Pubs in Chelsea
Discover the best pubs and bars in Chelsea. Browse opening hours, menus, events, and more.
Found 29 pubs in Chelsea — Page 1 of 3
Phene
9 Phene Street, Chelsea SW3 5NY
The Phene (pronounced 'Feeny') is located in a leafy Chelsea backwater. Built in 1853 (along with the rest of the street) by Dr John Samuel Phene, a wealthy and eccentric landowner - he is credited with initiating the idea of planting trees in city streets - the pub is considered architecturally unusual by being attached to a "terrace" of just one house on Phene Street. Today it is a high-end gastropub decorated in minimalist light grey, a clubhouse-style venue housing a traditional saloon bar with bright red banquettes and a stripped wooden floor, a conservatory restaurant at the back and a lounge on the first-floor. The extensive heated terrace to the side is complete with comfortable sofas, outdoor fireplaces and quirky hanging basket chairs. All as seen in the BAFTA award-winning, structured-reality television series "Made in Chelsea". Expect to pay Chelsea prices. Apart from the champagnes, wines and cocktails, the drink offerings include two handpumps for real ale, a number of taps dispensing craft/keg mostly local beers and a good range of local London-brewery bottled beers. The food menu is very tempting indeed, despite being at prices to be expected of the locale.
Admiral Codrington
17 Mossop Street, Chelsea SW3 2LY
Known locally as "the Cod", popular with tourists and recommended in the Sloane Ranger Handbook. High ceilinged wood-panelled bar with the old cocktail bar now turned into a restaurant. Licensed in 1830 as a beer house and rebuilt in the 1860s because of railway tunnelling between South Kensington and Sloane Square. Named after the naval officer who captained the 98 gun ‘Orion’ at the Battle of Trafalgar and later, as Vice-Admiral of the Blue, led the fleet which defeated the Turks at Navarino in 1827.
Cadogan Arms
298 Kings Road, Chelsea SW3 5UG
After extensive refurbishment, this pub finally reopened in July 2021 by a joint venture between JKS Partners and Dominic Jacobs, the man behind The Running Horse pub in Mayfair. The pub "will showcase exclusive beers, cask and craft ales alongside an extensive wine list and contemporary cocktails". Food includes Sunday roasts. Four cask ale handpumps feature three rotating semi-regulars and a guest ale. On keg there is Guinness and a cider plus another dozen or so lagers and other beers. Dating back to the 17th century when it was the Rose and Crown and built shortly after the King’s Road became a public thoroughfare, the name was changed to the Cadogan in 1838 when it was rebuilt. The pub retains some interesting architectural features: note the red pilaster surrounds with Corinthian capitals.
Sydney Arms
70 Sydney Street, Chelsea SW3 6NJ
An independently-owned corner pub just off the Kings Road near Chelsea Town Hall and the lovely St Luke's church, one of the earliest Gothic Revival churches in London. The venue promotes itself as "London's racing pub" and there is live sporting action on 5 screens.
Chelsea Pig
35 Old Church Street, Chelsea SW3 5BS
Following closure due due to insolvency in Feb 2020 the pub reopened under new management at the start of November 2021. Awaiting new details of beers, kitchen hours etc.. Meantime, the following description and most of the other details on this page relate to the pub's previous incarnation. Converted, at some stage, from a multi-room pub into one with a single space wrapped around an 'L'-shaped bar, the Pig's Ear is light and airy. The wood panelling has been painted, but the floor stripped and sealed. The red ceiling enhances the tiffany shades over the bar counter, itself panel-fronted and metal-topped. The back bar is of oak and there is a lovely fireplace, used in appropriate weather. The upstairs dining room has a more traditional feel about it; the panelling has been left varnished and a magnificent fireplace and large mirror dominate the room. The Pig's Ear is a deservedly popular pub, one of the small London-based Union Bars grouping. It is noted for its French influenced British food. There is a bargain limited choice lunch menu during the week.
