The Jolly Friar — Restaurant in Basildon

Well looking at other reviews ive got to say ive never felt unwelcome here, although ive been coming here some 15 years im not a week in week out regular and may only visit a handful of times each year. To be honest ive always felt anyone not using cash in a pub to be a bit of a pleb so just make sure you bring that heavy tenner in your wallet and you'll be alright. Had i reviewed this pub any other year id have given it 4 stars however upon this visit they were down to one pool table from the two that have usually been there and yep it was being played. It seems more tables for eaters have been brought in despite there being a large seperate dining area oh and not one person was eating here on a saturday, not even sure they were serving food, very specific times here for food if i remember maybe sunday carverys dunno but as said no one eating so its hardly like they had to get rid of a pool table cuz customers had nowhere to sit, sigh. Anyway its a large spacious pub good for sports, decent prices. Regulars will sit at the bar so can be a squeeze to get served. Was served very quickly on this visit....

Great atmosphere here. The owner has great taste in live bands as he booked us! We had a great time, everyone was really friendly. We set up from 7:30pm and it had a really nice community feel about the place. There were various teams when we arrived; (football and cyclists) who chose to meet here with their families and it was a really pleasant atmosphere. Then when we started around 9pm, the evening crowd appeared and they were...

At this present time it is a pub you can go to as it has ample outdoor space but do not expect to get served very quickly. Especially if it is busy. We waited 40 mins to get a drink, after being ignored by the disorganised servers we left. The food was not great value either and the system to go into the toilets was non existent. A free for all with no cleaning. Will not be going back anytime soon....