Two Coventry pubs written up after a visit: The Golden Cross, timber framed and centuries old, and The Earl Of Mercia, a large city centre Wetherspoon.
Two pubs, and that is the whole list. Both have been visited and written up properly, which is the only way anything gets on this site, and two pubs written about at length are worth more than fifteen names lifted off a search result.
They happen to be a good pair. One is a timber framed building that has been a pub through wars and redevelopments and the arrival of every chain bar that was going to finish it off. The other is a large Wetherspoon named after the Earls of Mercia, of whom Coventry's own Leofric is the one most people have heard of, usually because of the story about his wife riding through the city.
Between them they cover most of what somebody visiting Coventry actually wants to know: where to go for the building and the atmosphere, and where to go when there are six of you, somebody is vegan, and it is a Tuesday.
No. 1
The Earl Of Mercia Coventry
Coventry
A large Wetherspoon in the middle of Coventry, named for the Earls of Mercia who once held this part of the country, and built out of a building with the height and floor space to carry it. The draw is a rotating cast of real ales alongside a menu that runs from early breakfasts to burgers, steaks and curries, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options marked throughout. Live music, quiz nights and karaoke all have a regular place in the calendar, and the app means you can order to your table rather than hold your ground at the bar. On matchdays it fills with Sky Blues supporters and on an ordinary Tuesday lunchtime it is still busy, which tells you most of what you need to know.
No. 2
The Golden Cross Coventry
Coventry
A timber framed pub in the heart of Coventry with exposed beams, worn wooden floors and the kind of interior that cannot be built to order. The music programme runs from acoustic solo acts to full bands playing rock, folk and blues, and the stage is small enough that a good night feels like a private one. Comedy nights, karaoke and a fiercely contested quiz fill out the rest of the week, and the kitchen keeps to honest pub food, sharing boards and bar snacks and daily specials. It has come through wars, redevelopment and every wave of chain bars that was supposed to see it off, which is worth a pint of something local on its own.
Two very different pubs in one city centre
It would be easy to set these two against each other, the historic independent against the national chain, and it would miss the point of both.
The Golden Cross is the one to go to for the room. Exposed beams, worn floors, a compact stage, and a licence that has outlasted a great deal of Coventry's built history. The Earl Of Mercia is the one to go to for the practicalities: high ceilings and enough floor space to actually find a table, breakfast from early on, a menu with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options marked, and an app that means you never queue at the bar.
Both put on live music. Both run quiz nights. Both do karaoke. Neither is trying to be the other, and a city is better off with both than with two of either.
A city that keeps its pubs
What comes through in both write-ups is how much these places are used rather than admired. Sky Blues supporters fill both of them on matchdays. Charity nights and community fundraisers happen in both. Local musicians play in both.
The Golden Cross has survived by being chosen, repeatedly, by people who could have gone somewhere newer. The Earl Of Mercia has done something harder than it sounds, which is to be part of a national chain and still feel like it belongs to the street it is on. Coventry has reinvented itself more than most English cities, and both of these have come through it still doing the same job.
Planning an evening in Coventry
The sensible order is The Golden Cross first, while there is still room to get near the stage, and The Earl Of Mercia after, when you want to sit down and eat something without booking. Both are in the city centre.
Everything the site has in Coventry is on the Coventry page, and the wider county is on the West Midlands page. If you know a Coventry pub that belongs on a list like this, the contact page is the way to say so. Two is not a boast, it is a starting point.
More to explore
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The Earl Of Mercia Coventry
Named after a Mercian legend, The Earl Of Mercia Coventry serves up brilliant real ale, great grub, and a buzzing atmosphere bang in the heart of the city.
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The Golden Cross Coventry
Step into The Golden Cross Coventry and discover centuries of history, cracking real ale, live music, and a welcome that never gets old.
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Bittles Bar
A narrow, wedge shaped Victorian bar in Belfast city centre, hung with painted portraits of Irish writers and built for standing rather than settling in.