Dirty Duck in Stratford-on-Avon

great pub, nice to meet all the actors there. great atmosphere and a lot of space. beer is affordable

Really nice place with nice selection of beers, bartenders were very nice and the atmosphere was really light and fun

Food is over priced and substandard. £27 for burger chips onion rings and a coke which was 50% ice

Waitress was amazing and so kind.

Warm welcome and service from friendly staff. Dogs very welcome and food was amazing! Don't know how they do their gravy but it was probably the best I've had.

Lovely birthday lunch with family.

Great pub food with changing specials; excellent best bitter; friendly, helpful staff; great atmosphere and away from the centre near to RSC. If fully booked they always find us a table if we call.

good beer served cold in a warm pub, just off the water and not far from the theatre. they keep the dog bowls behind the bar, and the board games up of a shelf. comfy chairs and well worn tables. Worth a visit if you like looking at portraits in picture frames.

Angelica was our highlight! Thank you!

Beautiful historic pub with a lovely view of the river. Unfortunately it was the worst steak sandwich I have ever had. Gristly steak and all I could taste was mint. Awful. Real shame.

Food was mid 💔 nothing really had seasoning, fish and chips were fine, tartar sauce very vinegary, steak was very fatty, fries were very plain and flavorless, sticky toffee pudding was just eh

Finally got to try this place and was not disappointed. Good choice if beers and friendly service. Food was pretty standard pub grub and my pie was decent.

Pretty decent place, only stayed for a drink or so but the atmosphere was really authentic and peaceful. I’d recommend it, I bet it’s bliss in summer, would love to go back and sample the food but just didn’t have time unfortunately.

Didn’t really like That they didn’t have any vegetarian food I felt i’m Awkward and weird there because I’m very anxious and my And all that and all the people that made me feel anxious specially all the pretty women so I have a problems with self-esteem I say it was okay the drinks were nice but atmosphere The owner sent me a really nasty message back. I can’t eat chilli. I can’t eat spicy foods

Went here after a play, had good food great time and all the actors from the play were there. Loved it!!

Prime location, can get very busy at weekends. Decent food and a good bit of history inside. Would visit again!

Unforgettable moments before and after the show.

Came here for Valentines day, lovely atmosphere and friendly staff. Couldn't fault the taste of the food, everything was delicious and cooked beautifully. Can't leave a 5 star as I did have a very bad stomach and became quite ill for the evening not too long after dinner and I have a feeling it was the crab starter! Such a shame as everything was lovely. I would still come again as it may have been a one off, I hope no one else had the same issue that evening.

Called in at 12pm for a quick snack. Ordered a chicken and bacon sandwich on bloomer. Quick service, great chips but the sandwich was poor. Soggy white fat on the barely cooked bacon, dry bread and chicken and a small bit of lettuce and mayo.

Was so looking forward to this during our holiday but wow, I was left speechless by our experience. The positives, we were served quickly and politely. The food arrived very quickly and was amazing quality. Sorry but the negatives outweighed the positives. I do not expect to dine in such a fine, top grade establishment to hear disgusting language from the bar staff. I'm not interested what went wrong with someone's order, when out with my children I don't want to hear constant f words in full earshot of diners in the restaurant at the back of the bar. Absolutely disgraceful. Also as someone already mentioned, this is a restaurant, I don't want some dog sniffing round the table. It's a food establishment for crying out loud, not a public park. This place used to be impeccable, what's happened?

We were recommended eating here by the guest house we were staying at and it did not disappoint! We didn’t book but arrived at around 4pm and it was getting busy and already booked up for the evening, but managed to get a meal ad-hoc. I ordered the pulled beef cottage pie and it was delicious! 😋 In fact true to a thespian pub full of actors memorabilia, there was an audible gasp when I ordered the last cottage pie, it did make me chuckle! 🤣😁

Superb food, great location, and great staff.

