The Star Inn Guildford

The Star Inn sits on Guildford's High Street, the steep cobbled stretch that runs down through the middle of the town. It is a pub first and foremost, a bar rather than a restaurant, and it trades on the things a good pub trades on: real ale, a mixed crowd, and somewhere warm to stand about in for a couple of hours.

The £ price band is straightforward here. This is not a place that will surprise you at the end of the night. It signals ordinary pub pricing, the sort of round you can stand without doing arithmetic first, and it fits the venue's stated strengths, ales and after-work drinking rather than a sit-down meal with wine pairings. If you are looking for a special-occasion dinner, this is not that. If you want a pint after five o'clock on a Thursday, it is squarely aimed at you.

Who it suits: office groups spilling out at the end of the day, people meeting halfway between the station and the top of the town, and drinkers who care what is actually on the pumps. The description of an eclectic crowd is worth taking at face value, this is a pub that draws a broad mix rather than one type, which tends to make for better company at the bar. It should also work for a quiet weekday pint alone, though busy periods on a High Street pub are what they are.

A few things to know before you go. The address is the High Street itself, so parking is not the way in, walk up from the station or use the town's car parks and expect the climb. The cobbles are steep and uneven, which matters if anyone in your group has trouble on their feet. The facts give no food details, no opening hours and no booking arrangements, so if you are planning anything beyond turning up for a drink, ring ahead or check the pub's own listings rather than relying on this note. The ale range is the draw, but which ales are on at any given time is not something we can tell you.

Guildford's High Street has plenty of places to drink, and a fair few of them are chains or bar-restaurant hybrids. The Star reads as the other thing: a proper pub, cheap enough to be a regular haunt, and known well enough locally to count as part of the furniture.