Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Probably the most famous pub in the world, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is one of London’s few remaining 17th Century chophouses. The sawdust on the floor is changed twice daily, It is a pub and eating house offering unpretentious fare in wooden bays provided by high-backed church pews and served by waiters. The site formed part of the 13th century Carmelite monastery and since 1538 a pub has stood here. The medieval pub was rebuilt in about 1667 after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

“Yesterday, I looked in at the Garrick at lunchtime, took one glance of loathing at the mob, and went off to lunch by myself at the Cheshire Cheese.” PG Wodehouse, 1906

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is an historic gem of a pub on Fleet Street, on the edge of the City of London.  The pub was rebuilt in 1667 after the original one was burnt down by the Great Fire of London.  Over the past 355 years the Cheese has been frequented by numerous prominent literary figures: Dr Samuel Johnson, Mark Twain, W.B. Yeats and Charles Dickens, who even featured it in his novel A Tale of Two Cities.

The pub is a delightful labyrinth of different rooms: front bar, Chop House restaurant, Cheshire Bar, Cellar Bar, Williams Room and Johnson Bar to name but a few.