The Mesmerist in Brighton and Hove

Fantastic service by Yas and a lovely Dulcie eating dinner and helping us know what’s going on and where! Ended most of night!

Worthy of my first bad review in years. Wouldn’t do me a veggie version of the nachos, so ordered Beyond Meat Burger. £15.50. Nobody else eating in the entire pub, so thought it would be quick. Turns up half and hour later, somehow cold. Arrives on a tiny side plate, with nothing else, no fries, nothing. £15.50 for a small patty in bread. Was told the bar staff should have mentioned fries when I ordered. Met with blank stares by staff when we mention it’s cold. Avoid for food. What’s worse.. had a sea shanty band on St Patrick’s night. I miss the 80’s.

Popped in for some late afternoon food on the weekend with some pals who'd recommended it. Tbh I'd never been to the Mes for food before, only for a few drinks in the evening, but I had the Texas Trinity(?) and the ribs were absolutely fantastic, can wholeheartedly recommend, I'll deffo be back.

Great food, really enjoyed it, and service was spot on. Highly recommend!

This place is brilliant. Lived in Brighton for years and been in a few times. Never thought to review it until I saw a couple of poor reviews-are they (the reviewers) mad or do they have an axe to grind? Brilliant food and drink and supreme service. Have recommended to family and friends.

Came in for a quiet meal on Saturday and I was blown off my feet!!!! Louis and Cat were amazing and made me feel so welcome, will definitely be coming back!!!

Sadly the server had zero knowledge of making mojitos and no idea how to deal with customer service. Such a shame as it looked lovely from the outside. We left having rejected the drinks to find somewhere else. Hopefully it was just an off night

Firstly, fantstic service. Went for the BBQ. Brisket and pork were all tough and chewy. Weren't smoked anywhere long enough to render the fat. No break down of collagen at all. I'm guessing the chef has no idea about cooking BBQ. Very mild smoke flavour, too. We did the big platter. We accepted that it was expensive before we ordered, but we fully expected it to be decent BBQ. DOn't go here if you know what US BBQ should taste like.

Get discriminated cause our natoliality

The food was amazing, everything we ordered tasted great. The burnt end nuggets, nachos, and the giant onion rings were definite highlights. But the organisation wasn’t great, so it’s not the best spot for big groups. Our table wasn’t ready when we arrived, we had to move some seats/tables ourselves, they only took half the table’s drink order, they brought out too many of items and were missing a meal (however they did offer a free drink for the missing meal). It’s also a pretty loud place, so probably better for smaller groups or couples. The food is pricey, but the portions are huge, wish that was mentioned on the menu because we would’ve ordered less if we knew!

Would have been 10/10 but they use fake cheese on nachos, would have been better with no cheese at all. Otherwise it was lovely

FLIPSIDE BAR - PRIVATE FUNCTION - 22/02/2025 I recently hired the flip side bar for my 30th party, the communication via email prior to the party was soo easy and they were so helpful! The party went so well as the space is very clean and organised and love the seperate toilets and smoking area for the function. The one man that was the bartender ( who’s name I didn’t get) upstairs was soo great and friendly and welcoming and very good with some of my drunkest guests! They were happy for me to decorate to my theme and also collect the items left in the bar the next day! Great service, reasonably priced and such a great location! Thankyou I would definitely reccomend !

Nachos were awful. The 'meat', l felt sure was dog food. Squirty 'cheese' was sadly kept to a minimum. Was served at the bar by a lady, whilst probably a nice person, let herself, and this business, down with not tying her long hair back. Not impressed seeing her hair in my drinks and she was wearing long, red stick on nails, with her right hand missing a couple which made me shudder with the thought of where they could end up. Someone's food? Wouldn't recommend at all.

Went in last night at about 7.30 with my wife,14 year old daughter and our dog.Staff were so friendly and advised straight away that their licence doesn't allow children after 8.30 pm.We went for Burgers with 2 portions of fries and I have to say,they were the best burgers we have ever eaten.Cooked to perfection and so,so tasty.The fries were amazing too.Over all,great staff,great service and amazing food so I definitely recommend this place.They also do live music in there too apparently which I would like to see when we are next in Brighton Nick

My burger was raw had to send it back. Staff were very good. My husband ordered ribs!! Belly pork x 2 served full of fat disgusting to say the least couldn’t cut it with knife provided. Staff said they would pass the comment on. Really shouldn’t be serving food like that disgusting.

