King William Ale House in Bristol, City of

Bar staff with no sense of humour or customer service skills. Was refused a drink for no reason. Barman made up some lame excuse. The bar man then comes up to my friends to say sorry whilst I’m in the toilet. My white Friends… odd. After reading all the bad reviews I’m pretty certain now he didn’t like the colour of my skin.

Haven't eaten here but visit whenever I can. Huge range of Samuel Smiths beers on tap, friendly staff, memorably antique interior including unusual seating booths. Don't miss it.

One of the cheapest pints you will find on king street. Has a large selection of drinks with open fire seating and booths.

Hugely overpriced drinks and only served own brand spirits which tasted weak and watered down, nearly £40 for 3 double gins, 1 bottle of tonic and 1 pint of crap own brand lager.

A bar that sells Taddys beers and the prices are more expensive than London, £6.70 London, £7.10 here. Avoid.

An absolute must visit for its place in history and the lovely street its on. Amazing ambience and great vibe, holds true to its 1754 origins. Nice selection of pub fare.

Not sure about the past, but the staff tonight on a Saturday were welcoming and attentive. The pints were cheap, and the quaint atmosphere is lovely.

Great place, staff have always been so great. Lots of nice beers and cute vibe. Englishy warm pub. The manager is a tosser, rides the staff like you wouldn't believe so they are in constant fear, arsey with customwrs

Was empty when I went bit great pub , dark wood and full of character , even the Sam Smiths beer was good

Fantastic. The pub manager knows his business and knows his beers. I recommend this establishment to all who want a traditional pub experience with a great selection of beers and food.

Great pub great ale , friendly staff

The 1970's called, they want their pub back. Friday night and every pub in Bristol was packed to the rafters, except this one. We wanted somewhere a bit quieter than everywhere else, outside was full( on leaving we noticed full of people not buying from this pub but just using the outside tables after getting drinks in other places) Inside almost empty of people, atmosphere and choice. Amazing how they make anything to stay in business.

Visitó la impresionante casa de cerveza del siglo XVII en un par de ocasiones. Impresionante interior. Personal amable y atento. ¡Es un Samuel Smith's para que tengas una cerveza de frambuesa fabulosa! Tenía el pastel de carne - bien presentado y delicioso!

Absolutely disgusted with the customer service from the main manager/ owner of the pub. We came in as a group of work friends and were treated with utter disrespect. We have been told to leave the premises because of our colleagues put their head on the table. The language used was ‘if youre tired go home’. I have never ever experienced anything like this. Looking at all the responses to negative feedback its very defensive and one sided. Basically agreeing to disagree. (Really sorry but were not sorry because were im the right) Not the way to run any business or treat customers like this in any scenario. A bit of advise - treat people with a little more respect and speak to people with better tone of voice and more understanding.

not returning after the service we received

Fab little pub with great selection of drinks.

£11.20 for a pint of lager and some mixed nuts.

Great being back here! Best most relaxing pub in the world

Bar man seemed moody, pint cos £7.20. Friend waited 10 mins to be served (no one serving) and picked up a wine glass from just behind bar as bored waiting and other friends had bought a bottle - bar man arrived and saw, she put it back, and bought a drink instead. Another friend arrived - they completely refused to serve her citing it was because she was with us and the wine glass incident (even tho nothing was said at the time). Wine glass friend apologised but they did not back down and obvs we felt pressure to all leave. Essentially middle aged ladies on a book club not exactly wild, was all a bit awkward and odd 😳 EDIT the response from the owner is not true- it can’t because the second friend that arrived told us they wouldn’t serve her because “they said someone we were with took a wine glass” that she wasn’t served. And obvs I also believe the friend who would never pour herself a pint 😂 they even served her - just no one after! Feel free to share the CCTV you talk of

Lovely old fashioned pub, we really enjoyed the food

Nice old pub, nice atmosphere, good choice of ales, well worth a visit

All the others pubs were really noisy and full, no seats were available as we just wanted somewhere to drink and have a nice chat we choose this one. Two ciders infront of a fireplace... Perfect 👌🏼

3 out of 4 drinks were flat, we tried to take them back and were refused fresh ones with a poor excuse that it was the type of glass. The man behind the bar then threatened to call security and barred us from there. He clearly needs to work on his ego 😅

Unable to rate the food. Got poured a flat pint of lager. After challenging the issue staff were very rude and made no attempt to rectify the issue. After this my friend decided to challenge the issue again to have the drink poured down the drain. We are reasonable people but the staff were beyond horrible. 10/10 would avoid.

