Essex Arms Pub in Watford

Great pub nice drink on the way back from the fireworks on Saturday. Saves sitting in traffic.

Lovely place to come and enjoy a meal. It’s in a good location for me. Food tasted good too.

Was warned at booking that the evening was expected to be busy, I appreciated this and allowed extra time. The pub is pleasant, the food service was slow, as expected, but was reasonably priced and OK. What was disappointing was when I came to order dessert, the server sighed, rolled his eyes and said he couldn't say when that might arrive. I asked if he'd prefer me not to place the order. He could tell I wasn't impressed. I would have left but my son really wanted dessert. With the exception of this interaction I would have had a pleasant enough evening but can't recommend and won't be returning here as I was made to feel a total inconvenience.

We needed to be in the area and my brother-in-law had recommended the Essex Arms so we gave a try. The greeting on arrival was friendly and genuine, all three staff members we interacted with the the same so we felt welcome and comfortable. The drink selection was excellent and the food was great, the atmosphere convivial so it was a shame we needed to leave because one of had to drive. It's not very local to us but we will visit again and because of this experience we decided to try another Ember Inn.

We arrived at The Essex Arms at around 8 pm and the two bar staff were aggressive from the get go. One of them pointed their finger in my face and told me my niece was under age although she was drinking Apple Juice. They then gave us dirty stares and were intimidating as we finished our drinks and were rude the next time I went to the bar to buy another drink. They said the bar was still open but not for us. I told them my niece wasn't drinking alcohol and we could go outside and drink in the front garden. Again, they smirked and said the bar is open and not for us. They were extremely rude, intimidating, aggressive and goading for trouble. It's a shame as it was a Saturday night, a celebratory drink for my niece and all the family were up but the bar staff completely ruined the atmosphere with their rudeness, intimidation and aggression. The bar man with the long grey hair put a finger in my face and was very threatening. No personality, no customer service and didn't care about the patrons. No wonder the pub was empty on a Saturday night when every other pub in Watford is heaving. Avoid the pub by all costs and don't let the staff intimidate and threaten you. 1 star out of 10. Horrible, threatening and unfriendly atmosphere mainly due to the two men behind the bar. They were arguing all night between themselves and also insulted other customers. Leave well alone and find a friendly pub where you are welcome.

I spent a whole day on the canals with my best friends in the world and the Essex arms ruined it with completely bang average blob grub. Location and vibe of the pub could be incredible if they stopped feeding absolute sewer cack on plates and charging £20 for it. The staff were hotties with nice botties. Simon sony erricson was a highlight. Oh and those nachos are hot cack

Received a £100 parking fine for parking in their car park! Outrageous. Nobody mentioned the need to pay for parking! Will it be going back

We walk across Cassiobury and love that The Essex Arms is dog friendly. Had another nice dinner here!

Great evening out lovely atmosphere.

Lovely cosy place. Lots of nooks and open fires..perfect for this time of year. Very relaxing pub.

Such a miserable experience!we were a group of 5 adults with kids, and we were literally kicked off from the but with the excuse of they had booked 2 birthdays already. However, people pop in to have drink with no booking. Looks like kids were not welcome. Sad.

Miserable experience, we were not allowed to stay because we had kids. The staff had all types of excuses to not letting us sit down but the pub was half empty. Horrible service.

Arrived just before six o’clock after watching football. Found a table snd ordered a drink from the bar which were very reasonable priced. Ordered food via my phone from the table which arrived within fifteen to teeny minutes. Cooked fresh and very tasty. Pleasant staff and waiting and behind the bar. The only criticism is that a few tables had not been cleared or set up with menus for next customers. Maybe a potman or woman should be employed for that particular job at very busy times… or the waiting staff should be more aware when tables become vacant and be pro active .. that’s down to training.

Thank you so much to the staff at The Essex Arms (I forgot to get names to personally thank) for an amazing visit yesterday! We brought my 94 year old grandad here for an early dinner and he was so excited to come. He thought after 20 years from his last visit, that the staff would remember him. So I called ahead and asked the staff if they could say they remember him. When we went in and they all made a massive fuss over my grandad. He had the biggest, beaming smile on his face, it made me tear up. Thank you so much for doing this! The food, service and atmosphere was excellent. We are hoping to make it a regular visit here. Thank you again!

Amazing food and quick service for my family. Pet friendly and just friendly staff in general. Food was tasty and perfect temperature. Very accessible for my disabled father and very open to making things work around you and offering help if needed.

Food was excellent and great service would recommend 👍🏽

Great Atmosphere- Friendly staff and delicious food. Great service and and excellent value for money. Portions are bigger than average and menu is simple making easier to order and eat there and then.

Great Sunday roast, portion size is value for money, service was quick and staff very polite. Would visit again.

What a great place to eat and meet friends music just right for chatting and some great offers to be had Thursday steak night discount on steak and wine and ale makes a nice mid week date night highly recommended see you soon

Excellent food and everything was perfect

Service any slower I’d be going backwards in time. Took over half hour to just clear the plates. Staff having to be asked for plates to be cleared isn’t a good sign of the service, especially when the place is relatively quiet on a Sunday lunchtime. Roast chicken was decent, gammon was tough. 6/10 for the food but the service has to be quicker.

