Tivoli Cheltenham — Restaurant in Cheltenham

Having visited a number times I have updated at the end of this review , but until you get there ……

The (New) Tivoli has just been embraced by the new ‘Serial Landlords’ who also run a number of close proximity (Cotswold) Pubs

And about time too (The old Tivoli was starting to show the weariness of the very real and devastating industry pressures)

As far as I am aware the - The (New) Tivoli forms part of the same Pub Stable as:

The Fox @ Broadwell

The Lamb @ Shipton

The Bell @ Langford

And The Sherborne Arms @ Northleach

Soft launch happened on the 26th July 2024 with a full on service on Saturday the 27th July

What I love about all these pubs is the ‘Bar Snacks’ and small dishes

When is the last time you saw a menu with Devilled Kidneys on Toast ?

Proper Pub Grub for the people who are fed up of average pub food trough menus

“Was everything OK Sir” ?

“Oh yes Lovely”

Was it hell ! stop telling people you had a nice meal when it was at best average and probably a waste of your well earned money.

And to prove the Tivoli isn’t catering to ‘The Great & The Good’ (with more Money and Flash Cars - than sense) you can also enjoy ‘Am Eggun Chips’

And with ‘Anchovy Toast’ poking its head above the blackboard parapet, I think Russell Norman would have enjoyed a light snack at this establishment.

The Specials offering of a home made meat pie with gravy and mash might also tempt a hungry diner longing for genuine home made food that hasn’t been pulled from the freezer for the convenient purpose of low cost high volume meals with little or no risk (apart from a vanilla dining experience)

Now that winter has set in you start noticing some poor lighting in the pub, table 8 and 9 desperately need some illumination, and the entrance door could do with a high back ‘settle’ to reduce the arctic force draughts sweeping through the whole length of the pub towards to bar.

The bar itself is also very poorly lit, and would benefit greatly from some backlighting

Staff are exceptional and a credit to the establishment

Well done to all concerned ….

Just get the lighting and...

Me and my partner decided we would try the Tivoli pub as we had recently moved to the area and this would be our local pub.

My partner went into the pub the night before where she was served by “Sav”. She was told by Sav that he hopes “she has ID” as he could not be bothered to ID them, which to begin with is illegal. In the same evening my partner ordered a drink with sav who stated: “what do you want again. I wasn’t paying attention”. My partner put both comments down as to someone having a “bad day”.

So we both decided to pop in to check the food out. To be greeted by an empty bar whilst sav sat at a table polishing cutlery, making eye contact and continuing with the polishing, completely ignoring us. After 5 or so minutes sav came over to the bar to serve us, I began to explain we had a table booked when I was met with: “your the 8:30 booking. Hurry up with ordering as the kitchen closes at 9pm.” We were told the food ordering can be done in person to then be ignored for 10 minutes resulting in us ordering on the app. The food came out very fast, as to be expected if the food is microwaved as my lamb shank was. The sharing board is a waste of £20. You can get a bigger portion of similar food at a Wetherspoons for half the price.

In between the sharing board coming out and the mains coming out I approached the bar to buy a second pint and was served by a female, the name I did not get but she was heavily tattooed. Before managing to open my mouth I was asked “do you want your mains” which wasn’t the reason for approaching the bar. There was no check back made as we ate our food and the service was appalling. Sav is possibly the rudest person I have met in hospitality. (I myself work in hospitality)

Overall dreadful experience. Would not recommend for anyone to go to this pub. It has so much potential only to be ruined by poor service and...

Without a doubt the best place for food in Cheltenham. This is a proper pub. How a pub should be. Reminiscent of the original London gastro pubs who first started taking food seriously.

The idea that I can get a decent scotch egg with a great pint of Landlord or have a 3 course meal executed to perfection means we will quickly become regulars.

You can come and have a bottle of St John’s rose in the garden or gorge on a sharing pie in the dining room. We had lunch + every dish was perfect. Phenomenal. Faultless. The chocolate torte was the best dessert I’ve ever eaten and I’ve eaten a lot.

Some absolutely bizarre reviews below from people who, meaning no offence here, but this new version of The Tivoli isn’t aimed at you. If you want to go and drink average beer on a “comfy” seat there are plenty of average pubs in Cheltenham…this isn’t one of them.

Granted, it’s on the more expensive end of the spectrum for the food for sure but you can taste the quality of the ingredients + every dish we’ve had was balanced perfectly it was worth every penny.

Finally we have somewhere in Cheltenham that understands good food, simply done, in a relaxed, stylish + welcoming pub environment....