We found this lovely pub on boxing day and had a drink here. Lovely pub, and staff were all nice. We returned on the 27th for another couple drinks. The pub is a lovely olde pub, and had a delicious choice of draught beers and ales available. From what I saw they also have lots of choice of rims etc, but we stuck with the ales and stouts.

Beautiful historical pub great food and amazing service been here a number off times staff are lovely and can’t do enough!

Great Food , Service and beer. A very welcoming traditional pub. The staff were excellent and made our first visit to The King William something to remember. We will soon be back. The best of what we all love about a first class Pub.

A truly special place. Loved every minute of my time here.

Nice pub... didn't eat but had a really good time

Bartender kicked myself and two others out of our table after asking us if we were ordering anything else. We politely agreed to leave as we acknowledged it had been a while since the last round, but the employee came back again and started to aggressively wipe the table even before we could finish picking up our stuff. Extremely rude. There were other clients around us that were also not drinking but we were the only ones speaking a foreign language. Having read other comments, I would not rule out racism. This took place Sat, 20th Jan 24 at 10pm.

Many beers to try at this pub in the city of Bristol. A beautiful environment, with fireplaces fueled by wood.

I love this Samuel Smith pub. Great atmosphere especially with the fireplace going. Visited here after finding the Samuel Smith pub in Gloucester. Only thing is it's a little more expensive here for the exact same menu compared to other Samuel Smith pubs I have visited.

I like to go to Classic pub in winter with fire. This orange house with Cozy, warm and festive atmosphere ( most important thing for me - not noisy here) A wide range of draught beers of brand Samuel Smith (no other brands). I would like to taste different beer, take half pint each, 2.85£ half pint. Normal price in Bristol city centre.

All good called in for a drink.

Cozy, relaxed trad pub with a range of good ales, Chesterfield sofas around a log fire, ideal for the cold, miserable and rainy evening we called in. No loud music either, so conversation was easy, no need to bawl over the background noise. Happy to recommend, especially for those like me of rather more advanced years!

Only popped in for a drink, it's a warm and friendly pub with pleasant friendly staff will return next time we are in Bristol.

Alex, Lucia and their staff ( i am sorry that i can not remember their names at the moment) are some of the best and most attentive publicans/bar staff in the business. They welcome you with a smile, the fire is always going ( when chilly) and the food, spot on. The Sunday roast tastes like my own, only better. The Yorkshire pudding is unlike you have ever eaten a soft, moist interior surrounded by a perfectly crispy exterior. It might be the most underrated pub in Bristol. And for my sake, i hope it remains that way, so I won’t have to fight/scheme to sit by one of their fires. I love this place. Period

Lovely food served in unusual but very lovely surroundings. Service was also very good, waiter and waitress were very jolly and seemed to be enjoying their roll.

No music the pool table have been being fixed for months. Staff lovely but literally no atmosphere. Such a shame great location and building.

We chanced upon the King William on a very rainy Sunday lunchtime. The pub was very quiet and now do not understand why. The staff were very pleasant and went above and beyond. The Sunday lunch (chicken roast) was very tasty with the best cauliflower cheese I have ever eaten. The whole experience was perfect!

Very nice traditional pub with perfect larger.

