Hope & Bear in Reading

Roast dinner was OK but not enough gravy and only 1 pig in blanket (there should have been at least 2-3 IMO) the Roast potatoes was ok but I prefer crispy ones For value for money this wasn't good enough

Had a damn good time. I ate the food and then remembered I was supposed to take photos, must mean it was good right? 😅 Either that or I'm too fat to wait. Anyway quality food, I'm a calamari connoisseur. So if anyone knows what up, it's me. Aoli was lovey, squid wasn't chewy, just needed slightly more seasoning on the batter. However, still very good and this place gets my seal of approval.

The bar staff was very pleasant, The food arrived in good time and was hot and delicious.

Fab food; great setting and atmosphere. Ever so accomodating when dealing with a missed order on my part and extra guest. Staff so polite

Seamless service for dinner, came with a big group of 11 and had pre ordered for xmas dinner.servers tacha and lauren were so so friendly and the food came out so quick. Note not too much parking but it was a Sat eve.

Been there with a friend. Excellent food and service. Will surely go there again!

Loved the live music, saw Louis and Bill this weekend and it made my night 🙌

Good typical pub grub that solves a problem of hunger! Quick service and good choice of beers.

Totally disaster, I ordered the shared camembert and baked in sourdough bread, the bread was unedibel far to hard to cut or even to eat, will be thinking twice about visiting this place again

The service and drinks were good. The food was ok - I had sausages and mash and one side of the sausages were burnt (I didn't send it back because I wanted to eat with the rest of the group). My partners pie was a bit dry. One of our group is coeliac - the information on the menu gave him two choices but after ordering the pork belly and sitting back down he was told that actually the pork belly WASN'T gluten free so he had to have the steak. He really enjoyed it but the menu information needs updating. The dining room is very noisy - it could do with some more soft surfaces.

Always welcoming, great food, new pizza menu is great value and good casual dining. Friendly team

The Bar manager was fantastic. Very friendly, attentive and was all too happy to help our charity cause. Had a lovely evening.

i asked for no sauce on my burger and it comes with mayonnaise. on what planet is mayonnaise not a sauce? imagine i had been allergic. THEN when the food arrives we are never asked if we want and salt, pepper or sauces and during the meal nobody asks if you are enjoying it. i promise you will get better service at wetherspoons and that is much cheaper !!! i suppose getting you to pay before your food arrives is the typical bait and switch, but unfortanely for hope and bear they are a one trick pony as i wont fall fool for their scam again

An amazing pub. Came here for Sunday lunch and had the sharing platter. Great food and good quality produce. We even had to take the chicken legs home for dinner the next day.

Booked a lunch to visit my son as he’s at university in reading . All I can say is what a fantastic and wonderful experience to have our lunch at the Hope and Bear ! The food was delicious and the staff were so lovely , funny and very charming - we shall definitely be returning. Just brilliant service as well as food - well done and thank you !

Do not use this pub if you come in a car. Used the car park for 30 minutes grabbed a coffee and drink with a friend. The tablet to register the car was unresponsive. After reassurances from the staff at the time an subsequent conversations over the phone I now have a £150 fine to pay. Unacceptable and will now look at legal options to recoup my money from the company. Despite assurances this has been sorted I am still to this day being chased for a fine, this is now harassment! Dishonest management don't trust this establishment. I am now looking at taking legal action.

amazing place, brilliant friendly staff

I really liked the bar tender who was really friendly and served my pint really quicky compared to other bars. The pint I got given was really good aswell .

Took a few friends here for dinner on a Friday night. Lots of punters using the outdoor seating so the inside was busy but not overly so. We bought our little dog along and no fuss with it being at the table with us. Food was top notch and we were all happy with our dinner. Good selection of low and non alcoholic bevs too. We will definitely be returning here when the weather cools and the fireplace is lit!

Booked 3 weeks ahead for Sunday lunch for 2.45pm, arrived to be told food was an hour wait and no Sunday Roasts left, very disappointing as this is the second time this has happened. Such a shame as the food is very good just disorganised to run out so early on a Sunday.

Booked here for a little reunion with two of my friends from uni and our families for two main reasons: 1. Nostalgia - this pub used to be the Upin Arms when I was at uni and I spent a lot (too much?) of time here back then. 2. My friend was over from Malaysia and craving a Yorkshire pudding and the roasts here looked good. We booked for 12:30 but a combination of traffic and children meant we didn't actually order until 1:30. The server swiftly came out after we had ordered through the QR to say that there was now an hour's wait for food. We asked if they could possibly prioritise the children's food. The server came back and told us that yes, the chef would prioritise the children's food and that the hour's wait was only really an absolute worst case scenario. In the event, no one received their food until over an hour had passed. In the meantime one of the three families was informed that some of the items on their order were unavailable and they were offered a substitution. This was a little curious a although the items in question were part of all three families' orders, the rest of us weren't offered a substitution. The last of my friends were served their food after 3:10, 1 hour and 40 minutes after we ordered. My burger was good, my wife said her chicken was dry. The children's meals, to the pub's credit, were refunded. ...but my friend's long wait for a Yorkshire pudding goes on, as this was one of the things they ran out of...on Sunday roast day.

