Bell Inn

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#24 of 231 Quick Bites in Nottingham££ - £££, Quick Bites, Bar, British

+44 115 947 5241+ Add website

Write a Review

Hours

Sun

12:00 - 23:00

Mon

11:00 - 23:00

Tue

11:00 - 23:00

Wed

11:00 - 23:00

Thu

11:00 - 23:00

Fri

11:00 - 0:00

Sat

11:00 - 0:00

Improve this listing

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

538 reviews

#24 of 231 Quick Bites in Nottingham

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

Learn More

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

features

Location and contact

18 Angel Row Market Square, Nottingham NG1 6HL England

+44 115 947 5241

Improve this listing

Does this restaurant allow dogs or considered pet friendly?

Yes

Unsure

Details

Manage this business?

About

The Bell Inn, Nottingham, a Grade II listed pub with a history dating back to the early 14th century! Located in the Market Square Conservation Area, we are a short drive from local attractions such as Nottingham Castle and The Robin Hood Museum. We also welcome dogs on-site and our beer garden is ideal for an al-fresco meal. For those looking to stay a while, we have a selection of IPA craft beers on tap, free WiFi, Sky and BT Sports, plus a fantastic menu with pub classics, sharing platters, vegetarian and vegan dishes and lots more. Book in advance to avoid disappointment!

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Television, Highchairs Available, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music, Dog Friendly, Family style, Sports bars

Contribute

Write a review

Upload a photo

Ask a question

We perform checks on reviews.

Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews

Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.

When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.

Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.

Learn more about our review moderation.

4.0

538 reviews

Excellent

263

Very good

126

Average

Poor

Terrible

Vacationer784612

Mansfield7 contributions

Nice pub but poor food and service

Aug 2022 • couples

We visited this lovely old pub with brilliant little rooms but was let down by the food. The chicken wings were overcooked, dry and just tasted of fat. We complained to the staff and were offered a free drink or another portion but then were told they had run out We had a different option as we were hungry but it was not to the standard as the original one that one of us had. The bar staff kept disappearing from the small room leaving people waiting to be served and when they did come back in they said bluntly 'I've been to the toilet' Later to be seen talking in the other bars. We told the manager about our food experience they didn't seem too bothered. Another disappointing thing was the toilets, needs looking into by management Will visit this pub again but will just be for a drink and not to eat.

Written 6 August 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Greene_K1ng

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to leave us a detailed review, good or bad they’re always useful for our improvement. We’re sorry you had a bad experience here, this isn’t something we strive for. I will pass the key messages across to the team so we can avoid this in the future. Thanks again for the review and we hope to see you again soon!

Written 7 August 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Yogi

Carlisle145 contributions

Lovely Food, great location, good price.

Oct 2021 • couples

The Bell Inn. Only positive comments! Another restaurant from The Green King chain. Come to Nottingham with my Partner for few days holiday and we decided to come to The Bell Inn restaurant as is located in the city centre. Nice restaurant in the building that it was built in 1463. Lovely historic vibes. Food was delicious. We got ourselves Chicken Sharer Platter and I got myself Katsu Burger with slim chips and partner got Chicken and Mushroom Pie with spring cabbage and steak cut chips. Food was freshly prepared, and nicely presented. We didn't have to wait for food long either. It was perfect timing. Staff very friendly as well. If you are in town I fully recommend to check this restaurant. You will be surprised how good the food is.

Written 25 October 2021

Greene_K1ng

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to write us such a lovely review! We’re happy you enjoyed your food! Especially now we have a new menu! Have a good day!

Written 31 October 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Andy S

United Kingdom24 contributions

You get what you pay for!

Aug 2022 • none

City centre pubs tend to be cheap and cheerful but we expected a bit more from Nottingham's oldest inn. The Bell has history, atmosphere, cozy, warm and welcoming with lots of wood, old photos, a narrow passage with slabs that must have seen a million feet walk over them. But the meal was truly disappointing. Sausage and mash consisted of 3 pale, bland sausages, a small helping of mash, a great unappetising pile of crinkly cabbage, and an odd tasting gravy. What's wrong with garden peas? My wife had a lasagne which did not pass the quality test either. Still, it was warm, nicely served with no great wait ... and it was cheap, which just goes to prove you get what you pay for.