Crown
153 Dovehouse Street, Chelsea SW3 6LB
Small, corner local off the Fulham Road, close to the Royal Marsden Hospital. Licensed from 1867 to 1953 as a beer house. One of the few Whitbread houses to keep real ale in the 1960s & ‘70s due to a landlord who was determined to keep his handpumps. Poker night on Mondays! Darts knockout every Tuesday, a gallon of beer for the winner! Three real ales. Serves Thai food and pub classics including weekend roasts.
Chelsea Potter
119 Kings Road, Chelsea SW3 4PL
Built as a beer house in 1843 and enlarged in the 1890s, this pub was called the Commercial Tavern until 1956 when it was renamed after William de Morgan, founder of the nearby Chelsea Pottery. Note the attractive canted bay window and the glazing bar divided windows along the Radnor Walk frontage, adorned with hanging baskets, where the outside tables are available. Inside, now a comfortable one bar pub, its high ceiling supported on slender scroll-topped columns, is furnished with a mixture of high and low tables, chairs and stools. A bare boarded floor, plenty of carved wood and a variety of mirrors add to the atmosphere. A pub-grub menu is offered. Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones are reputed to have once been customers; now it attracts a passing trade as well as the local regulars.
Coopers Arms
87 Flood Street, Chelsea SW3 5TB
The original Coopers Arms, licensed in 1831 as a beer house, was demolished in 1874 and rebuilt forty feet south of its original position to allow for the extension of Redsdale Street into Queen Street (as Flood Street was then called). The fine decorative frontage of London Brick and, above ground-floor level, the attractive architrave window surrounds with moulded cornice hoods and pediments, are all noteworthy. Today, this popular pub, half-way between the King's Road and the Embankment, is one of just two in Chelsea tied to Young’s. The spacious 'L'-shaped area around the bar is furnished with comfortable chairs and tables. Six handpumps presently dispense a choice of two or three real ales. An interesting menu offers good food at reasonable prices for the area. The only Master Cooper left in the country is now Alastair Simms at the White Rose Cooperage, but the tradition will carry on as, in 2016, Kean Hiscock signed his indentures as an apprentice cooper for this ancient trade.
Builders Arms
13 Britten Street, Chelsea SW3 3TY
Built to serve the needs of masons and workmen employed in the construction of St. Luke's church opposite, erected 1820-24, it later served as the tap for Matthews & Cannings Anchor Brewery which stood next door. The brewery was taken over by Whitbread in 1899 with brewing continuing until 1907. Now it is a modernised, trendy but friendly venue with separate areas: the Nook, the Dining Room and the Bar. Sofas and comfortable seating plus trademark Hippo Inns quirky decor such as gold pineapple wall lights. Three real ales and an extensive food menu. The lease of the pub reverted to Ei Group who reopened it under the Hippo Inns managed partnership in August 2019.
Surprise
6 Christchurch Terrace, Chelsea SW3 4AJ
A delightful Surprise this pub indeed is, hidden away, as it is, in the backstreets of Chelsea, though its name originates from that of the ship that bore Napoleon's body back to France in 1820. Reopened post-Covid and now leased to Jack Greenall, a scion of the Greenall Whitley brewing family. The pub features a bar and 28-cover restaurant area plus a private dining room. The general manager had previously been at the Harwood Arms in Fulham and the chef comes from the Rabbit in Chelsea.
Phoenix
23 Smith Street, Chelsea SW3 4EE
Apart from some patched-up twentieth-century exterior brick work, this appears to be the original tavern that was built and licensed in 1794/5, making this the oldest surviving pub in Chelsea. Now more of a gastropub than an old-fashioned boozer but pleasant all the same, deep in the heart of Chelsea, with three cask beers and a friendly atmosphere. Very handy for the Royal Hospital (and its Chelsea Pensioners) and the National Army Museum.
Enterprise
35 Walton Street, Chelsea SW3 2HU
Restaurant with very limited seating at the bar. No real ale. Barfood menu available as well as the main restaurant menus.