Amazing quiz by Sam on a Sunday night! Great atmosphere.

Our local pub for over a year now, great selection of drinks and the food has always been good, although prices have increased quite a bit and you can't afford to order food as often as you wish. Had the nachos a few times and these are proper ones, probably made and baked in the kitchen... many other places just give you doritos!

Great bar, great vibes and good selection of beers on tab! great night out if you’re a student

Had a great time at Hope and Bear pub, thanks to Anam’s exceptional service! The food was delicious, and Anam was friendly, attentive, and made sure everything was perfect. The drinks were great, and the food was delicious. The cozy atmosphere made it a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the evening. Highly recommend!

great place! loved anam’s service

Great food and atmosphere but pretty expensive

Absolutely lovely place, food and drinks were delicious, special mention to the amazing staff and manager for the bottle of champagne to celebrate our engagement, making the evening extra special! Would definitely recommend and we will return if we’re in the area again. Thank you so much!

Nice pup, order via app or at the counter. The food was very tasty, but a McDonalds burger is hardly smaller.

Great pub, good selection of drinks and really nice food!

Worst pint of guinness I've had in the whole of Reading.

Thank you to the waitress and chef for helping me with my food choices last night. We need more Chefs like him. He went out of his way to prepare me a meal I could eat. As I have oil intolerances. Lots of restaurants won't tweet the menu. Hope and Bear. We're different thank you 😊

My wife and I absolutely love this place...it's quiet, cozy and the staff is friendly..the food is good...there's a good choice of drinks.. we don't have any complaints..

Not been into this pub since it was Jack of Both Sides! Love the decor and the atmosphere. Menu looked good so will try the food next time!

An old pub a bit run down but good food and friendly team. Enjoyed it

Lovely pub, great ambiance and decor. Food was exceptional, had a range of small plates and the flavour combinations were delicious. Well thought out dishes, great selection on menu. Fresh tasty food cooked perfectly. Would highly recommend. A*

Came in for Sunday lunch a few weeks back. Lovely food and drink, polite and friendly staff - we’ll defo be coming back again soon! Well done - good service in a world where this seems to be a dying art! 👍

Great pub and especially fantastic quiz on a Sunday night. The host, Sam is just brilliant and we love coming as often as we can! Thanks Sam! You're incredible!

Nice Gastro Pub. Good good and fast service. Can be a little noisy at busy times, buy nothing compared to a Spoons. Good pool table, TV, and Poker tables too...

Great place Greatchef , brilliant food and superbly cooked , conor chef i belive , a credit to the whole team and Great bar staff , thank you 😊 one of Readings hidden gems 💎 food was beautifully cooked and happy to pay a little more 😋 personally.🌟 Gunness nicely poured and a few different beers, lots of outdoor seating and Parking

I love this pub, yummy burgers and nachos 🤤

Nice place for beers - overpriced and food was okay

We love the sunday quiz, it makes our week. We come from Tadley to do it most weeks. Food is great and lots of choices for drinks. But the best bit is the quiz host Sam! She is brilliant!

Not good. Nobody greeted us. Just stared at their laptop until I interjected. Had no vegan/vegetarian option for roast even though we went at 1245 and hardly anyone was in there. Better places to go for sure.

Love this pub, especially the Sunday night quiz hosted by Sam!

We love the staff, especially Sam!

Quality quiz on a Sunday! Sam is a ledge

Nice pub with good menu and good beer range.

Awesome place. Very clean, nice placement of the tables and very attentive staff. We ordered food and it was delicious. It's my favourite place now. Thank you.

OMG what a place, came for the Sunday quiz. Very fun night out with friends, bubbly lovely service and an absolutely amazing host. Sam, I love you 😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️🤩🤩🤩

Excellent stylish place, really enjoyed our visit, it has and outside space, and a great ambience....

Best pub in Reading, by a country mile.

The atmosphere is conducive to relaxation. The music is calm, unobtrusive. The hall is divided into zones so that visitors can communicate calmly and not interfere with each other.

Return visit yesterday for 7 of us, we were given a nice big table with comfy seating, a great selection of beer and drinks, the food was fabulous, shared nachos between us to start with then most had roast but two had fish pie and 1 chicken schnitzel. Lovely presentation and flavours, empty plates all round, we then treated ourselves to a selection of cocktails which were carefully prepared and well presented, afternoon finished off with a few games of pool. Would highly recommend a visit 👌

Great pub, classy atmosphere. Great fun.

