The Shakespeare, Sheffield

The Shakespeare is a popular music pub in a drab, ex-industrial area just north of the city centre. A handsome Victoria building on the outside, the interior is pretty much bare-bones, functional and in parts rather grotty, but that shouldn't put you off. For a start, there's a pretty good range of ales on the hand pumps (and cider too), a warm and friendly welcome from the staff and a generally relaxed atmosphere. There's also a decent-sized beer garden that caters for the smokers and a pool table downstairs, but it's upstairs where the action is. The Shakespeare plays host to a load of up-and-coming bands in the area and this, really, is the reason people visit here. And it's certainly not a mono-cultural experience, all musical tastes are catered for - folk, jazz, indie, rock, metal World music, you name it, it will be on at some point here during the year - if you visit here at random it's truly pot luck, but most people come here to see a specific act. If you're a real ale fan and your favourite band's playing here and you don't mind your surroundings too much, you're pretty much going to find the Shakespeare hard to beat, for the rest it's a bit a curate's egg.