Just moved into the area and this is my local. Lots going on for all the family. Quiz nights, live music, Halloween party and breakfast with Santa. Very nice and friendly atmosphere, with reasonable priced food and drinks. Looking forward to spending some time there.

Great pub good value great service from Ben

Nice comfy place to sit and have a drink. Good atmosphere, friendly staff. Dropped in for lunch, food was nice. Will return to try the dinner menu.

Food was tasty but service was slow. 30 mins at a quiet time. The really poor thing was the food actually arrived before the drink. Waiting 33 mins for a Pepsi is unacceptable.

Excellent staff and service! A great pub. James Evans is particularly exemplary.

Every Thursday, two steaks for seventeen pounds! 👍

Family favourite for celebrations, been countless times over the years. You can't go wrong with it!

Sted was amazing so was the food. Koftas are fantastic

Never seen anyone pour a pint like Billy does. What a wizard on that Guinness🙌🏻. Love u Bil🫶🏻

Nice little pub. Food is good and reasonably priced. Mixture of locals and people visiting the park. Nice atmosphere. At staff were friendly. Recommend if you want a spot of lunch or a pint

Good food, good people, good atmosphere. All what you'd want from a local pub.

Lovely friendly staff, good selection of drinks and wonderful food! It was a welcoming pub and very comfortable. Thanks

Fantastic food and great value for money. A pleasant afternoon

Landlady made us feel at home very polite and accommodating, all though only one barman running around serving food to the tables, Maybe more staff needed on a sunny Friday afternoon

Lovely little restaurant/pub food was lovely, took a little time to get to you but very delicious. The woo woo drinks was lush! Very hospitable.

Great places for real ales always great Monday and Thursday 2.49 pint great valve and with the app free pints on loyalty card great place to eat mmmmmm Love going to this place to relax for a few hours

Great place to drink and relax after a hard day at work staff are friendly and go above and beyond

Miriam and her team are truly amazing and will definitely visit again in the near future.

Great staff, great service, great place

It’s such a shame that the service was so terrible. The location is quite nice. I was there for a business meeting that became awkward due to having to wait an hour and a half for a salad and a burger! We only received a meal after we reminded the manageress that we hadn’t received our order after an hour. The salad was supposed to be a health bowl with quinoa and actually I ended up paying £10 for five lettuce leaves sprinkled with a little quinoa and a tiny amount of other salad items. It wasn’t even very busy, so that excuse fell on deaf ears. Won’t bother to go back there, ever.

Had a lovely Sunday lunch with the family, crispy roast potatoes and melt in the mouth beef rib!

Come to this pub regularly, staff are always friendly and accommodating. Stead and the Lauras are very knowledgable. I can’t recommend this pub enough!

I was very disappointed with the Sunday roast dinner the veg was raw and the meat was disgusting. And the crumble apple was not cooked and I would never recommend this pub to anyone

Lovely pub. Brought my friends here and they said it was great

The posh fish and chips was a SCREAMER of a pub dinner. 5* all around.

Visited earlier this week was very welcoming and food was great.

Isaac was absolutely fantastic with the service that he provided to our group

Popped in for a couple of Prides. Even when busy, I always find a seat.

Good local pub, with good ales & friendly staff, nice menu.

Great for Sunday afternoon (5_8) music particularly end of month lou's swing and jazz best around

Listened to music on a Sunday what a great idea 5-8 can bring the kids and they can dance and eat no baby sitter required anyone with kids should come

Arrived too early for the kitchen, waited. Staff great and helpful. Food ok, would rather a fillet chicken instead of chicken in breadcrumbs on hunters chicken.

Great pub with a fantastic atmosphere well presented with great range of food and 🍸

Food great value for money. Staff very attentive and helpful. Gluten free options and knowledge from staff.

Lovely staff and great vibe, food is nice too!

I went to the Essex arms with a few friends and was served by Isaac, he was so kind and really helpful! We need more Isaac’s as staff! Thank you for being so lovely

Great place, not too expensive and staff were friendly and welcoming.

Had baby shower here today food and sfaff amazing

Amazing beer garden, perfect for the summer days !! Food is good value, even better when you download the app

Nice pub with a large beer garden. The food was tasty and the staff was friendly and helpful.

Always a busy pub at the weekend, James the barman is a top guy, a friendly warm atmosphere and a great selection of beers.

We popped in for lunch and found the menu had just changed. We spent quite a while trying to decide what to have as there was so much on the menu that we wanted to eat as it all sounded delicious! We will keep returning to try something else on the menu. Food was delicious, staff were lovely, and great value for money. Thank you.

This is a great pub to go for a drink and mingle with friends - in winter in front of the fire and in summer plenty of outdoor seating. You will get a warm welcome and It offers great food and a good range of ale. The pub car park offers plenty of free parking.

