The Pub/Zoo

Good laughs for only 3 quids, for national touring acts, and sometimes international acts. 5 quid to become a lifetime member. Currently 4 quid for 2 bottles of goose island. Which is nice :) great in the run up to Edinburgh, merely excellent the rest of the time :)

We popped into Pub /​Zoo on a big night out last week — mainly because we were hanging out on Oxford Road and as we were on our way up towards the Curry Mile, noticed that Lucas S had recently checked in next door at Sandbar. Due to the awesome power of Unilocal I messaged Lucas and 2 mins later we were hanging out drinking a pint in Pub /​Zoo.
Ok so by this point in the night we were on our way to maximum refreshment but this seemed an alright place to stop off in, a bit of a sawdust joint but there aint much wrong with that in life…
Drinks selection (well beers) was pretty poor/​average but they played some good tunes and there seemed to be a good vibe inside on a Sat night. Probably better options around the neighbourhood but generally I wouldn’t kick up too much of a fuss for dropping in for a pint to meet friends.

I’m not reviewing the actual bar in the front because I’ve never really spent any time there. I have spent quite a bit of time in the club at the back but that’s kind of on a technicality cos it’s where my choir used to rehearse so never actually been to a club night here.
However. I have now been in to see XS Malarkey, the regular Tuesday comedy night. I saw Josie Long here this week and she was really on form! I also enjoyed Ian Stirling, the first act, and the 2 middle ones weren’t bad either. Plus the compere Tony Hadoke seemed very likeable and quick. All this for a £5 felt like good value to me. Plus if you paid another £3? you could become a member and get in for only £3 after that. Slave labour from the comics surely?
The particular night I went to was very popular so there was a chair shortage but the crowd seemed happy to be there. You can also order food before the show begins at 8.30. Drinks were a pretty reasonable price too. I will return.

Now I wasn’t hoping for great things when I popped in here for lunch.
It was really good. The burger I have was tasty and hot. The toppings were intresting and the chap behinde the bar was really nice. I was a little worst for wear and forgot to pick up my drinks from the bar, he reminded me about them.
The burger soothed my hangover. I will go there again when I feel like I need a big fat filled lunch at work. The real ales looked good too, must pop in and give them a try post work sometime. Its not the best looking pub but we not that shallow are we?

been here a couple of times but its always for an eve pint after class… the place gives out that vibe of stopping by and having a relaxing drink after work, the place being close to uni makes it even better. they could have done a better job with the seating. i feel its too cramped up.

This place is a quality pace to go for a cheap and good night out if you don’t fancy one of the larger clubs available nearby. It’s now connected to a bar called The Pub which is the perfect way to pre-​drink before heading next door to this place. The interior may be dingy but its appearance is the least of the worries because the cheap drinks most nights, large dancefloor and mixture of chart/​alternative/​dance/​dubstep anthems each night makes it a popular night out for most students.

Perhaps I’m a little biased (I’ll get to that) but, after a long day, when someone says «Anyone fancy a pint?» or «You going to the pub?», I know exactly what they mean.
Not just any pub. The Pub.
Now called the Pub/​Zoo (and to this day I don’t know why, seeing as there are two seperate doors), The Pub has been my ‘local’ or my ‘regular’ for the last three years. This is MOSTLY because of my proximity to the place, but there’s also something about it that Sandbar, or the Trof, or The Footage doesn’t have. It feels like… home.
Now I must clarify. I’m no snob (despite common misconception!), but the pub itself is not a palace; it is basic, and raw and bare. It has wallpaper with faux books on and furniture that could fall apart any moment. One whole end near ‘the snug’ smells of the gents (I use the diabled loo just because it has soap, mental, I know). But all of these things seem to make it what it is. Some might say dive, and in any other circumstances, I’d be inclined to agree.
HOWEVER!
The staff are fantastic. We know each other by name. They have a discount card system that my friends and I don’t need anymore because we’ve become close with the great people behind the bar. They look after us after shows. They ask how we’re doing. I’ve always said that it’s the PEOPLE that make a place or an experience, and it’d couldnt be more true (in extremis) than at The Pub.
It seems we can’t keep away.
⁷⁄₁₀

