Pubs you can drink at in real life

The Black Prince from Kingsman: The Secret Service

Real pub name: The Black Prince

Film synopsis

Secret agent Lee Unwin saves the life of spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth), and dies in the process. 17 years later, Hart returns to find Unwin’s son, Eggsy, and transforms into a secret agent.

Film scene

The Black Prince pub was the filming location for one of the most extraordinary fight scenes in movie history. Colin Firth a.k.a Harry Hart in Kingsman: A Secret Service teaches some mouthy yobs a serious lesson, when they try and confront Eggsy.

After the gang insult both Hart and Eggsy a few times, and refuse to leave when asked, Hart calmly goes over to the door and locks it. Then he curls his umbrella (actually secret spy weapon, complete with gun and bullet proof canopy) around a beer mug and hurls it right at their faces. 

There’s a lot of fighting and umbrella action, with a particularly iconic moment when someone’s tooth hurtles clean out of their mouth and flies across the room. The barman is just about to phone the police when Hart shoots him with an amnesia dart, and he slumps over, remembering nothing.

Wow. All that because the yobs didn’t let Colin Firth finish a drink in peace. Lesson is, don’t come between a secret spy and his pint of Guinness.

Drink of choice

A lovely pint of Guinness, like the one Colin Firth doesn’t get to finish before he punches the lights out of those yobs.

When The Black Prince isn’t serving as the favourite drinking spot for secret agents, it’s a pretty ordinary and friendly pub, serving some pretty delicious sounding food (whole tray of wings, and a cheeseburger, anyone?)

Samoan Joe’s from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Real pub name: The Royal Oak

Film synopsis

A swaggering card sharp (someone who wins money by cheating at card games like poker) loses half a million in a rigged game of Three Card Brag. He and his friends decide to rob the gang next door to make the money back.

Film scene

Rory Breaker: afro-sporting suit-wearing hard man has gone down to his local boozer (Samoan Joe’s) to catch the football on telly.

A ring gleaming on his knuckle, he reaches for the remote to turn the TV on. A guy wanders over and turns the channel over, telling Rory to watch it somewhere else.

Cool as a cucumber, Rory picks up a fire extinguisher and plonks it outside the pub entrance. He then orders the strongest drink in the pub, and switches the football back on.

“That’s it”, says the geezer who interrupted Rory’s football game, after which Rory spits a mouthful of the extra strong booze into the man’s face and puts a lit match against his shirt. The man lights up “like a leaking gas pipe”, and Rory returns to his game.

Drink of choice

A bright green cocktail that looks like ‘a f***ing rainforest’, as Bacon says in the movie.

You can grab a real drink at Samoan Joe’s (The Royal Oak in real life). And while we doubt that Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon were eating chicken liver parfait, watercress and sourdough back in the 90s, you can certainly order it in The Royal Oak today.

The Royal Oak, situated in Bethnal Green, London, pub has interior design features dating back to 1923, making it a popular choice as a filming location. As well as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the pub also features in the Kray twins films and the 90s sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart.

Pubs you can’t drink at in real life

The Leaky Cauldron from the Harry Potter movies

We’ve all dreamed of sipping a Gillyweed or Butterbeer in the gloomy depths of The Leaky Cauldron pub, with Harry, Hermione and the rest of the gang.

Alas, The Leaky Cauldron pub is barred to Muggles (a.k.a us, the non-wizarding folk), so we’ll just have to do with exploring its history.

History

The Leaky Cauldron from the Harry Potter movies is a wizarding pub situated on Charing Cross Road, run by the toothless barkeep Tom.

The Leaky Cauldron is famous for providing the entrance to the wizarding street Diagon Alley. You have to tap five bricks in a wall in The Leaky Cauldron’s courtyard and the Diagon Alley entrance will appear.

The pub was originally built by witch Daisy Dodderidge in the 1500s. According to the Harry Potter website Pottermore, it is said to be the oldest pub in London (though it depends on if you’re counting factual or fictional pubs!).

The Leaky Cauldron is the first magical setting that Harry Potter, accompanied by half-giant Hagrid, comes across in the first Harry Potter film: The Philosopher’s Stone.

The Leaky Cauldron has a private parlour, as well as a bar area on the ground floor. This private parlour has a desk, a window, a little table and some uncomfortable chairs, and it is the room where Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, admonishes Harry for accidentally blowing up his Aunt Marge.

The Leaky Cauldron is hugely popular with the magical community, and nearly always crammed full of witches and wizards. However, as Voldemort begins to gain power again and the Death Eaters start taking over the Ministry of Magic, witches and wizards start staying at home out of fear, and The Leaky Cauldron empties out.

Interesting facts

• The Leaky Cauldron’s pub sign changes, depending on the Harry Potter film you watch. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone it is a stylised black cauldron cut out with “The Leaky Cauldron” chiseled on to it, and in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it looks more like a parchment scroll.
• Muggles used to be able to drink at the Leaky Cauldron. However, after the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy was established to protect witches and wizards from witch-hunts, The Leaky Cauldron could no longer open to non-wizarding folk.
• The Leaky Cauldron now appears like an old, abandoned shop to Muggles who come across it. This is to deter them from entering and finding out about witches and wizards.

Drink of choice

Fire whisky, or Pumpkin juice if you happen to be doing Dry January.

Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons movie:

Moe’s Tavern (often just called Moe’s) is such an iconic part of The Simpsons Movie and TV series, that it’s almost a character itself. As the endless target of Bart Simpson’s prank calls, and the place Homer goes to down a bottle of beer after his antics (inevitably) go wrong, we just can’t imagine The Simpsons without it.

History

Moe’s Tavern, situated on Walnut Street, is Springfield’s local tavern, named after its owner Moe Szyslak. Moe’s dreams of becoming a bestselling science fiction writer didn’t exactly come to fruition, so he ended up selling one of his kidneys to start a business.

This eventually became Moe’s Tavern (which he originally named Meaux’s Tavern, as a way of hiding from the IRS), where most of the Springfield gang, including Homer, Lenny and Carl come to rest.

Moe’s Tavern seems to switch names and places now and then. In The Simpsons Movie it is right next to a church and called Moe’s Bar, instead of Moe’s Tavern. There’s a hilarious scene in the movie when, just as a bomb is about the shatter Springfield, the congregation of the church rushes into Moe’s Bar, and the drinkers in Moe’s Bar rush into the church.

When the Simpsons move to Alaska to start a new life in The Simpsons Movie, Homer finds an alter-ego on Moe’s Bar called Eski-Moe’s. He makes this his new hangout, where he drinks beer and plays the video game Grand Theft Walrus.

• Being fictional, Moe’s tavern avoids much needed visits from the health inspector. The bar has been taken over by raccoons before, and Moe often trades in endangered species in the bar’s back room.
• Moe’s tavern has never been cleaned, and is inhabited by cockroaches.

The tavern is open every day except Wednesday, when Moe goes to the homeless shelter to read to the people there.

Drink of choice

A bottle of Duff beer

So, there you have it. The most famous pubs from movies: from crime comedy dramas, to cartoons. We hope you’ve found this interesting, and we wish you you much factual (not fictional) fun at your favourite pub.