The Stage Door in Eastbourne

Wow! What a turn around this place has been. I hear rumours it’s owned by eight bells which would make sense. Great atmosphere, reasonable price drinks and the roasts are really good. The new decor is really classy along with the piano player. Could not recommend this highly enough.

Much improved from previous Stage Door. Handsome interior design enhancing the original pub’s fine features. Staff very helpful and friendly. Limited menu, but very tasty food. Ranging from burgers to more sophisticated options. We had the special. Excellent views over the tennis courts. Highly recommend.

Sitting right beside the theatre and showing all of its historical links to the same, The Buccaneers has retained that almost Victorian/Edwardian feel as a meeting place for theatre goers. The large floor area, the comfortable seating the WELL stocked bar and the pictures of bygones productions all add to the very welcoming atmosphere. The staff are very helpful and friendly which only adds to the overall impression. Worth a visit. UPDATE. Now renamed The Stage Door, it is under the umbrella of Eastbourne Council. Not a great advantage if you are looking for a cheap drink. But still worth a look. UPDATE: As of Monday 22nd April 2024, The Stage Door will be closed for 6 weeks to allow for a total refurbishment. I am gutted, as I'm in Eastbourne for 4 days... and to discover that my favourite bar in town is closed, I am distraught. UPDATE: Passed here today and I'm pretty sure that the original timescale of 6 weeks is out by at least another 4 weeks? Their phone number isn't working and the whole facade is behind scaffolding? I'll attempt to keep you posted?

Had a fantastic evening the music was awesome! Goosepimples! X

A warm welcoming pub with nice decor and comfortable seating. The back area looks out to a pleasant space and has sofa and arm chair seating. A nice skylight keeps things bright and fresh. Have only had drinks in recent months. The food menu seems a little less varied than I recall and the prices seem high, though not unexpected these days. We always come here when staying in Eastbourne, especially since it’s just behind The View hotel, which is our fave hotel in Eastbourne. The Subdaybroast looks great. Will definitely have that next time we have a weekend stay in Eastbourne.

Fantastic in all respects. Thanks

Excellent first visit here for John and Stacey's open mic, lovely place and a great bunch of players, will be back soon.

Lovely pub, great food and service

Very lovely people behind the bar.

Under new "management. We used to go at least every 3-4 weeks especially for the Jazz evenings. Always had something to eat, and their burgers were nice (sourced from a good local butcher). Now new team are obviously keen to jazz things up. Old menu has gone to be replaced by one with higher prices yet inferior food. Burgers now have a very unpleasant aftertaste resulting from whatever cereal or dried ingredients have been added, rather like cheap frozen burgers from the 1970s used have. Enquires confirmed no longer are they sourcing meat from local butcher, which also explains decline in steak offering which is now a super thin offering. If you are going to significantly increase prices, quality needs to be improved or maintained, not decreased. Bar service has always been a little hit and miss, food service staff have in the past always been great.

Great place, visited a few times and always liked. 👌

If we lived in Eastbourne this would be our 'Go to pub'. Well kept beer, delicious food, very friendly, efficient staff and fair prices. We have really enjoyed our lunchtime here

Great food and selection of beers on handpump, friendly staff and a great atmosphere. What more can one want in a pub?! I can fully recommend going to the Stage Door.

This place always a bit hit and miss. There are a group of locals who sit by the door, harmless and always nod and acknowledge, but the more they drink the louder they get, don't mind that but their language is horrendous, and to anyone new going in there it can be off putting. I believe it's been take over recently, so we decided to give it another go, same loud fouled mouthed group, if you do go sit towards the back. Three of us visited and all bought one round each, wasn't until we had dinner later we checked how much we were charged. The same drinks we were all charged different prices, bar girl long dark hair was more interested in spending time with the locals. Have yet to try the food under new managers, but menu looks okay.

