The Holy GrAle in County Durham

Just love it, great place, great barmaid, fantastic selection of beers and a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere and the only place in in Durham that sells craft beers that i could find. Didn't eat here so can't review but it is a must if your in the area. 🍺👍

Awesome little taproom, with a couple beer engines and local craft. Cool music playlist while we were there as well.

I love this bar. Always a great selection of beers on tap and great local beers in bottles and cans to chose from. Really querky and interesting decor.

Great place to take friends, with two legs and four … 😉 Good selection of Ales, Cider, and more … first (won’t be our last) visit. Highly recommended!

First time here and such a great find! Fab beer and staff and atmosphere are great will defo be a regular when in Durham

Nice quirky little bar serving real 🍺 and good selection of drinks all round

Great music and even better beers. I had high hopes for this and I was not disappointed. 20x beers on tap.

Always a fantastic selection of the tastiest of beery refreshment! Something for everyone who likes the esoteric and down right good all with a chilled atmosphere.

Didn't have any food, so can't comment on that. The beer was brilliant, great company, great atmosphere and yes I will be back.👍

Great atmosphere, helped by an interesting choice of music.

Craft centric micropub situated up a steep hill just off the city centre. Large range of craft beers covering many styles and strengths plus one cask ale. Friendly chap behind the bar. The Kirkstall Virtuous Grapefruit was sublime but a hefty £6 a pint. We walked in on open mike night. The earnest wailing of bespectacled student types was unobtrusive but was observed in a library type silence which rather stifled our conversation.

Stumbled across this bar while heading into town, so good we stumbled back in on the way back to the hotel 😀 So friendly, so easy to hang out, so many great choices of beers, ales, ciders. Highly recommend visiting here and sampling their wares.

Been a frequenter over many occasions at this place. It is truly a unique and eccentric place, welcoming of all. The range of craft beers and speciality snacks deviate from what is the overly commercialised offerings of other pubs, to create a veritable smorgasbord for all palettes. The bartenders are extremely convivial and always present with a jovial smile. You can eat your own food without being looked upon as impudent. It is acceptable to practice individual endeavours, such as studying or reading amongst what is the succour of their lovely pints. This place provides a free spread of food every Sunday to their patrons, which is exquisite and truly imparts a sense of care in which this establishment has toward its patrons!

After only 2 days here, this is the best craft beer bar in Durham by a heavily hopped margin. Very dog friendly. Good beer list. Nice decor. Comfy and friendly.

Love this small friendly craft beer dog friendly hangout

Great selection of drinks. Very friendly staff who help you with selecting a drink for your taste buds at that time. They have good knowledge of what they are selling at that time.

Probably best selection of beers in Durham. Menu renews on a weekly base. They have interesting sours as well~

Funky cozy craft and real ales set in a quirky setting . Just up the hill in the City centre.

Great beer and cider. Also regularly sell sourz. The prices are higher than most other pubs, but that's normal for craft beer. They also sell Pennine Ale for under £5 a pint. Friendly staff and good atmosphere.

Great place to spend an afternoon with friends or family. Great beers, great selection of games and loads of friendly locals.

Incredible beer selection, plenty of seating, and a very warm welcome. Staff went out of their way to make sure we got the perfect beer for us from their constantly changing draft menu.

Perfect, just perfect. Great beer, friendly welcome, great atmosphere. Will come again.

Absolutely fantastic pub. Great range of beers and ciders without the usual blokey atmosphere. Maybe this is the future of pubs? I also massively appreciated a member of the team running after me with me glasses!

Gig night for our first visit. Pub was packed butno waiting to be served. Quick, friendly and helpful service. Will definitely be back

Great place to try all Craft beers. Hidden away from main streets in Durham. Definitely worth a visit. Tried lovely couple of Sour Beers. Will definitely be back.

My new local when staying in Durham which thankfully will be once a month. Stu the barkeep was extremely friendly along with the locals. They don't serve food here but allow you to bring your own in. Also dog friendly. Awesome choice of ales on tap plus an extensive choice from the fridge (discount for takeaway). Although a small venue, and it did get quite busy a couple times over the evening, it never felt cramped. Which every town and city I visited had a Holy Grale.

Always a pleasure to visit. Tops for drink atmosphere staff: what more do you need

Absolute great place. Fantastic choice of ales and beers. Great feel to it.

Great pub, massive choice, try it

Good beer selections with good advice and service.

