Spread Eagle

great place to stop by for happy hour! nice staff and eclectic/​homey feel to the place

The morning after a particularly self-​flagellating night on the town in Hoxton, my husband moaned between paracetamol and toilet, «We could have done without the Spread Eagle.» Ha ha!
But you see, we couldn’t have.
We had an amazing time at this pub on a Friday night in October. After downing countless «prohibition cocktails» at several trendy Hoxton hotspots, this place was refreshingly free of hipsters drowning in self-​reflection. The place was packed with people who didn’t take themselves too seriously and were just out for a good laugh. And best of all: KARAOKE. Oh, we laughed, we cried. We belted James’s «Laid,» we did interpretive dance to «Grease Lightin,» and we linked arms with strangers to belt out «Like a Prayer.» I’m sure the reviews of this place by the people we met that night will include references to the Creepy Couple from the States, but hey, we had a blast. I’d go back to this place in a flash. Except I don’t really remember where it is.

A quaint and utterly unpretentious pub smack in the heart of Hoxton. In the past few years its gone through a transformation for the better.
Nice to see on evenings during the week it isn’t ram packed AND the special is 2 beers for a fiver. Result!
The interior is quirky, with mismatching tables and chairs, lots of random antique pictures and picture frames, lit by a few twisted chandeliers and a fun house style blinking giant tulip in the shape of a heart. Staff are super friendly. A few chairs and tables are scattered outside, well placed for some good people watching.

this place is having a massive idenity crisis. it felt so out of place in the hispter land of shoreditch. that is not to say i didnt like it, but im not sure i really liked it either.
it felt a bit mainstream. with the bar staff all wearing fedoras. and bling. very stange.
and the decore? random creepy doll faces and a glowing heart flower thing, that looked like it belonged in a mexian joint.
the prices were reasonable enough, and it was not over packed but still had an alright buz to it at 1am on a saturday, so i guess that all went in its favor.
i dont know. i think theres a reason i always just walk by it.

This is the first place ive ever been to for a drink out in Shoreditch! really nice friendly bar staff, really nice place if you a chilled relaxed time yet with a bit of energy and don’t fancy the likes of a club. The music is very good play a wide selection of genres. The male urinal is hilarious and pure genius in its design and it literally is one of those things you have to see and take a picture of!!! lol I came here with my best friend it was nice relaxed environment small and cozy. Its really easy to get to considering I was coming from West Croydon was literally one straight journey along the London Overground (East London line) to Shoreditch High Street, frequent services!, or people can get off at Liverpool Street Station (national rail /​central line) and walk up the road or get a bus one stop up the road.

Ermm, came here on a Sunday afternoon to meet a friend who lives nearby for a drink. Mish mash décor and cheesy music, it was fine… then the bar maid started increasing the volume up and down like she was some kind of superstar DJ to impress the guys she was talking to at the bar, it was a coldplay song…
needless to say, we left immediately.

Is it a gay bar? Is it? I just can’t tell. Spread Eagle is in the mists of an identity crisis. Desperate to keep up the the hip and upcoming area it falls over like a toddler learning to walk. Nice bar, rude security, strange and manky loos, average drinks.
Plastered on the walls is weird stuff like dolls, women in strange positions and topless men, and all the chairs and tables are a little uncomfortable to sit at. Why would you make a bar uncomfortable? Don’t you want me to stay and spend my money? This may be in a hip area but this just ain’t hip. They have tacky decorations which might be to some peoples taste but not to mine. Every time I go out in this area, I overlook this place. Not because it’s terrible, just because I can’t be bothered with it.

This is the most random little bar. The décor is a must-​see as is the male urinal (trust me girls, just ask a guy to hold the door open for you to ssneak a peek). The bar staff are friendly and there is a decent selection of drinks, although no real ale on draught just the odd bottle. It tends to be quiet in the week, so a nice place to grap a relaxed drink or two.

I like this place. It may not be the trendiest place in Shoreditch, but it has a quirky vibe all of its own that makes me come back.
The cocktails are good. The bar staff are fun. The seats are comfy and the wall art is whimsical.
What’s not to like?

I went to the Spread Eagle last night, so this review is hot off the press. This is what I enjoyed about it;
— The décor. It’s all well thought out. I love the individual touches that make this a very stylish place to start off your evening in Shoreditch. Where I was sitting was a giant heart light on the wall. However, the staff had not turned it on! So one of my group lent over to the socket in the wall and switched it on — we thought the rest of the bar would enjoy that.
— The cocktails were very well made. The barman was Brazilian and he made a mean caiprihina. The cocktails are £6.00, which is cheaper than a lot of places around here.
And here is what I didn’t like;
— The toilets! They were so bad that I am docking this place an extra star. The only girls loos are so tiny that you can barely close the door. There are two toilets and neither lock works. They were also badly maintained — someone had made a mess of one, and that was early on in the evening — I didn’t hold my breath that it would get cleared up. There was no toilet paper either. There was some by the sinks though — why would the staff not think to put them inside the loo? Every one in our group said the same thing. I just don’t think its acceptable for a place that is done out so stylishly in the actual bar to have standards like this.
So there you go. It’s a great place to stop off for a couple of drinks. It is easily accessible, near to Hoxton Square and the end of Old Street Road. Just try not to need the loo while you are here!

Spread Eagle up until over a year ago was not a place most people would venture into! However they had a massive refurbishment and last year surprising me! You walk in glass panned doors at the centre front and are greeted by a wonderful wooden bar. Look up as you walk in and you will see a repeat of a naked lady in foetal position on a white heaven like background. To your left beside the bar is a themed corner that often changes! At the moment it has a very kitsch love heart and cherubs floating, however they sometimes have artist’s works or randomly placed hanging objects.
The chairs and sofas are all a little different. Some cow skin little stools, leather sofas big wooden armchairs and tall wooden bar stools situated around the table bars in the window sills.
Drinks are reasonably priced. However the bar staff can be quite slow so send your friends to find a table saves everyone waiting! It gets very busy on a Friday and Saturday evening. The DJ plays a whole range of music from the 80’s 90’s and today’s pop hits. Enjoy the atmosphere and the fun seats!