Encore

This place is better than three stars, and straddles the line between £ and ££. They have a pretty good sized menu, and the burgers aren’t half bad. I got the mixed grill burger and it was a monster. Filled me up in a good way. Fries are OK too.
It’s clean, there is Guinness on tap, plenty of seating, and a billiards table. I am not ashamed to hand out 4 stars. The staff was decent.

We stopped in here for a quick lunch on our way from Torquay to Brighton. The place wasn’t busy but when my husband placed our order, I was surprised to hear that a burger and an egg salad sandwich were going to take 15 minutes… until it came.
The burger wasn’t much to write home about however, the egg salad sandwich or rather… sub that appeared before me was huge and it was only then that I realised that the eggs had been freshly hard-​boiled. That explains the 15 minutes!
I had the option of having the sandwich on bread, baguette or Panini (I think) and silly me went with the baguette! Don’t get me wrong, the sandwich was fantastic and still warm from the eggs being cooked but it was simply WAY too much food and sadly, I left half because… well, I had to keep room for dessert!
Warm apple pie with custard! It wasn’t much to look at when it arrived but man was it ever good! Had it been socially acceptable, I would have licked that plate clean!
The service was good and I would definitely recommend stopping in if you’re ever in the area.

Updated to 3 stars as actually managed to have food, even though just before the Evita started at the Mayflowers. Staff were rushed off their feet, did there best to get people served drinks and food wise. However a few people left without having their food. If you would like food before the show recommend you go at the least 2 hours before to ensure you have time to receive and eat food.
Has the monopoly as the only Pub nearest to the Mayflower. 3 people behind bar on the final day of ‘Phantom of the Opera’, even for the Matinée. Only 2 ladies toilets, not best situated for queues.

Biggest draw for this venue was the proximity to the theatre next door — we were here to see the Paul O’Grady panto on the 27^th. That and the fact that it was pretty much the only thing open that we could find.
It’s a pub billing itself as a restaurant, and we were here for a pre-​show lunch. The food is certainly cheap as well as basic and serviceable … burgers, meat pies, etc. OK, but nothing to write home about.
We had 2 burgers and 2 chicken sandwiches among the four of us, all of which were served with fries and cole slaw as sides. There certainly were fries, but the serving of cole slaw was laughable — if you got a forkful on your plate, you were lucky.
The toilets are just awful. The ladies had two stalls, very narrow but with oddly wide doors, which meant that you had to literally straddle the toilet to shut the door.

Reports of the men’s room included the same stall/​door issue, along with having no seat on the toilet (looked like it had been torn off) and that it stank like a stable at noon.
The Encore served it’s purpose, in that we were no longer hungry when we left, but we just hope the folks in Southampton do have other choices in town.

The Encore is a really nice pub next to the theatre. It gets very busy before and after shows at the theatre. It is quite big inside and they sell a good range of drinks and have a good range of food on the menu at reasonable prices. The service has been quick when I have been in. They have televisions and a list saying what football games they will be showing through the season. There is a pool table. The staff here seem quite friendly. It is annoying that you have to work your way through all the smokers standing outside the door.

Ideal for visiting for pre/​post drinks for the Mayflower Theatre next door, and can often be found packed out before and after the shows start and finish, but is great for a quiet drink most other times. Doesn’t usually get too full!
Has a good size bar at fair prices, serves food through the day at pub prices, has a pool table, several plasma tv’s (mostly for sport), and a jukebox.
Plenty of seating around the bar and pub, across two levels.
All together a nice place to relax with a drink!