The Kings Head and Dive Bar, Chinatown [Closed] - pub details
Closed
Address: 48, Gerrard St, London, W1D 5QJ [map] [gmap]
Tel: 020 7437 5858
Leicester Square (0.1 miles), Piccadilly Circus (0.3 miles), Covent Garden (0.3 miles)
London Charing Cross (0.4 miles), London Waterloo (1 mile), London Waterloo East (1.1 miles)
> Current user rating: 7.2/10 (rated by 32 users)
> Local guides: London pub guide, Central London pub guide
other pubs nearby:
Ku Bar, Charing Cross Road (0.1 miles), 79 CXR, Charing Cross Road (0.1 miles), De Hems, Soho (0.1 miles), brb At Soho, Soho (0.1 miles), Metra Club and Bar, Leicester Square (0.1 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Kings Head and Dive Bar, Chinatown
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 47 shown - see all reviews
| I was visiting london for work last week and was shocked to see it had been replaced by another restaurant. I worked there for a couple of years back in the early nighties.. the place was a special place, George and Mae were a wonderful couple - its sad to here he's passed away - i'll always remember him coming down stairs to the upstairs bar and spending ten minutes winding up the morning club (local gentlemans club manager, his head barman, a local classy prostitute and believe it or not occasionally the milk man) once they'd bitten he'd dissapear back upstairs hahaha. Its also very sad to hear Terry has died - he was such a gentle loving person with a great sense of humour - without him the dive bar wouldnt have been the same - the same goes for Micheal who was managing the upstairs bar at the time - ill be sure to pass by your new place on my next visit :) the first time i wondered into the dive bar i didnt know what was hidden behind the old doors downstairs - as soon as i opened them there just a thong of people and fantastic music...i liked it so much i went back a week later and enquired about a job - no luck - then two weeks later they called me and it was some of the best working years of my life - thanks to all of the people who worked there and the regulars who made the place so unique Mike if you read this its mike m who moved to edinburgh - i've now been in amsterdam for the last 8 years drop me a mail dharmasoul - 19 Nov 2007 16:43 |
| Although not actually demolished. Only the facade remains. The entire building was gutted inside. The stairs down to the Dive are now an Air Conditioning outlet. Very Sad. (rating for when still open.) JohnnyCrow - 10 May 2007 16:54 |
| Sorry to see the guvnor died. I worked in the upstairs bar for a short while when I was 21. It was a great place. I'm 45 now living in Malta. The reason I thought of here just now was because I used to pinch a small pork pie off the bar and have some Coleman's mustard with it. I am tucking in to one as I write. RIP George. Lovely fella. Somebody once told me in the bar he was a jockey when he was younger. Anyone know? WhyLose - 3 May 2007 11:33 |
| Having worked at the Kings Head for 2 years before it closed (it has NOT been demolished, it is now a chinese reatraunt)and living in the area, I can say it is a shame that such a piece of history could have been destroyed. HOWEVER, a majority of the regulars and most of the staff are now at the Blue Posts on Rupert Street. We've been there for almost 3 years now and, even though it will never be the Dive Bar,it does retain a certain spirit of quirkyness and community. Regarding the interior, if you are asking about the panelling in the upstairs bar, i believe it got thrown away when shafesbury estates (the ones who refused to renew the lease, hence its closure after 55 years in the same hands)charged in there and gutted the place. A real shame, especially haveing worked there. But come to the Blus Posts and see what you think. DirtyPanda - 10 Feb 2007 21:36 |
| I went past the former Kings Head, Dive Bar two weeks ago I had heard it had shut but to see it closed was so sad.....the times we all had with Terry (bless him) and the rest of the staff they were all friends. A large group of us west end boys (and girls) mostly gay first went there in the late 80's when we got barred a pub in St Martins Lane for calling a clone barmen 'Magnum' we said if you don't want our money we'll spend it else where - and we did, for years and years in the Dive Bar what fun, outrageous evenings, camp parties fondly remembered sadly missed binaroundtheblockabit - 24 May 2006 15:38 |
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