Previously The Red Lion, this is very much a local for me. In Walsall Wood High St, handily opposite the local Indian restaurant (which is why I visited, to wait for my takeaway with a pint of wife-beater and a magazine).
It’s a nice enough, busy two-room local: no food at the moment, but a couple of guest beers. The staff are friendly and the beer not too expensive. Entertainment, if that’s your thing, on some Fri/Sat nights.
The Elms is one of those pubs that leave me in a quandary. It’s not that nice. It was a grotty old hole full of chavs serving shite beer, but it’s been cleaned up. Still a bit of a nest at times though.
Problem is, there are only two pubs and one ‘wine bar’ close to the centre, and that’s ‘close’ as in ‘about 10 minutes walk’, so by default it’s where you go. It’s got the location too.
Still, at least you don’t stick to the carpet anymore, and my pint of wife-beater was above average too.
[edit 26/4/2009]
It’s still bloody grim. The Stella’s shit again too.
Here we go then, kicking of a new load of crap I post:
(pic stolen from PigBlog).
The Black Cock. One of my locals. Good food, good beer, neither the cheapest, but not the most expensive either by some good margin. Local community pub that has varied over the years from rough to pretty nice. It’s pretty nice now.