Bricklayer’s Arms

Just a good boozer with a smoking area and a juke box. The pot roast shank was a tour de force.

Okay… reviews on this pub are old and in need of a refreshing breeze!
The pub is incredible, Shoreditch is no more hipster and the clubs and other pubs and bars surrounding are all so fashionable.
The Bricklayer’s Arm remains incredibly unique. The music comes from the jukebox and it is full of all time favorite of mine!
The atmosphere is great and people were singing the songs, drinks are still reasonably cheap and no more Thai food. Just old British pub food to order at the counter to snack with a pint!
Definitely a different place in the glittery Shoreditch!

This is my favourite pub in London and I always make a point of dropping by for a Guinness when I am in the city. I have fond memories of Shoreditch in the late 90s before the Essex townies started coming in by the trainload. A pair of Levi’s Twister jeans, a t-​shirt and a pair of scuffed Converse Lo-​Stars were all you needed to fit in here. In summer the bar piles out onto the street and I swear that the tunes in the jukebox haven’t changed in years. You could put on the Roses, the Jam and a bit of Bowie and watch the roof blow off on Friday and Saturday nights. You almost felt like a DJ. I think it is the only place I have ever pulled a bird on a Wednesday night and there was always a hottie behind the bar. A great pub and the backdrop of my mid-​late 20s. Check it out.

Meh. I’m not keen on this pub at all… but I’m sure I’ll come back as my boyfriend’s friends work around the corner from here… and it’s a nice place to stand outside in the summer sun.
Why I’m not keen:
* The ladies loos are truly disgusting! Most have broken locks so you have to hold the door closed with your foot while you pee. They are covered in biro-​ed on graffiti… mostly with bad spelling/​grammar that makes me sad.
* There is never any loo roll in the evening either, so maybe they don’t bother to clean it throughout the day?!
* The staff are friendly when you get to them, but it takes sooo long to be served.
* The pub itself doesn’t have any character… I’ve been here more than ten times and I can’t think of any distinguishing features.
Why I go there anyway:
* The drinks aren’t too pricey
* The street outside gets plenty of sun in the summer, so it’s a nice place to stand, drink and talk. The crowds are mostly VFX geeks, so are really friendly and nice to chat to.
* I have overhead some amaaaazing exchanges in the aforementioned loos as other girls chat while they pee. Hipster ladies can have hilarious conversations about the posh lads they have their eyes on.

This will always remain in my heart from 1996 but the looks of the photos I can hardly recognize the place. I know it became Thai upstairs but can you even get a nice greasy Fry-​up on a Sunday? I’ll have to pop back in. Lots of good memories but perhaps it’s all gone???

Jukebox has a good selection music. A lot of room to stand and a fair amount of sitting. They have a patio in the back for smokers and a restaurant upstairs which I didn’t get a chance to experience because it was closed. They do have a good selection of beer and liquor, nothing too fancy. I payed a little over £2 for a Guiness but damn was it good.

A decent enough pub near Old Street. The staff are friendly and even on a Saturday night you can get served really quickly. It serves some reasonable real ales and lagers but nothing too inspiring. The jukebox is decent though — it was banging out some decent songs all night.
Overall not a bad place to meet with friends for a few pints but nothing special.

The pub isn’t up to much but the food upstairs is amazing! They do a lunchtime special: 2 courses for £7.50 and the veggie thai red curry is the best I have ever had the tofu wasn’t mushy and slimy it was perfectly fried and sweet! Yum yum yum!

Ended up ringing in the New Year in this place… I like it. Unpretentious, always a random crowd, never too crowded, smoking room in the back for those that need it, and a great jukebox. Who could ask for more?

Always hit this place up when on the jazz round Shorebitch.
Just a damn good boozer, with some ‘authentic’ smells and the usual shoreditch crowd.
Guinness ranges from okay to good in here.
In the summer this area is the Daddy for drinking out on the street.
Only had one bad night in here: One of the local crack-​lords; an old guy in his eighties, built like a brick-​shitter and dressed like a funky farmer type was having a few quiet ales with a young addict who was smashed of her teets on Glue or summet. She was only in her 20’s and obviously would do anything for a free toot off Captain Crack Farmer. Watching those two leave arm in arm was a bit depressing, esp as the old croon let the door swing into the poor lasses fizzog. The image haunts me and therefore I drop a star from my rating.
‘part from Cpt. Crack this place is slammin!