Written 16 August 2022

Greene_K1ng

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to review us! Were sorry you didn’t have the experience you wanted but hope the pub atmosphere and setting made up for it. We hope the food hasn’t put you off as this isn’t something we aim for but hope to see you again soon! Thanks again! 🛎

Written 19 August 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jennifer3315

Rhyl14 contributions

DO NOT EAT HERE

Nov 2021 • couples

Came for a meal after a day of shopping and sight seeing, menu looked good - standard pub food menu with decent prices. Food took over an hour to arrive (despite the pub not being at all busy) and it was awful, and 90% of it was stone cold. The so called “sharing platter” was laughable - the “sliders” resembled a kids party style burger cut in half which tasted like old meat that had been sat in the back of a freezer for god knows how long, chicken wings looked anemic (nobody dared to even try these) and the “rosemary salted” fries were just plain old oven chips with no sort of seasoning at all. We did tell the barman about the food being cold and we were offered some fresh chips, but we declined as we were already starving and did not fancy waiting another hour. The pub itself is nice enough, drinks were nice and fairly priced but definitely would NOT recommend eating here

Written 23 November 2021

Greene_K1ng

Jenniferchlo, we work hard to provide a fantastic experience to everyone. So it's really disappointing to see that we clearly missed the mark this time.

Written 25 November 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lee C

3 contributions

Very Disappointing Food & Managerial Response

Nov 2021 • none

Booked online looking forward to a lovely meal at a pub with a great beer range. Steak skewers not available so ordered Katsu Burger and Large Fish & Chips. After a long wait the food finally arrived, chips and burger were luke warm as were the Fish & Chips. The batter on the fish and chips was thick and gloopy in places almost raw on the inside. The waiter enquired if food was ok. We stated it was not hot, merely luke warm. He apologised and said he would feed back to the kitchen. I was hungry and eat the katsu burger and chips. My friend could not eat the luke warm spongy battered fish. He picked out some flakes of the cod and ate a few mushy peas and a few chips but had to stop as it was not appetising. I called the waiter over who was again apologetic, but helpfully agreed to advise his manager. On return he offered to replace the fish and chips or offered a refund. My friend chose the refund as his faith was lost in the food. The waiter advised the manager would be up to refund shortly. The young man that came to provide the refund offered no apology and said he was merely there to refund the money for the Fish & Chips and asked for our credit card. We advised we paid cash. He argued that we hadn’t as they had no cash facility upstairs. The waiter confirmed we had indeed paid cash whereupon the alleged manager stormed off in what appeared to be a huff returning a few minutes later with a £10 note and lots of loose change to make up the other £2.99 he then left again without a word of apology, we were shocked at the alleged managers attitude to our complaint. The pub itself is a great pub for drinkers but on the Saturday evening we attended, the food was far below the standard we expected and the response by the alleged manager seemed agitated and somewhat dismissive of our experience. We will not be returning to dine here, but for drinks we would recommend.

Written 13 November 2021

Greene_K1ng

I am so sorry about you experience at The Bell over the weekend. We suffered some major staffing issues and whilst this is absolutely to excuse it put a lot of pressure on the team. Please get in touch with us on site at 4637@greeneking.co.uk so we can look into this further with you. This is not a representation of the service we pride ourselves in and would hope you visit us again, our fish and chips are one of our favourite dishes and would love for you to come and experience the service we usually provide. Once again we are so sorry.

Written 18 November 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Melimadness22

4 contributions

Michelle

May 2021 • couples

Went to the Bell inn today as I have on many occasions. Unfortunately the food we were served was awful. I ordered a fishfinger sandwich and my husband ordered a ham and cheese toastie . My sandwich arrived on stale bread and was cold, I couldn’t work out wether it had been toasted or was just extremely dry! Think it was very dry bread My husband’s sandwich was disgusting, I’ve never seen such a poor amount of cheese or ham on a sandwich! and the fries were cold. We had to ask for cutlery and serviettes. Serviettes were brought to us but no cutlery!! We were offered another meal to replace our poor meal but didn’t have time as had an appointment to get too Really disappointed, don’t think I’ll be rushing back to the Bell

Written 27 May 2021

Greene_K1ng

Hi Dukedog, We are sorry you feel this way about your food and has not been to our usual high standards. To ensure this does not happen again we will use this review to ensure all staff are aware of what ti look for to deliver the best food to our customers. We really appreciate your feedback and the time taken to write a detailed review! Have a nice day.

