The Shovels Inn in North West Leicestershire

A warm friendly place. Good food and drink and a large car park.

Me and my friend called in yesterday for a drink 2/4/24 and the attitude from the big guy behind the bar was appalling no manners whatsoever, change thrown down no thanks or any communication whatsoever, even a lady sitting at the bar noticed and said he isn't usually like that we wont be returning to the miserable place again,

An excellent pub, with a top-notch beer and wine selection (including real ales!) and outstanding home-cooked food. This pub is also a member of the highly exclusive Timothy Taylor Champion Club, so you know they can pull a good pint. I had the classic fish and chips to eat, which came with homemade tartare sauce and mushy peas for a reasonable £15. The landlord and landlady are wonderful people, they are very welcoming, and the pub is also dog-friendly. They do a lot of great charity work in the community too, including a recent "Save the Hedgehogs" initiative that has seen them save well over 1,000 hedgehogs from dangerous roads so far. The landlady took great pride in telling me about this, and I think it's a testament to how much they enjoy the charity work they do. I cannot recommend The Shovels Inn enough. If you're in the Blackpool/Poulton/Hambleton/Wyre area, it's definitely worth the trip.

Good local pub. Always busy sometimes packed. Worth booking on holidays to make sure you get a table. Boss can be a bit surly but good service

Amazing food and service. Owner lee and dawn went out of their way to accommodate us . We had our motorhome and they let us say the night in the car park . We did eat and have a drink there which was great and would strongly recommend this pub

Great food and service, really friendly staff will definitely return

Lovely meal, I had cheese & onion pie. There was a good selection on the menu , food was excellent, and great service.

Really good food, check out the cheese pie....

Lovely little local pub ! Friendly staff eager to serve nice friendly pub was visiting the area on vacation ! Food was lovely for pub grub sweet and sour chicken yum service was fast nice friendly atmosphere.

Not been here for long time still nice pub food lovely and service great will be going again.we took our doggie no problem

Absolutely shocking place to go. Booked a table just to get turned down as kitchens to busy. So I asked ‘why did they accept my booking?’ Response was we didn’t know. Sorry but that is rubbish service

Served by Rory who was efficient and pleasant .

A lovely little pub dog friendly and really nice pub grub. Specials on or sunday roast.

Such a welcome change to receive a genuine welcome All the character of a local with home cooked. High quality food Kate the waitress was great Even the locals were friendly and welcoming A definite place to visit regularly in future

Booked table for a special celebration at 7pm. Arrived in plenty of time and taken to table only to be informed that the wait for food would be over an hour. I asked how long for a starter -and told exactly the same time wait. If I wanted to eat after 8pm I would have booked for that time. We left vowing never to visit the Shovels again. What’s the point of booking??? We were hungry! I’ve never ever made a restaurant booking and then told they had to make serious delays in providing food as they were busy!!!! They had my telephone number, given at the time of booking - would have been nice for them to ring and advise they had a problem! Thank you The Shovels for totally spoiling our night and celebration that we can never regain.

Excellent food, with great service; has the benefit of hand pumped beers too. Not been for a while, but will certainly be returning.

Friendly landlady and bar staff. Mixture of cosy snug, vault, & also a well lit room, to suit all tastes. Food smelt delicious

Had a really relaxed Sunday afternoon here, listening to Live smooth jazz for 3 hours. Very professional musicians and guest singers. Topped off with an excellent Lunch. Couldn't have been better. We will deffinitely be going again soon.

Always a lovely meal with good service. Thank you.

Loved the food & staff are great. Will be going there again next time where up there.

Brilliant real ale pub.. Highly recommended. Such high quality, friendly staff.. Super drinkable real ale.. On the 2c bus route.. So no excuse from Blackpool or Poulton.. Dog friendly..

Really good food very friendly service average prices would recommend and will be revisiting

Great friendly staff, very good food and dog friendly, definitely be going back 👍

A great country pub, with friendly personal service not found very often these days!

1st time in this establishment. It was good to see the old pub atmosphere still there. 👌

A really good meal with particularly excellent chips. A wide variety on the menu including provision for vegetarian and vegan needs.

My missus had gammon and pineapple and thought it best she ever tasted. I had rump sizzle steak and was also top top. We had apple pie to follow. She had custard and I had cream. The service was excellent. This is first time we ate here and will Deffo come again.

Popped in for Sunday lunch and came away very satisfied and full, our meals were just perfect, the roast pork coming with both stuffing & cracking, as well as a homemade yorkshire pudding, as ever the friendly service is second to none, well done all at the Shovels, we'll see you soon, carnt think of a better way of spending a winters Sunday afternoon.

Steak & Timothy Taylor Steak Pie Pot was very tasty according to my husband and the cheese &onion pie was beautiful and a good sized portion. Chips were very nice and not oily. The 2 girls serving were very friendly. We were the only ones in the restaurant side so wished we had eaten in the bar area which was buzzing. We will eat in their next time we go.

We always enjoy the food at the shovels, highly recommend it

Brilliant staff and food as usual.

Been here today for Sunday lunch can’t remember the last time I had a roast beef dinner this good . Everything fresh cooked to perfection so fresh and tasty staff are great will definitely be returning

Great pub. Have had food in the past which was superb, but not this visit. Lovely atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

Great food, helpful staff, good atmosphere.

Went for a meal with my wife. Food was great and service quick as was really quite.

Called in for a late Sunday lunch for 8 and 2 dogs. Staff were lovely and friendly, super efficient. The food was very good, I opted for halloumi salad and a side order of fat chips which was the perfect amount of food for me. The Sunday roast was absolutely enormous and according to members of the group; delicious. I had room for a dessert so ordered the shovel cheesecake, again just the right amount so was left comfortably full. Overall a very nice lunch 😊

Food was great, went on saturday night and got a big portion so never had dessert which look big also, our 3rd time here.

An absolute gem of a place, the building has been there since I think the mid 1700's and it has that charm about it. The staff were so friendly and welcoming, they even gave our wee doggo some treats. The owner gave the kids a wee bar game to play once they had finished their dinner. It also has a games room, darts, pool and a jukebox. Wish we could have went more than we did. Everyone in the shovels Inn were so friendly. The owner loves his fishing, a fountain of knowledge and pointed us in the direction a great fishing shop. Definitely worth a visit

Had a great meal here prices are very reasonable for the area I would go again

We were recommended a visit here by friends so decided to book in for the roast....I'm not sure if the meat choices change each week but there were only 2 meats on the menu which was a bit of a surprise. The roast came with broccoli and carrots and parsnips, roast potatoes, gravy and a Yorkshire pud. Everything was served on the plate so you had no control on portion size. There were no extra choices either like cauliflower cheese etc. It was nice we all enjoyed it

We went for a Sunday roast here after the Shovels was recommended on the Hambleton FB chat, the first surprise was no chicken as a choice ... A couple of us don't do red meat and find pork a bit fatty .... However the pork was really nice so that was not as bad as we originally thought. The food came quickly, service was good and we all enjoyed it ... No extras were offered like cauliflower cheese which we probably would've had .... It's not the best roast I've had but it's definitely not the worst!!! We had an enjoyable afternoon here

The best pub food I've had in ages. Great quality, quantity and value. Very good service. Thoroughly recommended.

Great pub with fantastic selection of beers and lagers. Landlord was so friendly and attentive, made to feel so welcome. Will definitely be back

Dog friendly pub staff friendly and pleasant, food good,

Not the best sunday dinners needs vast improvement how can you run out if roast beef Yorkshire pudding burnt no taste like eatting cardboard horrible service need improoving better overall 8 wont go back again till improvements are implimented Chairs tables sticky need good through clean polish

I had the jalfrezi curry which is normally a hot one. There was hardly any spice in it. Very disappointed and they hardly had any desserts

Always worth the 30 minute drive. Great food and drink.

Nice place lovely on the inside and well kept, was really excited to go here. Food was Luke warm at best the steak was actually cold too the touch, ordered another drink as the meal wait time was 45 minutes, drink never came asked server with blue hair what was going on with drink, very rude response “you never ordered one” …. Yes I did. Spent the rest of the meal having dagger eyes from server, finished meal asked for desert menu advised would get, no menus turned up so we paid and left. Had to go wallings ice cream for desert. Sloppy service server acted like they didn’t want too be there.

We visited on the last night of our holiday in Knott End. Great welcome, dog friendly, spotlessly clean and lovely atmosphere. The staff team were so helpful, friendly and attentive. The food was great quality, generous portions and great value. Loads of choice for veggies and vegans too. The chips were amazing!!! When we arrived it was fairly quiet so we were given a bigger table to give us more space for us and our old rescue dog. Honestly can't recommend it enough! Thanks for a lovely evening. X

Lovely independent pub. Good food that came out really quickly. Not the cheapest but not the most expensive meal I ever had either.

Lovely pub very friendly excellent food great service thoroughly enjoyed it

Very good food good menu a good selection 😋

Popped in for a quick bite to eat. Staff friendly and welcoming dog also made welcome with water and dog treat, late afternoon early evening so difficult to judge the atmosphere all in all a very pleasant experience will definitely be back. Well done to chef and all staff.

We chose to have lunch today, the mushroom stroganoff and 5oz gammon steak. We were both full afterwards and still don't need to eat tonight. It was a lovely friendly atmosphere for us to become engaged.

Made to feel very welcome, great service, food. An old-fashioned traditional village pub. Dogs welcomed inside big bonus for us

Popped in the the wife, daughter and 2 dogs for a quick bite to eat and a pint. Fabulous food and service. Cannot fault. Well worth a visit.

A lovely not too crowded place to eat

Stopped here in passing, we had the mushroom stroganoff with chicken , It was so tasty and plenty of it,! Staff really friendly and courteous, Would definitely recommend

First visit for many years. Fantastic pub, real ales, great food, service and prices. Plenty of car parking space. We will definitely call in again soon.

Held our mums funeral reception on August 10th . absolutely perfect. The buffett was amazing and at such a good price more than enough for everyone a big thank you to Lee. Dawn and all the team.

Nice friendly pub with good food and dog friendly

Excellent service. Great choice of food and great tasting. Well worth a visit

Very pleasent staff and excellent food , will definitely go back.

We are staying locally on holiday and booked a table for 7 including myself in a wheelchair. Booking and arriving no problems what so ever. The food what can we say was absolutely gorgeous piping hot, excellent size portions the chips were to die for. I’m sure we will be back before we head off home.

The staff make this place perfect. They can't do enough for you. Nice relaxed pub. We never ate but the food looked delicious. Next time we are in the area we will be booking a table for a meal

Great country pub and food. Very friendly and attentive. Back there again tomorrow need I say more. Mike

An Excellent Place to Eat it has a lovely friendly atmosphere, it's also dog friendly and can also park your motorhome as there is plenty parking. In addition they sell excellent hand sewn items which supports a local hospice which are made by a local sewing group. Keep up the good work Y'all

Food is really nice ,home cooked and good portion, cery friendly atmosphere dog friendly

Beautiful food,friendly staff,good prices.

Came across this restaurant while researching the area as we were coming on holiday nearby. Couldn't resist booking, given our surname. The food was lovely, highly recommend the steak and ale pie. Will return again when in area. Thank you all x

Fantastic food drinks were reasonably priced and the staff were completely amazing

Northern pub, good food, good prices, good choices, lunch or evening, recommend all day long.. Staff really accommodating, good bar also.

Beautiful family run pub really friendly and polite amazing food the best ever I’ve tasted definitely a must in hambleton

Took my mum here, she's in her late 70s and had a lovely meal. Food and service was really good.

Staff very friendly , Food was all home cooked and delicious, definitely going again

First time I have been here and really enjoyed it. The staff were helpful and professional and the food was lovely. Hot and fresh and nicely cooked and presented.

An evening for drinks and live music with a ZZ Top tribute band.

Attended a post- funeral reception. Staff very friendly and attentive. Good atmosphere and good food.

Good food ,friendly helpful staff,most enjoyable.

excellent food ,excellent service

Tonight we booked a table for 8 adults and a dog. We received a very warm welcome and nothing was too much trouble. We had one of our party who required a gluten free meal and the gentleman came over and explained everything that was available in detail. The food came very promptly, it was piping hot. portion sizes were very good and meals were delicious. We highly recommend the Sunday lunch.The service was the best we have ever had in a pub and we would like to thank you all very much. We hope to see you again. Even Freddie the dog had a treat.

Food excellent Great price for great quality food The only downside was the wait for the food only ONE Waitress on who was run off her feet. Barman needs to be more customer friendly learn how to SMILE

To ring up on a Sunday at 4.30 pm and ask for a table of 4 persons with a dog because we knew the pub had a dog friendly eating area and get told there is a table at 5.45 we agreed that was fine . We turned up at 5.40 to be told the waitress had not wrote down we had a dog , the eventually sorted a table after we got some drinks to be told there was going to be at least a hours wait for food , can't understand why we was not told when I rang up I would have gone somewhere else. Eventually waitress came to take order and again being told there was no Sunday roast left . We ordered off the menu waited a hour and 15 minutes where my wife asked the waitress how long the food was going to be only to be told they had lost the ticket. , anyway after much more waiting we got the food . At them prices you would except not frozen ones and tasteless at that very disappointing. I ordered the gammon which at 10oz was very nice .2 others ordered steak at over £17 pound with a sauce you would expect a 8oz steak not a 6oz steak . My dad s steak was very fatty and most of it was given to our dog . Can't understand a steak being served with a salad on the side which gets soggy with the sauce ? Probably to fill up the plate due to the small steak . Chips were soggy . The guy did give us a round of drinks for free and was extremely apologetic about our wait but overall this was a terrible experience and food was well below what we have had in the past . I won't be visiting again anytime soon . e young girl did not write down we had a dog

Best Sunday roast on the fylde coast

Beautiful country pub lovely selection of ales and lagers, Top class quality food , owner and staff are very friendly also the local customers are friendly toward visitors I am confined to a wheelchair but a gentleman was very helpful opening the door for us and having a nice chat with us, I will be returning soon in the near future, if you have never visited I would recommend it 100%

Very welcoming pub. Great food and a good selection of beers/wines etc. Definitely worth a visit.

Excellent food, excellent service

Lovely food and the friendliest staff I've ever come across. Really welcoming atmosphere.

Good food at reasonable prices. Very friendly and helpful staff.

A very nice meal and eating experience. 😋

Great meal. Very welcoming and great service and dog friendly. 👍🏻

Not been in a while, and the whole experience was top notch from the food right down to the first class attention we were given by our two young waitresses. Well done, everyone will be back .

Good home cooked food but very dated , tired and old looking pub.... doesn't put me off though as staff n food were lovely

Nice afternoon visit - very friendly pub. Plenty of parking. 🤩

Great food and service. Staff are lovely 😍

Greeted with a smile, drinks and service was great but food let it down big time. My mum ordered Salmon and it was awful and was told it wasn’t burnt it’s the honey on it, although she didn’t order the salmon with honey on it, she asked for Boiled potatoes and got chopped fried potato. I had fish and chips and the chips where over cooked and dry. Although husband burger was very nice.

Super food, extensive menu and specials board, busy pub

We went for Sunday lunch and it was brilliant couldn't fault it, the staff where lovely if I'm that way again I'll definitely be popping in again

Fantastic food great atmosphere & dog friendly highly reccomend it

Too good to be true... Excellent food and the most delicious pint of Timothy Taylor Boltmaker... well done team👍