the Gateway in Reading

Good pub for a Guinness. Welcoming.

Busy Saturday night listening to the live music. Not much stock and glasses were available.

Stopped here on way to the facebar for a Roddy Radiation gig.. have to say what a lovely welcome ! The Irish bar lady was outstanding to all customers.. i had blueberries and stawberries added to my prosecco..nice touch.. and the baby guinesses were generous A big thanks xx

Nice friendly place. The landlord was supposed to be off but was so obviously monitoring and listening to the very nice barman, who was chatty, efficient and extremely welcoming and friendly. There was a bit of a rush with a party pub crawl crowd, the landlord texted the barman a few times with directions. The barman is not new to the trade. If the landlord was that concerned. Why did he not get off his posterior and come and help? These ratings are reduced because of the landlord and would be lower if the barman had not help make it a very pleasant and enjoyable visit.

It's normally a great spot for keeping up with irish rugby, but have a feeling it's be anglicized. The irish rugby match that most of the people were watching was turned off so a handful of people could watch and English football match, very disappointing 😞

Great bar, staff are great craic.

It was just outside this pub that an incredible wrong was performed. One that I shall confess now. Full with drink and merriment, my friends and I left The Gateway - our bellies full of Guinness, our heads awash with football. Babbage, feeling slightly squiffy, decided to steal a ride upon the back of our resident Iron Man. As I watched them on their happy journey, my mind was filled with ambitious fancies - what if I were to join this caravan of friendship? And so, I accelerated, and leaping forward, attempted the unthinkable - The Two Storey Piggy Back. It is hard to continue with this review. But, suffice to say, I failed. The weight of my foolishness caused us to buckle and crumple, and we hit the pavement with unforgiving power. To this day I live with the guilt. It sits tight upon my conscience like the ligaments that I have damaged. In time I hope it will heal. But I will forever be in his debt.

Always used theis pub when following London Irish rugby it was a visit down memory lane happy days

Great atmosphere great Guinness love it

Nice little place, old style pub, has a dartboard too which I'd great

Lovely place. Friendly staff and the food is good

Only place to get a proper vegan German bratwurst in Reading. Pleased they cater to vegans and vegetarians, even their curry sauce is vegan.

Came here to get a late lunch, they have recently opened up a new kitchen and the food is lovely! I had the pizza, and my friend had the fish and chips, which was also amazing too. My pizza was delicious and everything tasted homemade. The prices are super reasonable too!

Amazing food big portions and great value for money

What you'd expect from a proper Irish style pub - good drinks, sport and rugby

Just went here for a quiet drink Fri eve rather than going to the busy Friar Street venues. Nice venue. They was a new young foreign barman who needed training which was quite amusing. 😉 Didn't eat so can't comment on food.

Pop in for a couple of Guinness 👍🏻

It’s an amazing Irish pub with lots of good drinks.

It's a hidden gem - authentic Irish bar, even had Taytos and Club Orange/Lemon!

Excellent Irish pub in Reading that serves the best guiness in the area. Sports on all day and lovely staff.

Very friendly place to visit great atmosphere

Proper pub ,a real pub with locals and visitors, not a great selection of beer ,especially real ales ,but I guess as its an Irish pub a decent pint of Guiness . 1 of only 2 pubs in the town centre that is proper pub 👌

Proper boozer and Irish bar. Welcoming bar staff. Had a great time.

Called in for the Scottish cup semi final. 20 minutes of technical issues and no service at the bar. This is not the first time to be let down by a bar that does not care for its customers. I won't bother going back...

Great authentic pub. Good music friendly bartender.

Lovely Guinness, staff are friendly and the atmosphere is great.

Great Irish stew and Guinness on st Patricks day

My 1st time in there had a good night

Great atmosphere but very pricey.

Guinness is swil - landlady seems like a nice woman- strange vibes, not interested in conversation

I went to the gateway pub with friends to watch the England V France World Cup football match. Good friendly pub with televisions around the pub. Also Large Screen projector TV.

Bye far the laziest staff I have ever had the misfortune to have come across

Nice, how ever the bar tender (clearly new) really struggled with simple thinks like poring a pint.

Lovely little pub and a lovely lady behind the bar. I only stopped to use the loo and got a Redbull while passing through. I could have rated higher but I was told the drink was £2 and was later charged £3. Either a harmless mistake or the lady in the red jumper is stealing! I'll leave that up to you 😉

Friendly staff, live music 🎶 A regular open mic evening will be starting on 14th July

Great music, great staff, great Guinness.