What a friendly place to be as a solo drinker/eater this is a lovely place they look after you and can't do enough to make you welcome food is great and value real ale range very good always a great pint Marian is very welcoming and all her staff would recommend to everyone to try

Good food, large portions, decent service

Excellent place to eat and drink

Great spot - fantastic service and food was great - really nice atmosphere for a busy Friday night - would 100% recommend

Great place for a family lunch excellent food friendly staff looked after us and good price would highly recommend so glad we booked in inadavance as quite busy

What a lovey place went with the family for Sunday lunch. Excellent meal everything was hot and tasty. Staff looked after us very well food was great value Booking is advisable and ask the best time to come Coming back soon and for father's day

Had a great lunch, staff always friendly with great service.

Great for classic pub food and drinks in family friendly setup

Very good & respectful service all staff very polite. Food very good & much improved since previous visits.

Really bad quality of food, barely edible, not recommended other than for just drinking.

Great pub with lots of seating both inside and outside. Lovely staff and great atmosphere.

Second time here! Great pub foods reasonable price. Will come again for sure!

Massive improvement. Love the little events they put on too.

Lovely food and nice friendly staff. Couldn’t do too much for us.

Fantastic evening in the Essex, brilliant atmosphere, bar staff really engaging and service throughout the evening was fast. Food was well cooked and the recommended dish was excellent, looking forward to the next visit

We were a party of 10, we had friendly helpful service and lovely food at reasonable prices. We had a lovely time.

Great family friendly pub. Decent food and brilliant service. (The chicken wings are superb fyi)

Always a pleasure. Great people, great beer!

Had what the menu stated was a ciabiatta BLT , however it was an undercooked french baguette so did not get the crispiness I was expecting . Although we were there for opening on Saturday lunchtime , they couldn't fulfill our order for three chicken and avocado salads as they'd ran out of avocado! That said, the portions were generous and, with the exception of the undercooked baguette, were tasty .

Lovely team & lovely atmosphere, we've only really eaten the chicken wings which are always tasty

The staff are friendly and there is always a great atmosphere. I love the chicken wings

Staff were friendly helpful and worked hard. We had a nice quiet bright area to share with our friends. Price and set deals were affordable. However bad day for food. Day after Easter weekend. Four Starters not available. Typical pub food generous portions. Hard to find healthy options. My chicken dry and overcooked salad very sad.

Want to thank everyone at the Essex Arms for their excellent service. We had a private function after a funeral and could not have asked for more. The food was of a high standard and plenty of it. They supplied boxes for us to take home what was not eaten at the time.

James and the team were extremely welcoming, very attentive. The service was outstanding and very reasonably priced. Highly recommend this pub

We booked The Essex Arms for my grandfather's wake, which is obviously not the best circumstances to visit. Though from start to finish the customer service was brilliant. We were greeted at the entrance and everything was explained to us in regards to our area, buffet, drinks etc. The area was clean, tidy and set out correctly to accommodate our party. The food was great and exactly what we ordered. The 2 members of staff were always on hand and nothing was a problem for them. Unfortunately I didn't get their names, but I believe the gentleman is the manager. All I can I say is thank you so much, especially for what was a difficult gathering for our family. I recommend The Essex Arms 100% and what a great job they do. I witnessed the the staff dealing with other customer's as well as our party and there was not a complaint in the house!

A very pleasant edge of town in with agood menu and good selection of beers and wines

Avoid This Pub: My friend and I decided to visit this pub one evening for a casual catch-up and a meal. Little did we know that our innocent parking choice would lead to an unpleasant experience. The lack of clear signage regarding car registration requirements caught us off guard. Even when we ordered our food, no one bothered to mention the need to log our car registration. Weeks later, my friend received an unexpected parking fine. She reached out to the pub’s manager, Marion, who initially agreed to cancel the fine, acknowledging our genuine visit and food order. However, my own car wasn’t spared. When I contacted the pub, hoping for a similar resolution, I was met with disappointment. They insisted I deal with Euro Car Parks directly. As a paying customer, it feels unjust to be slapped with a £60 fine for parking in their own car park. The situation leaves a bitter taste, and I urge others to think twice before patronizing The Essex Arms. 🚫🍺

The food is acceptable if you’re lucky they have your choice in stock ! They always run out of food …never seems to happen in other pubs. It’s just so annoying! The service has always been fine. The atmosphere is ok.

Regularly go to this pub,they have a great selection of ales! Bar staff are always happy to help and the food is tasty. The fish and chips here is great.

Lovely pub. Good solid pub fare well priced, Friendly staff, great atmosphere..

Stopped here for quick bite to eat early evening on way to Watford vs Swansea The atmosphere was better than the football and much more welcoming Food was excellent and hot. Drinks selection is good and overall great value for money. Recommend to anyone looking for a nice pint and good food.

My family and I have been coming for years. Food is lovely and the staff are fantastic. You can always guarantee lovely service and very knowledgeable advice on the menu options. The Lauras are both great members of staff!

Great selection of beers, went with friends for a quick drink but ended up staying out far too long. Food looked good but we didn’t eat.

Brilliant service and drinks were served very quickly. Always looked after by Marian and the team would highly recommend to anyone in the area

Person who served was great very professional and attentive. The food was not great part of it dry and over cooked and chips cold and raw. (like oven chips not in oven long enough).

Manager/bar staff v friendly. Great value food.