The Charlotte Despard

GREAT Local! go for a quickie or stay for dinner… will def go back.

There is nothing particularly fancy about Charlotte Despard, but that’s exactly the beauty of it. It’s the epitome of ‘the neighborhood pub’ that everyone should have next door — there’s good beer & booze, good prices, lovely owners, and above all, a unique sense of community.
The pub is popular for its Tuesday night quiz (from 8:30pm) with free booze for the table as the main prize. But on any day, you are bound to find the pub full of Archway locals and regulars from the nearby areas. Even if you are not particularly great at socializing, it’s impossible not to start recognizing familiar faces after a while. If you are new to Archway, seriously come and check it out — you will never have to have a beer alone.
As a lager fan I like that there’s Czech Pilsner Urquell on tap, plus a surprisingly tasty and refreshing generic ‘Despard’ pilsen beer. There are also three Vedettes and multiple ales on tap. There is a decent selection of wine and of course, booze galore, but that goes without saying.
The atmosphere at Despard is super chill, and the music is never loud to the point that you couldn’t hear your friends talk. It’s also a good spot to come in and watch sports, shoot some pool or play a round of one of the many tabletop games provided. The owners are clearly very tied to the local community, and keep coming up with ways to spice the afternoons/​nights at the pub up — e.g. by having great food deals during big sports events like the recent rugby tournament, etc.
To top off the homely atmosphere, the pub also houses a much beloved three-​legged cat Legs (the rescue cat of the year — I forget which year). Just be a little careful with Legs — while he is super cute to look at, he is very choosy with whom he lets to pet him.
That’s it, you now have all the important information to make The Charlotte Despard your second home, like many of us in Archway did. We’ll see you there :).

Really nice pub with a famous three legged cat! The bar man was friendly and recommended a nice wine for me. Nice atmosphere.

I’ve got to change my review on this one. Management has changed a few times in recent years it seems with the result being that the Despard unfortunately never quite lived up to its potential. Right now the pub still seems to be making a good effort on the beer front but the people running it seem to have an unusual siege mentality, the old ‘you’re either with us or against us’ attitude. This means that any criticism or complaint is not tolerated and rather is met with a counter attack, without any consideration for the merits of the situation. I’ve seen a couple of examples of this now involving friends and it infuriates me beyond belief. This means that although I personally have had no actual quarrel with the pub (unless they see this I guess) I feel that by their own definition I am ‘against them’ and thus unwelcome.

So much better than all the pubs nearby, with every possible drink imaginable. I really like the church pew seats and the vast array of board games, although I feel like I wouldn’t have the stamina to finish a game of Risk normally let alone after a few pints. I love the atmosphere here and it’s the perfect place to have a drink, meet some friends, and show everyone how much you suck at Jenga. The drinks are reasonably priced by London standards and served by friendly staff who know how much cucumber to put with a Hendricks G&T. When busy, the place is buzzing but never too crowded and the music never too loud. The pub quiz on Tuesdays is really fun and I’ll definitely be going again for the free round of shots for each team that wins a section of the quiz. Our team came second! I still have no idea how we managed to pull that one.

Excellent pub in Archway. Plenty of seating and well organised. Good choice of beer.
I will certainly be back very soon.

Names after a woman who was a suffragette,
Charlotte was twice imprisoned in nearby
Holloway Prison. Born into a wealthy family,
she went from Ireland to live with relatives
in London but before she left she had joined
Sinn Féin & helped found the Communist
party of Ireland. She went to England, where
she was a pacificist & a suffragette.
She wrote poetry & novels

Went to this pub for the first time the other day as its my new local and I wanted to check it out. Nice and cosy on the inside and the barman was friendly. Enough seats and good atmosphere for a chilled drink. prices are good, with food looking extremely reasonable. Recommended!