please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Excellent pub/restaurant. Good selection of real ales, ciders and lagers. Good pub food with excellent service. Gary is a great guy, he runs a tight ship and employs really friendly staff.
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This is (still) an excellent pub, well liked by CAMRA. Visiting at 8pm on a Wednesday, most people were eating and, indeed, one is invited to wait on entry to be seated. But the beer (we tried Phoenix: Arizona and Palmerston: Queen of the South) was well kept and the food good (if not very interesting).
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update-
this pub gets better and better-
CAMRA Pub of the Year for Dumfries 2 years running-
THE BEST fish in chips in the town- no contest!
excellent chef- excellent staff- very fast and knowledgeable.
Gary runs a very good pub- lots of real ales- good malt selection
no smoke- no kids- no dogs
great place!
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The Cavens has gone from strength to strength since I posted the first of these reviews. The kitchen is producing pub food of the highest quality, and in large portions, using top class ingredients. The selection of ales has increased (so has the price, £2.15) and they are invariably in perfect condition. Professional management, strong but quiet, ensures that staff are efficient and enthusiastic, and they are mostly friendly and cheerful, too. And you can suggest ales, and they will be stocked if possible. I originally rated this 7/10. If I were doing so today it would score 9.
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One of the friendliest, best run pubs I've ever come accross. Staff A1, 99.5% customes ditto. As I used to meet the majority of my friends, or should that be fiends?, there, it is the one place I miss having moved from the area. Food was way above average for a pub/ restaurant, ale was always in good condition. The bar staff were ALL well trained in how to recognize a "bad pint" i.e., coming to the end of a barrel. The lines were never allowed to be left between brews.
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Now selling 9 yes nine real ales plussmiths smiths cold guinness guinness cold stella fosters coldtennents lager magners on tap belhaven............staff very well trained under Gary...food out of the top drawer......service10/10.great value for money.now local camra pub of the year
anonymous - 20 Jul 2006 18:03 |
Gave this one 10 out of 10.
The Cavens Arms is great - I spend too much money there! They do food every day apart from Monday - snacks or main meals.
The food is beautiful and the portion sizes are huge. It gets especially busy at the weekends - so much so that they don't take bookings I don't think. It must be the busiest pub in the town for meals on a weekend night.
Drink is good and ok value. If you like real ales, this is the place for you, about £2 a pint & they have recently won an award for them.
Staff are really nice, expecially the three waitresses - they are always smiling.
anonymous - 11 May 2006 11:57 |
friendly place...
absolutely the best pub chef and the best table service in the toon....
excellent real ale selection and excellent malt selection...
good for a blether or read in the afternoon....
atractive and friendly bar staff....
not dog friendly...
no children allowed... (makes it a much calmer and enjoyable place)
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Without doubt the finest beer drinking pub in the area.Real beer that is. At least 6 on at one time including some guests. Just put your beer request in the diary and Gary will endeavor to get it in.
Come on CAMRA get the finger out and award this great pub your highest . The staff are well trained in the art of pubmanship and the food is of the highest order
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Car park at the rear is not a public car park, and the back door's only open in summer anyway. There's free parking (display a disc) both on and off George Street, straight across the road. Anyway, abandon the wheels and get in among the six real ales at two quid a pint. There's a non-smoking section, and effective air filtering in the smoking bit. They are doing deservedly good business with the food - but the kitchen is closed Mondays.
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Lovly grub! Excellent meals. Theres a selection of Ales which I havn't tried yet. But the grubs good! feels narrow inside and is crowded a lot of the time. Toilets are downstairs so not very convenient for disabiled people. Car Park at rear is handy but there is steps to get into the pub from car park.
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This is a kind of child of Wetherspoon, the licensees having worked in the Bruce nearby. Always at least four real ales at about 30p cheaper than anywhere else (except the Bruce). They probably do quite a lot of Brake Bros-type catering, but there are also specials and home-made dishes that lift it into a different league. Legendary fish 'n' chips - at a reduced price on Tuesdays, as I recall. The best food pub in the town.
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