The Prettygate Public House in Colchester

This place is everything a pub should not be. The staff are miserable, the beer (says my husband) is dreadful, and then there's the agreesive atmosphere, which is awful. We will NEVER visit here again. What a waste of a good location. This pub clearly needs new owners.

Absolutely dead, as most pubs are nowadays but most amazing were the cameras used within the mens toilets....... Wow. Don't go here if you enjoy at least some form of privacy. Disgraceful, literally disgraceful in this day and age. EDIT: Would seem that the local pubs have all had issues with drugs on speaking with other people, so it's not just this pub. Upped the review as obviously it's not their fault that drug crime is so high around here, which honestly, I never realised was quite this bad. But camera still points at a urinal and whilst I'm not someone to indulge in that type of thing, I know they're not snorting it off a urinal lol..

Had a lovely time enjoyed darts and pool and some great drinks. Friendly staff

Amazing burgers for a good price, around £8 a burger plus £3 for chips. In a friendly chilled out pub. Worth going out of the way to go to. Been quite a few times since first discovering it and every time the food is fantastic

Great place for a beer or 3 and watching sports tv... Dogs welcome too

Really friendly landlord and landlady. Was our first time there and I felt welcomed and at home. I will definitely go back and take others. Has wide range of drinks, large portions of food and there were games! Am looking forward to trying the quiz night. Thank you 😊

A fantastic little pub, one of Colchester best kept secrets, and the only pub that still serves Kroneburg larger. Very good.

A friendly local pub that is welcoming to all. Feels like local pubs used to be, which is refreshing. I pop in for a couple when walking the dog and feels very natural. That has nothing at all to do with the fact that the Gate seems to sell the best cold Guinness in town, even on a Wednesday night which is downright weird. If you are in Colchester and you fancy a quiet pint of Tarmac in a friendly place, you could do a lot worse than the Gate. They still sell Courage Light Ale too. Why did we stop drinking that?

Friendly, relaxed, and good beer. What more do you want!

Lovely pub, pleasant safe. Feels like a real pub.

Still a proper pub with great people! Look out for the fun musical bingo nights!!

Went out for dinner with our children really friendly staff and lovely food

Hidden gem of a pub, well worth a visit. Homemade/handmade burgers and sliders with a great selection of sides. All the usual drinks on offer with a regular selection of guest ales. Beer is well kept and reasonably priced. Very community minded with regular events and the pub makes space available for local groups before usual opening hours if needed. Absolutely drop in if you live locally, this pub deserves our support.

Pretty good n service good n would go again

The Prettygate pub has friendly and helpful staff who are very accommodating. My friends meet there regularly and enjoy the food served there. There is not a huge choice of drinks on tap. There is a day board and regular quiz nights are held as well as chess nights and other events.

Great Pub with a brilliant atmosphere.

Lovely pub, great atmosphere, clean and had a great selection of drinks.

Very friendly, good beer and bar billiards.

Great atmosphere. Very friendly landlords and staff. Proper London feeling pub. Definitely worth a visit. Brilliant monthly pub quiz and they always have all the football on.

Nice pub, friendly lady and good place to a nice chat and drink

I was shocked at what I received. Ordered a Pepsi max and instwad of from the tap ir a can i was given it out of a bottle clearly bought from a shop. Around £3 for that? My friend ordered a Pepsi from the tap and was given a Pepsi Max without being told there was no Pepsi, tastef it and said he ordered a Pepsi and was given no alternative just told they dont do it

Really lovely pub. We just recently moved into a house nearby and this is our local. Been here about 5 times now. Staff are really friendly and polite. Outdoor seating is plentyful. We always get strongbow dark fruits but they have good beers too. Never had their food but seen hot pastries and they do serve Sunday lunch

Really nice pub, with very helpful staff

Great atmosphere, safe are more than helpful and the Sunday lunch is unbelievable

Stopped in mid bike ride. Nice welcome and good beer

Lovely evening....taking all the precautions required

Great local pub with welcoming staff, the outdoor seating is lovely too

Great public house. Pleasant publicans and a great pint also a fantastic Sunday Roast.

We came here for a half and enjoyed the real ale offered. The waitress took an interest in us and made us welcome, chatting in a friendly manner. The building would appear to date from the 1950's and is fairly typical of post war housing estate pubs.

