A popular London theatre is getting its own pub this week
Who's in for pre-show drinks and dinner?
You’ve probably heard of theatres popping up in the back rooms of pubs, but a theatre opening up a pub? That's a little more unusual but is happening this very week.
Soho Theatre Walthamstow’s sister boozer, the Soho Theatre Pub, opens on May 15th following a couple of weeks of soft opening, since May 1st.
It lives at 198 Hoe St, E17 4BF, right next to Soho Theatre Walthamstow itself.
“Designed as a warm, welcoming pub for audiences, artists and the local community, Soho Theatre Pub will be a place to meet before and after shows — and to drop into on nights when there is no performance taking place,” says the Soho Theatre team.
It will serve Signature Brew beers, alongside drinks from East London Brewery and Mother’s Ruin Gin. And there will be food too.
The menu comes from chef James Cochran, who won the BBC’s Great British Menu competition in 2018, for his Caribbean-Scottish fusion food. He launched his own London restaurant that same year, 12:51, which was known for its fantastic fried chicken, but closed in 2024.
We don’t have Soho Theatre Pub’s full menu yet, but there will be some form of fried chicken on the list, alongside roasts and small plates.
“Soho Theatre Pub builds on the role Soho Theatre already plays in Walthamstow’s cultural and evening life,” Soho Theatre Walthamstow exec directors Mark Godfrey and Sam Hansford said in a joint statement.
“With food from James Cochran and drinks from Waltham Forest’s own Signature Brewery, it will be a brilliant new local pub for residents, audiences, artists and visitors alike. We’re excited to open the doors and welcome people in.”
On the night the Soho Theatre Pub opens proper, on Friday May 15th, you can catch the show Jinkx Monsoon is Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow at Soho Theatre Walthamstow. Or at least you could were it not sold out. A scattering of tickets are available for performances the following week.
Soho Theatre Walthamstow opened roughly a year ago in May 2025, as a sister site to the iconic Soho Theatre on Dean Street.
It’s a 1000-seat spot that in the past has been a cinema and music venue — one at which The Beatles played during the 1960s, no less — and you can take part in a behind-the-scenes tour of the place to learn about its history and architecture. Adult tickets for that tour cost £14 and are available from the Soho Theatre Walthamstow website.
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