Wimbledon spirit: five of the area’s best pubs

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This article is part of a guide to tennis from FT Globetrotter

As hordes of tennis fans flock to Wimbledon to take in the greatest Grand Slam, it’s time to look at what’s being served off the court too. If you’re after that Wimbledon spirit but either don’t have a ticket or would rather watch (or toast) the matches from the comfort of a local pub, you’re in luck: the area is teeming with atmospheric establishments that will be stringing up the bunting and offering their own kind of singles and doubles during the championships.

In fact, there are so many pubs — I counted about 15 in the vague vicinity of Centre Court — that it’s worth first finding out which are worth making a racket over. One unseasonably warm Sunday, I undertook to hop from half-pint to half-pint to see which deserve a trip across the tramlines (the suburb is one of the few in the capital to boast actual trams).

Be warned, Wimbledon is a sizeable neighbourhood, and it’s a good 45-minute walk from Wimbledon Park Underground station in the north (close to where the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club is located) to Wimbledon Chase in the south. Then there’s the village, the town, the common, South Wimbledon . . . Happily, some of the best pubs are all within crawling distance of each other in and around the village, the well-heeled set of streets just up the hill from the Underground and mainline station. 

Rose & Crown

55 High Street, London SW19 5BA

This 17th-century inn was a starting point for stagecoaches on their final leg into London (listen closely and you can hear horses from Wimbledon Village Stables just around the corner), and it has managed to keep much of its old-world, high-street charm, even as one of the Young’s pub group’s 220-odd establishments. Best to develop a taste for the once-Wandsworth-brewed bitter, as six of the area’s pubs are operated by the company, but in addition to its original and special ales you’ll also find Sambrook’s Pump House, an English pale ale flavoured with Wakatu hops from New Zealand, and Wimbledon Brewery’s blonde ale SW19, appropriately named after the local postcode. There’s also all-day dining, with pub classics elevated to include dishes such as Devon crab salad and curried-mutton pie with wild-garlic mash.

The interior has kept much of its higgledy-piggledy charm, but the real selling point is a large, shaded courtyard in the back with a big screen and plenty of space for the teeming tennis crowds (the pub will be accepting walk-ins, but booking is recommended), and where over the course of the fortnight, you can expect a marquee, Burger Shack and a mobile bar by west London distillery Sipsmith, as well as live music. The Rose & Crown has also stayed close to the “inn” part of its history, with 13 bedrooms that look to book up pretty quickly in July. Complete the village feel with a very swift stroll across the road on Sunday morning, where you will find Wimbledon Village Farmers’ Market gently unfolding.

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Fox and Grapes

9 Camp Road, London SW19 4UN

• Walk to Centre Court: 21 minutes

• If it’s full, try . . . the Light House restaurant — not a pub, but a neighbourhood favourite with daily-changing Mediterranean menus

• Website; Directions

Head out of the village and down The Causeway, which cuts across the common. Just as the mansions start to loom on its leafy west side, you’ll find the Fox and Grapes, the only independent pub in Wimbledon. From the outside it’s a reassuringly unassuming-looking place, exactly the kind of haunt where football clubs are founded over several pints, as happened with AFC Wimbledon two decades ago. Originally built in 1787, the Fox and Grapes has since been extended into the adjoining former stables, creating a light and elegant bar and dining space. You’d never know that in the late 19th century it served as the changing rooms for what would turn into Wimbledon Football Club.

Today you’re more likely to hear the gentle clinking of crockery on china than tetchy half-time team talks. Open from 5pm on Monday and Tuesday during Wimbledon, then midday the rest of the week, it’s as much a restaurant as it is a pub (and with three rooms, it does a good impression of a boutique hotel too). Chef director Paul Merrett serves up modern British cuisine — Barnsley lamb chop, Ticklemore goat’s cheese and heritage beetroot salad — with a few specialist cuts such as Devonshire onglet and Black Angus sirloin, best washed down with Wimbledon Brewery’s Common pale ale or a glass from the expansive wine list.

