Pubs in Basingstoke, Hampshire*

The place to go for a lazy afternoon, pub quiz or last call

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• Why is everyone forgetting to mention the Rhubar? It's a great place with nice music. No hyped up youngsters in here. Just people who want to have a nice evening, with nice music and a normal crowd.
• The White Hart on London road is a good hangout with a great atmosphere, many "alternative" type people go here and it's just generally a pleasant place to be... no fights!! Barton's Mill in Old Basing is a pleasant place to relax by the canal, good selection of ales too
• The White Hart on London road is a good hangout with a great atmosphere, many "alternative" type people go here and it's just generally a pleasant place to be... no fights!! Barton's Mill in Old Basing is a pleasant place to relax by the canal, good selection of ales too
• LOADS in basingstoke town centre.
• I have been a regular of the Basingstoke pubs for 6 years now. I was forced to move here due to work commitments. My advice to those who seek enjoyment and sophisticated social entertainment: Don't come here. It's frustratingly pitiful. It's a ugly town full of very ugly people, with VERY ugly mentalities. The pubs in the area known as the "Top of Town" are where the aforementioned vermin congregate in the evenings. Just a couple of notes from my outing there last Saturday: The Hogshead: There is a barman with a grey beard who calls himself "Pops". He claims to be the longest serving barman in Basingstoke. He is the most ignorant human being I have ever met and he does not know how to pour a Guinness properly. The clientele was tragic, comprising mainly of shaven-headed fuckwits and women with their front teeth knocked out. I was asked if I fancied a blow-job from one of these creatures. She was approximately 55 years old. Picture the scene? Drakes: Below-average dancing bar, but if you are male you are unlikely to get served. There is an overweight, loser barman in his late twenties with an 80's stubble look(!) who told me that he wouldn't serve me (or the 5 or so chaps near me) as we didn't have tits. He was serious too. Needless to say we didn't get serve despite waiting for 50 minutes. This is typical of the sad, primitive Basingstoke male mentality. Rhu Bar: Good music, but full to the brim with no-hoper locals who, for some reason think that they are successful, big-city socialites. A bizarre place, but the best of the three. In general, there seems to be an unusually large number of barmen and bouncers who have tragically-low self-esteem and relish in the fact that they have the apparent power to actually dictate whether somebody is able to have a drink or get admitted into a bar/club in the first place. The Drakes' barman obviously has trouble talking to females as it was clear that he was using his favouritist approach to attract the attention of the female punters. I have lived all over the world and indeed the UK. I have never seen nightlife, punters or publicans like those in Basingstoke. It's shocking. Don't do it. I am moving next month, it is a welcome relief.
• antichristsuperstar911@hotmail.com
• pen and parchment, a veritable melting pot of young urban poets and arty types
• HAHA, If you're brave enough to venture into one of the towns 'so called' pubs do not look at anyone or you will leave with 2 black eyes and a broken nose, as apparently in Basingstoke you cannot be friendly or have a good time. But full of townies, who have not ventured past the walls of the town and wouldnt survive a minute in a club in London. But they wouldnt get a life enough to venture to London
• i dissagree i think the that the white hart is still a good pub. there are no fights and every one is how they want to be. people still think that just becasue they are dressed up they will be scrutinised but no one actually cares. they have had a refit and plastic glasses are only used when they run out of glass glasses. just beacause the pub isnt completely packed full doesnt mean you cant have a good time. They have got more real ales in and isnt trying to be a overfull student pub but a quite student pub that you go down for a nice pint.
• The tart ofcourse. No it isnt full of freaks. Its the only place you can go without getting 3 piles of crap beaten out of you by a drunken towno innit?
• if your going out in b'stoke at night theres one strip at the top of town. which is home to about 10 bars all very different. 1st the creche i mean litten tree or as it is better known as the kitten tree or just fight club. 2nd the brillient wetherspoons cheap beer what else can i say. 3rd hogs head yawn. 4th the george dance music very thin bar always loads of people cant move. 5th drakes dance again nice shots small dance floor nice cage though. 6th rhu bar nice for the more sophisticated people wine etc. 7th yates used to be good now no dj shuts early waste of time. 8th chicagos grab a granny night evey night. sorry forgot the others.
• ALL FULL OF IDIOTS.
• Who, in their right mind, QUEUES to get in a pub??! Who wants to stand in a shoulder to shoulder crush being swayed this way and that to someone else's choice of music, being totally incapable of reaching the bar, holding a drink, avoiding being burnt by random fags and having to scream to make yourself heard? Then, who, when they DO get out again wants to run the gauntlet of drunken, brawling yobs and screeching females, sidestepping random piles of tex-mex and vomit? No, thanks all the same....I'll pass.
• ALL pubs in Basingstoke suck! Its a total dive really unles your a townie. Any alternative types head for The White Heart. Only there you won't have to put up with the testosterone and alcohol fuelled aggression that the rest of the town boils with.
• If your an alternative/ skater or just fed up with town pubs hit the white hart but shame about the new management.
• Some time ago the Hare and Hounds was the most rocking pub in Basingstoke.
• The White Hart. Errk. A wonderful place to go and see faces from sixth form that you'd hoped you had long forgotten. Rule of thumb - don't go out for a drink in Basingstoke.
• The Chineham Arms - probably the most expensive pub in town, but Sunday nights pub quiz is legendary. No riff-raff though please eh ;-)