This pub is a great find if you don't necessarily want the loudness of other establishments. When we went (as a group of 6), we found plenty of seating and the barlady was helpful and the choice of ales kept even my 'only drinking real ale' hubby happy. We also bought a variety of bar snacks, as the munchie set in, which were fabulous. We were hoping to test the menu, but got there too late, but will definitely be gong back, as it looked very tasty! We probably found it on a quiet night, but I for one was very approving of the ability to be able to speak without having to shout, and to not have to put up with too many revellers. A sign of my age perhaps! ;-) A really enjoyable evening in a pub full of character.

Good ale. Poor bar staff. Clearly thought they were doing us a favour. Rude to one of the ladies in our group. Definitely was only interested in accommodating his mates.

Fabulous old pub with stalls to sit in. So glad it is kept so beautifully, in appreciation of its history. Loved it9

For an ale house, it had a poor selection of ales on tap. Wine was the worst I have ever tasted. Left us having to take a nexium. Overpriced also. Worth going to see the old building and it's history.

Alex was the cook and Lucia was our barkeep. We had a great time, good service. They were personable. The food was good. We had ginger beer and taddy lager, and wheat beer. We had lamb bourguignon; excellent.

음... 스태프가 그리 친절하진않네요 가격도 좀비싸고... 인테리어는 이쁨 한번은 가볼만함

Nice pub good selection of beers.

Visited Sat 4th March, about 4.15pm, with 8 friends, all female. The rudest, misogynistic man of all time tried to serve us (yup you in the baseball cap). Refused to serve us Gin in a gin glass unless we all purchased doubles. When we queried why he 'barked' it was policy and was actually quite aggressive. Then said there weren't enough glasses! The pub was half empty so obviously not true. In trying to intimidate us and generally being quite scary and with a G & T being around a tenner you did pub out of a lot of money. Avoid at all costs, especially if you are female.

racist barkeep. i had a very bad experience at this pub. my friend and i were harassed by the barkeep every twenty minutes to buy another drink, during a very quiet night with only a few other customers milling around. he NEVER once went up to other customers to ask them to buy more drinks, but with us, in a very rude manner, would pester us to the point where we felt uncomfortable being there; it was as if we were imposing by our mere presence. eventually this man comes up to us and asks us “girls” to leave “as there are other consumers who want to sit down”. we were shocked! kicked out for literally occupying space in an almost empty pub for lots of “consumers” who didn’t even exist. honestly, he was clearly picking on us as we were the only people of colour in there, i could sense the micro-aggressive behaviour immediately. he never once asked the other white customers to buy more drinks. even they were surprised by the way he spoke to us; a woman nearby asked us if were ok after we were asked to leave! he was rude every single time i went up to the bar to buy another drink and would even belittle me with what i would order - i asked what ginger beer they stocked and he sneeringly replied “ginger beer” as if i was stupid for asking. i have never written a bad review in my life, but this experience definitely warranted one. if you are a person of colour, stay away. not only does this guy have zero customer service skills, he’s also a effin racist. if you think i’m being dramatic, you must not have experienced the sting of not feeling welcome somewhere just for being you. never going here again!

Now under new management with lovely couple, who know how to make you feel welcome. There is a lovely quiet old world atmosphere, as befits the age of the building. The organic wheat beer is excellent and highly recommended! The whole experience is something to be believed!

£6.70 for a pint of their own brewery cider & the barman couldn’t grasp the concept that cider does not have a head on it. Also appreciate it was New Years Day but it was obvious from the service with no smile that he didn’t want to be there. King Street turning into an area mugged by the craft beer prices illusion.

Lovely pub in the centre of drink-ville a little quieter than the others but worth a look as the beer is not your usual fair.

I've been trying to visit this pub since it changed hands a while ago, but they have been closed early. Such a shame, I enjoyed this pub when it was under previous management.

Friendly and quiet little pub when we visited.

Was pleasantly surprised to find out there is worse beer than John Smiths.

Its bright orange facade makes this place stand out but inside is all dark wood with welcoming open fires and cosy booths. The barman was, however, laconic to put it mildly, hardly uttering a word apart from to inform us that there was no ice for the gin and tonic, before nipping out for a smoke. The Sam Smiths ale was well served and whilst we didn't eat there, the menu looked reasonable with lots of pub classics (although a vegetarian pork pie does rather suggest a contradiction in terms!) Its position near Queens Square means it is very centrally located and the cosy atmosphere would in itself justify a return visit.

