The Grove Inn

How can anybody not like the grove?
Tucked away behind Bridgewater Place, looking totally out of place with the modern clean lines surrounding it, it offers a small ever changing cast of ales served in a warm inviting environment.
The beer is always kept well and they have music events all year round, from touring acts to open mic/​jam nights in the front (back? side? its hard to tell) room.
The only way to describe it is as a village pub plonked into the city centre, theres some real characters that prop up the bar or relax in the small little rooms dotted about and theres always some random conversation going on.
All in all its a real change from the countless theme pubs and bars in the city centre.

I’ve always held strong views about (everywhere) The Grove, having visited there about 7 years ago on a staff leaving do, and not being at all enamoured with it. Too small, too dank, too ‘old man’…
So either it’s changed, or I have.
Now instead of ‘small’ I see the labyrinth of corridors and rooms as a good thing, instead of too dank I appreciate that it smells of wood and history, instead of old man … actually, maybe I’m now just an old man.
With a very decent selection of beers and a little beer garden at the rear, the Grove Inn is actually a little gem in the shadow of the monstrosity that is Bridgewater Place.
Though I’m not sure I’d entirely like to try the food.
I think ultimately, maybe we’ve both changed a little bit.

What a lovely multiroomed place! With stained glass, an attractive fireplacea real ale lovers haven, basically!
They offer 8 real ales with Salamander and Moorhouse the most represented of breweries I went for a Daleside blonde and was not disappointed by very tastiness! Boasts live music. I don’t care. but where?

Oh dear! A handful of reviews and already I’m accused of hurling stars around like some Shaolin monk.
Five stars here, five stars there.
Maybe I should go to places that don’t impress so easily?
But I’ve just been to The Grove Inn and I love this place; I love the way it’s dwarfed by next-​door giants like Bridgewater Place but doesn’t seem to care; and I love it inside too. Step through the door and it’s like going back in time — but only because no-one’s thought it worth changing anything too much rather than because some marketing wizard’s mind has been at work.
My last visit was on a Sunday when musician Al Bampton was staging one of his afternoon shows for emerging talent… live music from youngsters who deserve to be stars. Maybe one day they will be.
I guess I should have asked for autographs but was too shy to ask… even after a few pints. Oh yea, five stars for the ale as well.

The Grove is a wonderful traditional pub in an area which has been heavily redeveloped in recent years. Indeed, Bridgwater Place and its many offices/​flats looms large over The Grove’s head at all times, casting a shadow reminding you of the need to keep elements of tradition amongst our modern working environment.
The Grove splits itself into a number of drinking areas, all centred around a single bar, the main feature of which is a startling number of ales which seem to rotate on an ever changing basis. This is definitely a place to come if CAMRA is your thing. Even if it is not, I can not think of many better places to sit round a table with a drink in hand putting the world to right.

Love, love, love! This great little independent pub is not to be missed! Especially open mic night on Wednesdays. Get there early as it’s always packed. I’ve been to many different open mic nights in Leeds and this is definitely my favourite — it’s relaxed and respectful, and has an assortment of genres. The Grove has many other excellent music nights and their music festival in the summer is great.

Stumbled into the grove with a couple of buddies while showing my dad around Leeds last Monday night. We walked in and were welcomed by the smell of fish and chips being done for a small group towards the back of the pub and sat down to 4 pints of Black Band Porter by Kirkstall Brewery. They also had many other low session beers on hand pulls that suits every beery need and want. We did enjoy this pub with it seemly random rooms thrown about in a weird manor it was almost as if we were in a house. Its situated in a very peculiar position in between the big office building and hotels in the area. Best way to find this pub is to go through the dark arches and pasted water lane and just keep going a bit further and BOOM there is it. Just look for the outta place building and there you have it The Grove Inn nestled there looking right outta place just singing to you to come on in and have a couple of pints.

Hidden between all the faceless new buildings is this Victorian gem.
Loads of beer and great music almost everynight.
The owners apparently refused silly money offers to sell the pub to several evil overlords like ASDA so they could knock the pub down and use the land. Now if that’s not a good enough reason to support them I dont know what is.
Give it a whirl.
PS: Oh, and an update to Phil’s review they do now serve food.

What a great pub this is — and welcomed our CAMRA group with ease.
plenty of real ale choice — including a mild. There is a live music room at the back and looks like they have a packed programme. It looks unspoilt with original features.

If the fact that the owners must have refused a small fortune, and resisted constant pressure, to sell while monstrous office blocks where sprouting up around it doesn’t give this pub credit enough, the range of excellent and original ale surely does. Locally and nationally brewed beers are both on offer and take precedence over any popular economy lager. The unexpected location of this pub generally seems to not have any bearing on the clientele or level of business, although it may be slightly too disjunct from Leeds city centre for students (no bad thing). And it is so pleasing to enter a pub with its original interior intact, it’s partitioning walls creating secluded corners and creating an undeniably warm, unique atmosphere; It is particularly unique (and often warm) when you end up being slightly too close to the interestingly odorous regular on a busy Friday afternoon.
This pub is excellent in many, many ways and is a testament to the traditions of British pub life. No huge flat-screen’s inexplicably playing Eastender’s on a Friday night, no karaōke, and no garish gambling machines to distract from the fabulous beer. In a time when pubs are dying ever week, this marvelous stalwart will hopefully continue to carry the flame for British pubs across the country.