I nipped into this pub for a quick pint before watching Reading v Rovers - was pleasantly surprised by how brilliant the Guinness was. 1 pint turned into many more, helped ably by the friendly staff and locals. Returned after the game, by which point it was much busier, to wash a few more Guinness' down with some Taytos! Loved it so much I'll be coming back in August on a Tuesday night to watch Rovers at Reading again, planning my trip around this pub. Highly recommended for Guinness fans!

RTE sport on and fantastic pints of guinness. Staff are great also

Good pub 👍 great staff made me feel welcome with Good chat Good pint and even done food and she on her own definitely come back just for the craic

Excellent experience and excellent service super friendly and helpful staff 👍

Lovely pub to watch the football. Bar lady and possibly landlady was super friendly and nice.

The Gateway is a pleasant pub near Reading General railway station. The staff are friendly and welcoming, more so than at the Greyfriar nearby. If you've had a tiring long journey on a train and just need a relaxing, peaceful pint, I'd recommend the Gateway over the Three Guineas, the Oakford Social Club, and the Greyfriar, for various different reasons. An Irish pub and serves a pint of Guinness as good as it gets. But it's not one of those chain Irish pubs that turns Irishness into some kind of in-your-face theme park. The Gateway's an unassuming, no-nonsense pub, with some screens to watch sport if you like.

Best Guinness in Reading..with chips and curry sauce on the side..plus friendly staff. Fab place.

I went to The Gateway for some of Ireland's Six Nations games. There was always a great, friendly atmosphere and was served up delicious, hearty homemade food. The women working behind the bar are some of the hardest working people I've ever seen. Will definitely be back for another visit soon.

Guinness wasn't very good. Had to wait 20 mins at an empty bar to be served, and everywhere was very worn and sticky, but it'll do for the old fellas that just want a drink. Inches cider was good though

Always a great night when we meet here. Great Irish pub, very friendly staff and you can even play your own songs! The only bad thing I can think of is that they don’t do HopHouse :(

Came to watch the Six Nations. Lovely friendly pub, great for sport, good drinks prices and the food was really good home cooked fare. Recommended!

No longer under the same management, but it's still worth five stars. Food is genuinely excellent, at a price that might seem a little higher than you'd expect, but it's worth every penny.

Great atmosphere and a great Guinness!!

One of my Favourite Pubs in England. Friendly warm inviting. Great beer. Simply fantastic

Livelier tonight than usual - people getting some socialising in before the potential crisis hits? Town a bit quiet too but had livened up later ...

Okay when we got bored of the greyfair, we went here and it was Amazing!!!! The atmosphere was great!!!!! The male bartender was the most unfriendly I've ever seen in this UK but his female bartender made up for that thank God!!! I enjoyed myself here. It was more alive. 😁😁😃

Good atmosphere,friendly pub,staff ok.Will be back for sure.

In the past I would agree with the positive comments….however……not any more .. took my Irish gamy after ascot as they always loved the place was promised a pub buffet only to be told on arrival the chef was sick. No contact from the landlord to advise if this. The landlord doesn’t care about this place and openly admits won’t be there long. The unfortunate staff tried their best but being guided by the LL who doesn’t care proved difficult for them . This pub is easily the best Irish bar in reading ..BUT is in need of a change in managing to bring it back to its best

One of the best pubs I have been to. Great food and great beer,I will definitely be returning next year.

Solid, traditional Irish pub a short walk off Friar Street with loads of TVs for all lines of sight showing sport. Probably the best Guinness in town. Friendly landlord running good Covid measures and unbelievably attentive table service which has you struggling to maintain an empty glass. Didn't try food but saw plenty of filling pub grub being served to happy customers. If you're looking for a sports bar consider this.

Great pub. Good atmosphere, staff is very nice, they check up on you, if you've got plenty to drink, so you'll never go thirsty. Plenty of TV screens, to watch all your favorite games. Unfortunately fully booked today, so I'll swing by tomorrow again.

Wonderful atmosphere and lovely people. No ruffians and food is tops.

Good beer, tasty food and a nice atmosphere.

Friendly landlord and staff. Very welcoming - not expensive and we got complimentary plates of chips while watching the rugby. Clean and tidy and for a town centre pub it was more like a local. Worth a visit.

Handy pub if you are waiting for a train at Reading. Not too pricey.

Very positive in this covid climate

Επίσκεψη με την κοπέλα μου και τους. Φίλος μου για μπύρα. Φοβερή pub με τοπική κουλτούρα μ άρεσε πολύ θα ξαναπάω και για φαγητό!!!!!!

Nice pint of Guiness. Friendly staff

Good beer, and they have a great Irish Session on the 4th Sunday of the month. 😉

I phoned to book a table the person who answered was laughing and did not take me seriously then hung up. When I called back he was very sarcastic said it’s £2000 deposit and said there’s a Wetherspoons down the road and hung up. Quite upset about this as I’m new to the area and have friends visiting and had been recommended this pub by friends at work who live here.

