Even the outside has a charming inn feel, making it easy to forget you’re just steps from the bustling city centre.
The Grove Inn perfectly represents what we wanted to achieve with writing this blog: discovering little gems that we might not have visited otherwise because they simply weren’t on our radar. It’s a bit out of the way and maybe a little hard to find (as the convoluted driving directions on its website demonstrate), but definitely worth the trip.
One side of the bar, accessible from the front hallway.
As it promises live music every night of the week, we expected it to cater exclusively to gig-goers, but we found so much more. Off of the long entrance hallway are several individual rooms, each with a different and inviting feel. The fantastically charming décor includes a collection of ships in bottles, giant cogs on the walls, and lovely stained glass windows. The live music happens in the far back room, with a polite sign on the closed door requesting that you not come in during a song, but rather “wait till you hear applause” to enter.
The other side of the bar in the large front room.
The charming atmosphere is a wonderful complement to the fantastic beer selection. The bar has eight or nine hand-pulled ales and three real ciders, which is a bit of a rarity. There’s no bottle selection to choose from (except room-temperature Hoegaarden), but as long as you enjoy cask ale you won’t mind. And if you’re looking for something to pass the time, you can enjoy a game of darts or chess. The Grove is a great place to warm up by the fire on a cold night, or to enjoy a drink outside when the weather allows. And half of the beer garden is even covered with a roof for those rainy days!
We found ourselves wishing that the Grove was close enough to our house to become our local. Even so, it will definitely be a place that we visit over and over, thanks to its discovery along this Leeds Beer Quest!
Tags: beer garden, darts, free wifi, live music, quiz
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I wanna come here!
Been my local for S long as i remember can often find us there either sat outdoors or warming in trough in one of the snugs, introduced many people to the grove an they keep going back I your in around Leeds definitely worth bobbing in for 1 or 5
A rare example of a traditional old pub, in the oddest place. The service is traditionally Leeds too- gruff and no-nonsense but well-meaning. Beer is the main draw as the range of cask ales is superb and ever changing. It has an active music scene and a dartboard in the main bar area, which really is a man’s drinking den. The two snugs are atmospheric but not very comfortable. The old bench seats have no cushions and it feels a bit hard and cold in there. The food is pretty ad hoc- jacket potatoes, chilli, chips and basic sandwiches, on nice ciabbatta bread. The pork pies aren’t anything special. Portions are good and generally cheap. Beer prices are a little steep- £3.40 is a tad more than ideal for a 4% ale.