please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Visited the Flag yesterday morning, whilst changing trains at the adjacent Watford Junction. It's quite an imposing building with a few steps leading up to the door. I could see how the set-up would be good for live music. But at breakfast time, it wasn't particularly atmospheric. It is mainly open-plan with some raised areas. St Austell Tribute was accompanied by Sharp's Doom Bar & Firebird Parody. I had the Parody and benefitted from a CAMRA discount. Whilst pale ales aren't normally my thing, this was a nice beer. I may return next time I'm at the station. But I wouldn't make a special visit.
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Was in here Saturday for a gig.Quality ales and quick service.The Timothy Taylor Dark mild was a beautiful pint,sadly they ran out after my 2nd.
The bands were good,really good and the two DJs were superb, i would travel to see these two.Shame the taller one had a shirt on that looked like his Mum had bought it...
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A wannabe Wetherspoons with absolutely piss poor staff
anonymous - 20 Feb 2016 22:43 |
Popped in after Watford v Norwich after visiting The Horns. Good selection of real ales and the one i had was well kept. Pity the pub facilities section doesn't promote its real ale as a feature. Yes it is a large venue but i thought it should have a higher rating than it does on this site. Watford is not exactly a real ale mecca and this pub should be recognised for providing a choice to those nearby. I will return if we aren't relegated !
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Was in here Satuirday 22nd Feb to see Argy bargy a local folkie type band that specialise in clog dancing and morris men type routines.Great venue and pub as it goes.Started off with a pint of Fullers "steel" i think it was called, not really my thing.Made in honour of sheffield by the west London brewery, well you northerners are welcome to it.The IPA was superb though.
As i said, a good pub whether you are in here for beer or a gig.
Well kept beer and a decent range
Most of which appeared to have been sample by some drunken Ulsterman called Mcquillan or something..
A great place :)
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Great service, great food and right by the station. Can't ask for more :)
mrbee - 24 Jan 2013 16:01 |
Great for local bands and cheap drinks and food. Very large pub with large outside eating area. Not seen ale here but may have changed since my last visit. Good for a cheap session or see some local rock/metal music but not much else for me.
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Popped in for a quick pint before catching a train back into London after a trip to the Nascot Arms. Cavernous place. Main room has loads of tables for dining and there was a raised area where a band were tuning up. Big side room with pool and table football tables. There's also a large amount of tables out front where you can soak up the traffic fumes with your pint. Three ale taps but two were turned 'round, so only Marstons EPA was available. Can't argue with �2 a pint but that'd be the only reason to go with better options 5 minutes walk away.
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Nice enough place in terms of size and location, but when we visited the ale and people in there were both dreadful. Some character tried to start on me for queue jumping at the bar, despite me waiting for a good 5 minutes prior to him swanning up to stand next to me. Ideal venue if you like a little "edge" to your drinking, otherwise go elsewhere.
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Large pub virtually next to Watford Junction station. This place has real potential with it's size and location. Alas I fear the way it is being run the potential the owners are looking at is as flats/offices.
anonymous - 21 Aug 2011 15:26 |
It started bad and is getting worse. It is a lovely building on the outside, shame about the interior, poor service and lack of real ale.
Watford is not known for quality pubs, but this is dreadfull.
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Last nights "The Inbetweeners" on channel 4 proved that the only way the Flag is ever going to be busy again is if you pay actors and extras to be in there !!
Still a dive, still best avoided.
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the worst pub for food ever waited over 1 hour for sunday lunch no yorkshire pudding beef burnt and gabbage boiled for about 2 hours until tasetless offered us free drink then got me the wrong drink what more can you say.
if your under 22 and enjoy pool and lager this pub is for you
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Was a great venue to see bands, now dark dirty and run down. Went in on Saturday for the first time in years, 6 people listening to thrash metal loud enough to make your ears bleed. it's no wonder the place was empty.
Give it a miss..............!!
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Good news, they have a sign up saying they are now serving real ale. They've got one handpump, looks like Pride, but unfortunately no beer. Been in 3 times since I saw the notice but still no beer. Given the way the rest of the pub is run, I do worry about their ability to keep a decent real ale but I�ll give it a go, when it finally arrives.
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Big pub in a good location but very poorly run. No Sky Sports as they can't be bothered to pay for it apparantley. The mens toilet is open plan you just wee on the floor as the urinals leak whats more its been like that for years and they can't be botered to fix it.