Absolutely brilliant spread done for mums wake lovely staff xx

Everyone has to check in with the NHS check & trace app and staff double check that you have. Table service. Outside seating only. A disinfected key has to be used to unlock the toilets each time they're used

A regular local pub. Staff were friendly and the Christmas decorations are great. Bar and facilities are very clean and tidy with good level of Covid advice and protection. Food choice was limited but quality was very good. Tables well spread out to comply with social distancing.

Fantastic experience as usual. Lovely friendly pub and staff

Decent pub. Doing a really good job during this testing time

Rude staff. Walked into the pub by the wrong door by mistake and was told off like a school boy by some arrogant woman at the bar. Walked out again won’t be going back.

Paid this pub for mine and my partners engagement party, due to covid the party was unable to go ahead so I asked for our money back, which they agreed to, EVENTUALLY after they found their diary. However when I collected the money there was only part of the refund. I had paid in 2 installments and had lost one of the receipts, I was expecting them to have a copy for their own records of both receipts but apparently they don't as it was 4 months ago I paid it. But due to lockdown there would have been very little custom so would have been easy to find the receipt Surely?My partner went to speak to them to try resolve it and the landladys Husband accused me of lying and said the situation was stupid... They ended up agreeing to give the rest of the money back days later on the condition I don't go back in the pub unless I paid the money back or found the receipts. The landlayds husband said they were giving me the money just so I would f@@k off. I have it all on a recording. They then blocked me and my partner from their pub page on Facebook which is fine but even my partners friend who had nothing to do with it. She only took my partner in there. The landladys husband is rude and aggressive and tried to be intimidating and the fact they don't keep records of receipts seems very odd. Totally unprofessional.

We went for a private party, the party was lovely but a bit cramped, we found a seat well away from the main party which was a shame, it's not easy standing all evening when you use a walking stick!!

Me and my husband Philip went here for our 3rd wedding anniversary! We just had a few pints and a scotch egg, nothing special. But the evening was made memorable by the lovely barmaid Chloe!

Sunday roast with the family Lovely food and friendly good service.

We were shopping at Tollgate and were meeting friends for a drink after, our first venue was not to our taste and our friends had not turned up as we were early, so we changed venue, they suggested this place so off we went, very quiet when we arrived but drinks were ok, place is a bit run down and could do with a revamp, but probably suits it's clients, not a place we would rush back to,

Very pricey and we had to ask for them to put some lights on as we couldnt see a thing once seated.

Good local pub. Friendly staff. Nice family atmosphere and lovely interior decor.

Friendly staff, good atmosphere

Nice big bar. Friendly staff. Traditional pub games on offer as well. Great food: shame it was for a wake and not better circumstances.

Disabled friendly and friendly staff and nice food

Friendly local. Good beer. Sports screens

Yes it's a nice pub pub. For a drink, chat with folk and a meal .

Friendly staff and a good place for a beer. I had the roast pork for Sunday lunch which I didn't enjoy. Not much flavour and the veggies were over done for me. To be fair out of a party of 6, 4 were very happy.

It's my local, and I am friendly with the staff, everyone loves it with the TV on sport and the girls having a table to sit round on. There's a few little casino machines and overall very nice and kid and pet-friendly

We went to The Prettygate to play bar billiards and when we arrived we were given full instructions on how to play, had an amazing time. Fun enthusiastic bar staff made us feel more than welcome. Great fun if you're bored of pool or darts

We recently requented the Prettgate in Colchester. The meals we had was very understandard. My sister went for the lasagne which turned out to be less than half the normal portion with supposedly salad but all she got was some sort of leaves which were not eaten. My mum's meal was very under standard and unpleasant and wasn't able to eat it. My meal was anything but right. Chicken was rubbery and tough as it had been reheated,the roast potatoes were hard and heated up as well. It seemed the whole meal was left overs as there was extra food put on the plate to obviously finish it off as it was the last sitting. We shouldn't have to pay for reheated and under stanard food. This is unexceptional. Even one of the customers commented on our food as he heard our comments. I think other customers should be aware of this as these things could close pubs down. The customers comments are valuable and should be taken notice of and something done about this. We should be compansated for this very unmemorable meal as unfortunately we paid full price... This is a sorry state of affairs. I await The landlady's response and what she's going to do about this very unpleasant unmemorable meal....

Very friendly staff, games for the kids to play with

Attended wake at this venue. Buffet was very good.