I was visiting Birmingham from Glasgow over the weekend and decided to take a day-trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. I wanted to check out this place as the name was the inspiration for the Mucky Mallard from the TV show Shakespeare and Hathway. I arrived for the pub opening at 12pm and the place was beautiful. A proper old-style pub with log-burner fires. Have to give a shoutout to the friendly barman (didn't get his name but he was young, really tall and had actor-level good looks!). It was a really nice welcome to SUA and he chatted away and asked me what brought me there from Scotland. Staff were all so nice. Sitting in the Actor's Bar surrounded by autographed photos of Shakespeare Actors next to the warm log-burner was a fantastic experience. There's something quite cool about knowing you're in the same place where Judi Dench and Ian McKellen have drunk. The location is also spectacular. Views across the canal and the park as well as the theatre. There are seats where you can enjoy but it was February and raining. Didn't get the chance to try the food as it was so busy (btw, book or arrive early as the place gets really crowded). But it's an excuse to come back. Honestly, a great bar with amazing staff and fantastic views. Can't recommend enough and can't wait to come back.

We booked in advance for eight of us, however arrived a little earlier than planned. The restaurant did their best to fit us in earlier than our time. The staff could not have been more helpful, because we were a large party, they came to our table to take the order. I am gluten intolerant and had the Duck Hash and it was absolutely delicious, and the vegetarian among us had the veggie-burger and said it was the best they had ever tasted. Everyone at the table was happy with their food. I thoroughly recommend the Dirty Duck for a meal, but definitely book in advance!

Got there lovely place but my God the service was soooooo slow the bar manager spent most of his time messing about with a tablet and the que was going out of the door.... the other staff seamed oblivious to the issue or not allowed to serve at the bar.... p.s some dogs should NOT be allowed in to a pub...

Just had an excellent evening here with family with excellent food and even better service from Rufus who is an asset to the restaurant excellent young lad

Had a lovely lunch at the Dirty Duck. Food was excellent and tasty, and plenty of it. Service was very good also. The food was good quality. Will visit there again when back in Stratford Upon Avon in June.

This was a lovely pub and the food was amazing, even though it was busy the service was good and even apologized for it being a bit slower than normal due to the sudden rush of orders.

Lunch at the Dirty Duck. We went Sat lunchtime, and it was packed . We were greeted and shown to our table really quickly. Our Server was amazing, She made the whole experience perfect for us! The food as usual was perfect....thanks Patryk. My sister and myself had the Hake and my niece had the Mac and Cheese, which she said was the best she'd ever tried! Dessert was Chocolate Brownie and Pear and Pistachio Frangipane.....delicious. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, nothing was to much trouble. Thanks again for making it so enjoyable. Can't wait to come back! Jan

Very nice pub with excellent food. We had steak and ale pie and a steak with chips but before them we ordered nachos. The best nachos I ever had!!!!

A great pub for a drink, we sat in the actors bar 🍸 😀

Great pub in Stratford upon Avon and right opposite the RSC theatre. Great menu to choose from and a very lively atmosphere. Can be very busy but you can reserve a table.

Was of to a good start as we entered found a table barley very busy it was also freezing cold no heating or fire although starter was good but the food was increadable awful the steak was like plastic so much for 28 dry ages sirloin and the chips were Aldi’s finest raw inside as well as cold onion rings that had no taste would not come back pub is nice though maybe I had a bad day

Every time we go in it's so flippin COLD ! Everyone else had their coats on too . Not comfortable. Left after first drink. ( really cold January day - felt no heating on whatsoever)

A great place to eat and drink in Stratford. The burgers were delicious, the steak pie was great. Highly recommend if you fancy a food and drink in the centre of Stratford

Greta food and a nice choice of good ale

Visited the dirty duck for a drink with our friends for my birthday, it is a brilliant pub with a great atmosphere, we had a good laugh and I loved my green king glass. Would definately go back and try the food next time x x x

Great place on Stratford. Proper food, not just tourist stuff and very good selection of beer.

steeped in history and RSC culture, without becoming a tourist trap

Wonderful place! The garden and ambiance are lovely and it’s a quick walk from/to the RSC, so perfect for a pre-theatre meal. Plus, according to my 19-year-old, their mac-n-cheese is the best he’s ever tasted!