So, what can a student bar that lives next to infamous, archetypal student bar the Sandbar, do to strive for individuality? Three words — keep it simple. And that’s exactly what they’ve done. Well, what’s in a name? It does what it says on the tin. ‘The Pub’. It’s a pub. No kidding! It’s rather a nice pub too, I was pleasantly surprised after years of foregoing it for the Sandbar and when I finally set foot in it, it WAS because the Sandbar was too crowded. I’m sorry, Pub. You probably feel like the plain best friend that gets asked out by the hero after the hot cheerleader turns him down.
It shouldn’t, though, because it’s a lovely little place in its own right. The grub looked simple, hearty and smelled delicious. And if the Sandbar’s got strawberry Fruli, well, that’s all very well and good, but the Pub has Brothers strawberry cider. Have you ever tried it? It’s a deliciously refreshing drink and I find that only a few places offer it. It’s got a nice cheap n’ cheerful atmosphere to it, there are plenty of comfy and cosy places to sit and it seems to have evaded the Sandbar’s problem of being permanently cold. There are quiz machines too, I know this isn’t particularly unique but it made my first visit to the Pub all the more worthwhile.
It might not stand out next to Oxford Road’s more unusual bars, it’s neither a cute real ale pub or a fashionable or quirky bar therefore occupying something of a category all its own. But I found it to be perfectly pleasant and inexpensive to boot. Give the pub a try, after all, when you use the sentence, ‘Are we going to the pub?’ from now on you can really, literally mean it.

I feel the need to share my experiences with you all, having now endured three pretty dire lunchtimes in The Pub. Had it not been for the efforts of some members of staff who refunded our purchases/​offered free drinks, this review would easily have lost one very generous star.
Firstly, The Pub smells like a tramp’s armpit, and I don’t just mean your average post-​smoking-​ban mustiness.
Secondly, it is dark, dank, sticky and miserable inside.
Thirdly, the staff look like they’re working there to pay off their community service and I’m sure were not surprised to hear our complaints as they must be used to them by now.
And finally, and most importantly, the food is poor and takes at the least 40mins to arrive, if it arrives at all (meals/​sides are often overlooked and forgotten completely).
If these aren’t good enough reasons to encourage you to spend your hard earned cash elsewhere (Umami, Kro, Trof), I don’t know what is!

It is the curse of The Zoo, you will come here once and it will be brilliant. You will catch the crest of some heady wave and wash in here on a tide of green apple sourz and jagerbombs. It will be full of young, exciting people — it’s not cool in here but damn it it’s alive. Everyone is so happy to be here. And they will play an unforeseen run of guilty pleasures and half-​remembered gems from side b of that cassette you recorded off the radio. God it will be brilliant.
And then you will go again. It will start a bit shaky; the £1 bottles of Vodka Kick will make you wince a little. Then you will look around and see that everyone is acting like a pack of upset dogs. There are a group of eighteen year-​olds dressed as policewomen next to the bar and they’re having to support a young man dressed like a cartoon burglar so that he doesn’t fall over and crack his head open. And they will play Westlife and Bön Jovi and it won’t even be midnight and you will want to leave there immediately. You apologise to all the people you dragged along to this place, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I just don’t know.
That first time though, what an absolute winner.

The Pub is pretty reflective of it’s name, nothing much more to say about it and nothing special about it to characterise it with anything other than the place itself.
The Pub does student discount and as you may gather, I love student discount and will cry a little when I leave studenthood. Student discount in a pub, surely that’s wrong though. Hmm. The pub is a little grim, lots of games machines around I noticed. As a pub itself it may not exude any character but with a group of friends you’d enjoy yourself nonetheless. If Deaf Institute’s doing your head in or Sandbar’s too packed, then head to the Pub for a change of scenery. A different scene but I dare say regularly frequented by me.

Let’s face it; The Pub has a ridiculous name. When a friend asks where you should meet and you reply, The Pub, they are, inevitably, going to think you’re an idiot. However, my friends and I have got round this issue by calling it ‘The Pub, The Pub’, which seems to work quite well even though it sounds a bit stupid.
Foolish name aside, The Pub is pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, there are nicer places to drink in Manchester; the floors are sticky, it can sometimes feel a little dingy and the beers, wines and spirits are nothing special. But they have really friendly staff, great booze offers and a good quality, great value menu. They also have a row of picnic tables outside, which are perfect for smokers or if you fancy a cheap, al fresco drink in the Summer.

Back in the day, a friend and I got paid about £4/​hour to hand out flyers for one of Manchester’s indie clubs. Considering our low low wages, and the fact that, flyers or no flyers, the club was always packed, we decided to sack off most of our shifts, and spend them in The Pub. Why The Pub? Well, legend had it that although the managers of said indie club had friends all over Manchester (who would dob us in) the owner of The Pub was not one of them. In fact, they were basically enemies, or something. We didn’t care about particulars; we were just happy that The Pub was a bolthole from, y’know, having to do our jobs.
And it’s an alright place, is The Pub. It’s not flashy-​bangy exciting or cool. The fact that its name is its only gimmick (and a prosaic one at that) means that it’s just a simple place to hang out and have a few pints. It’s not a big night out destination, but if you fancy a pint or you need somewhere to watch the footy, you could do worse than to pop down to The Pub.

