Pub

• Battersea's Four Thieves pub is reborn as The Thieves, with Balans on food duty

  

  Since August, Battersea's Four Thieves pub has been undergoing a big renovation and now it's coming out the other end of that as a "new" pub, The Thieves. 

  In its previous incarnation, the pub had an arcade and was big on events and karaoke. Now it's really leaning into that, describing itself as "a playground for adults". The upstairs arcade, now called The

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• Willem Dafoe gets a Mayfair pub named after him

  

  As autumn arrives, the drinks brands' marketing budget shoots up in preparation for Christmas, and that usually means we get some mad pop-ups and events in the last few months of the year. This latest venture certainly fits into that mould.

  The Barley Mow in Mayfair has teamed up with Laphroaig Whisky and none other than Willem Dafoe for their current stunt. It's to tie in with ...

• The Parcel Yard, one of London's most useful station pubs, has had a big glow up

  

  It's always been one of the handiest pubs in a London train station, and for the past few weeks, The Parcel Yard has been getting a revamp. 

  If you're not familiar with the pub, it's at the back of King's Cross station (just past the throngs queuing for a picture of themselves with the Harry Potter trolley). Until now, the inside has been kind of a (heavily

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• Dalston's pie and eel shop gets a new life as The Black Eel pub

  

  For years, it was best known as F Cooke eel, pie and mash shop. Then it became a Chinese karaoke joint and, most recently, was cocktail and board game spot Draughts. Now, one of the best-known frontages on Kingsland High Street (and a Grade II listed site to boot) is about to turn into a pub.

  The Black Eel comes from Exale Brewing, who also run the William the Fourth in Leyton and

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• The Trafalgar is the first new pub to be built on the King's Road in 100 years

  

  Chelsea's upcoming pub opening, The Trafalgar, has a few claims to fame. First the company behind it, the Three Cheers Pub Co, say theirs is the first new public house to be built on Chelsea's main shopping drag in more than a century. The building they're taking over also has its own history, having been designed by Sir Roger Blomfield who also built the UK Prime Minister's country pile, Chequers.

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• The team behind The Pelican are opening The Hart beside Chiltern Firehouse

  

  Updated 12/9/25 with images

  It's been a busy few months for The Public House Group. The company, who are behind The Pelican and The Hero pubs, pulled a double in Notting Hill, opening Canteen and The Fat Badger there in quick succession.

  Now they've set their sights on a new

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• The Crisp Pizza team are opening a pub in Mayfair with a little help from The Devonshire

  

  8/8/25 - Updated with more details

  A few weeks ago, we reported that plans for the Crisp Pizza team to expand into central London had got a step closer to reality, after months of work to take over The Marlborough Head pub on North Audley Street. Now, we have lots more information about the opening (simply called "The Marlborough"), including how a nearby pub superteam is helping

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• Test Driving Chalk Freehouse - Tom Kerridge's second try at breaking Chelsea

  

  Tom Kerridge is taking his Chelsea pub in a new direction, one which has more nods to his best-known pub, The Hand and Flowers. We went along to see what the change has brought about. 

• The Highbury Barn is getting a brush-up

  

  We've had a lot of news about pub openings and revamps recently, and now here comes one a little closer to home (well, our homes anyway). The Highbury Barn, a large pub right in the middle of Highbury village, which dates back to 1840, is getting ready to reopen after a £500,000 revamp.

  Anyone who's been there will know that it's a big old space and now they're adding a new bar at the back, while also

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• Cult Hoxton pub The Macbeth now has an ex-Four Legs chef in charge

  

  For more than a century, they've been pulling pints in the Hoxton pub The Macbeth. More recently than that, the pub forged quite the reputation as a live music venue with everyone from Florence + The Machine to Fontaines DC playing there. Now the pub's got a new owner and it looks like the food side of things is about to take a sharp turn for the better.

  Jamie Allan has been best known for being part of the Four Legs

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• The Shaston Arms in Soho is being relaunched by The Watermans Arms team

  

  Back in 2023, the founder of Patty & Bun, Joe Grossmann, got into the pub business, opening The Watermans Arms in Barnes. It turned out to be an excellent pub, blessed with a fantastic view of the Thames and with a great menu by chef Sam

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• Queen's Park pub The Salusbury is hoping to be The Devonshire of North West London

  

  To open any really successful pub in London, you need a dream team. The Devonshire in Soho has that in spades, so does the group behind The Pelican and The Hero. Entering the fray next, in Queen's Park, are the group behind the reopening of neighbourhood pub The Salusbury.

  First up is co-owner Gareth Cooper who might not have done pubs before but knows a thing or two

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• Duck and Rice is opening a new place in Battersea on its tenth anniversary

  

  Updated 16/6/25 with opening date

  It's been almost 10 years since Alan Yau took over a Soho pub and transformed it into Duck and Rice. A decade on, it seems it's time to expand as it's the latest place to find itself making its way to Battersea Power Station with a new location. 

  If you're unfamiliar with the Soho original, they describe themselves as a "Soho

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• Tom Kerridge's Butcher's Tap is being relaunched as The Chalk Freehouse

  

  Earlier this week, there was news that Tom Kerridge's Chelsea pub, The Butcher's Tap and Grill was closing, with the team behind it saying it gave them "an opportunity to regroup, rethink and rebuild".

  It turns out that they didn't need that much thinking time, because there are already plans to reopen it as a new pub, The Chalk Freehouse. 

  The new pub will be

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• Molly Mc's singing pub is coming to Southwark

  

  9/4/25 - updated with new pics and an opening date

  You may have spotted videos on your social (or maybe it's just our algorithm) of a rise in London pubs offering proper sing songs, whether that's trad Irish tunes or music with a broader appeal. Now it's Southwark's turn as the team behind Mc & Sons in Borough and Vauxhall are opening their very first singing pub in Southwark.

  Molly Mc's is

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