Nice food and atmosphere but quite expensive £60 for two main courses. Also for some reason, one of the workers stood by our table waiting for us to finish our food and then while I was chewing food he came over and asked if we were done, before I could reply he took our plates away, my unfinished food with it! Not sure why, as we hadn’t been there too long and it was not busy, nor was it close to closing time-5pmish Also if you want to come you need to reserve, we came and it was empty but only one table didn’t have a reserved sign on it.

Surprisingly good food for a Green King and awesome atmosphere especially after a play.

Lovely place to eat. Always busy in a good way, bustling with all sorts. Reminds me of classic London pubs. Foods lovely as well albeit a bit on the dear side. Second visit, and will visit again. Dog friendly

Lovely pub fantastic food and drinks lovely staff and very reasonably priced for such a lovely location

As I said before. LOVED the pub and the food. Only surpassed by the service.

Perfect dining spot by the river, cosy open fire, food very good

Great to see they had taken my request on board to sit by the window, great staff and great food, I would go again.

Had an excellent Christmas dinner in the pub food, excellent and plentiful staff cheerful, and the pub had a great Christmas vibe. If you're in Stratford-upon-Avon and going to the theatre, this is the pub for you, And you just might see an actor in the play you've just been to. Highly recommend

Our favourite pub in Stratford, lovely food and a big thank you to Katie who made us so welcome and found us a lovely seat in the bar area. Great pub

We had dinner here on Xmas day as a family of 6 this year. Food was excellent, really generous portions and service was really good. Thank you to all the staff for a great Xmas dinner out.

We went early and ordered early. Glad we did as it filled up quickly with both dogs and children. We were served by Lucas who was very very pleasant. Made the lunch five star.

Just wanted to say thanks to Patrick and all the team for the wonderful day great food and great service best pub in Stratford see you all soon Giovanni

Lovely atmosphere. Love a dog friendly pub. Food was great, fast service, very tasty. Staff were very friendly and took great care of us.

The atmosphere was very festive, the service was good and the two dishes of vintage cheddar Mac and cheese , vintage cheddar bacon burger were excellent , especially the burger was top quality.

Lovely lunch with friends. great service from friendly, helpful staff. Good choice of food, we have allergies and a vegetarian all we’re catered for with generous portions. We were all very happy.

Girls on tour.We came to Stratford to experience the Christmas Market wasn't disappointed.We booked our table in advance which was a good idea.Had a lovely day.Happy 🎄

Pre theatre dinner at this Greene King pub with a premium menu. Menu choices, quality of food, and the service were excellent. You do need to book - it’s understandably very popular in such a great position opposite the River Avon just a couple of minutes from the RSC.

Really good ambience and food. Staff coped well with a lively three year old. We weren't rushed at all which was great because we were meeting family from abroad who we hadn't seen for 5 years. It was very busy with work Christmas get togethers later in the afternoon. Would go again if in the area.

Book in advance. Very old 16th century inn. This is a very busy and popular pub. The view over the river is beautiful and it's very close to the RSC. Lovely garden space out back. Staff very friendly and helpful and the food is very reasonably priced and plenty of it. Well worth a visit.

Second visit here. Great ambience, good service and attentive staff, great food and beer and good value. Perfect for pre theatre dinner!

