The Twelve Pins — Restaurant in London

🚇 Finsbury Park 🍺 £6.50 Cruzcampo

The Twelve Pins is located on a busy junction on Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park, North London. The nearest Tube is Finsbury Park which is just across the road.

This imposing Victorian pub was built in 1891 and originally opened as The Finsbury Park Tavern. For as long as I can remember, it has been known as The Twelve Pins, named after a mountain range in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.

This is an impressive, high-ceilinged, one-bar pub with traditional decor. The horseshoe-shaped servery is centrally located and boasts one of the finest back bars you’ll find anywhere in London. The main bar area is spacious, with low-level seating to the left, poser tables through the middle, a raised section opposite the servery, and a cosy snug to the right. The decor includes a boarded floor, classic seating, burgundy-painted woodwork, stunning stained and etched glass, and some wonderful large mirrors.

The beer selection covers a broad range of keg beers, ciders, and stout. As this is an Irish pub, I would usually opt for a Guinness, but as it was a warm day I went for a Cruzcampo. My pint was excellent, price point was a touch above average. The food menu features home-cooked pub classics, and you can also get spice bags. Fish and chips comes in at £10.50.

We arrived at 11am, bang on opening, and were the first ones through the door along with some Finsbury Park gig-goers and a fair few people in to watch the Lions v Australia rugby. It was a little manic at first as everyone wanted serving, but it soon settled into a relaxed, chilled atmosphere. The service was excellent, and I had a lovely chat with the landlady, who was warm and welcoming.

I’ve been visiting this pub on and off since the late ’80s, predominantly before and after going to see The Arsenal. I first came with my dad, then in the early 2000s with my son, and one day I hope to visit with my two grandsons. I love this pub. It gets rammed on match days, but is equally enjoyable on a regular day. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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📅 2nd August 2025

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TLDR: Don’t go here if you’re not white or white passing really. Be prepared to racially profiled, questioned and potentially turned away. NEVER setting foot in here again.

Decided to go here on a Friday (8 pm) to catch up with a friend before meeting some friends for a big party elsewhere. When i arrived at the door i was told that it’s a private party and that i couldn’t go in - despite them letting 4 white guys in who arrived after me who were ALSO not part of the “private party” (i asked).

My friend was already inside so I was confused how that could be the case. I told them my friend was inside and they seemed a little startled but they told me i need to call him to get in. He came to get me and much to their dismay, I was let in.

I was appropriately dressed, sober and personable so I’m not quite sure why they would reject me. Something not quite white I fear…

Once inside, I ordered a drink and asked the bar staff if there was a private event as we wouldn’t want to encroach.

They answered “no” so I told them what happened outside and the bartender tried to explain that the bouncers try to be selective to ‘avoid trouble’…. ok. She the rolled her eyes (in solidarity with me), waved at me and said “dont worry, you’re fine” in a way that said - ‘they’re just doing nonsense’.

Despite the niceness of the bar staff, we lasted 1 hour in the pub before I felt too uncomfortable to stay. Upon leaving, I mentioned to the men at the door that the bar staff said there was no “private party” to which one looked at me apologetically and the other (the main culprit) refused to acknowledge my existence.

We left without any further conversation with the losers. Just the understanding that I (the only black person present) was not welcome.

I was going to let this ruin the rest of my night but it’s only 9:50PM so I’m writing this review and letting it go.

Overall, it’s embarrassing for them and the establishment really. In this economy, i don’t know a pub owner who’s tryna LOSE customers...

The land lady of the place has probably mental issues. I asked for a diet coke and immediately she asked me if my friends at the table were drinking or not. When I answered "I don't know", she said in an incredibile rude way that if not, we had to leave immediately (note that the pub was almost empty). At that point I said, "I will leave because of you" and when I was outside she started yelling at my friends, saying that we needed to consume alcoholics or leave. Also my friends left, obviously. Note that before this episode, we were in the internal courtyard, having drinks for one hour. Clearly this is the behaviour of a probably disturbed person not having the slightest idea on how to run an activity. This behavior has repeated in a number of occasions, as many other reviews here mention (some reviews are a couple of years old). The lady has been nervous and rude for years . Probably someone would need to ask for a formal investigation on this pub, in order to stop this. What happens is an offence to the customers, to the Finsbury Park area, and...