The Grafton Arms

The best bar service I’ve seen in London. The barman was attentive, not arrogant, helpful. Really made my evening.

It’s always sad when friends move away from the city. In this case I came here to say goodbye to 2 old uni friends who had just completed their PhDs and were moving not just away from London but to countries new — one to Crete and the other to Denmark.
So they had booked the upper floor of this pub on a sunny Friday evening for a proper send off. I arrived a bit late (fashionably late I like to think) and went upstairs to see everyone. I ordered a drink to be told that the upstairs bar was cash only. Great. So I wandered back downstairs to pay by card and get cash back — to be fair the bartenders were really helpful about the whole thing and let me pay downstairs and pick the drinks up at our private bar.
Apparently the pub had a terrace area which would have been perfect for this summers day but you couldn’t reserve that. Shame. But the inside was really cosy, a nice gastropub feel. The upstairs area had a central large table, perfect for gathering arround when we were served some sharing platters to tuck into — sliders, bbq wings, hand-​cut chips all well prepared and eagerly eaten.
I loved the Chesterfield chair that was in the corner of this area, one of those chairs that you just collapse into and then wonder how you’ll ever get out of. I felt a bit like a member of the gentry in that chair, minus brandy and slippers of course!
Drinks a bit overpriced, but then that’s to be expected in Fitzrovia. All in all, a nice place to bid farewell to some much missed friends

This is a big pub with a couple of floors and a roof terrace. Can be noisy on a Friday night. Trivia: The anarchist Frank Kitz formed the Social Democratic Club which met here regularly from 1877 to 1878.
This pub is featured on the Fitzrovia Crawl

This is my meeting spot to visit a friend whenever in London on business. We love the traditional feel to this pub and the home-​coming australian bar attendants. Satisfactorily happy to serve, they’re quiet perky when you leave them a tip!
I’ve not yet tried the food, but its traditional pub grub. Music, to my taste and very good.
On the first floor they have a cosy balcony which is good in the summer and also nice for small groups.
An influential feature of Fitzrovia.