Ate here earlier in year and had a pleasant but unremarkable meal. Last night I stupidly ordered the Xmas menu and had their pigs in blankets starter and the Turkey Dinner. These are two of my favourite things. I even checked before I ordered that the turkey would be proper carved turkey and not some processed rubbish shipped in for Xmas. I was assured it was the real thing. The starter and main course arrived and were both totally inedible. I could not believe anyone could make pigs in blankets so tasteless and unappealing that I could not eat them - but they did . Unbelievably the turkey then arrived as 3 identical circles of processed meat - it tasted so awful I honestly think my cat may have refused to eat it. Despite being pretty ravenous I left the lot . I took a pic which I'll try to add to this review. To be fair the staff refunded my meal and also my sisters which was a salad served on a hot plate ! Green King should be ashamed of supplying the pub with such low quality food to foist on customers during the supposed season of goodwill. To anyone reading this avoid the Xmas meals like the plague, you'd be better off with a £2 TV dinner. Twelfth night was superb but I sadly watched it with an empty stomach 😕

Food great staff really nice and helpful great atmosphere 👍

Nice pub with good staff. Let down by a really poor steak & ale pie. The pie was basically just fatty chewy beef. I thought for £16 it would be ok.

Still a great little pub. The actors bar is the best room as it has loads of pictures of actors going back many years. I couldn't name most of them, but it's much better decoration than having a rusty french bike nailed to a wall. The drunken duck was an excellent pint and the pies on the table close looked amazing.

We had a wonderful meal here. We were a large group (16). Food was pre ordered and all came out at the same time. It was delicious! Staff were very helpful and attentive. Thank you

Surprisingly quiet downstairs in the bar considering the number of people who came out of the upstairs area. Lovely traditional pub with comfortable chairs. Should imagine it's packed in the summer

Had a lovely time on a Sunday. We were a table of 4 adults 1 toddler, 1 new born and 2 dogs. I feel the experience could have been significantly different if it wasn't for Angelica who was the best waitress/host I've had for a significant time. The entire party was blown away with her attentiveness and genuine care. I hope she gets a promotion ASAP as she deserves it. Anyone from my party would be happy to elaborate on this point! We will revisit again... As long as Angelica is the host.

Nice, characterful pub. Frequented by luvvies and locals alike. Vodka and orange costs a fortune however.

Great pub for pre theatre drink and food. Overlooking river Avon and 100yds from Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

What a wonderful experience to have such friendly and helpful staff, delicious food and a beautiful place and atmosphere 😍 cannot recommend enough. It has been a long time since I could give such a positive review ✨️ Thank you very much 💜

Always stop for drinks at The Dirty Duck, great spot, my parents used to drink there too back in the 1950’s and 60’s !

came here for lunch with my mrs will and liam were fantastic they really cared about us even thought it was so busy will who is just bar staff really went above and beyond for the service would definitely recommend to anyone visiting stratford-upon-avon

Great food and very friendly service. Really nice atmosphere and even made a fuss of our labrador.

Tourist trap ! Ignorant staff members just tried to order a pint and they didn’t know what they were doing! Ordering food with a nightmare

Had high hopes. Chicken was dry and hard to cut through and fries were super greasy. Unfortunately after the food was brought no servers were insight for the remainder of my visit.

What an fabulous pub! This is what a true English pub looks like, feels like, smells like! Amazing...log fire, real beer, professional staff. The pub has so much history , from the date of the building to the contents around the pub. I enjoyed a fine cigar out front, below it's famous Mulberry tree, enjoyed a great pint of Guinness whilst listening to an Owl in a tree opposite the pub. A must place to visit...

The perfect place to end an evening at the theatre. I didn't eat but enjoyed a lovely pint.

Historic pub with outside calming seating in warm sunshine. Good selection of beers and other drinks. Food also looked attractive though we didn't eat.

Nice place just off the river front Worth a visit

Food was great, atmosphere was good too (theatre staff go here after their final performance of the day), but unfortunately there was not enough staff working and they were struggling to cope with the number of punters.

Nice pub a few minutes walk from Stratford Upon Avon town centre. Reasonably priced too £7 something for a pint of Guinness and half a Madri. Nice open fires in here too.

