Bars
The 6 Best Pubs in Fitzrovia
Bohemian ghosts, Sam Smith's prices and a pie room upstairs: Fitzrovia drinks like nowhere else in the West End.
In short: our top picks are The Fitzroy Tavern, The Newman Arms and The George. 6 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
Fitzrovia is where Soho’s noise softens into something more grown-up, and its pubs still carry the ink stains of the writers who propped up their bars. This is Sam Smith’s country, so you can drink well for the price of a Soho half, then walk two streets to a Grade II gastropub doing scotch eggs and Guinness pie. The best move is to treat it as a slow crawl rather than a single stop. Every corner here has a proper pub, and most of them come with a story you can still taste in the room.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| The Fitzroy Tavern | Fitzrovia | ££ |
| The Newman Arms | Fitzrovia | ££ |
| The George | Marylebone | £££ |
| The Wheatsheaf | Fitzrovia | ££ |
| The Champion | Fitzrovia | ££ |
| The Queen Charlotte | Fitzrovia | ££ |
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Editor’s choice
The Fitzroy Tavern
Why we pick itA Sam Smith's boozer where Orwell, Dylan Thomas and Augustus John once drank, with cheap house ales and a wood-panelled downstairs Writers and Artists Bar.
historic tavern
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The Newman Arms
Why we pick itThe upstairs Pie Room turns out proper suet-crust pies at white-clothed tables, above a narrow tap room that inspired the proles' pub in Orwell's 1984.
pie pub
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The George
Why we pick itAn 18th-century Grade II listed corner pub cooking Top 50 Gastropubs food, from black pudding scotch eggs to Guinness pie, across two handsome floors.
gastropub
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The Wheatsheaf
Why we pick itA mock-Tudor Nicholson's pub on Rathbone Place with cask ales and 1930s literary ghosts; Dylan Thomas met his wife Caitlin here.
traditional pub
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The Champion
Why we pick itVictorian gault-brick corner pub kept by Sam Smith's, its stained-glass windows picturing WG Grace and Florence Nightingale above a preserved snob screen.
Victorian corner pub
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The Queen Charlotte
Why we pick itA licensed corner pub since 1767, independent again after the BrewDog years, pouring three rotating cask lines from UK breweries at five pounds a pint.
independent corner pub
Before you book
Goodge Street and Tottenham Court Road are the nearest tubes, both minutes from every pub here. Book ahead for the Newman Arms Pie Room and for a table at The George; the Sam Smith’s houses like the Fitzroy Tavern and The Champion are walk-in only, with no music, no TVs and no phones out on the table. Weekday evenings from six fill fast with the after-work crowd, so arrive early or save it for a quieter weekend afternoon.
Common questions
What are the top picks in this guide?
The Fitzroy Tavern is our editor's choice: A Sam Smith's boozer where Orwell, Dylan Thomas and Augustus John once drank, with cheap house ales and a wood-panelled downstairs Writers and Artists Bar. The Fitzroy Tavern, The Newman Arms and The George lead the guide, with 6 places in total, all chosen on merit.
How does Lamplit London choose its recommendations?
Every place is chosen on merit, after first-hand visits where possible, with no pay-for-placement. Read our full method at https://www.lamplitlondon.com/how-we-choose/.
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