The Dolphin Pub in Southampton

Great place for music but not so good for drinks. I was a served a truly awful pint of Guinness. Unpleasantly warm with a huge head. It was grudgingly topped up when I asked but was still pretty undrinkable. I switched to Neck Oil after that which was fine.

Beautiful local pub. There was live music and my friends and I had a lovely, night dancing and drinking. Nice people and nice atmosphere.

Amazing venue with great events. Friendly staff and good prices. Recommend A1

Local bands play at the venue Plenty of seating in the garden Open mic night good selection of beers 🍻 Didn't have any food so can't give it a rating

Had an fabulous night there staff where amazing great atmosphere

Nice place. But Hey, heads up! There's been a spike in car break-ins around here, with thieves smashing car windows.

Great live entertainment with a good, friendly atmosphere

They have some good bands who play their. Always a nice atmosphere 👌

Was a really good pub and would of gave it 4 stars but the drink were a massive let down. Went with a crowd of 12 and everyone was complaining about how their drinks tasted weird. Foster was either watered down or mixed but it dis not take how it normally does. Several people in the group made similar comments about their drinks vodka and coke, and other ales.

Fantastic atmosphere with brilliant music and a jukebox. Happy staff serving a pub full of very nice, friendly. Loved it! No food but not a problem as didn't want any, lol.

Great garden and bands. Ran out of beer on a Saturday night which isn't great.

Great night of live music in a great venue,only thing letting it down no food served anymore.It has a outside stage and covered seating area which is nice these warm nights.

Been attempting to query the amount I was charged but no-one answers the phone, returns calls or answer emails so I will just accept that the drinks are an extortionate price & not go again

Good night music wasn't to our taste but can't please everyone would go again

Attended a birthday party here and it was great, staff hardworking and friendly atmosphere

Nice outside smoking area, great Live band, £4.20 pint of Doombar, £1.50 half of soda and lime.

Kelly's 40th with the Maka foundation x

First time I've been in this pub for years. Welcoming feeling, good selection of drinks & friendly staff. Came down to support a mate in Open Mic and it's got a lovely atmosphere missing from so many places. Will certainly look at returning in the not too distant future!

Lovely outdoor space at this pub. Delicious menu, and reasonable prices. Parking onsite is limited but ample street parking. Often live music. We had the privilege to attend the RU40 band, a UB40 tribute band.

Reasonably priced Beer and a large Garden to drink in! Quality food Served as well

Fantastic atmosphere and brilliant live music venue. Our first vist but certainly not our last. Great hosts and a good crowd

Nice place! Live music and friendly staff. Can't really ask for more.

Staff unable to provide a VAT receipt when requested. Became unfriendly and abusive saying it was my fault for wanting a vat receipt. Lots of reviews here for their great food but they no longer do food

Staff very friendly even though it was very busy, good live band venue!

Tracy was a lovely host. I was disappointed in my food but she more than made up for it.

Beer live music jazz good still ok beer ok jazz good

Not been so busy on a Saturday night ,shame used to be a great night out

It was very friendly and inviting

Pretty good pub with an average selection of beers. I've eaten there before and that's been ok but I'm not sure if they still do food so probably best to check.

Nice pub enjoyed the atmosphere and good vibes.

A lovely friendly pub with great music!

I booked a table to have a meal, I discussed this over the phone with a member of staff as a band was playing that night. On the day, I arrived, they had no knowledge of booking and informed me they didnt do food. There was no apology just a shrug of shoulders from landlady. needless to say, I decided they weren't getting my custom, and left. I shall not be going back there again.

Only 1 bar staff serving on a day advertised for bbq groups and music alday in garden no groups seen and run out of glasses had to have gin in pint glasses really disappointed bad advertising

Brilliant venue for anything celebratory

Great pub, great atmosphere and really good drink prices!

There are two pubs close to each other and this is one of them I don't think it's a good idea I wouldn't do it myself but I suppose it's not too bad if you just want a family outing

Smashing pub... And it`s not too far from the station.

Back to normal, a bloody good pub, and great music. But they need everyone's support for live music. The drinks are slightly dearer, the price is worth paying for that live music. Cheers to you all, Dave

Great place, as its says a country pub in the city, very professional staff and a prefect venue, when the live music restarts

Very nice pub, good range of beers and lagers, lovely sitting in the garden, very friendly, helpful staff. We'll be back for a music night sometime.

