Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: The Sugar Loaf, Easton
A double page spread of I Weekend’s Guide to Garden Birds hangs halfway up the wall and to its left is a complete collection of Ann Cleaves’ mystery crime novels.
The last time I was here, there was wrestling on the telly but today a Manchester City vs Tottenham game is on, watched by trio of middle-aged men with tankards of lager.
Over their shoulder, a gaggle of young people muck around playing pool and, at the bar, a woman sweeps dreadlocks over her head and orders a Red Stripe.
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This pub’s grub doesn’t putting on any airs right through from bar snacks of pickled eggs, Pepperami and peanuts to Sunday roasts – choose between roast beef, pork bell, chicken or squash nut roast for less than a tenner.
There is a clock on almost every wall here, and beneath one, next to a jukebox, is a framed wobbly line drawing of what appears to be a cat wearing boots.
If you want any more clues as to what kind of pub this is, on the bar rest a dozen puffy white rolls which went viral for their generous slabs on cheese and onion in November.
Quirky, eclectic, earthy: it almost seems offensive to label the Sugar Loaf any of these words because it really isn’t trying to be another other than a boozer for the community.
It’s in a neighbourhood, Easton, that has seen lots of changes in recent times and is at the centre of the gentrification debate in the city.
But the red brick watering hole feels untouched by the clutches of craft beer and house plants, with landlord Martin Donlin, who has been running the pub since 2018 a, recently telling Bristol24/7 “we are just an old-fashioned boozer run by an old-fashioned boozer”.
Hundreds of years ago, the Sugar Loaf used to be a coaching inn and some of its historic features inside remain. Today, regulars have been coming here, the only pub on St Mark’s Road, for generations – and long may it continue.
The Sugar Loaf, 51 St Marks Rd, Easton, BS5 6HX
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All photos: Betty Woolerton
Read next:
- Easton voted among top 50 coolest neighbourhoods in the world
- Pub’s cheese rolls go viral
- Parrot, pickled eggs and smiley people on wish list for Easton pub
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