Needs a new owner that cares!!!!
anonymous - 2 Dec 2007 15:33 |
this could be a great pub but its a bit grotty and needs a bit of a facelift. good for bands on saturdays
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Big huge grimey pub next to Watford Junction. The beer selection is poor and the food ropey. Still, fairly good underground bands appear here from time to time - I've give this place 6/10 as Watford needs live venues.
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Can this place get anymore unpopular? Passing tonight (Friday) at 10.00pm I saw a familiar sight of the side door closed and a doorman on the main door. As they weren�t charging an entrance fee, as they sometimes do, I decided to go in expecting, given the hour, to have to fight my way to the bar. But no, getting served was remarkably easy and there weren�t many more people in than I have experienced on say a Tuesday evening at 7pm. The music seemed to be on a loop and in direct contrast to what the plasma screens were showing (a less than appealing advertisement for the latest menu and cheap drinks offers). I found later that they had actually employed a DJ to play this stuff to a largely empty room. Can�t help thinking they�d be better off with MTV. I know the place gets rammed when there is live music on but the rest of the time they just don�t seem to give a damn.
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huge drinking hole..
anonymous - 29 Mar 2007 17:55 |
Nice pub, we went in on a Thursday and there was some excellent live music. Nice chilled out atmosphere in there.
Major Bad Point: Ale-free zone :-(
Absolutely no ale at all..... shame
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This big pub has good bands on the weekends.
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Station pub. Say no more. On a summer's evening it's like a BNP convention outside. On Saturdays when Watford are at home it's full of away fans with police filming them. Food rubbish. So all in all a pretty average Watford pub!
anonymous - 7 Oct 2006 22:48 |
The reason why no one was sitting outside Johnny was probably less to do with vampires and more to do with rats. Was sitting outside recently and saw a number of rats quite confidently running around the railway side which made me wonder if they had infiltrated the kitchens.
Tonight was strange, the Guinness, Carlsberg and Fosters pumps were all off so I plumped for a Carling which was flatter than an anorexic catwalk model. The subsequent Stella (OK 3 pints of it) was more lively but the temperature made me think they had problems with the coolers as well as the gas.
Now I know they do most business at the weekends but they should not ignore those who prefer to frequent the pub when they haven�t got to pay to get in, don�t want to deal with jobsworth bouncers or have no desire to queue at the bar for 20 mins to purchase an overpriced strangely named shooter.
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My one and only visit was a weekday lunchtime. Don't think I would fancy sitting inside as it is very dark, but it was a nice sunny day so it was nice to take a seat outside (lager only though).
Not quite sure why I was the only one outside - is Watford reknowned for it's Vampires ??
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Absolutely huge! The size of this pub alone is enough to overwhelm you!
Plenty of outside seating, efficient, friendly bar-staff.
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I occasionally go in here for a swifty before I travel home from work. It's a very large and dark boozer which makes the place look empty even when there's scores of punters inside. The beer is very average and in some cases costly (�3 for a pt of San Miguel?)and they haven't had any real ale for nearly a year now. Their fridges never work & the white wine is alway warm and frequently corked. Combined with zero ambiance and zero ashtrays to be found means there are dozens of cigarette butts strewn across the floor. The toilets nearly always stink and the cubicles appear to have taken a kicking several times in the past. This pub desperately needs some attention to it as it has real potential due to it's location, but until then I really wouldn't bother unless absolutely necessary.
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I only visited this pub when waiting for a train and although pleasant it was a bit soleless. Average beer, plenty of room, comfortable seats and reasonably good food. I expect this place comes alive at night but it is a bit dingy and smelly during the day. Currently running a campaign to get live music back - good luck!
anonymous - 25 Jul 2005 22:26 |
The best night i have for a while...the comedy night was brilliant with quality comedians.Well done to serving up comedy and the Flag.
David Simmons - 4 Sep 2004 23:20 |
Cool atmosphere in here for us 25+s! Really nice outside area has appeared for those Friday nights after work, they are even putting on BBQs when the weather is good on Fridays. Bands have gone and are now replaced by cheesy classic music on the weekends. Very relaxed, no trouble - the manager won't tolerate it. Give it a try.