An absolute Bristol classic. Warm, dark and full of character.

This place is a dump. It's run down, tired, dingy, dirty, with decor that's at least four decades old. So it's absolutely perfect. Just what an authentic English pub should be. Ancient and rickety, fantastic period features, wooden booths, three working fireplaces, endless nooks and crannies. And still room for two pool tables upstairs at the time of writing. Straight out of Dickens and an absolute gem. Here's hoping it never changes.

Did not understand my mannerisms and asked that I buy food before drink. Disgusting behaviour to try to boost sales and lost local custom as a result0/5 do not go.

It was a challenge to find a pub which still served traditional food. Although the food was not the best, but the service was pleasant, and drinks were nice. Most likely will come again.

Liked it, good choice of alcohol

The most unwelcoming place I've ever drunk in in Bristol . Dark , dinghy , dirty . Dodgy , un helpful bar staff .The drinks were clearly overpriced compared to other nearby pubs , close to £7 for a pint of not great cider ....

This place is always fairly quiet with no music and is a bit depressing. It has a good selection of Yorkshire ales but they are a little overpriced.

Cosy, Samuel Smith pub. In great location

The most extortionate prices I have seen in a pub in the centre of Bristol. £20.10p for three drinks, £8.50p for large white wine , £6.50 for a pint of draft cider, £5.10 for a pint of stout . Used to use this establishment when...

Excellent beer, great pub. Food was ok

£5.50 for a pint of Taddy, complete rip off. Place was empty and I soon realised why. Real shame as it could be a good traditional pub.

We visited this quiet bar yesterday and were presented with a menu without any prices on. We ordered two drinks - a single gin and tonic and a rum and ginger beer and were shocked when we were presented with a bill of £16.80. After...

Way more expensive than other places on the street. Being the only empty bar on a Saturday night should have tipped us off.

Prices have gone up ridiculously. 3 pints were almost 20 quid. Below average pint too. Won't be going back.

Title says it all. Avoid avoid avoid. Bartender seemed only interesting in serving women he knew were single, bizzare and off-putting behaviour.

Not impressed- ordered a double whisky and coke - £9.30 I asked for real coke - it was either diet or the flavour was going. When I complained - they said there was nothing they could or would do about it. The manager said due...

If your on King Street please avoid. Since lockdown they have increased their prices big time. A pint of the cheapest draft cider is £7.50 (used to be £3.90). The staff are frinedly but have been told not to mention the price until after the...

Love this pub. Great traditional ale from Samuel smiths. Friendly staff and great atmosphere.

Sam Smiths used to mean good value, not this place. Ale £6.20. Most expensive round we bought in Bristol, happy to pay if product is quality but this wasn't. Avoid at all costs.

Decent yorkshire pint but very overpriced at £5 for a pint thats £2.10 a pint up north. Seating area outside was nice.

walking down the beaten cobble path of king street, i was throne back in time. (we have nothing like this in america) we was delighted to walk in and be thrown back in to 1660 and severed traditional english beer and ale. nothing like having...

had to pop over to Bristol for work, decided to pop into here for lunch. such a fantastic pub! tasty bitter. hopefully ill be back in Bristol soon as this pub deserves another visit.

The food was the worst I have ever had. Wife got a refund on hers. I tried to eat mine but gave up and gave it to our dog Only wish I could give it 0 stars

Went for a pint outside here on Friday, they charged £18.60 for 3 pints of ale, apparently to make up for what they have lost, didnt take any details either, shame have been drinking here for a long time, but not going back at those...

The food served was excellent and generous in portion size. We were very pleased to find it was serving food and we only had soft drinks so can’t comment on the ale

Un pub comme on les aime, sombre, avec un bon choix de bières à la pression, des petits compartiments et surtout des cheminées avec de vrais feux de bois.