My favourite pub in Eastbourne. I was staying close by at the Devonshire Park Hotel so this pub was ideal for me. A decent range of beers. I mostly drank the excellent Long Man 'Rising Giant' 4.8%. I only had one meal, the fish pie which was good. There's a lovely view from the back of the pub over Devonshire Park tennis courts and grounds. Pleasant bar staff and the background music wasn't too loud. A nice pub.

Place was clean and friendly but not great selection for lunch it was winter maybe bigger selection in the summer

I met friends there to see Tom Fitzpatrick do a live Jazz & Blues set here last week and he was BRILLIANT!! Great Act, lovely guy and he made the evening into something special HENCE THE 4*review! BUT I have to agree with a number of the other reviewers in that the Staff were friendly and helpful the food is far too expensive for a 'pub meal' - £17 or £18 per plate is too much however tasty it is. I accept that the Customers have to pay towards the live music BUT the food prices are the same every day as are the drinks so I'd prefer to pay an entry charge and drink and dine at a fair price!! I will return but maybe not to dine.

Sunday roast expensive for a bit of dried beef and cold potatos & veg... not good

Unexpectedly nice plate. Will try the food next.

Despite website saying open til 11pm they shut the bar at 10:15! Not ok.

Went here for Sunday roast with friends. Three meat choices plus a veggie option. Good range of fresh veg and good portions. Friendly efficient staff. The best and cleanest loos in town. Knocked off one star as gravy was a bit too salty for my taste, otherwise a great meal.

Fabulous Sunday Roast Dinner . The best we’ve had in Eastbourne. Great value for money. Super tasty. Proper home cooked food.

Popped in while waiting for theater amazing service and good selection of drinks

Had a lovely few New years drinks here .

Nice pub and good beer, staff very friendly. Food is always good

Spacious, light and serve a variety of tempting real ales. Avoid band night, unless conversation isn't high on your list of priorities.

Livey bar that was very busy for the weekend and live folk music being played as well never ate but had a good choice of beer on tap and a nice selection of gin as well

Quirky place but nice and had smoking area outside... Beer wasn't as fresh as expected but will return as they also do live music Have a habit of shutting early 👎

Great prices for drinks and food plus service and ambience

It's with great regret that I have had to put this review on. Iam a local,so as a local we like to meet and chew the fat as it is together and have a laugh, but now this other company who is overseeing this pub have come in it has gone down hill, the drinks and food are so unreasonable it's beyond thought. You cannot get Chardonnay anymore, just their house wine euno? Which is the cheapest at £8.25 for a large glass, also staff (new staff) have no personality or customer service skills, feel very let down, sorry but don't recommend it

Great night, friendly atmosphere good 🍺

Really great staff and reasonable priced

Didn't try food but atmosphere was fantastic, was pre Halloween party. Service was friendly and good. Was heaving so did take a while to get served. Popped in when going to theatre.

overpriced food lousy portions stickey tables a shame as have been many times before and it has been good £18 for fish and chips unreal very dissappointed

Some good real ales on tap. Extremes of business. Can be restful early to watch sport on TV then manic in the evenings. Functions and music often.

Very nice food and drink and the staff were lovely

Popped in for a drink, nice atmosphere and polite service

Me and my mum had been staying at a hotel down the road from this pub and found it on our second night. It was very nice inside, the staff were super friendly and even having a sing song behind the bar to song that we're playing. There was a great range of drinks available at reasonable prices. The atmosphere was great and it got very lively and busy when the theatre show finished next door. Would definitely visit again if I am in the area.

Very nice pub food. Very friendly waitress. Cosy.

Great music. Great food. Amazing place to be.

Nice bar, good service,drinks reasonable priced drinks, we only popped in for a quick drink, checked the menu but found it very expensive, would visit again but would order food .

Nice enough pub in a good location. The food was adequate but a little dry and tasteless. The price was ok and the staff were fairly friendly.

The food was good but the staff were excellent. Very friendly and efficient. Looking forward to going back.

Could sit in here all day but...

Great service and very friendly staff .Food & drink fairly and reasonably priced .

