THE GUINEA

THE GUINEA - A LITERARY LONDON PUB

I went for a half of London Special at The Guinea on Monday. It is a small Young’s pub, with a restaurant ‘The Guinea Grill’ (specialising in steak), tucked away on?Bruton Place in Mayfair, a wealthy part of London. I had to walk past Asprey and Chanel & moi to get there.

Etched into the front window are the words: ‘Established 1423.’ This claim that there has been a pub on the site since 1423 is unlikely to be true. The present building dates to 1741 (licenced in 1754).

The lounge bar had a small L shaped bar, lots of dark wooden screens and panelling, and the walls were decorated with old prints and photos mainly pictures of men in frock coats or top hats or dress uniform. The barmen wore white shirts, black ties, black waistcoats and black trousers; one was drying cutlery then rolling them into napkins. The beer mats read: ‘Pies sold all day.’ Overall, I’d say, the inside had an?‘Old World’ feel - as shown in this YouTube video.

Apparently, the pub can get very crowded if you come at a busy time.

Richard Sheridan (Literary career and Works) lived around the corner in Bruton Street. Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Bibliography) was born at 17, Bruton Street on 21 April 1926.

Bing Crosby (Bibliography), Bob Hope (Bibliography), Greta Garbo (Bibliography), Liza Minnelli (Bibliography), Graham Norton (Bibliography) and Frank Sinatra (Bibliography) all frequented ‘The Guinea Grill’.

The name of the pub ‘The Guinea’ refers to an out-of-date currency unit of one pound and one shilling. Pep and Farrell visit the Guinea in my short story One Pound and One Shilling.

The Guinea, 30 Bruton Place, Mayfair W1J 6NL

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If you liked this article,?there are other London literary pubs listed here.