Amazing pub, great atmosphere and lovely staff! Highly recommend. Came for my birthday and staff couldn’t be friendlier!

Great music at the open mic - friendly bar staff - beer pretty poor

My friend was racial abused by another member of the public from a different table. The bar staff then defended the racist. This is completely unacceptable. I will never enter this pub again. They defend and allow racists which I completely disagree with

Last night while here my friend was racially abused by a member of public from another table. Rather than to deal with the problem, the bar staff there instead defended the racist comment and said they would do nothing about it. Because of this all my friends and I felt it was appropriate to leave. I would recommend that anyone thinking of coming here considers whether they are happy supporting a racist establishment.

My friend was racial abused by another member of the public from a different table. The bar staff then defended the racist. This is completely unacceptable. I will never enter this pub again. They defend and allow racists which I completely disagree with.

My friend was racial abused by another member of the public from a different table. The bar staff then defended the racist. This is completely unacceptable. I will never enter this pub again. They defend and allow racists which I completely disagree with this.

Frankly, given the location and how much we enjoyed what we had for the price? This place deserves more custom. Lovely friendly service; dog was welcome. No complaints.

Heineken a solid pint, however a couple more options to that lager lineup wouldn’t go a miss, also trying to overdo a classic in the fish finger butty troubled me deeply, keep it simple. Solid pub

Absolutely packed with no social distancing whatsoever! Good band though

Always have the best fun here & defo my fave local pub. Excellent live music & events and always has a great atmosphere 🥂

Here on 31st October. Mafia are as brilliant as ever. Pub service was non existent. Managed to get one drink and one menu more by luck then service. By the time we finally managed to attract attention of the waitress whose role was to serve the vips at the back it was too late for food. The only person we saw serve our section she completely ignored us serving one table several times next to ours we got missed out all night and even though we asked for her to come to us we never saw her again. Would I come here again not a chance in hell..

A big marquee in the garden for the Open Mic nite among other events. Good anti Covid measures in place.

Pints great. Live music an additional bonus!

Always a great place to go and listen to music whilst enjoying something to eat and drink

I can hear the live music from my home! Such a great feeling to know that real outdoor entertainment is alive and kicking

Really lovely location and very helpful staff

Great staff and service. Good beers. Nice entertainment. Top notch food. This pub has all that you require. Recommended

As a regular, amazing every visit,regulars or not talking is a dying art . As long as the people around your table are happy, you could be anywhere in the world 🌎 xx

Brilliant pub and great music from Gary Todd. Fantastic garden area.

Nice staff and amazing food for good prices

The dolphin does good food and live music on a Sunday afternoon. I felt that the social distancing rules needed more enforcement but it was very pleasant apart from that! The live music was a little loud for chatting

Great atmosphere and a lovely garden

Great pub, the new owners have really turned this place around, they go above and beyond to decorate on theme nights, Halloween, Christmas etc. Very friendly atmosphere at all times. If you like live music, this is a venue you dont want to miss.

Nice atmosphere, good beers, friendly staff and a quirky interior

The Dolphin has long been a decent pub, but has grown in quality over the years (with the occasional peak and trough). Changes to other local competitors, have meant that it is probably the best of the bunch. Great beer, great music, great pub-grub.

Great atmosphere, really friendly staff, food looked really good, often have live music, would strongly recommend a visit

Friendly staff live music had a really good night

Nice noisy local. Live music at weekends. Decent selection of ale.

What a little gem if a pub great entertainment.

Staff are amazing and and all round great venue

Great place. Watched the Springboks win the World Cup there.

We stumbled across this pub when walking around southampton and thought we should check it out. It is a lovely warm pub, great decorations and really friendly staff :) thank you!

Visited Southampton last weekend. I have family there the last few years. Heard so much about The Dolphin that I was really looking forward to seeing it for myself. Spent the day touring Southampton and enjoyed it. Finally went to The Dolphin that evening and it was honestly the nicest bar I was in that day. Lovely layout, spacious, back beer garden was so spacious with ample seating although it would have been cold sitting outside this month. Staff were really nice and friendly. A band were coming in to set up for that night. Real good entertainment all weekend. Inside the pub we sat near the back door. The jukebox was on and there was a nice crowd of people in the place. Really really enjoyed myself here along with my friends. I’ll be back!