Birthday lunch for my husband. Small selection of mains, including specials board with vegetarian/vegan choice. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Definitely would recommend.

A superb restaurant, excellent food, reasonable prices, good service. Highly recommend the Duck Hash.

Had a great meal , food was excellent , would recommend the steak and ale pie and sticky toffee pudding 👌🏼

Near the RSC playhouse is the famous pub called The Black Swan (and/or The Dirty Duck as named by US soldiers in WW2) where thespians met. In the Actors’ Bar the walls are lined with pictures — often signed — of famous actors. In genuine British Pubs I avoid the commercial beers preferring local cask drawn draught. I was mentioning this to the young bartender as he poured me a Bitters and he confessed that he didn’t really like ales. I started and said Here?!! How are you even allowed to live here?! LOL

Excellent service, food very good, best to pre book....

Always stop here for dinner when in Stratford Had the chicken Kiev’s and wife had beef Sunday dinner. Both had big portions and very tasty and well presented. Recommend a visit its a very popular place.

Called in mid week for lunch, friendly meet and greet, extensive menu plus blackboard specials, we ate venison shin on bubble and squeak and steak pie, well presented, large portions and very tasty. A excellent lunch, many thanks.

A busy pub , that has many additional seats out the back. The service was very good and the food was great. The use of the app green king, prevented queuing.. will be a great place for eating when in Stratford upon Avon .

Great little pub a must while in Stratford. A little history to go with it as well. Interesting photos on wall a roaring fire to cosy up too. Food was amazing and reasonable prices.

Nice place. Venison was good but I didn't care for the gravy. My fiancé had the Sunday roast - The meat was very tough. She didn't care for the gravy either. Beautiful park on the (flooded) Avon river with loads of swans, just across the road. Parking was quite expensive and is a max 2 hours.

We arrived at 2.15 on a Sunday on the off chance there was a table for 3 and there was. The pub was busy with a lovely cosy atmosphere. We ordered food and drinks at the bar, didn’t wait long at all. We all ate roast beef and we all agreed the food was delicious. Thoroughly enjoyed our meal and wouldn’t hesitate to return 😊

Came to Stratford upon Avon for 3 days and found The Dirty Duck after looking for a dog friendly pub. Had lunch in the Saturday which was really good and came back on the Sunday with friends who live local for Sunday lunch. Can't fault anything. Staff so helpful and the food was amazing. We live in North Yorkshire but looking forward to coming back soon.

This place was recommended by our walking tour guide, Peter. We were interested in the photos of the actors. Ended up having a beer and a late lunch. The salmon patties were delicious. The atmosphere is good and we thoroughly enjoy the visit.

Excellent food and a good atmosphere

A cosy enclave in the heart of Shakespeare's birthplace. Outdoor garden is perfect.

Came here as a group of 4 adult's yesterday for a couple of drinks and some food. Really busy but managed to get a table in the bar. Good beer choice. Nice and cosy pub. Ordered some food and didn't have to wait long. We ordered the chicken sharer, nachos, mac and cheese with bacon and a side of fries. The Mac and Cheese and the nachos were really good. Most of the chicken sharer was nice, although the chicken wings were not great. Soggy skin and a bit of a Slimy texture. Overall this is a great pub in Stratford with lots of charm and we come in here everytime we visit Stratford.

We had a lunchtime pint here it was verrynice

Wow!! Had an amazing time here, never been before but was recommended by a friend. The food was incredible and the service was so lovely, all the staff are a credit to this pub. The bar lady was super friendly and patient with us and the outdoor waiting staff were very accommodating and they went above and beyond to make sure our meal was enjoyable. The fish and chips and the korean bbq burger were divine. The toilets were exceptionally clean. Everything about this pub has been incredible and we are leaving very happy customers today. We will definitely be coming back - thank you to all the staff!!

Nice pub food, large portions. Good outside space, some undercover. Dogs welcome! Friendly staff