Went for a beer before eating elsewhere, only one cast beer on and that shouldn't have been served, the dregs. It also reeked of fish. Suggest they have a look at the kitchen ventilation.

This lamentable establishment is notable only for the following: stale beer, overpriced food and drink, lazy and disinterested staff, lack of any visible leadership, pitiful service and unacceptable level of cleanliness. In short, avoid!

A real quality pub. Excellent food and a good range of draught beers. Young but superb staff. Right next to the theatres and Winter Garden, and on Bus Route 3. Only complaint is that the reasonably priced pints recently jumped up to the local norm.

Sadly due to a technical issue no cask ales available, service for food was poor

Nice pub, much improved recently. Great beer (Long Man American Pale Ale, amongst others) at reasonable prices. Sandwiches are phenomenally good

found this place by chance, lovely staff very friendly and great night had a band playing

Great pub we had lunch food was lovely. Staff were really friendly especially Holly who was great and also there all day and night. She didn’t stop worked a long shift but was so friendly and cheerful. Would certainly recommend

Good selection of Real Ales, REV James is especially good. Plus a good range of Long Man now.

Lovely pub. Good choice of real ales and ciders. Great atmosphere.

Given that this is a pub you would think they could keep good beer We had 3 different ales and all were returned Dreadful

Just called for a drink nice clean place friendly staff 👍

Great atmosphere, staff friendly. we only had a drink , food looked amazing

It was lunchtime & the pub was very empty. Some restaurants on the next street were very busy. The coronation chicken sandwich contained more salad leaves than chicken filling. The little filling I could taste was delicious. It was not worth £9. I had heard that the pub food was cooked by the staff that also run the cafe in the Congress Theatre, so I was expecting reasonably priced, delicious, fresh food. But was hugely disappointed. I will definitely go back to the Congress DQ cafe next time.

Great place to meet friends or go for a drink by yourself, staff know what they sell and are friendly and helpful. I haven’t eaten here yet but when I do, I’ll update my review.

Always handy for a pre theatre drink and a bite

Nice atmoshere havnt been here since 14 years! Only had drink this time, all was good.

The pub is OK if you're going for a drink, watch the screen, or tennis. Its supposedly owned by the council. Food quality is low, presented poorly, and is overpriced. For example, the worst wilted greens, should be in the rubbish bin, is balled up and put on the plate. The fish, or overly thin steak is piled on top of chips making it difficult to cut into as there's no room on the small plate. Twice there and I'll never go back. Tables are sticky from poor cleaning. Handy man and wait staff stand around talking about their personal lives and they ignore their table customers. Tried speaking to the waitress and duty manager but it's obvious their knowledge of customer service and/ or customer psychology is nil and of no interest to them. Instead, they're quick to mock the customer. They're there for the social drop in, theyre not focused on food for customers. Hopefully the business will survive on drink sales, crisps and chips, next to the theatre.

Me and my boyfriend went in on Friday night. We had soup to start with which was amazing. It was so tasty and gorgeous. Unfortunately the main meal was terrible. It was pasta with mushrooms and bacon. The pasta and mushrooms were great. But the dish was so oily, we both left half of the dinner. Very disappointed after such a beautiful starter

Good beer, good view and very pleasant atmosphere. Nice, clean, loos!

Had a great night with friends after working on tennis

Great pub friendly and knowledgeable staff great views of the tennis really good selection of ales and very clean and well kept

Very nice pub with great views over the Eastbourne tennis championship tennis courts

Love this pub. Good feeling. Good food. Good staff.

Went pre show at the Congress Theatre and had large selection of Real Ales, including some from Harvey Brewery in Lewes. Friendly welcome. Only found three picnic benches to the right of the pub outside but outback from inside there is a cricket ground.

Love this place. Great venue, great staff, great service, great food. More of the same please

Lovely bar staff - Kitty with a big smile was great.

Very good Guinness. Lovely staff

Although food was good , I would advise that you give the order an hour before you want too eat

Poor customer service. Didnt feel stàff were wiĺling to listern to customer concerns. Result in unpleasant departure from the premises

Use this place before and after the theatre. Always busy but good service and always a clean place.