• Scary! I always feel intimidated in the city centre at the weekend. We go to the Rising Sun by the train station because we know the landlord. Used to go in White 'Art a bit when at QMC. I can't believe people queue to get in the George, or the Feathers! Awful places. Very miserable in the Hop Leaf, was IDed there and thrown out on my 2oth birthday. Don't think the landlady liked the competition! The red Lion alright for a quiet drink, Hogshead too but gets very busy. Overall, it makes me realsie how lucky I am to have left, scary when I see people I went to college with who are still there. Just a small town problem really, no room for any variety. Quite oppressive really. Makes me realise how lucky I am to be in a city (Sheffield) now.
• Quite a few opened up in the top part of Basingstoke in recent years. The Litten Tree, Chicagos, Hogs Head, Feathers, George, Red Lion, Drakes, White Hart, Hop Leaf, Winton, New Inn, Bounty, Bass House, all within the immediate town. Depends on what you like really.
• Plenty of 'em, and I wouldn't be seen dead in any of them. Rough as hell, and so are the clientele. Nice little country pubs further out, like the Calleva Arms at Silchester, the Pineapple at Brimpton and the Plough at Little London.
• The pubs are seriously sad compared to London or Brighton.
• The Kestral - superb atmosphere, fine food and interesting clientele. what happened to the fish tank?
• I can't believe you have to queue to get into a pub in Basingstoke. Who the hell would want to drink in Basingstoke?
• Queens Head - avoid on Friday lunchtimes - full of IBMers
• The Tart, where have all the CURRENT QMC students gone to. When I go back there all I see is ex students who used to drink there when I was a student.
• skewers good beer good atmosphere
• Hang on there, you have neglected to include that fine, rustic watering hole conveniently located toward the western end of Basingstoke....That's it; THE HAMMER and TONGS...without question THE best chicken and chips on a hot skillet ever and all for just 2.99. Cooked to perfection by either Maureen or John and once you have eaten your fill of chicken and chips you can push the little piece of obligatory garnish (half a tomato) around or maybe even eat it...Local celebrities include lookalikes of Saddam Hussein (who always used to win the Sunday lunch meat raffle), Toulouse Lautrec who has worn the same suit since the coronation, Henry the walking chimney who smokes three fags at the same time and other numerous waifs, strays and vagabonds....Oh how I miss it....LC now in NJ/USA
• New pub in the town, the Litten Tree. If you like under-drinking age would-be townies then this is for you on the saturday night. During the week, you can be 'ejected' for having 'inappropiate footwear' (aka Trainers) come 8pm. class bouncers. class place. totally townie.
• Oh yes, The White Hart. The ultimate student pub. Not any more. It used to be packed with millions of QMC students (myself included) but now is inhabited only by losers in their 20s who will never escape 'Stokie. Come on QMC people, stop this mindless transformation into BCOT clones, get yourself out of the George and down the Tart. Future generations are relying on you!
• Mill-House in Old Basing, very good real ale Pub next to a good restaurant, Bartons Mill.
• The White Hart pub, ultimate student hang-out pub, opposite cop shop.
• The White hart is full of people who look like they're 15 year olds, it's better to go to The Hungry Horse in South Ham.
• I feel that you missed out probably the busiest and best pub in the town when you go through the pub guide in Basingstoke. The George situated in the town centre has a DJ every Friday and Saturday Night as well as a 12 o'clock bar extension. If you go to town at the weekend, this is the place to be as it is packed with people and the beer flows!
• The White Hart is packed full of wannabies, and is really not worth a visit unless you are a college student looking for a lousy pint in a plastic glass, this is every Friday and Saturday night. The George on the other hand has to be one of the better pubs around. A loud busy pub that serves a good pub with a resident DJ on Friday and Saturday night. Licenced until 12 so you can have two extra pints before being kicked out. A word of advice, if you want to stand inside you either have to be there early or get there after 11:30, because between opening and 11:30 there is no room inside. Everyone floods into the alley. A good pub for socialising. The Bass House, servers good food on a Saturday lunch time. The Skewers, (London Road) A really good local pub that has a great pub and a good crowd behind the bar. Well worth a visit on a Sunday night!
• BUDS bar next to Ziggys, has a large snooker hall, and about six pool tables. Friday/Saturday night one pound for any drink in the house between 8-10. The DJ is not bad but he should concentrate more on playing the music instead of cracking stupid jokes.
• The New Inn - on Sarum Hill. Live (unplugged) music on Wednesday evenings. Live music and very lively atmosphere Saturday Nights. Decent juke box, (60s, classical, 80s, modern - some lent to the landlord by regulars). Regular "special" do's such as Xmas beach party, indian nights etc Near BCOT, lunchtime menu reflects this with lasagne and chips etc student specials for just over a pound. Home of the NIDs (New Inn Druids - summer solstice to Basing-henge musical walk etc).
• White Hart or Feathers if you like that cramped young clintele feeling. George if you like loud music and standing in alleys. Chicago's for those trendy 20 and 30 somethings. Seamus's Irish theme for a decent drop of bear in town or the Swan, Sherborne St John for a quiet country pub.
• Hogs Head - new pub and full of young people having fun, Yates wine bar bit busy Fridays but good atmosphere. Cafe Rouge nice happy place, Shamus' Irish bar - needs a bit of something (to say the least). Feathers - been around for years, loud Karoke night on Thursday's good place just to get pissed.
• Try the Fox and Goose, Greywell, near Hook. Take the opportunity of seeing the Greywell Tunnel (Basingstoke Canal) a couple of hundred yards away - I saw a bat, a rat, a carp, a deer and two cootes on nests with chicks peeping out, all in twenty minutes and three hundred yards - and that was before I'd drunk anything. Brilliant.
• White Hart opposite the police station is basically a circus, with a regular freak show every friday night. Basingstoke weirdo's convention. Instead try the Hogs Head, very nice decor (which makes a change), and zero on the freak- o- meter.

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Last updated: 2008-10-14