Shakespeare Tavern

Who the hell serves nachos on a napkin?! Half the nachos weren’t edible as a result, with the rest smothered in sour cream with no meat or beans to be seen. Chicken in the chicken salad was rubbery and suspiciously pink. Won’t be back.

Good Food. Good Beer. Good Cider. What more does one need from a pub. Put all this into an old pub and it’s a good place to hang out for the evening. If it’s just an after dinner (or pre dinner) drink or a full meal, it’s not a bad place to go.
I’ve even found a new favourite Cider (Thank’s Mac’s) damn shame it’s not available at home.

Well, on the ground floor you have a nice pub with few home made beers and the IPA is actually pretty hoppy and nicely done. On the second floor you have the restaurant with a terrace. Food is ok and you can have mussels or steak for 10 – 15 nzd for lunch. Service is nice but you can see that they are in experienced. Anyway foods and beers will be good but doesn’t make it a wow!

I wanted to like this place more, but was let down a few different times.
It was close to the hotel we stayed at and we wanted beer. The onsite brewery caught our attention, so we wandered in. There is a downstairs bar and an upstairs restaurant with outside seating overlooking the street below. We opted for the upstairs spot.
Seated and looking over the menu, we were greeted by our waitress and ordered beer. Unfortunately, they were out of the first two we ordered and don’t carry all the same beers as the downstairs bar. Oh well, we got the IPA and Pale Ale. Both were OK, not anything great.
Next were ordered a starter to get us going while we finished deciding. After placing that order, the server informs us that they were out of several items including the calamari, ribs, lamb, fish and chips. We decided to split another starter and a pizza. The «chicken nibbles» ended up being chicken wings and lacked flavor. The description of «cajun spiced» didn’t really apply. The Mexican Pizza was again, OK, nothing special.
Service was a little slow and unresponsive. When food arrived, we needed to ask for plates.
Not sure I would return for the upstairs food experience, but downstairs looked fun and I noticed a Belgian wheat on the list… I may have to come back and have a pint at the bar.

Went for lunch looking for a good beer. The pale ale they had was decent and the fish and chips were very good. Service was excellent!

I don’t get these reviews. I wouldn’t stay for a week or anything, but for a quick stop in Auckland it was perfect.
It’s old — definitely — and there are not a bunch of niceties or amenities. Our room had a bed, a window, and a bathroom. What else do we really need? The ²⁴⁄₇ bar downstairs is interesting and awesome. It’s most definitely divey, but how could it not be?
The bartender/​hotel check-​in guy was nice and helpful.
It very much is what it is, and if that’s not what you want I’m not sure why you’re here.

I had dinner at their restaurant during my recent layover in Auckland. The food and the drinks were good but the restrooms were dirty. The folks smoking outside were directly blowing cigarette smoke into the dining area.
MP
Sunnyvale, CA
USA

I once stayed at Shakespeare Tavern because it was super cheap, my parents didn’t want me bringing girls home, and, well, it was super cheap. What went on that night doesn’t need to be written about, but the room itself was fine and the check out time was right on. Shakespeare Tavern has their own micro brewery which is a great thing — although they don’t exactly make the price any cheaper which would seem a logical thing to do. They have a TAB machine, pokies and pool, and the service was fine. This is the type of place that exists to serve a basic need — to drink, eat and sleep. They don’t try to rise above these needs — there aren’t any designer touches here. However, as far as ‘ye olde english’ pubs go, Shakespeare is just fine.

My mate and I came to this pub because we wanted to find somewhere that was playing a particular football game. It was on in here so we decided to go in and enjoy a few beers. I didn’t really have a great experience in this pub, the atmosphere was a little strange, and the pub itself was quite dirty and old. I know it’s an old building and all, but it seems like this place is trying to fit in as an old fashioned English pub but just can’t quite pull it off. It just wasn’t all that friendly in here, and the tap beers weren’t very good either. They do have a nice looking seating area on the top deck of the building though which I might check out one day.
The opening hours above are for the restaurant. The bar is ²⁴⁄₇.