Great service, good selection of beers.

it was a slay, Amam was amazing and a lovely bartender

Really nice pub and friendly staff

Lovely pub, had a nice time there. Waitress was very nice to us.

Lovely food as always and the service is second to none

Did sample the food but the pub was really welcoming, there was some good activitys as well such as board games and the thing that blew me away the most was the pinball machine, supercool! Looks to be a new favourite spot

It's a really good pub has nice decor atmosphere and food would highly recommend grabbing a book and drinking a coffee there

What a wonderful and friendly gastro-pub. Apart from it being a really well dressed venue with delicious food, what was most outstanding was how friendly the staff were. Amazing. Definitely going back.

Food was amazing as well as the customer service!!!

I come here often. Atmosphere is pleasant and the team are really friendly

Food was OK service was very bad and slow.

A great well run pub and restaurant.

The only problem was they didn’t have any heating on so was freezing and didn’t want to stay anymore cause I was frozen….shame as I don’t know if they heating was broken

Booked for 1pm Sunday28th January but arrived early and the staff were friendly, made a big fuss of our dog who had her picture taken for the dog board, food was great and service was very friendly, we will be back.

Didn't have food but the service and atmosphere are to die for, absolutely welcoming and friendly staff and would 100% recommend a visit!

Great atmosphere & lovely staff! Definitely recommend

I had my 21st birthday celebrations here and it was the best night! The staff were super friendly, the drinks were great, the atmosphere was so good, will definitely be back :)

We love coming to hope and bear for the food and drinks, the service from grace is always amazing nothing is ever to much for her so next time you in the hope and bear say hi to grace

Natasha and Natalie were so lovely and very attentive! Really fun to talk to over the bar as well!

Absolutely love this place, everyone was lovely and the food was flawless. Along with great entertainment in a pool table and appropriate music to keep a feel good atmosphere would definitely come again and recommend very highly.

Great team working there, Found them so helpful when I visited in late December for a Xmas gig..

Just on the outskirts of town, big venue with draught beers nice pub

The staff were brilliant & worked hard the food was ok , the salad described on the chicken main meal was more of a garnish than a salad

pub with food. small car park but remember to register your car reg on the screens in the pub to avoid a fine. we ordered food and drink at the table and this worked well for us.

A large group of us came for our work Xmas dinner. Needed to leave on time for a concert and the staff were extremely attentive to ensure the food, drinks and bill were received in a timely manner. The food was absolutely delicious, the group agreed it was the best pub food we have had in a long time. Atmosphere also great. Thrilled with the visit, thanks all.

Amazing food and great atmosphere

Great place where to spend evening 😊

Great place for food,friendly staff and well priced .

Quality of food was excellent. Maybe a greater variety on menu needed.

So far I like this place but next time I will try main menu.

We had to wait an hour for our food. A note before we came in for our booking that this would be the case could be helpful as we would've come in and order earlier. The staff were friendly and i could tell they were doing their best to make us comfortable in the Sunday lunch chaos and the food was delicious in the end.

On arrival the pub was very busy and extremely noisy. We had pre-booked a table but this had not been reserved for us and there was nowhere to sit. We stood at the bar and were harassed by a very drunk rude customer who should’ve been asked to leave by bar staff. On finally getting our table after 25 minutes wait we were told there was a 40 minute wait for food orders. We left without ordering food.

Very good lager beer and snacks. Didn't have food, but drinks were nice.

Went here tonight amazing service food was great 🫶🏼

Food is okay. The Sunday roast sold out very quickly. We were lucky to be able to join the pub quiz last Sunday too. What a fun experience!

Really lovely clean friendly pub. Surprisingly good selection of beers too. Definitely will come again!

Love this place, great food, first class service, all the staff are welcoming and pleasant, love the quiz nights. Can we have more roast dinners on Sunday.

Good Christmas meal I had a while ago. Interesting flavors with their burgers but wasn't all too interested in anything else. The price matched that of London's and the burger was too dry for my liking. Maybe I'll go back again for round two to see if anything has changed but it won't be a while.

Both the food & beer were excellent, can't say much about the atmosphere only because it was lunchtime and quiet however it looks as though it could get busy in the evening.

Great pub. Great food. Great laugh. Great x

Great service with a good atmosphere Jounny is a great barman

Food was easy to order but took nearly an hour to arrive for basic roast dinners. When they arrived it was all like warm and the cauliflower cheese was cold . Didn’t help that the people sat by us had a dog which was climbing on the seating and they were feeding it food off their plates. Won’t return or recommend

Food ok, feet sticking to the floor when walking.

Omg Em was super epic, crazy service as far as the eye can see 🤪

Best pint I’ve had in reading Em was so epic