carrots were not cleaned and still had their roots."
• "Overcooked and dried out sausages, slimy overcooked mushrooms, dried out bacon, and black pudding that had the consistency of sponge."
• "Hubby had the fish and chips which he said was nice and I had tikka masala which was a bit watery."
• "Food just plonked on the table with no airs and Grace's."

Ambiance and Location

Pros:

• "Straight off the train and what a great idea. The Shakespeare pub. Without a doubt one of the best pubs in the City."
• "Traditional pub with good atmosphere. Period decor."
• "I don't know why I love this place but I have a feeling it's probably haunted, which always adds another level to an atmosphere."
• "Wonderful 'old school' Victorian era pub in the centre of Birmingham and only a stone's throw from New Street Station."
• "The ambiance appreciates the name and has a proper pub feel with old wooden architectural decor and interior."
• "Love this pub, partly because of the architecture and the original features."
• "Great traditional pub in the heart of Birmingham..maybe 10 mins walk from the bronze bull..reasonable beer prices .sells traditional and guest ales..well worth a visit.."

Cons:

• "Giving this two stars as they would not let me in with my 12 year old as it was after 5pm."
• "The place needed a right good wash."
• "The outside is DIRTY and smells of stale beer and cigarettes."
• "The inside smells like stale sweat, the tables are sticky and the music is too loud."
• "Always seems like a scrum to get served at the bar, never enough seats even when it appears to be quiet."
• "The outside area was blocked with people drinking so hard to gain access."
• "Thing that let it down was that the place needed a right good wash."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "Decent place to stop if you're between trains in Birmingham. They do very reasonably-priced deals on pie and ale combinations and the food is palatable and filling."
• "Excellent dog friendly pub in the centre of Birmingham, great food and good choice of beverages at reasonable prices."
• "Had two breakfasts for £10, they serve breakfast up until 12 and it was delicious and very good value for money."
• "Good food, good Amstal, decent prices."
• "Surprisingly good for the closest pub to a station where you'd expect a captive market. About 3 or 4 ales on tap and a decent selection too."
• "Great Pub in Birmingham right beside New Street Train Station as a visitor it is a Great place to meet up, good food, reasonable drink."
• "And some bar snacks that were such great value."

Cons:

• "Over priced. 6.50 for a starter of salmon. I blinked and missed it."
• "Drinks were a tad on the expensive side."
• "Good staff. Ridiculously expensive. At least double Wetherspoons prices for spirits. Good range though. Food was not good."
• "Nearly choked when I was charged £17.30 for 2 double pink gin and tonics in a pub whose wall tiles make it look like a huge urinal."
• "Had a glass of chenin Blanc wine, £6 a glass so a bit pricey, was looking forward to it as its my favourite wine, but totally disappointed don't know how long the bottle had been opened but it was like a glass of vinegar."
• "The price is not cheap but worth the cost of it."
• "Cask beer good but again overly expensive for a brewery own brand."

Facilities and Cleanliness

Pros:

• "Toilets were very clean and maintained."
• "Clean restrooms (female)."
• "Everywhere looked clean and welcoming."
• "Very impressed with all the covid precautions as we walked in."
• "Good covid safety in place."
• "Had lunch here with the family staff were very helpful and friendly and everywhere clean and the food came out fairly quickly which was hot and well presented."
• "People in there at the time were very friendly, and the staff tried very hard to make everyone feel safe during the pandemic."

Cons:

• "Took a while to remove plates. Lady toilets upstairs very small cubical nearly impaled myself on damaged tissue dispenser."
• "Toilets are pretty grim, there's a ration on toilet paper, take your own."
• "The toilets are not the best, especially for how many ladies go in the pub. They could be better located, bigger, and cleaner."
• "Great pub..good selection of ales.but let down by bar staff serving others before ones who have been waiting first.and the toilets were a disgrace when I went..filthy,no loo roll,blocked urinals."
• "It was like an oven in there, no air con or fans or anything."
• "Only criticism this visit was that the music was too loud, I could barely hear what my partner was saying."
• "If I could give 0 stars I would and that would still be positive mark as it would be in the minus as I walked in to the pub on the 14/04/2019 and asked if they were doing breakfast a staff member abruptly said YES WE ARE DOING BREAKFAST AND MENUS ARE ON TABLE."