The Brickmakers, Norwich - pub details
Address: 496, Sprowston Rd, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 4DY [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 18753) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Norwich (1.8 miles), Salhouse (4 miles), Brundall Gardens (5.3 miles)
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> Current user rating: 6.2/10 (rated by 20 users)
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other pubs nearby:
Constitution Tavern, Norwich (0.4 miles), Heath House, Norwich (0.5 miles), Prince of Denmark, Norwich (0.5 miles), Royal Oak, Norwich (0.6 miles), Beehive, Sprowston (0.6 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Brickmakers, Norwich
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 20 shown - see all reviews
| Just want to add to what has been said. I have been coming to the Brickmakers Arms since 2004 and have been here lots of times. Firstly the staff have always been very fantastic, they are always very helpful and happy....which is more than can be said for other pubs. The drink has always been good and for a venue very fairly priced. The bands they have playing here are always exceptional and the locals who use the place are very easy going. I have never seen any trouble here on any of my visits although I know before the current management had the place it was known as a very rough pub. To go from that to winning venue of the year not that long after is testament to the hard work and effort put in by management and staff. I just want to use this open forum to thank Charlie, Em, Pam and the team for what has been 6 years of great nights out and I hope they continue to stay and keep the high standards up. Well done guys :) MaxxiValentyne - 21 Oct 2010 23:04 |
| I felt a bit confused when reading some of the comments below. I wondered if people had been visiting the same pub as me! Particularly as regards staff and service. I have always, without exception, been treated courteously by the friendly staff and served promptly at the bar. I have always seen incidents with problem customers handled quickly and with a minimum of fuss. I concur with the lady that said that this is one of a very tiny number of venues that I am happy to visit by myself. The music is obviously biased towards Rock, but if you check the listings there is a fair amount of variety available. I have heard a Swing band, Rap artists, Blues, Country, Northern Soul and of course both Emma Hall and the Lee Vasey Band have regular slots. Sound is well mixed and appropriate to the type of band playing, and the lighting rig is excellent . Karaoke and the Quiz on a Sunday are a fun alternative to the bands of the week and a nice way to round off the weekend and get your head ready for work on a Monday morning. Several people have mentioned overzealous and early cleaning. I personally have not seen cleaning start before the last drink is served. However it wouldn’t actually bother me if it was, so perhaps I didn’t even notice. I have certainly always been impressed by the standard of cleanliness, in general, and in the toilets in particular. The ladies loo always has complimentary deodorant and hairspray available and usually a nice moisturiser as well! I have no idea about the mens as I’ve never been in. :-) As for The Brickies being an unofficial gay bar... I can only say that that I feel The Brickies is a pub where you can be yourself and not feel judged. Whether this includes sporting full body tattoos, piercings, dying your hair green, wearing full Goth regalia or being gay it really doesn’t make a difference. It’s a pretty tolerant place and the management seem to value and support this tolerance. That’s my two pennies worth anyway. technominx - 21 Oct 2010 11:56 |
| great music but the bar staff and drinks are pretty rubbish. 8/10 for the music strawdog - 3 Oct 2010 15:49 |
| P.S The gay thing, is only their if you look for it. On a blues rock night you want to try convincing yourself that it's a gay bar? Thought not. rbed - 9 Sep 2010 14:47 |
| I know opinions are opinions, but some of the reviews on here do seem to hold a more personalised edge to them. I find most of the less than complimentary reviews of the Brickmakers, to be very misleading. Even to the point where i suspect these reviews have been written by people who have been ejected from the pub for being drunk and disorderly or have just not fitted in. I'm a regular so will try and call it from my many years and nights visiting the pub. I'm afraid to say that if you had to put up with half the abuse that I have viewed customers giving other customers, and bar staff, in the Brickmakers over the years, the owners would have the right to every now and then be more wary of becoming " pally" with people who they don't know, as i've seen apparently good fairing people quickly turn from good meaning customers into obnoxious prats. This is normally after having a skin full and then being told, and rightfully so by the diligent staff, that you've had enough. Never goes down well with people who are just out to cause trouble. The Brickmakers to me is my top pub in Norwich. It retains that bar and pub atmosphere that has long since died from this part of the UK. The bar staff are always friendly to me, they always ask politley when they want you to leave at the end of the night, or when they're planning on packing up, and to my train of thought they are entitled to as it's their buisness. Who cares if they are getting ahead of their duties by mopping up or tidying up, grow a pair, they're not physically belt throwing you out of the door. In my 6 years of visiting i've never been thrown out before the time displayed on the door. I guess that makes me liked, very lucky, or those who have been very unlucky, or unable to read a time sheet properly. The customer isn't always right regardless of what people think.... especially after several pints. Service is always prompt, and they always help with customer querys prompt and to the point... no beating around the bush which is how things should be done. If you act like an ignoramous, you are treated like one. There is always a music night for everybody, everyday of the week, which is fantastic for music lovers! Originals, tribute acts, blues, rock, established, non established, young, old, cheesey, obscure or rawkus, everynight of the week has a different genre of music on. It is also a popular stop off point for those who are planning on visiting the rock themed nightclubs at Hades and the Waterfront in the city center, later in the evening due to its excellent location on the main arterial roads into and out of Norwich. It's surroundings may not be the most upmarket but i like it, especially with all the, sterile, characterless, trendy wine bar surroundings being rammed down our "modernised britains" throat. The toilets are always clean, if not always flushed, but this is hardly the bars fault. It's nice to visit a pub that captures the essense of what a music bar ... or an english pub...should be about. If people don't like the brickies then it's fair enough, but some of the reviews on here just seem so far of the mark. Perhaps people should have put up more of a fight when the other music venues in Norwich started to close down so a wider choice was available. People have to just bite the bullet, that like it or not. Its the only proper, and best, music pub in Norwich. Far above its other competitors, the closest being the King Eddy (whose standards for hosting bands, and surroundings are just not in the same league, although still a good venue). Let's face it the music scene in Norwich is practically dead, and with two extremes of audienes, the thickle narrow minded dinosaurs who believe everything should have stopped after Cliff Richard, or the pubesent teens who just want to scream down a mic and believe everything predating 2000 is rubbish! it's nice to have a pub where ALL music lovers, regardless of opinions, can find sanctuary for free music, regardless of tastes. As someone who's played the Brickmakers, the equipment and facilities are amazing, high end specifications that bring the best out of musicians by making them thinking they are playing a venue bigger than they are, with a large stage area, smoke effects and an impressive lighting rig. The sound people on the night is hit and miss as each one has their own opinion on what the sound should be like, but are more often easy to get along with. Kareoke and quiz nights on the Sunday are entertaining, regardless of ability or IQ, always a laugh and good for the community spirit. It does sometimes seem to turn into a kindergarden though with lots of under 18's being in the pub which creates a bit of a tension when a teenage drama kicks off. To be honest they're far better behaved than some of the 'mature' customers in the pub. The Brickies does express that ID for abover 16's is required on the door. This is a pub for true individuals and liberal attitudes, young, old, straight, homosexual, transgendered, outspoken, roudy or the silent majority. The Brickmakers makes no apologies for what it is, and if you don't feel comfortable in their it is a win win for all involved that you visit another pub, as the packed attendences night after night would denote they are hardly pushing for buisness. End of the day it gets a 9 out of 10 from me, and i believe its nonmination for best UK music pub speaks entirely for itself review wise regardless of opinions. Top pub, and one of the last good music ones we have left in Norwich! rbed - 9 Sep 2010 14:36 |
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