The publicans are inhospitable and very rude food was cold and poor quality, which i wouldnt feed to my dead dog. playing music whilst sport is on the TV. These people have no clue how to run a pub!!!!!

Good selection of real ales. Proper Pub!!!

Visited one Saturday night to catch a local band. Pub is pleasant with a warm atmosphere. Drinks are well priced with a great selection. Pub was extremely busy on the night we visited & the three bar staff were a bit stretched to cope so came across as a little unfriendly but it was probably because they were so busy.

Lovely food and atmosphere love it here now my local pub bar lady sue is lovely

I suggest a more welcoming landlady Lisa should do a job that's more suited to her character. She was aggressive and very rude, She shouted which made the people look up to see what was going on. Things like this should be done quietly, but if there's one thing Lisa isn't and that's quiet. Shame the brewery had to know about this, but it's probably for the best. Here's hoping for a lovely polite landlady or landlord that's a pleasure to have in our pub like in the good old days. You've got to be a certain type of person to compliance this Lisa and that's not you.

Sunday Roast dinner!.... Quality!

Lovely local family friendly pub

Pleasant atmosphere in which to relax a while ... Comfortable seating, nice Christmas decorations!

It a nice little pub since it's been opened up, lost that social club vibe and been given that cosy pub feel.

Retiree group visited for lunch. Limited menu but good, wholesome food. Unfortunately do not cater for anyone with food allergies but staff are up front and honest informing you when asking. Parking limited.

Vg eve on saturdays Live music terrific!

Friendly hosts, great atmosphere and good selection of Gin!!

Needs freshing up but I can appreciate the classic pub approach.

Nice friendly pub and staff great Sunday lunch at very reasonable price ...

A good friendly drinking pub. Good prices!

Nice pub has sports on tv games machines good selection of drinks mive atmosphere and allow dogs inside great for families tioo .

Been here a few times, every time have had roast dinner, all ways a lovely meal. Good service, friendly atmosphere. Recommended.

Really nice place, comfortable, clean and friendly. Very quiet but just the right amount of attention paid. Decent coffee.

Comfortable and friendly typical British Pub not old or historic but it ticks all the boxes

Had a breakfast here. It was very nice food cooked really well. Reasonably priced.

The landlady is not very hospitable no atmosphere for a local pub a lot of regulars have gone elsewhere.

My sister & myself, took our mum for her birthday to the prettygate pub. Had a lovely roast dinner, which we all found very enjoyable indeed.

Always a great place to visit and play, very popular with football on the TV, a wide range of drinks, and a really lovely roast dinner on Sunday too!

You can eat here food, friendly people. Relax here in the pub or on terras

Lisa and Andrew are awesome hosts x

For the time of the day nothing to complainen about at all . lovely lunch

Handy estate pub offering selection of craft beers and sports coverage.

Only visited this place once very friendly staff and locals recommend this place to anybody

Nice friendly clean pub with good food.

Very nice meal and a wide selectio of desserts.

Plenty of screens to watch sport and pretty reasonable drinks prices

The Food Is Very Good And The Drinks Not Bad Price A Nice Size Disabled Toilet

Good beer, but poor decor and not very friendly. It's my nearest pub but I don't go often as not a great atmosphere. Very testosterone laden with someone always ready to make you feel uncomfortable if you're not a regular.

Not very friendly, we were in a group to watch the rugby, clearly this was not what the barmaid wanted , as at one point I herd her say she was going to turn the tv off. Shame because we had at 30 of us going to watch the next England game, their loss!

went into the pub ordered tuna baguette and cheesy chips Cheese was dry and didn't stick to the chips and the baguette was average nice place for a good social

If you want a pub with a great atmosphere good service from all but one member of staff then come here great selection of beers recently revamped restaurant and the Sunday lunch offering has just started excellent value I have been coming to this pub for 8 years as I only live 5 mins away

Always here for lunch, good food, good service, recently revamped beer garden is a nice touch in the summer. Large pub so always lots of space and seating. Recommended.

we were there on Saturday 27th August. they had a Robbie Williams impersonator. he was great fun. The staff are all very friendly and polite. you could see they were all happy to be there and enjoying their job. thank you for a great night

We hear so often that pubs in Britain are closing down. People just don't seem to want to go to their local have a pint and socialise anymore.