The little black book

Pubs with a private room for after-work

Pubs with a private room you can close the door on - speeches, client dinners, leaving dos. Rank the commute, then call to check the room is free.

The Fox & Anchor is a Grade II listed Young's pub beside Smithfield Market, built in 1898 with a tiled Art Nouveau-influenced front by W J Neatby for Doulton....

Barbican 4 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

Lore of the Land is Guy Ritchie's pub on Conway Street in Fitzrovia, with food cooked over charcoal, ember and flame. Its house beer comes from Gritchie,...

Warren Street 5 min · Bookable

The Bloomsbury Club is a low-lit basement bar inside The Bloomsbury Hotel on Great Russell Street. It mixes jazz-inspired cocktails alongside the classics, and...

Tottenham Court Road 4 min · Bookable

The City Pride is a Clerkenwell pub on Farringdon Lane with a proper Italian kitchen. It opens only Monday to Friday, so it is built for after-work drinks. The...

Farringdon 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Clerkenwell Tavern on the corner of Exmouth Market has been a Farringdon staple since 1876. It is known for salt beef sandwiches and Reubens, with natural...

Farringdon 9 min · Bookable

The Coach Makers Arms is a restored Victorian pub on Marylebone Lane, run by Cubitt House. The ground-floor bar suits a drop-in crowd, and the dining room...

Bond Street 4 min · Bookable

The Coal Hole is a Grade II listed Nicholson's pub at 91-92 Strand, right beside the Savoy. Its Edwardian interior is one of the more ornate on the Strand. It...

Charing Cross 4 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The College Arms is a one-room pub on Store Street, near Goodge Street. Its green-and-white tiled floor and mirrored screens give it plenty of character....

Goodge Street 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Crown Tavern is a Clerkenwell Green pub that claims Lenin and Stalin met there in 1905, though historians doubt it. It has two hire rooms: the Apollo Room,...

Farringdon 7 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Grafton Arms is a Fitzrovia corner pub on Grafton Way, near Warren Street, with 11 bedrooms upstairs. It serves pan-Asian food with real ales, wine and...

Warren Street 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Lady Ottoline is a corner pub on Northington Street in Bloomsbury, on a site where there has been a pub since at least 1756. It is named after Lady...

Chancery Lane 8 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Last Judgment is a gilded, theatrical pub in the former Union Bank building on the corner of Chancery Lane and Carey Street. The kitchen runs a Steak &...

Chancery Lane 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Lucky Saint is the alcohol-free brewer's own pub on Devonshire Street in Marylebone, in a lovingly restored historic building. It pours alcohol-free and...

Great Portland Street 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Newman Arms on Rathbone Street has been a Fitzrovia pub since 1730, and it was once a brothel. George Orwell used it as the model for the proles' pub in...

Goodge Street 4 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Norfolk Arms is a high-ceilinged Bloomsbury pub on Leigh Street that serves a big Mediterranean tapas menu with its pints. Small plates mostly sit between...

Russell Square 6 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Oxford Market is an independent pub and kitchen on Market Place, a couple of minutes from Oxford Circus, with a beer garden. Sing-along classics start at...

Oxford Circus 3 min · Bookable

The Salisbury is a Grade II listed Victorian pub on St Martin's Lane, built in 1899, with etched glass, gold chandeliers and carved mahogany. It does a roaring...

Leicester Square 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Ship Tavern is a Holborn pub on Gate Street, by Lincoln's Inn Fields, with a history going back to 1549. During the centuries when Catholic Mass was...

Holborn 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

Frequently asked questions

How do we book a private room for after-work drinks in central London?

After-Work Drinks in Central London filtered for Private Room keeps pubs with a separate room you can enquire about. Rank the commute first, then call or email to check the room is free - the tag means the room exists, not that it is held for you tonight.

When do private rooms need to be booked?

Friday nights and month-end fill early. As soon as you have a date and headcount, rank here, then reach out before the room is gone.

What’s the difference between Private Room and Big Groups on this list?

Big Groups is large tables or areas in the main pub. Private Room means a separate space with a door. Some pubs appear in both. If you need the door closed, filter for Private Room.

How do we stop after-work drinks defaulting to the nearest Zone 1 pub?

After-Work Drinks in Central London is a curated set of bookable central pubs. Add each person's office or station in FairWhere and it ranks the shortlist by journey fairness, so the person finishing in Stratford is not always the one with the nightmare commute.

Do these pubs take group bookings?

This Placelist focuses on pubs with bookable space or private rooms for groups. Filter for bookable, private room, or big groups, then rank the shortlist fairly before you request a table.

How does FairWhere rank places on After-Work Drinks in Central London?

FairWhere ranks venues on this Placelist by FairWhere Score: journey fairness for your whole group, not by popularity, sponsorship, or who suggested the place first. Open Plan a fair meet to add origins and see the ranked shortlist.