Nice big pub, lots of Real Ales maybe to many as the two I had were not at there best. It was late into the evening so wasn't first beer pulled through. Was disappointed as both Harvey's Ales are my favourites...

Far too stuffy and warm but great service from the staff. Thought I would have to wait ages to be served but plenty of staff on. The beer garden at the front could do with some hanging baskets to make it more attractive and ashtrays so people don't throw their cigarette butts on the floor.

Table was as sticky as a fly trap, toilets stink. Mind the nails sticking out the panelling...

Great selection of drinks ideally placed outside of the Congress theatre. Looks over the sports grounds as well which is great.

Went there last night for some food before the theatre show I was going to, ordered a Diet Coke and a burger, Diet Coke was flat and after 30 mins of waiting for my food I politely asked what was happening as I had to be at the theatre soon( they were already aware of this as I had to show them ticket for 10% discount), I was then rudely informed that it would not be ready for another 20 mins which I then had to argue with them for a refund as the would be no way I was going to eat it in 2 mins then run to the theatre. Very unhappy with poor communication from the staff and poor time management from the kitchen 😠😡

As a returning regular I find this pub fantastic with staff I know and new ones I'm getting to know.

Big screen for sport, decent beer prices. What's not to like. Good section of beers. Lunch menu limited but nice.

Great atmosphere, turned up on a quiz night which was very well supported, friendly staff, back tonight for some food which looks good and reasonably priced.

Excellent choice of real ale. Great friendly staff and great atmosphere. Highly recommend.

Good atmosphere dog friendly..Great view at the back of the tennis club....handy for a meal and drinks before a show at the Congress or Devonshire theatres

Sehr schöner Pub, schön eingerichtet, toller Service, hervorragende Preise, toll

Good selection of beers, great service, very good cod and chips

Food is great but the background music has nothing to do with the stage it's just dirdge

Love the Thursday jazz nights. Enjoyed a good meal, chose to pre-order as a busy night. Paid at bar on arrival.

You can tell its a mixture of locals and out of towners that go to make a great atmosphere. Hats off to the Manager/Owner who has taken time to motivate and enthuse his staff as they were all on the ball and extremely willing to please. Relatively speaking, prices are good and whilst we did not eat there the food being served up looked of a high quality. Wish it was my local.

We really enjoyed visiting this pub. The staff made a huge fuss of the dogs, brought them treats and a water bowl and were generally fantastic. My wife enjoyed a delicious brie and onion tart and I enjoyed stuffed mushrooms, followed by a minced beef hotpot served with root vegetables. We will definitely return because we were made to feel so welcome.

Lovely staff and atmosphere. Food delicious.

Bar staff were amazing . Food service very slow, waited nearly an hour and when we made enquires received excuses not apologies.Diasappointed

Great pub next to Congress and Devonshire Park Theatres. Good range of beers and good service. Gets busy on performance days but always a great atmosphere. Food looks good but not tried it yet. Update March 2 2023: Returned for a pre show meal. Both had battered cod. Absolutely delicious. Really very impressed!

Fist time in this pub.friendly staff.great beer 🍻. Very clean pub.great real ales.pretty quiet when I was here.

Staff attentive. Food orders placed at bar. Quality of Fish & Chips variable! Friends had previously had excellent meal. Yesterday's was not! Chef must have forgotten fish in the fryer - it turned up dark brown batter, so hard we couldn't crack it open. Disappointing and really not good enough for this popular pub restaurant in Eastbourne theatreland.

Great local beer and the fish and chips was incredible value, huge fish and cooked perfectly. 100% recommend. Lovely bar staff too 😊

Great place ,new food, i tried it and its gooood

The lounge is nice but the state of the Gent toilet uhhhh lots of pee on the floor and we all understand what the carpet outside contains then uhhhhhh

Drinks reasonably priced, nice staff