Excellent food, service, staff friendly and helpful. Highly recommend for a party

Good beer and friendly service great atmosphere

Great place to get together with friends

Friendly irish pub . Popular with visiting football fans . Near to bus stop for madjeski stadium.

Authentic Irish pub with a big screen to watch sports

Lovely friendly pub and good Irish music

The first thing that strikes you on entry is that this is unquestionably an Irish pub. The second is that it is strikingly clean. All surfaces are polished, the wooden floor is beautiful and there is a total absence of stickiness or odours. The owner is obviously proud of the place and they're right to be. A proudly kept, traditional pub is a rarity and it's a privilege to visit one. I've not eaten here so can't comment but it's obviously not really a food pub. Imported Tayto crisps compensate. The only tiny gripe is that it's quite expensive for pints. Clean loos and polished surfaces don't just happen, though, so I don't think it's unfair. I hope the place survives as the people who run this place deserve to maintain their livelihood.

Great atmosphere very welcoming local Irish pub

The man who served us called my mate fat, also service took 2 hours for a breakfast and some of us didn’t even get the food we payed for, awful

The waiter was very rude to us, we didn’t get our food at the same time/if at all, they got our orders wrong and was very dummy

Nice pub, great choice of beers and huge screens for sports.

Good food pleasant atmosphere brilliant staff

A friendly proper Irish feel pub good service with good Guinness

Enjoyed my drinks ( the best Genus in Reading ) while watching the Manchester United vs Chelsea on the large screen. Game ended 1:1 For a change there were few customers who cheered for Manchester United. Seemed not fans but only interested in the bets. Service was good ( the lady was a true Manchester United fan ).

Great Irish pub. Lots of sports and the best Guinness in Reading!

Great pint of Guiness. Ample seating areas. Lovely atmosphere.

Would like to come to an Irish pub. I miss my friend so much.

very noce pub, great atmosphere, very fun

Still serves the best Guinness I have had outside of Ireland. Top irish boozer.

Bear in mind it was the rugby world cup final day with 3 matches on, therefore I can imagine every bar in Reading town centre with a screen was packed also. However it's like this never made it to the management here, we arrived half way through the first match and it was already busy, we waited half an hour at the bar to be served. There was only 2 people serving at this point and it appeared that if you were not a local then you were well down the list to be served. Amused by the poor waitress that would appear with plates of food every few mins and have absolutely no idea where the food was going and relying on the bar staffs memory of who ordered it...not the best system when that bar staff leaves the bar and wanders round with the waitress! Average pub which was too crowded and not enough staff serving for the demand.

Nice friendly pub especially if you like the black stuff. Very Irish. The breakfast was amazing. Black and White pudding.

The staff are lovely and friendly, it's a short walk from Reading Station! We use it when we have London Irish home Rugby days at weekends!! The food is great, you can order full English or similar in sarnies till 12, then they have lunch menu, including roasts on Sunday!! It's all reasonably priced and you get a lot!!!!!! This is a Sports pub, but anyone is welcome!!!

A fantastic and classic Irish pub. For me, within the town centre this pub is the only pub that provides an authentic feel of Ireland. Worth a visit.

First time in here Enjoying my no head pint of Fosters on this quite Friday afternoon ( around 15:45 ) Also tried the Guinness ( very smooth ). Highly recommended. I realised that they have Sky sports , will consider it next time to watch football ( I’m told that many Man United fans watch here ). Staff are good

Excellent place to watch sporting events, lots of large screens. Good variety of beers.

Venue for a few London Irish supporters' social events and pre-game meeting place for many fans who get the shuttle bus to Madejski Stadium. Pleasant enough, quite traditional pub. The current chef makes an excellent curry. Some serving staff are a bit slow.

A brilliant town centre pub. Good for all things Gaelic.

Nice place to catch up with mates

A great spot. Feels like home. As close to an authentic pub you'll get anywhere.

Nice friendly Irish run pub . Millwall fans were welcomed and mixed with the locals and reading supporters with no problems at all

Great beers, great stall, fabulous to watch football matches

Traditional pub in the city centre. Unbeatable Guinness. London pride. Great atmosphere.

Good boozer, if you watch Celtic you'll enjoy this pub on a match day, if not avoid. On a non Celtic match day it's a good place to go for a pint. It's a long time since I heard up the RA song in a pub.

Enjoyed the live music. Wouldn't come back as me and the manager/landlord didn't get on, apparently asking for tap water more than once isn't acceptable. But it's a nice enough bar. A proper Irish pub.