A country pub in Yorkshire has left punters’ gums flapping after introducing a draconian list of eight new rules for customers.
The ‘family-friendly’ Boot & Shoe Inn in Tockwith has gone viral on social media after its strict list of house rules was shared online by eagle-eyed Twitter user Leon Foster.
Helpfully plastered in its front window for all to see (spread across five printed-out pieces of A4 paper), the list of no-nos is so extensive that it has left people with a lot to say about the Sam Smith brewery-owned pub’s policies.
Dogs and children are both banned from entering the boozer, as are muddy boots, mobile phones, laptops, iPads and swearing – leaving punters online asking if there is any fun to be had inside at all.
Signs stipulate that children are to be kept outside ‘for the time being’ and are currently only allowed in the pub’s beer garden.
They are also not allowed to run around or play whilst in the garden, but must instead remain seated with their parents or another responsible adult throughout the visit.
A notice in the window reveals that children are only banned temporarily, but still, it has left a lot of accusing owners of implementing ‘archaic’ policies.
The sign reads: “For the time being children will only be allowed in the beer gardens. They must stay at your table and not running around.
“They cannot come inside the pub and must be accompanied by an adult when they go to the toilet. All children have to be off the premises by 8pm. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
Others have taken objection to the banning of electronic devices, although it is worth noting that this is a blanket policy that applies to all of Sam Smith’s brewery-owned pubs.
A spokesman from Boot & Shoe Inn, who did not want to give a full statement, told Yorkshire Live: “It’s a brewery decision to ban them.”
Comments have flooded in thick and fast online, with one person writing: “Fella behind the bar was perfectly friendly but you’d cross the road to Spotted Ox wouldn’t you? Saw child ban at another one in Rochdale last week and thought it specific to that place but seems not…”
Another took issue with the muddy boots rule, commenting: “Unless they’re clean,” What? I’m unsure if I’m more offended by the wrong word being used, a random comma at the end of the sentence, the fact they want people’s feet on display or the fact they evidently don’t want any custom.”
A third added: “Trying really hard to put themselves out of business aren’t they. And I like their pubs!”
A fourth said: “The website says they are a family friendly pub! It would appear that unless you have children it is family friendly.”
Feature image – Wikimedia Commons
Food & Drink
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Georgina Pellant -
14th March 2023 