The Fox and Grapes will also be embracing tennis season with Centre Court duels and fan favourites shown on a big-screen projector, and special dishes and cocktails devised to celebrate the Championships.

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Hand in Hand

6 Crooked Billet, London SW19 4RQ

The Hand in Hand, at the bottom of Wimbledon Common, is another Young’s pub, but one whose lawn-side location, three-sided bar and nooks and crannies from a previous life as a bakery lend it a good deal of character. The pub has been featured in The Good Beer Guide for more than two decades, with several real ales that include relatively local beers such as Sambrook’s Brewery Wandle best bitter, as well as the seldom-found-on-tap, Bermondsey-based Small Beer Co’s session pale, which is wonderfully light at just 2.5 per cent ABV.

It’s pet-friendly, too — a procession of well-groomed dogs padded around the bar during my visit, while a very patient black Labrador sat without complaint as its owner polished off a roast lunch at the table next to me. Also on the menu are handmade suet pastry pies — which rightly take at least 30 minutes to arrive — alongside burgers and sharing boards. The pub will have six screens showing the Championships, plus it also has that rarest of London pub qualities: a peaceful front garden facing a green from which to watch the tennis crowds go by. 

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The Alexandra

33 Wimbledon Hill Road, London SW19 7NE

• Walk to Centre Court: 22 minutes

• If it’s full, try . . . The Piazza, which will be putting out the deckchairs for its free Big Screen Tennis further down The Broadway

• Website; Directions

If you’re determined to catch every second of the tennis from a pub, The Alexandra’s coverage takes some beating. For walk-ins and forward-thinkers alike, its sports bar will show the tournament on a big screen, with more TVs dotted around its many indoor and outdoor spaces. Its “AlexFresco” terrace will take over the adjoining St Mark’s Place, playing host to a pop-up bar (there’ll be burgers too), Wimbledon-themed cocktails such as the Sipsmith Strawberry Smash (gin, prosecco, lemon juice, soda and a strawberry-mint garnish) will be served in the loft, and from Thursday to Saturday expect live music ranging from acoustic acts to DJ sets.

Its customers are a broad church: I found that the sports-fixated fans in the saloon bar transitioned into tourists and families lunching on a range of bar snacks and pub classics in the back of the pub. For those less well acquainted with the area, the landlord will be putting together an interactive map to help people navigate the neighbourhood and find the All England Club. Even in early May, I spotted the purple and green of several Championships shopping bags dotted around the pub, and come July, the whole place will be festooned in matching floral decorations too.

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The Rushmere

89 Ridgway, London SW19 4SU

• Walk to Centre Court: 23 minutes

• If it’s full, try . . . grabbing a rug, a radio and a portable Pimm’s, and setting up on the common, five minutes away down Lauriston Road

• Website; Directions

Newly renamed for the pond on the nearby common, The Rushmere is still gleaming from its renovation last year. Set back off the main road that skirts the playing fields of nearby King’s College, it’s more of a locals’ pub than those in the centre of the village. But it’s still a very comfortable spot — the staff are thoughtful, the lighting is dim enough to remind you you’re in a pub but light enough that you won’t need to squint at the ale taps, and there’s a good-sized patio with plenty of tables. The beer selection takes in the usual suspects (Estrella, Camden Hells, etc) but also a couple of surprises, such as the excellent Backstage IPA by Signature Brew and Signal Brewery’s Turbo Joost IPA. Though if newfangled IPAs aren’t your thing, a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is never an unwelcome sight either.

Over the course of the tournament, the pub will be hosting a pop-up bar courtesy of Jubel, a fruit-forward, gluten-free, vegan-friendly beer brand. There will also be table-tennis competitions and leader boards in the garden so you can attempt to channel your best Novak Djokovic or Iga Świątek in miniature.

What’s your favourite pub in Wimbledon? Tell us in the comments. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter