The Stage Door in Dartford

We went to have pre-drinks before watching a show at the orchard theatre. The bar lady was very friendly and welcoming and it had a fantastic atmosphere.

Nice enough Sheperd Neame pub great garden, freindly staff

This pub is a gem, handily directly opposite The Orchard West temporary theatre (and the actual Orchard Theatre is two minutes walk away, if it ever reopens). Popped in on a Sunday night before a show and had two pints, Guiness & Whitstable real ale, both perfect. £9.25 but big sign states card payments are only allowed for minimum £10, which bar staff enforced. Had no cash so had to buy a £1 packet of C&O crisps as well - which turned out to be excellent, hadn't seen the brand before (can't remember what it was). Open bar in front of you as you enter, all quite bright, stage photos and posters on the walls. Lots of tables and chairs and large beer garden out the back. Some furniture well worn but everything very clean including the toilets. Well the gents anyway, didn't visit the ladies. Music was on for a while, then it stopped. Unclear if it was a juke box or at whim of staff. Punters mainly middle-aged blokes, most tables taken. Then they all went in the theatre for the show, so maybe that isn't typical clientèle.... Pro-tip... At theatre half-time we returned to the pub instead of wasting time queuing for inferior and more expensive drinks! No one else did, so result 😁

Absolutely appalling. Friday night and no ales on pump. Had an average (and expensive) bottle of Spitfire. Had a mumbled apology about 'waiting for barrels to settle ' I get one pump off, but all 3 at same time? I certainly expect better at a Shepherd neame pub.

Nice, clean place. Friendly regulars and staff. Nice prices. Minimum £10 on a card though.

I have been visiting the Stage Door on and off for a number of years... the landlord and landlady are extremely friendly and accommodating as are all the other staff. They have a superb selection of drinks and bar snacks with food available for larger parties booked in advance. The pub itself has traditional decor with a "theatre themed" twist, great atmosphere, wecoming locals and has recently celebrated its 200th year of trading. It's location makes it ideal for those visiting Dartford town centre or the Orchard theatre and its situated just a few minutes walk from Dartford Station with a taxi office on the same street if you decide to stay late. It's best feature is probably its well hidden garden which is accessible all year round and has plenty of seating and a covered outside area for smokers. Friday and Saturday nights can be quite upbeat and lively as music will be playing and sometimes a live band but the atmosphere is still friendly and extremely welcoming. If you're heading to Dartford then the Stage Door is a must 100%!!!

Nice quiet local pub. Clean and tidy yet retails its character. Decent tables / seating outside in the back garden. I would highly recommend their cheese and onion bread roll, it went down a treat with my pint.

Poor, they wanted cash only no real food available. Only rolls. Didn't stay long

My brother had the pub for a family party on a Sunday afternoon, good staff and good beer!

We received a warm welcome and friendly service in this lovely pub. Great juke box and gorgeous beer garden.

Friendly staff lovely decorated very spacious drinks good value

A pleasant pub but lacking a little in atmosphere

Great place old fashioned pub where there's good beer dart board a Jukebox with even rock and metal tunes and a conversation with the regulars or staff if you want one. Good outdoor heated area for smokers and vapers.

We have spent the night there. The place is friendly,cosy, the Bartender is a nice gentleman🙂

Nice pub, decent pub! Close to the Theatre...

Nice atmosphere and good jukebox. Beer quite good.

Popular local Shepherd Name pub. Serves both a standard masterbrew/spitfire plus a seasonal ale. Prices are competitive (lower than faversham). Filled rolls are behind the bar which were very good.

Lovely little pub with a sizeable beer garden out the back. The barmaid was friendly and the Guinness was excellent as was the Spitfire. The pub was very clean and tidy and had a raised area off to one side for darts.

Ideal place for meeting family & friends.

Great little pub 👍 if you want to pay by card it is a minimum £10 spend, which is fine. Really lovely staff.

Nice pub but no food despite website saying they did

Nice place nice beer nice price good service e.t.c.will visit again.

All 21 of us met up here before attending an 80s Disco in The Orchard Theatre. The bar staff were friendly, polite and courteous. An ideal meeting place for pre show or function drinks. Very good facilities and bar area.

Lovely back street pub in Dartford

Great place, nice beer, even nicer land lord and land lady 🍺top marks nice rolls as well

Very nice pub with a beautiful back garden and a very polite and respectful bartender!

Friendly staff, lovely roast dinner, nice ambiance

Excellent quality beer. Decent prices. Efficient staff.

A little gem in Darford. Great staff and drinks. Lovely beer garden too. Well worth a visit.