Such a shame, as is a place that is usually classed as fun. The Dj was so passive aggressive and so rude, even to other customers, swearing at them just for asking about songs

RED DOG WAS AMAZING! So happy they have started here! Great portions and awesome Flavour !

Not really the bottomless brunch vibe we were after. The menu had changed a couple of days before we were booked in, it was good that we were informed by email, but the new choices (4 different burgers) are all way too heavy for a bottomless brunch. The main issue was the atmosphere. There wasn't any music playing (you advertise it as 80's Music, Commercial/Pop and Hip Hop/RnB) and the rugby was played on a huge screen which is all we could hear. There were lots of kids around (which is absolutely fine in a normal setting) but seems a bit inappropriate to mix tables of kids sitting next to those on a bottomless brunch. It would have been good to of been given a separate area/ floor with music playing and/or informed us before hand that the rugby would be on instead of music, so we could have made a decision to change location.

My Grandson 21st birthday pub crawl started here and I cannot praise the staff enough for thier help and security were first class, I would like thank a blond security lady with the pony tail who was particularly helpfull, a good way to start. I would add I am 85 and really enjoyed the experience for the rest of my life.Thank you....Derrick.

The most slowly staff. I could make this review while I was waiting to be served.

Great music! Nice roof terrace in the heart of Brighton!!

I came for my friends birthday with a few of my friends. A girl I think her name was Tabby and another called Ali were so kind and approachable. The rest of the staff were also lovely, but they stood out with how friendly and approachable they were. If all the staff are like them, I will definitely come again.

The blonde girl with the bright red lipstick behind the bar was so lovely and funny and joked around with me and my friends. Drinks are a little expensive but the venue is great.

Very overcrowded on NYE but good music and atmosphere . The bar staff were all very lovely and efficient , based on how busy it was.

guy with long hair and girl with red hair were quite rude... was not a big fan - prices are also expensive there is definitely better places nearby !

Woman with red/pink hair was a bit mardy… seemed a bit rude/unbothered. Don’t usually write a bad review but she wasn’t very lovely.

Really nice place for music and dance ,chillout with friends. Great ambition too.

We hosted our company Christmas party here at The Mesmerist and it was nothing short of fantastic. The team was so helpful and friendly, especially Kat, who helped with the booking and also kindly arranged a mic and speaker so we could do our own quiz. Everyone had a brilliant time, and I will definitely look at the Mesterist again next year. Thank you so much!

Hired the birdcage bar for a works Christmas meal and it was lovely. The food for a large group was really good quality. We will be back next year!!

Awful!!!! I have just visited here looking for somewhere funky to invite my staff for a pre seasonal get together. ordered a house wine and beer. House wine was undrinkable so asked for a glass of Chardonnay instead. Fully expected to just pay the difference but was told I had to buy a brand new glass full charge. This is awful customer experience And the girl behind the bar drank it and said it was ok, tbh I would not put it down my drain let alone drink it. Bad on all fronts!! Looks a great place but non existent customer service. Girl with the glasses, you need to learn a bit more about customer service

Chase was so amazing such good service!!!!!

The worst junk food ever eaten and very expensive 😡

Felt like pub roast, Brighton, couldn't believe no queue here, even top garden floor available (friend smokes), no fuss bringing meal up all those stairs, and the meal was unbelievably good, parsnip,carrot, potatoes, cabbage to die for, +++, and tenderest meat ever, too too divine. And all staff encountered 10/10. A must try indeed!!

Good drinks, good food, happy times big up to: Chase and Ava

Great experience - really recommended. We thought our servers Danny and Chase were great 😊

Really great service from Chase, Aua and Danny , Thankyou guys you made our experience lovely !