Tony - 27 Jul 2004 20:58 |
from 2nd sept2004 The Flag. Watford will be holding a comedy night "serving up comedy" every thursday night �3 entry...with comedians from the comedy circuit.
tables/Food will be available and discounts on drinks....and an 80's 90's disco?
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beats the firkin any day but realisitcly your only having more than 1 in here if your trains delayed ( so thats why its so busy !)
Dominic - 26 Jun 2004 06:39 |
What a shame that monkeyboy promotions(who put on the great live music)have been kicked out because the music was scaring away the suits!if the flag is just making way for more football then it will just go back to being the piss stinking empty pub that it always used to be.there will be no reason for anyone to go there anymore unless they are just waiting for a train,when there are so many better pubs in watford.
violet - 25 Jun 2004 14:36 |
Went to the Flag last night, for a Saturday night it was quite dead yet surprisingly it took ages to get served by the moody bar lady! The toilets stank of p***! probably won't go there again!
Nicky Brown - 17 Apr 2004 22:20 |
The music there is great! Saturdays are finally bearable thanks to the choons. The DJ is pretty good too, playing a load of songs I know and like.
Tuesday's aren't too bad either, but they are running a band contest at the moment so you tend to get a lot of younger folk there for the music. They do charge �3 to get in for the music, but that's peanuts for the fun you have. A good place.
Fridays are rubbish there (I tend to go to the Estcourt Tavern) and I think they still do a bloody awful Karaoke night on a thursday, but before 8pm on any given night it's a nice place to get a good pint. 5 Fruit machines too - good value!
The only detractor to my mind is the football and music can be a bit too loud (they've got a huge screen, but hardly anyone ever watches it). It's a good place though - yes, even with Orange walls!
Harry - 18 Mar 2004 13:46 |
It's pretty dead after 8pm most days of the week, but the music they have in there at the weekends is pretty good. Mostly guitar based stuff, but I can think of no better type of music to get faced on a Saturday night.
The Doormen get pretty pissy really easy. A mate of mine got barred for life just for having a reefer in the bogs. It's practically legal nowadays, so I think that's a bit over the top.
Some of the other posters mention some short grumpy blonde woman. I've never met her, but there is a short grumpy blonde south african who's a miserable git. He really should cheer up and get pissed.
Very pleasant in summer. Refit seems to be a bit of a letdown (orange walls!). Other than that, a pleasant experience.
Keiran - 18 Mar 2004 12:53 |
I suggest a revisit to this one for all those Anonymous people who have posted comments previously about The Flag. It is a very pleasant welcoming place where I as a woman would quite happily go on my own and feel quite safe. All staff I encountered can speak english perfectly well and are pleasant, polite and helpfull when treated with the respect any human being deserves, especially when they do a hard job dealing with people who don't know their limits and enjoy being abusive just to upset others. By the way, I have seen the manager and can say that HE (not she, never has been a she) is the direct opposite to Mr Bean! They have bands on on Saturdays - not always everyones taste but they are there - and are having a minor refit at the moment too! Absolutely worth a revisit. In all, a nice place for a drink.
Anna28 - 12 Mar 2004 16:37 |
Dirty toilets. Unclean generally. Poor beer. lousy service.
Stu - 30 Dec 2003 14:51 |
This pub is great!! Fridays after work are the best and we stay well beyond then! The bands would be better if more people who have been screaming for them to put on live bands actually turned up to watch them instead of bitching about them never having them on!! The food is fab too, have heard they are going to be adding some new items soon so watch for them! They now have 3 pool tables and an extensive collection of new machines. If you check your attitude at the door and are polite to the staf you get the same in return, the only problems I have ever seen are when people are rude offensive and swearing at staff, then you can understand if you get a bad attitude in return!
A.Nonymous - 31 Jul 2003 18:25 |
WWWWWWWWWWatford is the greatest city I have ever been to. This pub just makes it that much better. The slapper-filled, mingerless crowd makes for good love.
Nate - 2 Jul 2003 10:10 |
Big, great bar food, next to the junction station, so avoid on football match days when watford are at home... friendly service, and only two minutes walk from Richer sounds hi fi emporium..cool.
chris - 25 Mar 2003 12:07 |
its not a firkin anymore. it is now simply called the flag
Doug Beermonster - 25 Aug 2002 10:52 |