There is something inexplicably wonderful about knocking back a few rounds of Kronenbourg Blanc on the street outside this down to earth pub in the middle of Shoreditch. A great place; loud, but not too loud, cool, but not too cool, divey, but not too divey.
The bartenders are nice, the booze selection is good and not overpriced, the jukebox is great, and the people who come here are cool but generally not Shoreditch t*ats. Upstairs they serve Thai food (why is it that pubs always seem to serve Thai food?), which is decent fare.
One word of warning: one time I came here with a friend/​colleague and he ended up getting his bag stolen. Comes with the territory, I suppose, but take care with your belongings.

Despite its recent and completely, in my opinion, needless ‘makeover’ in the form of a dash of red pleather and some generally tasteless jazzing up, the Bricklayer’s Arms is a good little Shoreditch pub in the mould of The Barley Mow.
Like most drinking holes in this locale, The Bricklayer’s Arms really comes to life during the summer when patrons can take their drinks outside. It’s just a shame the former authentic feel of this popular little haunt has been stripped of it post gentrification.

I have mixed feelings about The Bricklayer’s Arms. I used to be a big fan of the place and thought that it was great such a traditional pub had managed to remain in the heart of Shoreditch. Then after a chat with one of the locals I realised that this pub isn’t so traditional after all and while it’s kept it’s old pub face, inside it’s stripped back and lost of the character it used to have. Very drunkenly the man told me he had decided to come over to chat to us because we were the only people not sitting on our laptops or wearing berets. He said he had been coming here for years but he’s fallen out of love with the place because its clientele are too trendy for their own good. Looking around I could see he was right, this place is a much a part of the Hoxton scene as any of the other bars around.
It was with a bit of guilt that I told the man I quite liked it. I know it’s not a traditional pub any more but the drinks are reasonable, the staff are nice and it’s generally a comfy and laid-​back place to visit. Our brief friendship ended after this. I think perhaps he was trying to invite us to another pub, a proper old man pub, but we resisted. The Bricklayer’s Arms isn’t traditional and the Thai menu goes against the grain a bit but it’s still a nice enough place to hang out and have a couple of beers.

This boozer feels like an honest & down to earth, older friend of the surrounding bars and pubs. The regulars here don’t hold back at extolling its virtues and arty-​boho past life either, which is always a good sign I feel, even if it isn’t necessarily asked for.
The interior is understated and unpretentious and the staff are smiling and talkative. I came here in the summer where there was quite a buzz around the terrace tables. The food I hear is also top notch Thai and the beer is well priced. You can’t complain at all.

Once only known to me from reading it on the front of a bus, this is a nice little Shoreditch boozer. Because of it’s prime location it can get super busy in here, but you can always get your drink in a plastic cup and hit the streets. Bricklayers somehow manages to keep an inviting local feel despite being so popular, and if you can battle with those weird alcy’s that are ALWAYS sitting on the table near the door then you can get a seat. the only thing i don’t enjoy is scaling the stairs in order to pee!

One of my favorite local pubs. It’s a great place to go for a pint in the afternoon. And they have an upstairs where you have your choice of Thai food. Heard it was pretty good grub. I love going to this place by myself with a current art magazine, grab a pint, and settle in to a couch by the window. The place has a very laid back feel. This is another great stopping point during a night out in the hood.

For some reason in Bricklayers Arms I always feel like it was Christmas. It must be the great red decoration and the lightnings, it just makes the place so cozy and harmless. It is very different from a typical pub, and still I think of it as one of my locals. There is a restaurant upstairs but I have always just been in the bar for a beer after work.
The staff is usually very friendly and laid back, sometimes more interested in their own fashionable looks than the customers. But they are very stylish!