GOOD DRINKS FOR GOOD PEOPLE.

WHO

We’re two brothers with over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry, for years we dreamt of owning and running our own place. In 2019 we finally took the plunge and pooled our savings together and borrowed some money to make the dream a reality, and here we are now! As well as having a passion for booze of all varieties, we’ve also always loved the pub and the sense of community a good one can bring. Since working in the industry we’ve become more and more vocal about treating people within it with fairness and equality, whether that be treating staff decently and paying a real living wage, selecting the best suppliers or being as environmentally responsible as possible. We’re keen to show that bars can be run fairly without money being the most important thing.

WHAT

We aim to serve high-end drinks at fair prices, provide top-notch service in a comfortable atmosphere and above all, do it right. We’ve always enjoyed experiencing the service in posh restaurants, where the staff are friendly and knowledgeable about what they’re doing, but felt that kind of service often comes alongside a rather stuffy atmosphere where you have to dress up to fit in. We want to give that kind of experience to people whilst wearing jeans and t-shirts and having a laugh at the same time. We source as many of our products from independent suppliers, as locally as possible and the focus is on quality. You won’t find any nasty booze in the speedrail or cheap plonk with a pretty label on the wine list; we only want to serve the best drinks we can find at our place.

WHY

Having worked in pubs and bars for years, we’re well aware of the drawbacks to the industry: the late nights and anti-social hours, the low rates of pay, the stress and the associated mental health problems that come with these things. When we started planning the Dead Donkey, we wanted to address these issues as best we could, for ourselves and our staff. We also wanted to give our customers a better experience too, we don’t think you should be punished for wanting the finer things in life, so everything we sell makes the same profit margin – whether it’s a shot of house bourbon or the top shelf 30 year old single malt, we won’t make more off you just because you have good taste! If one of our team suggests you might like something, you needn’t wonder if they’ve been told to by us, or if we’re running some sort of contest for them to win, they’ll only ever recommend something to you because they genuinely love it and think you will too!