Best pub in Dartford great atmosphere and really chilled

Nice pint, friendly welcome lovely outside space on a summer/ spring evening if they did hot food it would have been five stars

A great local pub with a good selection of bottles ales and taps. Good price on alcohol but a minimum £10 spend on card for me is to high. Great beer garden that’s actually quite large for its location. A definite must to keep local pubs going.

Very welcoming & lovely beer too. A proper local in my opinion.

A good place for a quiet pint of ale

I've always liked the Stage Door but never reviewed it. In here on a Wednesday night (as Naomi). Nice quiet evening couple of halves of Spitfire Lager and Hurlimanns ("the Swiss bank on it" lol). Pleasant bar lady, nice chat. Nice and smart interior. Very positive from me.

A proper local pub, friendly welcome and decent beer. Went here for a pre theatre drink. It was very quiet, don't understand why more theatre goers don't use it - it's a lot nicer and cheaper than the bars at the Orchard and about 3 minutes walk away.

Proper pub, with a decent pint of Whitstable Bay and Spitfire lager. Great pub

Good friendly town pub, good beer typical prices

Nice small cosy pub......makes you feel welcome

Great little Shepherd Neame pub. Well worth a visit.

If you're in town shopping or going to the orchard theatre try a visit. Nice friendly pub.

What a warm welcome- really comfortable welcoming proper old style pub with lovely outside place. A definate pub I'd return to time and time again

A great little pub, not busy but it was a Monday morning

Always made to feel welcome and love the garden

Good beer, Good staff, Great garden

Lovely pub. Grateful for the warm welcome

Had not been there for a while and was presently surprised how good it was in there. Friendly staff and good selection of beers on offer. It was also one of the only pub's in Dartford I have found does non alcoholic larger which made a change from having soft drinks all the time. Also don't forget to go sit in the very big beer garden out the back. You can spend a very pleasant evening there drinking and chatting to your friends.

Nice pub, friendly staff, good quality Shep's beer. Nice garden.

A fantastic pub with lovely staff and good selection of drinks. Good conversation if you want it or quiet booths down the side if you don’t! Nice beer garden too that’s been done up in lockdown. Also, one of the only pubs in the area seemingly taking the correct precautions for Covid-19 prevention and doing their best to keep customers safe.

Cracking pub with a lovely beer garden. Didn't feel like I was in Dartford!

Only ever been in this pub twice and it’s always been quiet but very clean. Landlady was friendly on arrival but over the hour that I was there she became rude and aggressive in manor for no reason whatsoever. Before we had time to process what was happening I had had someone’s pint of cider thrown at me and my husband had the glass thrown at his head smashing everywhere. Even after all this I was concerned for her behaviour and tried to get her to go inside the pub away from the garden, I was punched twice in the face and had my hair pulled for my efforts. Unless you like a drink with drama, don’t bother, I’m still shocked now🙄😔

Lovely little pub with a very welcoming atmosphere. Has a great outdoor space which is fantastic for summer but also has a small heated area. Just remember there is a £10 minimum spend on card. Would recommend.

Good pub in Dartford town centre. Close to Orchard Theatre.

It's a lovely little quirky Pub full if character just the garden relaxing

convenient for town centre, station, busses, and. Orchard Theatre. Shepherd Neame beers, always in good condition. Note this is a pub, not a restaurant. Food only by arrangment.

Friendly pub good comfortable atmosphere and very convenient for the Orchard Theatre.

Great Shepherd Neame pub selling Spitfire Ale and other Kentish beers. Right by the Orchard Theatre, so a great place for a post-show libation.

Website stated the pub did food. They do not. My partner was offered a premade bacon roll that was in the fridge. Not impressed.

Great jukebox and we'll priced lager!

It's a pub, a busy traditional friendly pub. It does exactly what it says on the tin, serves good beer and pretty much anything else you might want in the way of drinks. Worth a visit 😎

Great pub great stay will be back regular

Proper old school pub, love it.

No ambience, expensive drinks for what it is, the sort of place the regulars stare at you as you enter.

Beer was cold. Staff were good. But place was a little tired looking and it was very quiet. 3 stars!

Very friendly, good service and good beer

Lively pub with big garden. Convenient for the theatre

Good pub lovely garden ...but no dark fruit...

Lovely local pub on the fringe of Dartford centre away from the noisy and younger crowd.. Good beer and atmosphere..

Make feel that part of the pub and don't make you feel unwelcome

My party of 30 visited The Stage Door before going to the theatre. A buffet had been organised for us by Paul and at a very reasonable price. To say it was fabulous was an understatement. Lots of food, lots of choice, really tasty and laid out well. We even arrived early and had a lovely welcome . A proper pub not an over priced 'gastro pub ' or bistro.

