The Hoskins in Darlington

Cheap drinks, run down, awful toilets, DJ plays same playlist in the same order week in week out. Fortunately plays some good club classics.

Absolute dump. Had a jumper and coat stolen

More oc a club atmosphere than a pub. Probably aiming for a younger crowd.

Nice place, enjoyed our meal, staff friendly

Dreadful. Only called for a drink. Perhaps if staff were not just sat socialising and made sure there was toilet rolls in the ladies toilets, collected empty glasses etc. went to toilet not one toilet roll in any of the toilets disguised

It's okay for a bar. But DJ really needs to up the music list. Way too cheesy for my liking

Absolutely dreadful place and the toilets we're a disgrace!

Good music venue,great crowd. Pub a bit tired looking

Decent pub for a dance and good music only downside was I had to leave as i got started on by a group of skinny little boys sat overlooking the dance floor who thought they were some sort of mafia. Its not my fault all the girls wanted a quick dance with john travolta next time ya start boys il come round every house 1 by 1 but I am pretty sure you will all still live with mammy and daddy

This place advertise a GAY night on a Monday. Dj drag queens etc. I was expecting something fantastic, however, the drag dj was drinking at the bar, music all on auto, not an anthem heard and I left after 10 minutes. The upside is I didn't have to pay to get in. Absolutely awful.

Come for a party at the pub! Make sure you get a cocktail :)

Loved this place , hilarious. Not to be taken too seriously. Old clubland classics , feels like a school disco in a working man's club (in a good way 😂) popular traveler bar too. Drinks dirt cheap , security a bit intense but suppose it makes it safe.

Sticky floor, great music. What else do ya need

The staff are amazing look after you so well

I used to love this place, not no more! Been going here every week for months, recently i had my passport stolen and cant renew one as i cant afford it. I have a citizenship card for proof of age and was refused it and accused of forging it and i was spoke to very aggressively and rudely by the bouncers, i asked them to please scan the QR code on the back of the card as proof that it was in fact real. I also showed email as proof but oh no i also forged that apparently. Its ridiculous, 1 of the bouncers knew me and knew i was 24 not 15! But pretended like hes never seen me before. Not to mention my other friend who was 16 wasent even asked for her ID. Might try one more time and if i get refused again they have lost a good paying customer along with a whole group of people

Went in today stunk of pee , had no tonic for a gin . Much improvement needed Toilets disgusting !strong smell of urine ... place was empty

Cheap drinks, great staff with great service and excellent atmosphere

Great service, great staff, nice pint, great atmosphere 👍🏻

Ok, not brilliant, sells alcohol.

Someone got glassed. But the drinks were cheap!

it's part of the appeal/guilty pleasure of a darlo night out. yeah the toilets need an update but then the amount of time anyone spends in them shouldnt reduce the mark for such a great atmosphere and night. bar staff always friendly and manageress is a darling

Toilet been out of order for maybe a decade.

had a nice afternoon ..the young lady behind the bar was really nice and friendly and polite...well priced drinks too x

The 2 beers I chose weren't on. When I suggested I'll have 2 bottles for the price of a pint the girl 'in charge' told the poor helpful barman NO. He told me with a look of ' I would have'. Customer service? .What's that then? Only 2 other people in on a Saturday afternoon. I can't imagine why!

love hoskins cheap and cheerful and always a firm favourite pitstop on the way for the bus home 😊

one of those dirty, grimy guilty pleasures on a night out, but plays good music and drinks are cheap

Called in here when visiting Darlington. Not too keen. Music too loud, a very (Too?) young clientele and barstaff not particularly friendly. Looked like it could do with a bit of a revamp

Love coming in hear cheap and cheerful 👌

Great place good staff unlike Harvey's

The toilets are really, really grim, and on a night the place is full of dings, but the drink is cheap and the music is good! Don't go for a coffee, they aren't that kinda place!

Night life hotspot. Must always be visited as part if the opening ceremony of a night out

Filthy. Had one drink then left. The place has a horrible smell and is generally just grubby all round. Will avoid at all costs in the future. The staff behind the bar were friendly enough though.

The most disgusting toilets I have ever been in.. absolutely filthy ..sick on the floor..blood on the wall..black grime everywhere..doors with no locks and names scratched all over... No lights in toilet..the loo roll looked like it had been rolled in poo. first and last time there..the owners need to get a grip..so many folk complaining

The pints here are so cheap!! A tad scruffy, but nicely priced alcohol is is always a pro.

Great night Great Prices.. My goto to start the night....

Staff were absolutely shocking, accusing us of taking photos of them. Sent security over we explained we were not taking photos. Staff proceeded to take photos of us. Great customer care NOT. if I could rate worse than terrible I would. WY to make your customers feel Victimised.

