The Horn — Restaurant in St Albans

Before I start can I point out these comments are based purely on the restaurant side of The Horn and are nothing to do with it's music venue function. I would not recommend this pub to anyone; friend, family or stranger. I went here for a meal with my mum and brother on Saturday. The food was cheap, but reflected its price in the quality and size. The pub itself has been done out like a mixture between a 1950's diner, a 1980's rock cafe but still with a touch of that "modern" feel that a lot of old pubs are sadly adopting, to the point of having musical quotes painted on the pastel coloured walls and even the roof and the menus, pieces of paper stuck on either side of an old LP record; a nice idea but very poorly done. My main problem with our visit was when I went to the bar to get a second drink as we had had to wait so long for our food that the first were long gone half way through eating. When I got to the bar I had to wait a few minutes to be served, understandable given it was mid-afternoon on a summer weekend. When I did get served though it was by who I assume was the manager/owner because surely no member of staff would be so rude. I asked for a glass of water (needed more so because my beef burger was SO dry) he then paused and stared at me for a few seconds before saying "you know this a pub, we sell things". I was a bit shocked by this as my family and I were sitting in the pub over paying for their bar food. The barmaid then pointed out to him his error but no apology was made, just an instant awkwardness about the man from that point on. I won't be going back there again and I will be retelling this story to everyone I know. My view is that the pub must be a sinking ship financially for the owner to be so rude about serving free water with OR with out food. Dire experience. I would if I could, give this place a 0 star rating but Facebook doesn't seem to allow it. My advice to anyone thinking of going to The...

Well it's not really an ale pub. The doom bar was ok, but there was no standard fullness of pint glass, I got two together, one almost full, one with 3/4" of head on it.

Music...... Well, its a nice little venue, but access is awful, corridor past the gents toilet then through a narrow door. There are a pair of doors but one was locked...?.. The bar wasn't open. Gig etiquette was awful. Standing at the back having a really loud conversation so that people keep turning round to see what's going on is not acceptable. We saw battle of the bands which at £7 is a bit expensive.

The list of upcoming gigs was mainly cover bands, one or two who I hadn't heard of, and John Otway. He is the only one I would rush to see.

If this is indicative of the St Albans music scene, then I'm glad I live in London. For £7 or £8 I can see three established signed bands, and when they come on stage they get clapped, then there is almost silence in anticipation.

It was still a good night out, but not quite what I expected from a...

Primarily a pub, but it also has a very intimate gig venue at the back - my reason for coming to the pub!

The pub bit itself isn't very big, the bar is quite small (can't say too much about the selection of booze as I was on soft drinks), but there is some seating and a pool table at the end. I didn't eat, but I did see some people there tucking into burgers that did look pretty damn tasty.

Venue wise, it's very small - therefore intimate! But it does get hot hot hot in there so be prepared for that. There isn't much of a stage, and it's quite low - I'm 5'5 and I struggled to see what was happening on the stage most of the time with all the people in front of me. There is also a bar in the venue but it was too busy for me to get anywhere near to!

They seem to have a lot of gigs going on with tribute bands also - seems like...