The Boot (Home to Boot Cantina) — Restaurant in St Albans

Lovely old pub, shame about the beer and service.

'Greeted' by a miserable taciturn barman. Four or five real ales on offer, none of which we knew. Chose two at random and both tasted like they had grapefruit in them. Pretty disgusting if you are used to good real ales such as London Pride, Abbot, Greene King IPA, Youngs Special etc. A pint and a half of whatever we had came to £7.50. So not cheap for poor service and even worse beer.

Much better beer in Waterend Barn, The Robin Hood, The White Hart and The Mermaid.

P.S. Just checked Google and found a picture of the taciturn barman who served us. It was in fact Sean Hughes who has responded to this review below. So, best have a word with yourself. If you had been more welcoming we may well have asked for a taste before buying, as we normally do. And when I say in a review that the beer is disgusting, it's fairly obvious to most people that this is a personal view. As for your business rates, I sympathise, but there are limits to how much you can pass on your costs before demand falls. It's your business and up to you of course. People will judge for themselves.

And by the way, our experience warranted one star. Up your game or expect more of the same.

Pps. Response to second response: OK, apologies for mistaking Mr Huges for the miserable man who served us. This does not invalidate my original review which still stands as we received very poor service and were served expensive beer. People will judge for themselves your combative style too, rather than just accepting that your 'lovely'...

During the summer I was sat by the clock tower in town waiting for my friends. While I was waiting a somewhat ‘questionable man’ came and started talking to me. I didn’t want to make him upset to I continued speaking to him to keep him happy. There were many people around and I think most of them saw I was very uncomfortable in the situation, and there were many other more normal men around who could have come to my aid but no one did, until, the Land Lady of the Boot came racing out and without hesitation hugged me and pretended to be my friend and started speaking to me as though we had been friends for years ( we had never met before.) she made sure that I was ok and invited me in just to wait until my friends came to meet me. That random act of kindness didn’t take much effort but she saved me from a very uncomfortable situation. I don’t think many people would have gone out of there way to do that (well I know they wouldn’t because no one else did despite there being many people around) but she did and it meant a lot to me. I just wanted to say thank you as I never had a chance to thank her since it happened. But clearly the boot is a place that is run by genuinely lovely, caring and kind people and I would like to say thank you to Mrs Land Lady (I’m sorry I didn’t get your name but you are an amazingly kind and...

Stunning tacos, far better than you have any right to expect from a pub. They seem pretty authentic (perhaps with the chili level toned down a bit) they're using great ingredients, the right queso, the corn tortillas, using nice heritage tomatoes etc.

When you see tacos for £12 on a menu there's always the fear that you're gonna get two tiny little things and have to order 2 or 3 portions to stave off hunger. No such problem here you get 3 very generous tacos which in the case of the beef shin birria are packed with meat and delicious melted cheese and also fried so very filling. They come with rich beefy consomme to dip them in. Quesadilla also great, a simple dish but one of the best I've had in the UK.

The pub itself is nice too, very old historic pub with low ceilings and oak beams etc (one of many in st albans admittedly), decent beer selection, is somewhere locals drink and not just a tourist spot. Not necessarily where I'd expect to find tacos but really commend them for taking a risk on something other than mediocre...