Usually adore this place but a rather grumpy barman thought his grumpiness would be appreciated after an entirely sober punter was made to feel awful for accidentally dropping their drink, even though the drink was overfilled and became slippery when wet. Obviously the dropped glass was a mistake, but tutting and being rude is not the ambience we're used to at this fine establishment. Loved his idea on the book Pier Pressure though. Very silly.

We hired 'The Flipside' room upstairs for a group 30th birthday party. It's a gorgeous retro 60s/70s style room. We had a private bar tender, toilet and smoking area which was great as it can get so busy in the general areas. The room capacity is 80 standing or less if seated and we had around 60 guests so it was lovely and spacious for us to roam. Our bar tender was fabulous and did such a lovely job, there was a hook up for us to play our own playlist and we all had such a good time. It was very self sufficient and we were left to our own devices / didn't see much of the staff other than our bar tender so it truly felt like our own private party. Food was available to order although we didn't, as the venue allowed us to bring in our own crisps, nuts and birthday cakes. The only issue we had all evening was that a guest of ours left to go to the shop and they wouldn't let them back in the venue as they said the building was at capacity and she would have to go to the back of the queue. This was really disappointing as the capacity for our room should have been left available for us since we had paid for the space. They eventually let her back in without queueing only after someone else left the venue. It could have just been handled better. Overall though we had a really lovely time and all of us would absolutely recommend 'The Flipside' at the Mesmerist as a fantastic private party venue!

The Mesmerist is a central pub, ideal for what we wanted it for - a drinks do for (we thought) around 19 people, after a panel discussion event at the Friends Meetinghouse in Ship Street. We had an initial drink at the venue and discussed our needs with the staff, who were very accommodating and showed us an area on the ground floor at the back which we could have for our group. As we left, though, a singer started up. She was good, but the sound was deafening. We checked that there wouldn't be live music on the Friday night we needed the space, as we wanted people to be able to continue the discussions of the evening. We found there was going to be a DJ. We explained the problem and the staff said they'd see what they could do. They emailed me later in the evening to say they had moved our booking upstairs and reserved a set of tables in a separate room - for under 30 people they could not hold the whole space, but they thought in reality other people wouldn't go in if they saw there was a group there. As it worked out, we ended up with many more than 19 people and had the room to ourselves, which was wonderful. Where the sound initially was still too loud, they kindly turned it down (it was independently regulated upstairs) and everything was perfect. We are very grateful for the support we had in making our event a great success!

Ava was amazing, the best roast i’ve ever had

Chase was a great waitress and made sure we were always topped up with drinks for our bottomless brunch. She was observant and attentive.

A very good time. Thanks to Chase for being an amazing Waitress! Very attentive and friendly.

Chase was a great waitress, she always made sure we were good on drinks and very prompt when we asked for something.

Always a go to pub for us. Great place to drink and listen to live bands

Was lovely and inviting, a man by the name of Troy was very responsive and attentive towards me and my family.

Troy was personally amazing, with their top notch service and amazing cocktails, also loved the double shake and their necklace too!

Troy was personally amazing, with their top notch service and amazing cocktails, also loved the double shake and their necklace too!

Lovely food and service by ava! 🧡

Estábamos aquí por cumpleaños de amigos e hicimos el brunch sin fondo. Tenemos un camarero encantador kat y ava y eran los mejores

Amazing sevice from the wonderful Ava. Highly recommend :)

Great service (from Danny), great vibe, great food and great drinks!

I try to like it,but,remember what a fun place it was,when it was Old Orleans,or something??...Not quite the same since,for me?🤔

Love love love this place great staff and atmosphere

Phoebe was amazing! Made us feel really welcome, gave us the perfect recommendations for what we should order as we were really indecisive. Roast was perfect - will definitely be coming back and thank you Phoebe for your great service!

Fab Sunday roasts and super friendly service. Puddings are fantastic too

Top service by Ava, Chase and Phoebe. Don't let them go!

