Best Pubs in Exeter 2026: 16 Locals, Gardens and Taprooms

What Makes a Good Pub in Exeter?

There are plenty of places to meet people in 2026: apps, coworking spaces, running clubs, pottery classes. None of them has replaced what the pub does. A good pub lets you sit with someone for hours, nurse a drink and talk properly, or arrive alone and leave feeling like you belong. You don't need a booking or an agenda. You just need a table and a couple of pints.

Exeter has a lot of pubs, and the best of them are proper ones: brewery-owned locals, backstreet freehouses and old warehouses on the quay. We've grouped this guide by what you actually want from the evening, and every pub comes with a one-line verdict on why it earns its place. Every venue here was re-checked in September 2026 against the Food Standards Agency register, CAMRA's pub guide and the pub's own website. Two pubs from earlier versions of this guide are gone. The Beer Cellar on South Street is listed by CAMRA as permanently closed, and a gyros shop now trades at its address. The Oddfellows on New North Road has since reopened as a different bar.

If you're new to the city and building a social life from scratch, becoming a regular at a good local is one of the simplest things you can do.

Which Exeter Pubs Are Best for a Quiet Drink and a Long Chat?

The best quiet pubs in Exeter are the Hour Glass and the Fat Pig. Both are small backstreet locals with low noise and no big screens, and neither will rush you out.

The Hour Glass

On the corner of Melbourne Street and Colleton Row, above the quay, the Hour Glass is a Grade II listed, wedge-shaped pub that CAMRA notes for its rounded corner and a real fire in the main bar. Exeter Brewery owns and runs it, so the bar carries its regular ales plus a changing one. The pub's own site says "Since 1846". Food runs every evening, with lunch Thursday to Sunday, and there's a downstairs dining room that can be booked for a group. CAMRA's local branch lists a Monday quiz.

Verdict: this is the one to pick if you want a pint and a conversation you can actually hear. It's small, it has a fire, and it's tucked away enough that there's no passing trade.

The Fat Pig

The Fat Pig at 2 John Street, just behind Fore Street, is a Victorian corner local. It was once the Coachmakers Arms and reopened as the Fat Pig in 2008. It calls itself a freehouse "for the free thinking foodie": home-cooked food made to order from local suppliers, a rotating menu and a Sunday roast from 12 to 3pm (book ahead). It welcomes dogs. Note the hours: it's closed Monday and Tuesday, opens from 5pm Wednesday to Friday, and on Sunday it closes at 4pm.

Verdict: the best backstreet food pub in the city centre for two to four people. Go on a Saturday lunchtime or a Wednesday-to-Friday evening; it is shut Monday and Tuesday.

Where Is the Best Pub in Exeter for a Group?

For groups, the best pubs are on the quay. Samuel Jones and On The Waterfront both have the space and the shareable food a big table needs. In the city centre, the Imperial is the budget option.

Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones is a St Austell Brewery pub on Commercial Road. It sits in a former bonded warehouse on the quay. The pub describes its food as small plates, stone-baked pizzas and pub classics, with Sunday roasts. The windows look out over the river.

Verdict: the easiest place in Exeter to feed eight people who all want something different. Sharing plates keep the table talking.

On The Waterfront

On The Waterfront sits under the brick arches of a 19th-century warehouse at 5–9 The Quay. It's known for enormous pizzas, and it caters for groups of up to 100 across its tunnels and quayside terrace.

Verdict: for a birthday or leaving drinks that needs to seat a crowd, book here. Order pizzas for the middle of the table, then drift out to the terrace.

The Imperial

The Imperial on New North Road is a Wetherspoon in a listed former hotel. The barrel-vaulted orangery is the part to sit in. It's huge and cheap, and nobody minds eight of you taking over a corner, which counts for a lot if you're socialising on a budget.

Verdict: the practical choice when a group has mixed budgets. Go for the space and the building, not the atmosphere.

Which Is the Most Historic Pub in Exeter?

For history, the Ship Inn on Martin's Lane is the pub to visit. It's a timber-framed pub between the High Street and Cathedral Close, and its history is linked to Exeter's seafaring past. We can't find a reliable source that settles which pub in Exeter is the oldest, so we don't make that claim for any of them.

The Ship Inn

Greene King now runs the Ship at 1–3 Martin's Lane. The inside is low-beamed and Tudor in style. It has cask ales and British comfort food, it's dog- and family-friendly, and it opens from late morning every day. The old story that Drake and Raleigh drank here comes up in almost every account. Treat it as local legend rather than record.

Verdict: the pub to take visitors to after the cathedral. You're paying for the building more than the beer, and that's a fair trade. Pair it with our walking tour of Exeter's hidden gems.

City Gate

City Gate is a Young's pub and hotel at 1 Iron Bridge, beside the old city wall. It has a sheltered courtyard garden with a covered, heated stretch tent. It also runs a regular pub quiz, shows live sport, and has a Cellar Bar you can hire.

Verdict: the most dependable city-centre garden when the weather can't make up its mind. The heated tent means you can still sit outside in October.

Which Exeter Pubs Have Live Music?

The Old Firehouse on New North Road is Exeter's best-known live music pub. The Stand Off on Longbrook Street mixes live bands with sport.

The Old Firehouse

The building at 50 New North Road was a working fire station from the mid-1800s to the early 1930s. It opened as the Old Firehouse in 1986. It's a three-storey, candlelit pub with local ales and a long cider list. Bands play Friday and Saturday nights, "Ex-Tunes" runs on Sundays, and the kitchen serves late-night pizzas.

