Keel Tavern

About Keel Tavern

Keel Tavern is a pub and kitchen on Keel Square, in the ground floor of the Holiday Inn building overlooking the river end of the city centre. It opened in November 2023 and describes itself as the home of Sunderland's craft beer selection, with a rotating range of cask, keg and bottled beers from North East breweries and further afield.

The kitchen serves local and seasonal pub food, including bar bites, small plates, pies and Sunday roasts, and there is a children's menu, with children welcome until 7pm. The pub is open every day from late morning, with food served until early evening, and it takes table bookings, group bookings and private hire through its website. It took part in Sunderland Restaurant Week in September 2026. Keel Square links High Street West with the riverside, and the Culture House, The Botanist and the Empire are all within a few minutes' walk.

Featured in These Guides

Blog posts and guides that feature Keel Tavern.

Riverside Sunderland Explained: What Is Being Built on the Old Vaux Site

A plain guide to Riverside Sunderland: what has been built on the Vaux site since 2019, the homes still to come at Vaux, Farringdon Row and Sheepfolds, and what you can visit now.

The Bridges of Sunderland: Crossing the Wear

A heritage guide to the bridges over the Wear in Sunderland, from the Wearmouth Bridge and the 1879 railway bridge to the Queen Alexandra Bridge, Northern Spire and Keel Crossing.

Shipbuilding on the Wear: The Yards, the Liberty Ship and the SD14

The story of Sunderland's shipyards, from Thomas Menville in 1346 to Thompson's Liberty ship design, the SD14 and the 1988 closure, with where to see the river's shipbuilding past today.

A History of Sunderland's High Street: From the East End to Fawcett Street

How Sunderland's shopping streets grew from the old East End along High Street to Fawcett Street, with the stories of Binns, Joplings, the trams, the Empire and the city centre's recent changes.

Historic Trades of Sunderland: Ships, Coal, Glass, Pottery and Rope

The industries that built Sunderland, from salt pans and keelmen to shipyards, glassworks, lustreware potteries, the patent ropery, Vaux brewery and the last pit, with places to see their traces.

A Weekend in Sunderland: A 48-Hour Itinerary

A two-day plan for Sunderland: St Peter's and the riverside, Roker Pier and the seafront, a night on High Street West, then Penshaw, Washington Old Hall and Mowbray Park.

Sunderland Heritage Walking Trail: A Self-Guided Route

A self-guided walk of about 4.5km through Sunderland's history, from St Peter's in Monkwearmouth over Wearmouth Bridge to Keel Square, Holy Trinity, Sunniside and Mowbray Park.

Best Sunday Roast in Sunderland

Where to find a Sunday roast in Sunderland, from a craft beer pub on Keel Square and a seaside carvery at Roker to Sunday dinners beside Park Lane.

Best Pubs in Sunderland

A guide to Sunderland's city-centre pubs, from the Grade II listed Dun Cow and the Peacock on High Street West to real ale locals on Green Terrace, Stockton Road and Silksworth Row.