More than 25 pubs across London are knocking up to half off the price of a pint today, in a one-day push to lure drinkers back through the door as the cost of a round in the capital regularly climbs towards £10.
The offer is being run through EatClub, the dining-deals app, which says it is boosting the discounts pubs themselves set on its platform up to 50 per cent for today, Saturday 24 October. Drinkers will need to log on to the app early on Saturday morning to catch the deals before they are claimed.
Unlike a traditional chain-wide happy hour, the deals are decided by each pub for the times they want to pull more customers in — the app is simply topping them up to half price for one day. It comes as the price of a pint in London keeps breaking records, with £7, £8 and £9 boards now commonplace and some central London pubs pushing past a tenner.
Where to get a half-price pint today
The list of participating venues runs across north, east, south and central London. In Clerkenwell, the Hat & Feathers, The Clerk & Well and the George & Dragon are all taking part, while the Prince Arthur in Old Street and The Elizabeth in Belgravia are flying the flag for inner north and south-west.
North Londoners can head to the Boston Arms in Tufnell Park, the Dartmouth Arms in Dartmouth Park and the Junction Tavern in Kentish Town for a discounted round. In east London, the Marksman on Hackney Road, The Fox in Haggerston and the Great Beyond Taproom in Hoxton are among those pouring half-price pints.
South of the river, the Britannia in Bermondsey is joined by the Supercute Brewhouse in Loughborough Junction and the Supercute Taproom in Brixton, while the Rattlin Bog is offering the deal at both its Brixton and Clapham sites. Further out, The Pembroke in Coulsdon is on the list for anyone south of Croydon.
How the deal works
To take advantage, Londoners need the EatClub app and must log on early on Saturday to avoid disappointment — the offers are limited and allocated on a first-come basis. The app is best known for filling quieter trading hours with last-minute tables and drinks deals, and the pubs involved set the price and the timing themselves.
Today’s push follows a similar gesture by comedian Joe Lycett, who recently covered bar tabs for punters at his favourite pubs in a bid to get people back into their locals. The idea is the same: give people one more reason to choose the pub over the sofa.
Why a half-price pint matters
The tenner pint has become the grimmest milestone of London’s cost-of-living squeeze. With hospitality businesses facing rising wages, rents and energy bills, many pubs have had little choice but to keep pushing prices up — even as footfall struggles to recover. A one-day deal at 50 per cent off does not fix that, but for drinkers it is a rare chance to get a proper round in at prices most of the city has not seen for a decade.
It is also a sign of how competitive the fight for the Saturday-night crowd has become. With brand-new late-night venues opening in Soho and landmark boozers like McGlynn’s in King’s Cross getting a second life, the humble local is having to work harder than ever to fill its seats.
So if you are out in Clerkenwell, Hackney, Brixton or Belgravia today — or fancy a trip to one of London’s great pie-and-mash institutions first — it might be worth checking the app before you order. Just remember the golden rule: get there early, because the cheapest pints will go first.
Photo: The Windsor Castle in Marylebone — file photograph, not one of the participating pubs. Image: Ewan-M, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