Verdict: the best Friday night pub in Exeter if you want music without paying for a gig ticket. Our live music venues guide has the rest of the scene.

The Stand Off

The Stand Off on Longbrook Street started, in its own words, "in Steeno's garage", a nod to Exeter Chiefs' Gareth Steenson. It now calls itself Exeter's ultimate sports bar, with seven large screens and a giant projector on the stage. It also has live bands, home-cooked food and Sunday roasts.

Verdict: the best place in town to watch the Chiefs with a crowd. See our sports bars guide for more places to watch the match.

Where Can You Get Good Pub Food in Exeter?

For pub food by the water, go to the Prospect Inn on the quay or the Mill on the Exe by Blackaller Weir. For a gastropub feel in the city, the Fat Pig and the Hour Glass (above) are the best bets. Our gastropubs guide goes further.

The Prospect Inn

The Prospect is a Heavitree Brewery pub on the quay, between the Custom House and the warehouses. It serves up to four cask ales, good-value food made with Devon produce, and has tables out on the quayside. It's closed on Mondays and open from noon Tuesday to Sunday.

Verdict: the most honest quayside pub. It's a real brewery local rather than a destination venue, which is exactly why it works for a lunchtime pint and a plate of something.

Mill on the Exe

The Mill on the Exe is a St Austell Brewery pub on Bonhay Road, beside Blackaller Weir and the Millstone footbridge. It's spread over two floors with river views, a garden, and en-suite rooms next door at Headweir Mill House. It's dog- and family-friendly and has parking.

Verdict: the best choice when a proper meal matters as much as the pint, or when friends from out of town need a bed. It's also a short walk from St David's station.

Which Exeter Pub Has the Best Beer Garden?

Double Locks has the best beer garden in Exeter. It sits on the bank of the Exeter Ship Canal, with covered and heated areas. The Turf, further down the canal, is the day-trip version.

Double Locks

The Double Locks is a Young's pub on Canal Banks, about a thirty-minute walk down the towpath from the quay. It calls its garden "the biggest and best garden in Exeter", with covered and heated areas. It serves a seasonal British menu, runs a burger shack at weekends, and says "Muddy boots and muddy paws are welcome here".

Verdict: the best summer afternoon in Exeter. Walk or cycle there from the quay, because the walk is half the point. Our dog-friendly Exeter guide has more pubs where the dog can come too.

The Turf

The Turf sits where the Exeter Canal meets the Exe estuary, near Exminster, and you can't drive all the way to it. You arrive on foot, by bike, or by ferry from Trout's Boatyard in Topsham, and a new ferry from Exmouth launched in July 2026. The pub is seasonal, so check its opening days and the ferry times on its own channels before you set off.

Verdict: the best day out on this list. You earn the pint by getting there, and the estuary views pay it back.

The Lighter Inn, Topsham

The Lighter Inn is a Hall & Woodhouse pub on Topsham's quay, right on the Exe estuary. It's named after the flat-bottomed barges that unloaded ships anchored mid-channel. It pours Badger ales, serves food all day, and welcomes dogs and families.

Verdict: the best waterside pub for the evening sun. Make a day of it in Topsham and finish here.

Where Can You Drink Craft Beer in Exeter?

The best craft beer in Exeter is at Topsham Brewery's taproom on the quay, with Exeter Brewery's Tap Room close behind for a Thursday or Friday evening. Our craft beer and taprooms guide covers the rest.

Topsham Brewery Taproom

Despite the name, Topsham Brewery brews in Exeter. The brewery and taproom are in the Grade II listed Maclaines Warehouses on Haven Road, on the Haven Banks side of the quay. You can see the brewhouse from the bar. There's a garden outside, a pizza van most days, and a regular events calendar: a gypsy jazz jam on the last Wednesday of the month, Silent Book Club, and a Tuesday evening run club. It opens from noon every day (check the brewery's site for closing times).

Verdict: the best place in Exeter to drink beer brewed on the premises, and its free club nights give you an easy reason to go alone.

Exeter Brewery Tap Room

Exeter Brewery's Tap Room is on Cowley Bridge Road, near St David's station. It opens on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5pm, and on the last Friday of the month there's a curry. It can be hired for private events at other times.

Verdict: a proper brewery-bar evening for the dedicated. Pencil it in for a Thursday night and bring the friend who actually reads the pump clips.

Our Verdict: The Best Pub in Exeter by Occasion

• Quiet catch-up: the Hour Glass, because it has a real fire, it's hidden away and it's quiet enough to talk.
• Food-led pint in the centre: the Fat Pig, for home cooking from local suppliers in a proper backstreet local.
• Group of eight or more: Samuel Jones, because sharing plates and space make a big table easy.
• Visitors and history: the Ship Inn, because the building is the show.
• Beer garden: Double Locks, which bills its garden as the biggest in Exeter, with covered and heated areas.
• Live music: the Old Firehouse, for Friday and Saturday bands and pizza until late.
• Craft beer: Topsham Brewery Taproom, for beer brewed in the building you're sitting in.
• Sunday roast: the Fat Pig or Double Locks. Our Sunday roasts guide has the full list.

Why the Pub Still Matters

With so much of social life now on WhatsApp and video calls, it can feel old-fashioned to argue for the pub. But a shared physical space with no screens, no agenda and no time limit is where real connection happens. The pub is democratic. You can stay for one drink or four, come alone and bump into someone you know, or arrange to meet and end up joining another table.

For a midweek night with a reason to go, our pub quizzes guide lists every quiz night in the city. If you're extending the evening, try our cocktail bars guide.

And if you'd like a more structured way to meet people over food and drink in Exeter, we might know a thing or two about that as well.