The Best Pubs in North Shields

North Shields drinks well. The Fish Quay and the streets above it hold a run of proper pubs, from centuries-old alehouses tucked beneath the bank to a restored corn exchange that now doubles as the town's main music venue. Add a thriving independent brewing scene and you have a town made for an unhurried crawl. Here are the pubs worth building an evening around.

The Low Lights Tavern

Start with the oldest. The Low Lights Tavern sits on Brewhouse Bank, tucked beneath the bank below the old Low Light, and lays claim to being the oldest pub in North Shields — an alehouse is said to have stood on the site for centuries. It is a small, traditional free house of the proper sort, with low beams, open fires and a genuinely local feel.

The draw is the beer: a rotating range of guest cask ales alongside a house beer brewed by the nearby Three Kings Brewery. Food is minimal, so this is a drinkers' pub first and foremost, and a fine place to end a walk around the Quay.

Best for: Best for history and real ale — the oldest pub in town, beams, fires and all.

The Wooden Doll

On the bank above the Quay, The Wooden Doll on Hudson Street takes its name from the carved wooden dolly that is a North Shields tradition. It is a friendly riverside local with a strong reputation for beer, pouring six hand pumps of cask alongside a rotating range of craft.

There is regular live music, the option to book for functions, and a position that gives glimpses out over the river. It is a reliable second stop on any Fish Quay crawl.

Best for: Best for choice — six hand pumps, craft on rotation, and live music at the weekend.

The Fishnet Tavern

The Fishnet Tavern reopened in 2022 in the historic New Dolphin Inn building on Low Lights, close to the old lighthouses that give the street its name. It is one of the oldest continually licensed premises in the town, and its return restored a much-loved corner of the Quay to use.

These days it trades as a straightforward cask-ale pub, with the focus firmly on well-kept beer rather than food. Its history and its spot at the heart of the Quay make it a natural stop for anyone exploring the area's maritime past over a pint.

Best for: Best for a quiet pint of cask in a historic room right on the Quay.

Three Tanners Bank

A short walk up from the water, Three Tanners Bank is a bar, cafe and grassroots music venue rolled into one. It has built a following as one of the area's best small live-music spaces, hosting local and touring acts in an intimate setting.

Alongside the music it serves drinks and food, with wood-fired pizza a particular draw, so it works as well for a relaxed bite as for a gig. It is very much part of the wave of independent openings that has given the Quay's fringes a real cultural energy.

Best for: Best for live music and a pizza — a proper grassroots venue with a bar.

The Exchange 1856

Up in the town's cultural quarter, The Exchange 1856 occupies a restored former corn exchange on pedestrianised Howard Street. Grade II listed, it has been brought back into use as a cafe-bar and restaurant with a natural-wine leaning, but its real distinction is its music programme.

With a room holding around 450, it is the town's main live venue, running a busy calendar of gigs and events. As a cornerstone of the regeneration of the upper town, it pairs good food and drink with a genuine cultural pull, and makes a fitting finish to a night that started down on the Quay.

Best for: Best for a big night — food, wine and the town's main gig room under one restored roof.

---

Think we have missed a North Shields local? Get in touch and tell us where you drink.