Starting Gate
📍 1.8 miles from The City Ground
About this Pub
Why it's great for Matchdays
The Starting Gate in Nottingham is a popular venue for football fans, offering a vibrant atmosphere with live football coverage from Sky Sports, TNT Sports, and terrestrial channels. The pub serves a variety of food options, including deals like '2 for £11.99' main meals, making it an appealing choice for matchday dining. The beer selection features both mainstream and craft options, such as Carling, Guinness, Heineken, and craft beers from breweries like Brooklyn, Beavertown, and Tiny Rebel. While the pub does not specifically cater to away fans, its welcoming environment and proximity to Nottingham's football grounds make it a suitable spot for both home and away supporters to enjoy the game together.
Recent Fan Reviews
Visited here today for the second time, table of 4. We really enjoyed the food on our first visit a few months back, so much so that we came back for round 2. Food is really good here, tasty, and cooked to perfection, comfortable seating and a really good atmosphere. Staff are very friendly and knowledgeable when it comes to the menus. We will definitely return here again, thank you for the excellent service. Ps, my favourite is the chicken wings, also the cheesecake is so good!
My family and I, including 3 very excited boys aged 3, 5 and 10 attended the Breakfast With Santa event on 21st Dec 2025. Absolutely loved it. Food was good. Breakfast was had, then each table saw Santa in turn. The staff were all dressed for the occasion and they made a great set of Santa's helpers. Definitely recommend. I've always liked it here, and the food is great, but this event was above and beyond
Forgot to take photos… Staff were lovely, especially our server Clement who was very attentive, when he went on his break it actually took us a good few minutes looking like meerkats trying to wave someone down. He also moved us to a lower table when a table freed up (better for my short legs and meant we enjoyed the meal better; ended up staying longer too). Very much enjoyed the food, we got a mixture of small plates and mains. Good sizes and delicious. The flavours, especially the salad, was very well balanced. Very much enjoyed the beef croquettes, mushrooms on sourdough, monkfish bites and padron peppers. Cocktails were well mixed. Actually my second or third time here, very much enjoy my visit each time. Keep up the good work. For those wondering… They are very much dog friendly and kid-friendly (especially in the weekends when I’ve visited).
I recommend. A good place to relax. A place where you can come with your dog. The prices were pleasantly surprised. The late dinner was outstanding. There is a place on the street where you can walk with your pet. The staff is polite and knows their job 100% Thanks 👍
What a great place. We are on our way back from Scotland and discovered this gem. The hospitality and service are hard to beat. Despite the late hour, everything we had hoped for was made possible. Individual menus were put together in consultation with Jess and the team. They even asked how the dog would like his steak. We were able to park our campervans at the back of the pub. It's a really great place with a good location right next to a green space. The food was delicious and less greasy than in comparable pubs. Thank you, Jess, for everything. We hope to see you again soon. And a big thank you to the wonderful new bartender (unfortunately, I don't know her name).