Written 31 May 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Ann R

Nottingham6 contributions

Poor service and bad attitude

Nov 2021 • none

We are a group of U3A members who go out for Sunday lunch. There was 6 of us. We ordered the meals together and two were brought then after a long wait another meal. They seemed to have forgotten the other two meals same experience as missacorah. After we complained we wanted to eat together one of the waitresses was very rude. I said we would not go there again. The food was not very warm an unappetising. The Manager finally gave us a refund for of two of the meals.

Written 7 November 2021

Greene_K1ng

S3609tbannr, it's upsetting to hear that you did not receive the top-notch service we strive to provide.

Written 9 November 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

babzmabz

Alfreton71 contributions

Dire festive Sunday lunch

Dec 2022 • family

Not a great experience today and would not recommend at all after today’s visit. We have been visiting for many years for a festive get together and have seen an unfortunate steady decline here. The visit didn’t start off well when I advised there was no toilet paper in 2/3 of the cubicles and no soap in the ladies toilets to be told abruptly they’d ran out, as if there was an acceptable response! My advice is go and get some then, the pub is in a town centre close to lots of shops!!! The Sunday lunch is priced at £12.99 and there is a choice of beef or chicken. We were really looking forward to this on our festive family outing to Notts. Unfortunately we were left very disappointed! In our opinion the portion size is meagre and the quality poor compared to other similar venues. There was hardly any meat on the plate, very stingy! No mash, no stuffing, no pigs in blankets (available to purchase), a tiny pot of gravy and burnt carrots! We were left hungry after finishing these meals. Overall a disappointing visit with disappointing service and food! We won’t be back again sadly! i’m

Written 18 December 2022

Greene_K1ng

Hi Babzmabz, your feedback is extremely disappointing, and I'd really like to speak to you to discuss it further. Please can you get in touch when you have a spare moment grantmckenzie.gm@greeneking.co.uk

Written 21 December 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

SunkCord

3 contributions

Seasoned fries...

May 2021 • friends

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in Nottingham and we were sat in the bell inn having a wonderful time. We proceeded to order some food and I was drawn in by seasoned fries. Upon arrival of the food I was greeted with some fries that weren’t even seasoned with salt. Outrageous. How much more false could you be with that advertising.

Written 30 May 2021

Greene_K1ng

Hi Tom, Thank your for taking the time to review us and your experience, our fries are ordered in pre seasoned but unfortunately on this occasion, sorry you felt this was not enough, had we been made aware we could have added more for you. We appreciate the time taken to review us and we will ensure the team are aware for the future. Thanks again!

Written 31 May 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

steven B

37 contributions

Nice pub, shame about food

Nov 2021 • none

Visited today for our son’s birthday treat whilst at Uni. Pub has good atmosphere but food lets it down. Do not order fish & chips, under cooked but batter rock hard. Sent back and after 20 Mins later still the same and by then lost interest! They did not charge for it but spoilt what we had hoped would be a nice lunch. Staff friendly and helpful but really need to get food sorted. Sorry won’t be returning

Written 20 November 2021

Greene_K1ng

Hello J9804skstevens, we appreciate you taking the time to leave us this feedback.

Written 22 November 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Brian B

14 contributions

Rubbish steak and ale pie.

Oct 2023 • couples

Wanted a meal before visiting the theatre so booked a table in The Bell, one of the iconic pubs in my native Nottingham. I had the steak and ale pie in which the meat bore little resemblance to steak. It was gristly and chewy and for me inedible. After complaining the waitress offered me another pie, which I declined as I imagined it came from the samebatch of pies and would have been just as bad. I was then offered a free drink which I declined as I was driviing home after the theatre. So all I got for my £14.95 was a pie crust, which in truth wasn't too bad, some gravy, so called triple fried chips, which they weren't, and a chunk of braised hispi cabbage which for the most part was raw. I dearly now wish I had refused to pay for what was a very inadequate meal. My wife's chicken Kyiv was all right but nothing special. The waiting staff were very polite, it wasn't their fault.