I never really went out in Fallowfield when I was at uni — it was studenty but not in a good way. The city centre was nice, but expensive and full of ‘real people’. So more often than not I’d end up drinking at establishments on, or just off, the Oxford Road. Sometimes this was structured into an Oxford Road pub crawl. On numerous occasions the conversation went like this:
Friend: Are you coming down Oxford Road?
Kirsten: Where abouts are you going?
Friend: We’ll start in the Grovel, head to the Oxford, down to the Phoenix, the Footage then down to the Pub, Sand…
Kirsten: Which pub?
Friend: *THE* Pub.
Kirsten: *sigh*
It’s annoying, in the same way that The Bar in Chorlton is quite an annoying name for a bar. I think a more fitting name for it would be ‘Just Another Pub’. It sells beer, it’s quite cheap, the jazz saxophonist I once heard play in here was quite good, there are always free tables for when Sandbar’s full. Yeah, it’s definitely not *the* pub to drink in but it is okay for a quick pint.

It amazes me how business owners can spend forever debating what to call their business, especially when it’s staring them in the face. Thank god the owners of the pub have seen sense; apart from anything its good business practice, everyone knows the pub. This pub holds a good range of drinks with a huge bar, it also stocks the illustrious guinness red (a whole together sweeter and lighter version then its nails brother). The food is good value though nothing special and there are a few tables to while away the hours outside on hot sunny days. Indoors are big comfortable sofas and lots of tables. I think the best way to some this place up is «does what it says on the tin».

I can’t quite figure out whether the name of this place is insulting or not to the actual clientèle. It certainly is apt, however, as nights here can get very intense, very quickly.
Hidden as it is just off Oxford Road by The Footage, finding it can be a little disorientating, especially for those new to Manchester. Whether it is worth your time or not finding it is mostly dependent on whether you enjoy cheap drinks, the modern charts, and the feel of hundreds of clammy people pressing up against you. If you only enjoy one of each, then instead you’ll need a student bar, an iTunes subscription, or urgent help. There’s a lot of student halls around it, so the queues can get very long. I’m talking upwards of an hour to get in.
It’s probably worth visiting once though to see if it’s your cup of tea. I can take it or leave it; I only want one clammy body pressing up against me in the night, hey-​oh!
I’m sleeping on the couch tonight, aren’t I?

There are bars that are so cosy I’d happily spend a whole night there, knocking back drinks, feeding the jukebox and catching up with friends. Unfortunately, there are also bars that are completely devoid of atmosphere, charm, warmth and character.
The Pub falls squarely into the latter category. I’ve racked my brains and I think the only reason it’s still afloat is because the staff are friendly and the drinks are cheap. Otherwise, it’s just a scruffy, unspectacular dive bar masquerading as a pub.

How is this place still in exsistance?! Some one please buy it and turn it into the nice bar it should be.
I hate horrible little pubs that aren’t ashamed of being horrible little pubs. This place has cheap drinks but not good drinks. Alcopops and the like. Bleugh.
It’s right near Zoo, a very popular student night so I reckon that’s the only reason it’s doing ok. But the with Deaf Institute opposite and the Footage on the corner, why would anyone go here?!
The name says it all really, this place can not be bothered being anything other than basic.

Handily located halfway along student pub crawl Oxford rd, I first ventured into The Pub because I’d turned up for a night in the opposing Deaf Institute a little early.
First impressions weren’t exactly stellar, it looked and smelled like the student dive it was. But the staff were friendly and drink cheap so I persevered. Like the trooper I am grrrrr!
I was halfway into my first pint when IT began. It started, with nothing more than the low hum of a base note, then there was the shiver of a symbol and then it happened– jazz flute night… in the pub.
Though in possession of some serious talent, the band obviously had no sense of the ridiculous and just didn’t get my laughter at the whole juxtaposition of the scene. There where old men quietly escaping their wives in one corner and aggressive drunks playing pool in another and propped up at the bar was a bouncer recounting some tale of face smashing to an unnervingly impressed barmaid all were trying to act like the flute wasn’t happening.
The only other time I visited The Pub, I sat outside in the somewhat urban patio area and was treated to amazing battle of insults by the previously mentioned bouncer and some sort of miniature super tramp who didn’t even blink when paraphrasing Michael Caine without a trace of humour to tell the doorman «You’re a big fella but you’re out of shape».
If these are normal nights at The Pub then I think I can excuse the whiff of student dive.

Although it may have a rather boring name, it does make it very easy to remember where you are if someone rings you!
in an excellent location to spend your dinnerhour before racing back into lectureswe’ve done it in 112 seconds from pub to lecture hallcant say better than that!
the tvs arent in the best locations for watching sport, and the pool tables have always been a little rickety, but for a grotty little boozer its quite ok. the food isnt great, but its enough to just feed you head before heaind back over to MMU.
the booths are large enough to fit a large groups of friends in which at least means that you arent shouting over to each other all the time