Chase was amazing and always there if we needed anything. Thank you! Xx

Really delicious food and good service from Ava, Chase and Phoebe

Bottomless lunch for 8. Always checking on us, always ensuring we were topped up. Absolute legends. Thankyou chase!! And everyone else! Andy believes you now

Great service. Food was good. Music could have been a little louder. Great drinks

Excellent drinks, excellent food. Amazing service from Ava, Chase and Phoebe

Fantastic atmosphere loved every second, fantastic service, food was lacking but what do you expect when you’re drinking 18 pints !!!!

5 star bottomless brunch all served up by the fantastic Ava, Chase and Phoebe! Absolutely 💯% recommend The Mesmerist! 👌

Uno de los mejores bares en Brighton - bebidas increíbles y servicio al cliente. Fue servido por una chica llamada Honour que era una delicia absoluta - tan sonriente y agradable. Volverá Defo.

Me encanta este lugar por la noche, ya que se convierte en un pequeño club. Yo iría cada semana, pero las bebidas son demasiado caros £ 30 para 2 vodka y coca!

Chase & Danny were amazing. Thank you so much guys!

Dani and trace is unreal thank you so much! They deserv a drink! Xxxxxx

Chase and Danny were great hosts. Very accommodating and friendly. We had a lovely time xx

Thank you Danny for sorting us out a table to move to today after we missed our booking time. You keep checking in with us and it’s much appreciated

Very attentive and kind staff. Food was good. Thanks Danny Kate and honour :)

Danny and Kat have been absolutely amazing this evening, and looked after us so well. Our glasses were always full, and they were both very attentive. Food was also delicious, which isn’t always the case for bottomless brunch, so would defo come back! Thanks so much!

Had a lovely time Danny & Kat were great!

Really great vibes, excellent customer service from Ellie & Troy

Went to a DJ set on the roof and had a really rude security guard who was on some weird power trip of making a big deal of saying I was the only one who had to show my ID and it wasn’t valid (even though I am 25 and my ID let me in through the main doors), he also almost didn’t let my friend (the DJ) back onto the roof after he’d been to the bathroom. The actual venue is very decent but this security guard was really bad vibes

Have just had the BEST Sunday roast and drinks with friends. The beef brisket, with all the trimmings, was delicious (friends had the lamb and chicken and they all loved it too)! Ava was super helpful and friendly too - thank you for making us feel so welcome. Wound definitely recommend here for a chilled Sunday afternoon.

A fantastic Sunday afternoon in The Mesmerist! We wandered in and were looked after by the amazing Ava - who was so welcoming, and accommodating - and who also went above and beyond to make an incredible Bloody Mary for my friend! Our roasts were 10/10 delicious. So impressed with everything across the board!

Amazing pub with friendly staff. I was served by the lovely Ava. Prices are so fair, especially for brighton. Lovely rooftop, very fun atmosphere for friends!

I walked into this bar expecting drinks and a bit of horseplay with friends. Very friendly and accomodating staff but unfortonately the drinks all tasted flat and a great howling sound covered over the music from the speakers. The howling mafe me feel ill. The toilets had a putrid stench snd the place was packed with Hooray Henrys. I felt intimidated, unsated and a little embarassed, though this could have been because of my bad clothes and smell.

The girl behind the bar was rude and abusive with attitude. We stood waiting to be served but instead she served the men waiting. We said we had been waiting before the men and her response was ‘get out my face’ we are mature and clearly invisible to her, she could have handled it politely and with an acknowledgment instead she only used anger, we had stood patiently waiting for ages. Please send your bar staff for customer service training. Never have I experienced such rudeness.

Like the title says worst and most over priced ribs i ever had. Served in a paper box. No flavour at all. Cheese fries been cold and again no taste Horrible place. Do not get fooled by the roof garden advertising. No view at all, dirty and not worrh walking up the stairs

Great friendly atmosphere with the d.j. playing top tunes

Decent pub with a good selection of drinks.

Unpleasant and unprofessional door staff. Rudely turned away at the door without reasonable explanation. As soon as we walked up the bouncers told us that the venue was closed no apology nothing. This was clearly a lie as we could see people inside dancing and enjoying the night. When we pointed out that the venue was obviously open, they then changed their story, claiming the place was full. This, again, was blatantly false, as it was clear that there was ample space inside. Several people exited the venue also when we were talking to them. It is one thing to be turned away (which no one is going to like), but to be treated disrespectfully and taken for fools with conflicting and dishonest excuses is completely unacceptable. It’s important to note that we were not drunk, behaving poorly, or causing any disturbance.The behavior of your door staff reflects a serious lack of training and professionalism.