Small pub around the corner from the Orchard Theatre in Dartford where all the cast from the productions tend to meet up afterwards. A bit run down, but a nice place for a drink afterwards.

Quite only two other people in the pub Sunday afternoon. Service was good 👍 and we sat in the garden which is lovely but a little chilly tried to put the heaters on but none of them worked if they had I would have scored a five 🌟

Very friendly and welcoming pub situated just a couple of minutes walk away from The Orchard Theatre. The walls are covered with autographed pictures, signed by those who have performed at the theatre and popped in for a pint or tipple afterwards. There was live music the night we visited which was most enjoyable. Now I know where it is, I will most definitely visit again if I am in the area or have been to see a show. One autograph stumped us... please do tell me if you know who this is?

Quiet friendly and a nice little pub

Good choice of wines beers and spirits. Hosted well by Vicky and Paul lovely people . Good atmosphere reasonably priced. Good Duke box . And if you behave there is no rush to finish that last round 😉

It's got a juke box, quite a bit garden but it's not exactly a lovely place and the beer is flat

Not the busiest pub or the best looking but I love it because it's still a proper pub with nice people and the barmaid is lovely

I’ve often walked past here because I.m always unsure of new pubs. Howerver, I was pleasantly surprised. It had a quiet atmosphere mid-afternoon. The barman was pleasant enough and I had a pint of Oranjeboom. I really liked the fact that the pub had little nooks and it was exceptionally clean. If I had had longer I would have gone and sat in the beer garden because that looked really good. I will be back.

Great old fashion family pub, just what we needed, been here twice now and loved it, great service and very good price

Never been here. However, I have walked past it!

Always enjoy a visit to the Stage Door after a show at the Orchard Theatre Paul and Vicky always make sure we are welcome

Very authentic old time pub. Very small bar but service and scenery is good

Good beers on tap. Staff friendly. Nice beer garden. Not on the Dartford idiot drinkers list so a good place for a quiet pint.

This is a great place to have drink in Dartford. The area has lost a lot of pub over the years. I came to this pub a few years back but just popped in on the off chance and was presently surprised by how nice it was. I proper good old fashioned pub.

Nice little pub with decent beers.

Lovely local pub, great atmosphere and much quicker than queuing for a pint in the flying boat! Very cozy and friendly. I always feel welcome and there's always someone to chat to!

The pub is old fashioned very dated. The selections of ales is limited only strong bow cider on draught extremely disappointing. Land lady was so rude spent a lot on rounds for friends only to be spoken to like a child. Brought a round at10.50, she was happy to take our money but was being rude to us all as she walked round the pub making it apparent she was chucking us out. Shepards name is a great brand but customer service cost nothing, I will not be spending a penny there again. She made me feel small so rude. Anyone would think she doesn't need customers.

We went there after a show on a cold winter's day, I believe they have a beer garden, so I'd like to go back in the summer.

Nipped in the Last Post before a booking in a nearby restaurant. This is a traditional pub (rare these days), with a comfortable atmosphere and nice bar staff. The pub has a great selection of beers and ales and I would go back.

Nice atmosphere. Vicki is a great bartender.

Cosu & friendly Pub with history hence the name. Nice real ale.

Popped in a few times in a week while I was working at the theatre 'next door'. Beer is kept very well indeed, and the bar snacks are cheap. This is exactly the sort of pub musicians need near their workplace!

Popped in here before a visit to the theatre. Lovely old style pub in Datford. Decorated old time style. This pub is a gem. Best of all the lady behind the bar and her friend at the bar were so welcoming. Lovely pub. Nice people. Will go back.

Very nice place with a good selection of drinks and a nice beer garden.

Been to better Shepherd Neames! But it's in a good location, just near the train and bus services and it's a lovely looking pub!

Good Beer, Master few £3.10 excellent value and in great condition. Gh

Lovely place for a drink and is warm and welcome

Very friendly landlord ,and lovely atmosphere

Very friendly stuff very helpful difference sort of lager Dutch Continental very enjoyable

I've been in every pub in Dartford and this one probably rates as my favourite. I can't really put a finger on why - maybe a due to the cosy feel and that the pub is yards from my house! I like the quirky pictures hung on the walls from old treatre shows, presumsbly from the nearby Orchard Theatre around fifty years ago. Unfortunately it appears that some of these pictures were removed last year but there's still some remaining. The pub has the usual excellent Shepherd Neame selection which includes Shepherd Name Smooth - hard to find in most of their pubs. Its not available at The Royal Oak up the road or at The Wharf on the other side of town. The pub also has a no alcohol choice which is a rarity for some pubs - Carlsberg Zero which is a good option. There's also a nice modern beer garden and the pub has gigs every few months with 3 or 4 acts on.