The Town Mouse Ale House

About The Town Mouse Ale House

The Town Mouse Ale House is a basement micro-pub on St Mary's Place, just south of the Civic Centre and Haymarket, which opened on 21 February 2017 and quickly became one of the most decorated small bars in the city. It has been named CAMRA Newcastle pub of the year several times, including 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024, a run that reflects both the quality and the turnover of what it keeps on. In the spirit of the modern micro-pub it does away with televisions, fruit machines and piped music, and leans instead on a short, well-chosen and frequently changing line-up of cask ales, keg beers and ciders, with knowledgeable staff behind the bar. Capacity is modest at around fifty, so it fills up on a Friday evening, but it rarely feels rushed.

Dogs are made properly welcome here rather than merely tolerated. There are free biscuits and a water bowl as standard, and the bar keeps a dog beer for four-legged regulars, which makes it a natural settling point at the end of a walk around the centre. The screen-free, conversational atmosphere suits a calm dog well, and the central location a couple of minutes from Haymarket Metro means it slots easily into a wider day out. It is a good example of the kind of independent, beer-first drinking house that has reshaped Newcastle's pub scene over the last decade.

Featured in These Guides

Blog posts and guides that feature The Town Mouse Ale House.

Dog-Friendly Newcastle City Centre: Pubs, Cafes and Walks

A city-centre day out with the dog, from a Grainger Town micro-pub that keeps dog beer behind the bar to the riverside walk along the Quayside and the independent bars of the Ouseburn. Here is where dogs are genuinely welcome.