Came early morning for my South African wife to watch the rugby with some fellow South Africans. Pub hidden down a no through road with a small car park but plenty of free on road parking available. Nicely decorating inside with several areas and big screen TVs. Went to order some ciders only to be told that both (Strongbow and Aspalls) had run out due to a big event the previous night! The Manager on realising this then went off and bought a load of cans of cider so we wouldn't be thirsty which was great! Staff all friendly, food menu looked good although we didn't try it, dog friendly inside and in the garden. Would happily return.

I love dancing to northern soul.

Great music, friendly staff. Great garden.

Had a really good evening here, except the bar staff took my friends drinks away ,when they where dancing and they had just bought them ,not good ,they could have said sorry and when you come in next time we will give you a drink (Gin) but they didn't just laughed

Great outdoor Parties with some great performers. The garden is enormous and staff helpful

Good selection of ales, good music.

Brill place good bands at weekends love it

Our family have liked the Dolphin which we discovered shortly after arriving in Southampton back in 2014. It was a family friendly, relaxed, and offering food all day and every day. Inside has always offered a woody, cosy place to relax with little nooks and crannies - we particularly liked the wood panelled corner room where we could play games with our daughter while waiting for food to arrive. Occasionally a small farm would turn up in the car park, where for a small fee children could pet sheep or pigs, and our daughter loved that. It's long been one of the pubs on the traditional St Denys - Bevois pub crawl with a decent selection of beers - nothing outrageous or too modern and "crafty", but with something different now and again. It called itself "the country pub in town", and that is indeed what it felt like. It struggled a bit toward the end of 2017, early 2018, becoming scruffier, especially outside, and it being able to serve food became unreliable, and it even being open was uncertain. New owners took over in the summer of 2018. The place is cleaner and tidier than it had been toward the end of 2017, especially the garden, and it has been rejigged inside. The wood panelled snug is now a pool room, and many of the tables and chairs are high stools, with a few low sofas or benches. There are only a couple of tables inside where you can sit comfortably to eat. Some of the laid back, cosy charm has gone. It's difficult to know what sort of vibe the current owners are going for, as there is a mix of bare wood and glitzy lighting with musical instruments and paraphernalia on the walls and ceiling. It lacks focus. It feels unfinished and awkward. It is a bar or is it a pub? Who is the intended clientele? Probably not middle aged families or beared beer drinkers. We had the cod rarebit from the small lunchtime menu (the table menu appears to be only for the evening - the lunchtime menu is on the specials board, and is about seven items). You can have one of the items plus a pint for £10, which seems reasonable. The food took a while coming, and was served on a cold plate (which is odd as it only takes a moment to heat a plate in the microwave, and putting hot food on a cold plate means the food goes cold quickly); however it was tasty, and my friend and I both enjoyed it. I'm keeping an open mind about the place. It's certainly better than it was toward the end of 2017, but I prefer the old cosy, laid back family orientated Dolphin of 2015/2016.

I've visited this pub a few times but I think I'll stop. The garden smells of poo because dogs just crap on the artificial grass. It's sort of cleaned up - but not like you would if a dog crapped on your carpet (which is effectively what is happening). It's just horrible.

Lovely beer garden, and drinks are at a great price!

Polite landlord great music. Attentive bar staff. An excellent evening

Hard working staff doing traditional pub work. Garden, dining room, public and snug ... Well attended beer too!

Wonderful place and helps in promoting live acts to watch and enable to thrive in our local area.

A great pub with a good atmosphere friendly staff. Also a really good music venue

Sat outside listening to band, dogs roaming around one of which crapped on artificial grass right next to us. Spicey rum and coke was so weak I couldn't taste rum.

great live music. fantastic and very hard working staff.

It's such a great place. Lovely staff, delicious food. Nice price!

First ever visit. Very busy but friendly.

Interesting veg sausage and mash menu option. Attentive staff. Plenty of live music bookings. Monthly programme.

Really great atmosphere very friendly people good food

Great beer and atmosphere in this pub

Great music great atmosphere great service and not bad prices

great pub with lovely garden bar. Good ale and food selection and a brilliant place for live music.

Such a nice chilled pub , nice people music playing . I will definitely be coming back.

I went to use the ladies toilets and found a used disposable Syringe behind one of the loo's.I did tell a tall guy behind the bar I believe to be the landlord,he looked as though he had a bit too many so I didn't know if he was taking any notice of what I had said.Not sure what happened next as I left the premises straight away.I wouldn't take my children there.

Great pub with nice beer garden and live music

The weather was lovely and so was able to sit outside - the lawn was lovely too. Polite members of staff