Great pub but needs a refurb and the toilets needs light bulbs and toilet roll😏

Great night out, drinks are cheap and always great deals on. Loses 2 stars for those toilets. Always flooded, falling apart, no toilet roll, no working lights or locks. Usually leave the place to go to the loo elsewhere then come back.

On vacation in area over Xmas, wasnt as popular as other local pubs. Britta pricey

Disappointed with the pub, and should've realised when there was just 3 others in the entire pub drinking on a Saturday dinnertime. They have some cheap offers on between Sunday-Friday, but this being Saturday, they add an extra £1/£1.50 to the offer price. The beer was equally as bad, and the John Smiths had an awkward taste to it and I was going to take it back to the bar but the girl had gone nowhere to be seen until we left. Just one behind the bar to cater for 11 of us, and to be fair she saw to us quite quickly The place had a funny smell to it and the carpets felt thick with stale beer and could do with a deep clean.

This place has gone way down hill. It once was a lively little pub to have a drink in or afternoon pub grub. Now it's like a grave yard.... no one in there, just looks tired and dirty. Toilets are horrendous. Drinks are very cheap though. Needs life breathing into it!!

Cheap Friday early evening beers.

The beer isn't great, the word dingy is an understatement and it smells. There are many better options within 2 minutes walk.

Don't go There! Went in with my fiance at 9.30pm to be told they were closing at 10 despite the opening hours being until 11. Poor choice of drinks, turned most lights off as soon as we had been served. Smelly, dirty. Lots of good bars in Darlington, this isn't one of them!

First place found on a Saturday to have a drink, dark and dingy

Not for me needs plenty of work doing to it pee in the dark as no lights and broken loos

Disgusting scruffy full of chavs😈

Great service, great bar, terrible pool table

Bar smelt of a toilet, toilets defy description. Why would anyone come here when there are do many decedent pubs in the town.

Great night out in Joe rigs brilliant music to dance too on a Saturday night busy atmosphere love it.

I have been in to watch the FA Cup Final and on other occasions to watch some football. Friday night was interesting with the youth of Darlington gathering before going on to the night club - football finished and a disco started up. Beer is fine. Dine not eat.

Came here when staying in Darlington for the weekend and needed somewhere to watch the football. Vodka and coke served in a half pint bitter glass, a sticky, greasy table that I kept accidentally touching (and regretting it!) and the toilets were bad - looked as tough they'd been quite nice once, but now the doors are scratched with copious amounts of graffiti, there's no light in the corridor and no soap. Won't come here again in a hurry. It's a shame as I seem to remember it being OK a few years ago - was it called Humphrey's?

I love this bar on a Monday or a Friday, although, if you like to enjoy your drinks in a clean well presented place this isn't it for you! I enjoy the music and the staff I just think the cleanliness lacks in a lot of places, some toilets don't have toilet seats and the sinks and mirrors are filthy, I think with a good clean and do over this could be a bigger part of the Darlington night life.

Went to this pub last Friday night as a group of six. None of us had been in Darlington before so just happened upon this pub . It was an absolute dive and the clientele on the night left a lot to be desired, and that's being kind.We would not dream of eating there. The toilets were filthy and there was plenty of vomit about.All we wanted was a nice pub with some atmosphere , instead we experienced probably the worst we have ever been in , we didn't stay long !!!

We went in on a Saturday night, the toilets reminded me of the ones from trainspotting, would not recommend

Good selection but do take a hungry tum! Friendly staff and nothing too much trouble to them. We had two evening meals and need to go back to sample others. Excellent

Always call in the Hopkins with my mam when we have a shop around Darlington. Food is always lovely and hot right through, called in today with my Aunty and cousin, again faultless food. The staff are always pleasant. My only issue would be it needs a good revamp, it's looking tatty which could put people off, other than than, it's cheap enough for a quick snack inbetween shopping!

Entrato a "fiuto" qui dentro con un collega, abbiamo fatto subito bingo. Non so come sia di giorno, ma il sabato sera è un disco pub pieno di gente, soprattutto di ragazze di tutte le età. Sembra una discoteca, hanno musica commerciale ad entrata gratuita e le inglesi sono fuori di testa! Assolutamente da provare. Si trova in centro tra altri posti simili con via vai di gente anche x le strade

A group of us come here once a week with our little ones, the food is always nice and really good value especially with the free kids meals. The staff are lovely especially Paige!! She always goes above and beyond for us , always smiling and really really friendly, makes us feel very welcome,very happy to help, she is great with the kids and always on hand with the colouring books for them to keep them happy she has always made our visit to Hoskins a lovely experience and she's the reason we keep coming back. She's an absolute star!!

Ordered Coors light. Cloudy with floating yeast. Told that's what it's like. Horrific service and products. Avoid at all cost!!

