The Alex

Great food — really good value! Cheap drinks. Awesome atmosphere. Dropped in here on a Sunday night for dinner. It was the only pub in town for food n there was a quiz on. Lots of laughs

Food is called out to you over a mic! How amazing is that?
Great nightlife atmosphere and not what I expected in the land of Essex :)
An alternative venue, with an upstairs bar area and downstairs bar area both serving food late on a Saturday night!
The bar staff are friendly, up for a laugh and there to help. Drinks aren’t expensive and there’s a cash machine in the venue too.
The food is yummy grub pub food — opportunity to get either 10, 20 or even 30 chicken wings!!! I chose the Nachos as per, with chilli, and they were nommylicious.
A balcony on the first floor, that leads down to the outside decking area with garden benches and nice pot plants for those summer evenings.

I’ve been to the Alex on a number of occasions in the past and been perfectly happy, but we went there for drinks and something to eat before going to a club last week and the service was so slow I was convinced that it had been taken over by Wetherspoons!
Firstly there was only one waitress at the bar (on a Friday night), whilst she did a good job of remembering who was next she was constantly outnumbered by the customers and this was before 7pm.
We ordered food, which i must admit was very nice (although there was a little too much garlic in the garlic bread) the fact that it took 55mins to arrive at the table somewhat deadened the appeal.
After 35 mins of waiting I called over the waitress and asked if there was a problem, only to be told, and I quote:
well you’ve only been waiting 35 minutes, those people over there have been waiting 45!
So much for the customer is always right huh? Needless to say after eating we drank up and found another pub.
While this wont dent all my enthusiasm for this venue, it might be some time before I return.

Very dark and depressing atmosphere, which partly lends to it’s charm, but I feel as though they went a little too far with the effect.
Usually a student haunt, other crowds often frequent the place too, and is a fairly decent stop-​off place before heading to nearby clubs.
Although they do have special nights where drinks are cheaper, (such as pints), when these events are not on they’re a bit pricier than other venues, though not bank-​breaking excessive prices.
The staff are always polite and friendly, and are very chatty, which makes you feel welcome if you’re a first time visitor to the bar/​pub.