Having weighed up a number of options we liked the look of real beer in a real pub. We were not disappointed here. An open fire was lit in a room just off the main bar. Two of us sat in there for way too...

Fair play to the landlord / manager - he was as miserable and unfriendly as a landlord could be! Excellent character acting from the early days of this lovely old pub. Or have I got this wrong and he was just miserable????

Lovely pint of butter for £3.50, proper dirty old pub with no mobile phones allowed. But sort out the toilets, had to walk in a considerable amount of gentlemen urine...

Good place for a beer. Good selection. Good staff and entertainment.

Isteni volt a forralt cider. Mindenkinek ajánlom.

What a find. Necer new Sam Smiths were in the south. Since realised they have loads in that there London also. King William is great. Low lighting, fire places, private booths. Very nice. Cheap drinks !

Called in whilst wandering round the dockland area. Great welcome and super ales, well kept and well served. All one can ask for in a traditional pub, even discourage the use of mobiles - Hooray!

Hemos estado en varios pubs de aquí y el King William ha sido el único en el que hemos repetido. Muy buen ambiente, el camarero es muy buena gente y divertido, y tienen la mejor cerveza(organic wheat beer). Le hemos explicado al camarero que es un tinto de verano y nos lo ha puesto sin problemas y riéndose. Un 10 para el sitio y el camarero.

We found the King William after just wandering around the docks. It was a warm cosy atmospheric place for a good drink after a busy day.

Called in several times last week as it was just a couple of minutes walk from where we were staying. Lovely old-fashioned Sam Smith's brewery bar. Coming from NI, I was not acquainted with the range of drinks but we managed to make a choice. I had the Smyth's Pale Ale and Si went for the Double Four lager. The prices are reasonable, pretty much on par with Belfast prices and the bar staff were friendly.Couple of old fireplaces with real fires and no sign of televisions, my kind of pub. Pretty busy on weekends but very pleasant on weekdays.Had a drink (Song Of The South, I think) which was completely new to me and very enjoyable.Read some reviews concerning rude bar-staff. Maybe they have changed but the staff were courteous and friendly (if not exactly gushing) and no complaints from me. My only complaint is that English pubs close far too early!

We liked this pub because it is very old fashioned and has unique beer! Could have more warmth and friendly staff!

Nice pub and good beer. But the manager tries to overcharge for drinks. And when you call him out he claims it was 'just a joke' or 'he got it mixed up'. It's happened to multiple people I know so watch out.

We visited this pub on a Friday as we often do when there are a lot of us due to the space upstairs and the fact the lagers are cheap. Other than that, this is not a nice place to visit. Firstly, it's generally quite dingy without enough seating upstairs and could do with an update.However, last Friday was a particularly awful experience. One of my friends had left a bad trip advisor review this July after one rude bar man (the same one all of these bad reviews are about) tried to overcharge her and myself unsuccessfully but managed to get away with it with her boyfriend. On Friday, this bar man remembered my friend and decided to call her out and have a shouting match in front of all of the punters. He was extremely rude and did his best to intimidate her despite the fact he had undeniably been in the wrong.The incident had originally happened back in July and the fact he had not only remembered my friend but also held such a grudge that he thought it was appropriate to start shouting at her is proof of what a nasty character he is. If you have to go here, do your best to avoid barman from New Zealand!

I fell upon this chain in York, was sure they had made a mistake on price. Nowp it was so cheap it made Witherspoons look like Hilton!! Have travelled UK from Whitby last week to london and yep it's great ale and so cheap, that was till I decided to visit Bristol. Wow £7.40 for two pint. Must be I pay for coal on fires! No wonder there was only 6 people in! 4 after i went back Witherspoons!!

Grande y típico pub inglés, todo como te lo imaginas. Varias plantas con moqueta, chimeneas, billares...... Muy buen ambiente

Dark, dingy, grubby, uncomfortable, exactly what a pub should not be. No wonder it was nearly empty on the evening I called in. I won't be back.

Great choice of Sam Smith beers. Good service.