Even as recently as 1 year ago this was a great place to eat, great value, good, speedy service. However in the past few months it seems to have changed hands twice, and the food has gone downhill. Last 3 visits we had to wait at least 40 minutes for food for 2 adults and a child. Could understand if it was busy but it's been quiet these occasions. On one visit when I went to the bar to enquire where our food was, the staff had not heard the food service lift being called, resulting in our food sat in the lift going cold as the staff didnt know it was there....Went today and ordered chicken which was meant to be battered but wasnt. Only one staff member serving at the bar and running food. Needs a long-overdue makeover, it's looking tired and unkempt.

Called in for a drink.I knew what to expect but you can't see this as anything other than a chavs bar. A souless experience among the asleep sheeple masses.My own fault.

We have been going to this pub for saturday lunch for many years, however the time has come to eat elsewhere.The pub should now only serve beer etc. and leave food to other outlets in town. We've persevered with the Hoskins poor quality, Often cold food for a number of months. Today even the cutlery was just put in a pile on our table not wrapped as normal in a napkin. A couple sitting on the next table were aggrieved at a wait of over 40mins for a burger. If the place was full an excuse could be found, however with only 8 tables occupied it was a bit much, unfortunately all to common these days.The bar staff are pleasant however the pub now looks sadly in need of a make over,a microwave in the kitchen that works and a decent cleaner.

Nice lively atmosphere. Went on a Friday and took advantage of the cheap shots promotion they had on.

I have eaten at this pub on and off for 3 years. It used to be reasonable pub grub at a reasonable price but recently the quality has gone right down. They seem to have reduced portion sizes and used cheaper ingredients. For instance the cottage pie used to be shredded beef in a rich gravy under a thick creamy mashed potato which is still as it is described on the menu, but it is now a grey, dry, burnt mince with the consistency of sawdust under a hard crust of burnt mash. This was not a one off aberation , I was daft enough to try it twice. On pointing out to the waiter that the dish did not match the menu description, he just shrugged and said the recipe had changed. There are plenty of places to eat in Darlington and I will not be going again.

Hoskins is a bit of a cross between Weatherspoons and a sports bar. It's always clean and turns out reasonable pub grub. It's a good place to meet up with friends. The prices for food and drink are very comet active.

A shopping spree turned out to be a drink and dine experience in this pub. We asked a few shopa as we were shopping and both shops recommended this place foos was good and so was the service but wont be rushing to come back as we have had better. Value was very good

I've eaten at The Hoskins a couple times and both times had great food. Typically American burgers, never tried anything besides their burgers. Before Hoskins opened it was a different pub which was always busy and had a great atmosphere, however Hoskins was quiet both times I've eaten there. (however one was a Thursday day time the other Sunday day time). Other reviews are right, the place smells of stale beer from the night before and its quite dark and dingy, no atmosphere to it at all really. I visited with my disabled mother and she didn't rate their disabled toilet very highly. Didn't visit their facilities myself, so can't comment. I think on menu, their prices seem reasonable, but once you pay and include your drinks it ends up an expensive do. Around £20. You could get the same kind of thing in Wetherspoons for half (maybe even less) of the price! However, I do enjoy the food. I've tried the pulled pork bbq burger which I found incredible, however my mother has had this also, and wasn't as amazed. I've also tried their 'messy burger' which looked better on paper than what it actually was. The service when I have visited has been average. Quick service on both food and drinks but again, nothing extra special. Nothing amazing, just average food, horrible pub.

Well I've been to joes and avalon so I thought I'd try the hoskins in the middle.I hwd a burger and my friend had a steak. Both where good pub grub - not 5* restaraunt but good for when shopping and watching the football.overall its a good pub with some downfalls (toilets mainly) but under a fiver for burger and a drink is well worth in my eyes.

I knew I should have gone somewhere else from the moment I walked in.... Smell of stale beer and a terrible stink from the gents toilet. I've been before and was always disappointed.Me and a friend were simply looking at the menu at the bar when we were bellowed at by a rather obnoxious bar tender "you'll be waiting an hour for food!".... what excellent customer service (I don't think so) He then proceeded to finish his conversation with some customers in a loud manner and several expletives. Surely if there was such a demand for food, removing the menus for a short period of time or maybe even apologising for the issue would be nice. Needless to say, I will definitely learn from my mistakes this time round and go to the pub over the road.... better food, better service and it smells clean

Well where do I start? Having been shopping in town I decided on a very quick ping ping meal, quick simple cheap. I ordered the 14oz steak with noting other than salad, I got the 14oz steak with nothing other than salad and WOW what a steak. I have to say and I still have to pinch myself, this, in my opinion is one of the nicest steaks I have eaten, worldwide, it was cooked to perfection, tasted like steak and most importantly had a texture of steak, good steak and not some insipid imitation. Well done