Called in for some drinks and really enjoyed the vibe. The selection of beers was really varied and made me feel like it's somewhere I'd want to come back to do I can try the new stuff they have

A warm welcome awaits at this craft ale bar serving delicious mulled cider. We were lucky enough to chance on live music at the time of our visit and appreciated the eclectic decor, board games and range of bar snacks. Well worth a visit

The best range of craft beers and an awesome number on tap. Lovely atmosphere. A truly enjoyable bar.

Good atmosphere, great drink selection and loved the decor. Would be here every week if I lived closer!

Fantastic pub. Best beer selection in Durham. My kind of pub totally.

Great place that has a fantastic range of drinks. The menu is regularly changing, so you can always find something new to try. I haven't rated The Holy GrAle for food, as I didn't know if you can get food here.

Small but friendly ale and craft beer house. Great selection of drinks, friendly bar team and cool interior. Gonna try and steal the life size Paddington Bear next time we visit.

What a lovely friendly bar. With a good selection of ales and other drinks. Relaxing atmosphere. Will definitely be visiting it again.

Visited a number of bars during our visit to Durham and this was by far our favourite. Great selection of craft ales and ciders. Great atmosphere and friendly locals

This is a fantastic friendly welcoming pub . It has a massive list of beers/ciders and a few non alcoholic. It has boardgames and dogs are welcome and there are treats on the bar. The atmosphere was relaxed and cosy and the service was great and helpful. We only wish this was our local.

Tried and Tested, which has a good space for company. Fridges give a great selection of beers !! Prices Have to be seen to believed. But choices are multiple..

A craft ale pub serving a large selection of beers and lagers

Hands down the best bar in Durham for craft ale! A huge selection of ales, ciders, sours & stouts from the best breweries. The team constantly updates their selection with the latest offerings. Super friendly staff who are happy to give advice if required. Great atmosphere and perfect place to spend an afternoon/evening or full day if you're lucky enough!

Probably the best spot for craft beer in the city. Great selection of beer on draft. And fridges crammed with plenty more. Weird bar snacks too. What's not to like.

Sometimes it takes a new place awhile to bed in. Not so with the Holy GrAle. It just works, really works. Staff are professional, accommodating and friendly. The vibe is relaxed. The beer choice extroadinary and even a 4% lager for me 😬 I can’t praise this place enough. Just dont tell anyone as I might not get a seat 🌞🍻

Sorry, didn't have food but the staff and atmosphere in this magic place was exceptional. Thanks guys, from the 2 from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Sunday night. Thanks for phoning us a taxi too..🥰💗🥰💗🥰💗🥰

Cracking craft beers, good atmosphere

Lovely little pub, definitely going to be a regular customer. 😍

What a fantastic place with good music and amazing choice of beers and snacks. It was a great night out.

Lovely place but on the expensive side

Great People - great times - beautiful staff. Highly recommend

This place is fantastic, great atmosphere inside the bar, nice open plan room, great tap list with some fantastic beers to choose from, love that you can walk up to the beer fridge and browse the beers before you buy them rather than hassle the bar staff with questions. Best bar in Durham hands down.

Excellent selection of beers - not local but a good selection of different beers from smaller breweries

Fantastic beer choice, strongly recommended.

Thursday 11th May 2023, this pub visited a great local pub full of happy smiley people enjoying themselves Great owners great place sadly I did not give 5 stars because only 1 hand pumped ale on tonight The beer, though, was lovely, but try keep 3 hand pumped ales on When people go to real ale pubs choice is king

A very wide choice of real ales, both on tap and fridges full of cans. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Seemed to be dog friendly.

A wonderful little secret I the heart of beautiful historic Durham city .An incredible section of ales , served by a very knowledgeable ,warm a friendly staff.

Lovely little bar with great selection of beers on tap 🍻cheers!

Great place to gather with friends.

Nice pub not a great selection of ale one pump of Pennie ale rest was bottles and cans friendly pub also dog friendly

After a fruitless search for decent craft beer in Durham I found this place after turning to Google. It was just what I wanted, a tap room with an excellent choice of tap, bottled and canned beer. It is a bit off the main streets but well worth finding.

Amazing. Wide selection of different and unusal beers, well served. Open and welcoming to everyone. If you like your beer, this is a must-visit in the North East.

A craft beer gem in the centre of Durham. Justifiably busy at times.

Great pub, huge selection of beers on tap or in cans and bottles. Lovely relaxed atmosphere will definitely be back

Great bar with a good selection of real ales and lagers .