The Grove appears to be nestling oddly beneath the looming office blocks of the surrounding area, defiantly curled up like a cat unwilling to move from a favourite spot, with its eyes darting suspiciously at the hustle and bustle of the outside world (why not push the metaphor to breaking point!?)
My first experience of The Grove was magical. Convinced that I was on a wild goose chase down the wrong street and I would eventually end up weeping on the hard shoulder, I finally arrived! What an atmosphere! It was Wednesday night, which means open mic! Not to be missed! Not having heeded the advice to arrive early, my friends and I had to wait for the sound of applause to slowly edge through the door into the main room, which was completely and utterly packed! Three beautiful hippy girls began to sing in delicate harmony with a gently strummed guitar: ‘the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs’, the punters fell silent.
The line up that night included a baggy-​trousered skater type playing impressive piano solos, a barber shop quartet of four perfectly ordinary, not hugely talented but totally loveable middle aged blokes, and a similarly aged slam-​poet with steel toe-​capped boots and dreadlocks down to his knees. I was in heaven.
To cut a long story short, The Grove is an absolute gem of Leeds, full of characters and well worth the wild goose chase walk among the sky scrapers!

The first time I was taken to the Grove it was a freezing cold day. The first frost had settled and it felt like we’d been walking miles out of town. «Are we nearly there yet? My God, it had better be worth it!» We entered in and the warmth practically knocked me out.
It’s such a strange location for a pub. The only way you’ll know about its existence is through its die-​hard fans, of whom there are many, since you are seldom going to just come across it. If you are driving around the city loop, you’ll come across a vast section of immense high rise buildings, and then (so long as you don’t blink) you’ll spot the Grove, a tiny homely pub sat bang smack in the middle of these ostentatious overbearing abominations.
Back to the aforementioned warmth. It was full of life when I arrived. In the tiny snug there were all these laughing folk packed in with guitars. The main room was holding the regular folk night, a purist acoustic open mic night, where silent musicians will sit and ponder who ever is on stage. The snug was apparently the break away group who wanted to sing and be rowdy without being shushed. So in I was thrown, a guitar shoved in hand, and before long I was drinking and singing raucously with the rest of them.
This pub is a wonderful place to be. It’s more like a community of musicians and thinkers than a venue — simply chatting to the guys behind the bar would convince you of that. It serves homely good grub, all the delicious real ale you could want, and it even has its own pub dog — a cute little West Yorkshire Terrier. Fantastic!

While I’m unsure of the veracity of the oft-​told story that the Grove Inn was saved from redevelopment hell by a rich owner, often a rich celebrity, refusing to sell, there is no doubt that this old-​fashioned pub is rarity in an area teeming with glassy office blocks and fancy bars. Sticking out like a sore thumb, the Grove is a stubborn reminder of a bygone age that refuses to budge, no matter how many high rises and luxury flats spring up around it, and for this its regulars seem eternally grateful. Every Friday for the past 47 years, the pub has played host to what claims to be the world’s oldest single-​venue folk night, and there are many faces who who look like they’ve been around since this started. They even look as if they’ve been sat in the same chair. There are other good music nights, including open mic on Wednesdays, but dabblers beware — this is serious music for serious musos, and anyone caught talking during a performance will find themselves the recipient of some very dirty looks. The bar serves up what you’d expect from a pub of this ilk, with a good rotating selection of local cask ales and continental beers, and the food is basic but reasonable home-​cooked fare. Come in the early evening and enjoy a quiet drink in surroundings that feel a million miles away from central Leeds, or throw yourself in at the deep end and get stuck into an impromptu ceilidh on a Friday night. Great fun.

great little pub, unspoilt, real ale and live music… heaven!!! convenient too only 5 mins from train station

Traditional Leeds pub with CAMRA real ale — voted the best real ale pub in Leeds by CAMRA recently! And that’s a deserved accolade. Don’t come here looking for a lounge bar, you won’t find one, this is a pub’s pub, carpeted, with stained glass and pie n chips on the menu. And it’s great at what it does! A warm, friendly atmosphere with loads going on, you’ll be welcomed here be you passing traveller or weary businessman!
The only problem is that if you’re not drinking there is very limited parking in the area as the street it is on is double yellow lined.
There is a spacious bright outdoor seating area and dogs are welcome (which is a rarity in leeds city centre!)
2 minutes walk from the train station, 15 maybe from the bus (with a bus stop 30 seconds away).
If you’re passing and you like real ale and the smell of a proper pub, go in, you won’t be disappointed.

A hidden treasure nestled at the base of a new skyscraper and backed by industrial units, The Grove is far and away the best pub in Leeds. With 8 real ales on every night of the week, no food, open fires in each of the 4 or so rooms, plus darts, dogs, and live music 7 nights a week — what more could you want?!
The standard of the open-​mic is quite frighteningly good, so make sure you practice a bit first, or go for dutch courage…
Highly recommended.