Soho, London
Half Pints Only in the Heart of Soho
The French House stands at 49 Dean Street in Soho, five minutes from Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square. It opened in 1891 as the York Minster and took its current name officially in 1984, decades after Soho started calling it the French.
The house pours beer in half pints only, a rule in place for roughly a century. Londonist traces it to a 1920s brawl between French sailors, and pint glasses surface just once a year on the 1 April Pints Day. The pub sells more Ricard than anywhere else in Britain.
The Infatuation calls it London's most famous pub and dining room, and anyone who loves talk over screens will agree. Anyone who wants a quiet corner, a television, or a full pint should walk on. There is no music, no TV, and famously no mobile phones.
One small ground floor room, photographs of Soho regulars on the walls, and a wine list deeper than the beer offer. The New Statesman's 2026 piece described an interior that has barely moved in fifty years, which regulars count as the entire appeal.
Order a half of Meteor lager at about 3.50 pounds, or do as the house intends and take a Ricard with water. The upstairs dining room serves a celebrated steak frites at about 24 pounds. Skip anything complicated, because the bar does not shake cocktails and does not want to.
Soho lifers, actors, and media people pack the room from 6pm, and the crowd spills onto Dean Street by 7. Lunchtime sits calmer and suits a first visit. Francis Bacon drank here for decades, and the Free French gathered here during the Second World War.
- The Infatuation: "everyone wants a drop of the Soho institution's mythology".
- Google Maps reviewers consistently praise the staff for keeping phones and laptops out of the bar.
- Londonist covers the annual Pints Day each April, the only day full pints flow.
- Long Soho lunches that stretch to dinner
- Drinkers who want conversation, not content
- Avoid if you came for craft beer in full pints