Great selection of beers (about 12 on tap plus a large selection of cans/bottles in the fridge) of good quality and price. Great location and nice atmosphere. Over Christmas they also have mulled wine and mulled cider

Visited yesterday with Boyfriend and Brother while on a day out to Durham. Absolutely loved it. The decor is fun, quirky and interesting obviously spent a lot of time looking for interesting pieces and very inventive. Staff were friendly, chatty, approachable and knowledgeable. Had a laugh with them. Loved all the different always a huge selection. Loved the citrus ones. Background music was good an not intrusive. Would be happy there alone as no one bothered you. Customers were friendly and polite. My seat was a big throne which I loved and secretly wanted haha Also a model of Paddington Bear. Especially loved the crisps which were so unique. They have a little deli section you could buy different chutneys, pickles, olives and crackers virtually all vegetarian to take away. Bought lots for cheese boards for Xmas Toilets were clean, loved the decor. Would highly recommend and look forward to returning. Watch out for the big banl heading up there though haha.

A gem of a find, sadly on our last night in Durham.

What a fantastic place !!!!! Large selection of good beers and ciders The atmosphere is great, the staff is really nice and they know stuff about beers One of the best “pub” I’ve ever been to , very relaxed, friendly and “quite”

Good selection of beers and a homely atmosphere

Friendly staff, nice vibe and good selection of drinks

The best independent craft bar in county Durham

Great venue, welcoming staff and an excellent selection of drinks on offer.

Awesome in its quirkiness and decor, some VERY interesting beverages and absolutely lovely people too. Only wish i lived with walking (maybe stumbling) distance. Well worth a look!

Love this pub. Great atmosphere and great choice of ales

Best beer bar in Durham, great choice of beers,chap behind the bar knows his beer ,a must place to go, don't miss out

Positives: ⭐Great atmosphere ⭐Friendly and knowledgeable staff ⭐ Great selection of craft beers ( only 1 cask ale though so if that's your thing you might be a bit limited) . Thankfully I'm all about the craft beers 🍻 ⭐Meats and cheeses available to buy from the fridges....great idea!! The only not so positive was I found it to be quite pricey so not somewhere I could afford to drink regularly But other than that it's a great hidden gem off the beaten track 🍻

Real ale nice little pub large selection of ale from good range of brewers. pop in and try

I gig here frequently and every time the staff have been so lovely and accommodating. Plus, the actual environment is so homely; it's a great place for a pint and to buy some great locally sourced food and drink!

Good selection of rotation beers! Really friendly and knowledgeable staff, nice inviting space with lots of natural light during the day! Definitely be visiting again!

Best pub in Durham, no question!

Nice beer but they are all expensive

Fantastic little bar run by brilliant people. Many different ales and drinks to suit everyone

2 yrs ago the GrAle had probably the best range of beers in the world...now it has even luscious beverages nom nom

Fantastic selection of draught ales, cans and bottles. A real customer friendly vibe too. A definite recommendation from me!!!

Love this place, chilled out. Welcoming, great selection of drinks, nibbles and fab music x

Lovely pub serving real ale & craft ale...the old peculiar from the wood was particularly tasty....we had free cheese & nibbles when we visited...fabulous place, worth a visit..👏👏

Good place for a variety of ales and beers

Excellent selection of beers on tap and cans to drink in or take away. Lovely and knowledgeable staff. Highly recommended. They just do everything right!

Great little pub... Good seating and the selection of beers was awesome.. Plenty to choose from..

Great atmosphere, great selection of special craft beers. Love it

Never... I would argue... has a pub been better named. I'm not often speechless. And I'm not now... But after dropping into the Angel... This place is sublime! Calm, relaxed, and social. Wow. Asked behind the bar for a suggestion and with skill and knowledge I was offered a pint of something lovely. Maybe it's my age... But I might be in love.

Friendly. Good music. Very good beer choice.

Great choice of drinks for something different. Staff are really helpful too.

Love craft beer and a relaxing environment, take yourself up to The Holy GrALE. Regular line changes means you'll always find something you like, or completely spoilt for choice. You should drink in, but can also take away and treat as a bottle shop. It's a quirky place that doesn't take itself too seriously except for the beer they like. Staff were very nice and that shows. I actually wanted to spend my trip to Durham just in here..... but I was informed we had other places to visit.... There was the ends of a questionable buffet on the central table which I had to double take, but in the end it seemed people liked it. Dog friendly, warm and buzzing environment. Craft beer fan? Go drink from The Holy GrALE.

Very nice. Great selection of real ales.

Best pub in Durham. Incredible beer selection and wonderful welcoming staff. Can't wait to go back.

This is a fantastic little bar just off the main Street that at this moment not many people know about. It has an awesome range of beers, there must be something in here you will like.

Hosted a uni society movie night in the downstairs area. The Holy GrAle was very welcoming.

Nice atmosphere nice people 👍 👌