The Foresters

Moody awful pub with stale beer and no atmosphere, do not recommend!

Reminiscent of Moe’s Tavern, The Foresters is equipped with a pool table, a few table and chairs, and a smell of stale beer. The pub attracts locals rather than students and young people. The bar staff are very friendly and I felt welcome there but I would come here for a quick stop rather than a relaxed evening drink. It is unusual that they advertise 2−4−1 cocktails in what is essentially an old-man’s pub attracting older locals-​mainly men. There is nothing fancy or modern but The Foresters does what a pub should do — serve beer and give you a place to sit and chat or play pool.

In an old Tudor building, the Foresters is a proper local’s pub in the middle of Gloucester Road. It’s got a very historical vibe — it’s interior is fairly quaint, matching its unique and fairly striking exterior. By quaint I perhaps mean a little tired and old, but having said this it does have a certain charm the way it is.
With a few sofas, a pool table and TV screens, it serves its purpose pretty well as a place to catch a leisurely pint, perhaps watch a game or play some pool. I’ve never seen it heaving, even on a weekend — it’s the kind of pub you wouldn’t make a special effort to go to, but you wouldn’t be too disappointed if you stopped by for a drink. It does have a bit of a local’s vibe to it, but ignore them, they won’t bite.

The Forrester’s is a local pub for local Bristolians, enter at your own risk if you aren’t one. With cheap pints and low ceilings, the pub’s interior suits it’s exterior; old fashioned, quaint and almost historic. The pub clearly hasn’t been subject to the usual treatments establishments like this often get; it’s quite rustic inside, if you will. I get the feeling it might be a meeting place for Bristolians of a certain age and walk of life and less of a place the cool Gloucester road student population might inhabit.

Sandwiched between shops, this is a very friendly, open pub that feels a bit like the front room of a big terraced townhouse, with its sofas and open space, and the staircase leading up to the upstairs bar (which normally functions as a pool and TV room). This is a cosy if slighlty grubby pub with a limited selection of cask ales and a good, reasonably priced bar menu — a good place to catch up with friends over a few slow pints. Moreover, it normally feels less busy than some of the other pubs along Gloucester Road. Also conveniently located for Gloucestershire County Cricket Ground.

The Foresters is a great place to go to if you want a quiet game of pool, with the cheapest table on Gloucester Rd (50p as at 14^th November ’07). Drinks are nice and cheap, too, and service is friendly. Perfect for an unpretentious pint, or if you consider shabby to be «chic», and can somehow hold your breath when you enter the toilets.
Make sure you visit the nearby cash machines before you go in, otherwise you’ll have to spend a minimum of a tenner.