Great place for drinks. Eight of us , birthday celebrations and they were happy with two dogs 🐕 great cocktails, friendly staff, had a great time.

Nice n friendly 👌 great live music venue.

The Mermerist is located in The Lanes..great atmosphere and a cool dj playing well mixed tunes. Friendly staff definitely recommend..Will return.

Phoebe was an absolute delight. Was a complication unrelated to the pub but she was there to help us every step of the way came back to thank her but unfortunate isn’t here. We are visitors to both the area and pub so is an entirely new experience and she was a joy and massive help to us still enjoying are evening even so. Believe she was manager and is doing an amazing job. Give her a raise and get her that cocktail!!!

This place is so racist… the door man should be kicked out

Great music and great atmosphere.

Nice pub, probably best to visit during the week, as getting too old to put up with the younger folk 😁

The placr is very lively. They have live music but I don't know it's everyday or not. But I think for cocktails. They're not but not they best yet. Overall I had a good experience here.

Booked the brunch for our friends birthday, we arrived and sat down at our table, 3 mins later our food came out and not everyone had arrived! The brunch is £37.50 but they slap on £10-£15 service charge to bring you water downed cocktails and over cooked food! It’s also sold with 80s & disco music which is rubbish because none of that was played. Really disappointing - better places in brighton for brunch!

The Mesmerist employ the strangest door security you’ll ever come across, always have. It’s like going through an airport, only to enter a very average bar. I don’t drink, I’m 32 and look older and was with my wife…so to be patted down and have my ID checked and scratched with a finger nail to check authenticity was not only hilarious, but the most embarrassing use of “power” I’ve ever encountered. Like a lot of places in Brighton, unfortunately the priced they charge for drinks is excessive. Music was cheesy pop vibes, not my thing but good fun none the less, the DJ certainly knew how to mix so fair play to him.

Bit loud, but we were part of a Saturday night hen party. It was a large food order, couple of the orders were incorrect - fortunately no incorrect food around allergies or intolerance.

We went to this bar on a thur. Had a band playing that took 4ever to get going. I'm sorry but £17 for a beer and a large wine. This bar was not good enough to charge these prices

Really poor customer service, found them quite patronising. Wouldnt recommend.

Pit stop visit on a Hen Do, 14 of us wondered in as we'd heard good things and liked the look of the place. We were not disappointed. Very welcoming friendly staff. We didn't have food as we'd booked elsewhere, so I can not rate it, though what I saw on other tables looked very inviting. Couple of us asked for drinks they said weren't specifically on the menu but instead of a flat, no we don't do that it was, I'll see if we have the ingredients and we can. I wouldn't expect this on a heaving business time, but it was a steady, though, not quiet time of day. It was a pleasure to visit. I absolutely recommend and most definitely will go again! Thank you Mesmerist.

Had a brilliant time here. Good food. Good pints. Brilliant service from Danny at the bar as well

Popped in for a drink with friends and was greeted by friendly bar staff (Chase with the pink hair). Good selection of beers and a happy hour. Pub wasn't noisy so excellent for have a drink and a chat.

Came to Brighton on our anniversary, decided to go to this nice looking pub to watch the England game. Went to the top bar to order, and bought a Desperados. When the barman poured it, it was 50% beer 50% foam. I was nice about it and asked him to pour it again, to which the barwoman said “it’s the same amount of drink regardless”, but i said i wanted a repour. She repoured it and ask she walked off said “charge him twice.” I confronted her about this, respectfully, and she swore she didn’t say it and wouldn’t risk her job, but she did say it. As we were leaving she said that she checked and that the lad at the bar didn’t double charge, but regardless, really poor considering i’m paying £5 for a bottle and £12 for an amaretto, if your paying this price point, it’s fine but you expect good service with it. Would not come back again.