Written 1 November 2023

Greene King

We are disappointed to learn of your experience here at Bell Inn Nottingham, but will take this opportunity to improve.

Written 2 November 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nicola F

2 contributions

Bad experience

Oct 2024 • family

We booked for lunch today whilst in Nottingham visiting our son who is at uni here. We ordered 3 steaks and a pie which took 50 minutes to arrive and when they did arrive the steaks were over cooked, chewy and cold. We had to send them back and they were taken off the bill but 3 of our family left not having had lunch. It’s a shame as we chose the pub based on it being in a central location and the previous reviews being positive. Hopefully it was just an off day but it wasn’t just our table sending back food. We would recommend this pub for a drink as it’s lovely but not for food sadly.

Written 12 October 2024

Greene King

We're sorry to hear that you didn't have the best experience with us on Saturday! All negative comments have been passed on to the whole team to ensure that we are able to improve our overall service! I do hope that you can reconsider and give us another chance, and allow us to redeem ourselves!

Written 14 October 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Michelle W

2 contributions

Family Catch Up

Mar 2023 • family

I visited your pub last night after having several good catch up/parties (upstairs) in your pub over the years, however when ordering our food last night, my Husband ordered the Pie & asked for beans instead of Peas, the meals arrived and my Husbands pie was missing, however his beans were on my meal, the lady got the chef to sort it ASAP however we were then informed No pies left, he chose something else, by the time his arrived we had all eaten ours, the Lady came over and told us she had done a discount, I informed her we had already paid when ordering, instead of her offering a refund she just walked away. I was Quite shocked she didn't attempt to offer a refund or even come back to the table. The food was nowhere near the standards we have had in the past, such a shame but I won't be returning.

Written 21 March 2023

Greene King

Hi Michelle, Would you be able to contact us on m4637@greeneking.co.uk providing us your receipt details and I will get this rectified for you, Were sorry that this was not the experience you were looking for or what we strive to deliver. Hoping to hear from you soon, Best Wishes Team Bell Inn

Written 24 March 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

ScaryCanary

Hampshire180 contributions

Nice pub but terrible food

Mar 2024 • friends

Visited on a Tuesday evening and the place had a nice vibe with people of all ages and types. It’s a lovely old building with several bars and a restaurant at the back. We ordered a chicken salad and mussels with chips. The salad was insultingly tiny. For £13 it was around a third of the size I expected. The chicken wasn’t a nice warm sliced chicken breast as I’d imagined but was just cold cooked diced chicken sprinkled around. The overall salad was drowned in hot peri peri sauce and was really disappointing. The mussels were apparently tasty but around one third of them didn’t open. We mentioned it to the waitress who offered to give us something to prise them open if they were jammed!! Clearly no understanding of the food and poor customer service as there was no offer of more mussels, any refund or even a word from the chef. Very poor which was a shame as it seemed like a nice place initially.

Written 6 March 2024

Greene King

Scarycanary, it's upsetting to hear that you did not receive the top-notch service we strive to provide.

Written 12 March 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

missacorah

355 contributions

Meal forgotten about and not much of an apology

Oct 2021 • none

Popped in for a quick lunch and loved the interesting layout of this pub with a few different rooms and annexes. We chose one of the quieter side bars to have some lunch and a drink. The bartender was serious and miserable. No smiles or happiness...not even fake ones! Our first 2 meals arrived in about 10 minutes and i must say were really tasty. We waited for the 3rd meal for about another 15 minutes then went down to the restaurant area to check on its whereabouts. We were told to go back to the table and it would come out. Ten minutes later and still no sign by which time the 1st 2 meals had been eaten. We finally had to ask the sad lady behind the bar to look into it again and it then arrived. We ended up having to eat at 2 different times which wasnt what we had wanted and there wasnt a huge apology for the error either. For this reason i wouldnt recommend.

Written 1 November 2021

Greene_K1ng

Hi Missacorah, Thanks for your feedback, we appreciate the time you’ve taken to let us know how we did. We’re sorry you didn’t receive the excellent service we thrive for and we hope you will return again!

Written 5 November 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

…

Showing results 1-15 of 526

Best quick bites

See all