Deep Ellum has a proper English pub now, and the timing could not be better. Queens Head Pub opened Tuesday at 2713 Elm Street — the former Green Room space — and it is the second concept from Eric Bradford and Deep Ellum Collective, the group that launched The Terrace event space last September. Bradford has been part of the Deep Ellum fabric for decades, going back to the Bomb Factory era, and Queens Head is his most ambitious project in the neighborhood to date.
The space alone is worth the visit. Designer Heather Magee of Droese Raney combined the old Green Room footprint with the neighboring property to produce about 6,000 square feet of pub — a 40-foot bar at the heart of it that incorporates what is believed to be the original Green Room bar, dating to the 19th century. The materials throughout are intentionally worn-in: reclaimed hardwoods, brass accents, tin ceilings, hand-painted mirrors, and furnishings sourced from antique dealers in Round Top. Cozy nooks, communal tables, a lounge area, a private dining room, and a rooftop patio of roughly 2,000 square feet with both covered and open-air sections. The room feels like it has been there for thirty years. It opened two days ago.
The menu is straightforwardly British and executed without apology. Fish and chips with mushy peas, shepherd’s pie, steak and ale pie, bangers and mash, Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, curried mussels, Guinness beef stew, toffee bread pudding. The QHP Burger rounds out the menu for the non-traditionalists. The beverage program runs English ales, full pints, expertly poured Guinness, and a lineup of handcrafted cocktails — exactly what a pub should do and nothing it shouldn’t.
The World Cup angle is real and immediate. Queens Head is hosting watch parties on June 12 (tonight — USA vs Paraguay, 8 p.m. CT), June 19, and June 25. Big screens, cold pints, and the kind of atmosphere that makes a pub the right place to watch football rather than a sports bar with the sound off. For World Cup visitors arriving in Dallas from England, Scotland, Ireland, and the rest of the British Isles, this is going to be the obvious destination from day one.
Open Tuesday through Sunday starting at 11 a.m. Menu at queensheadpubde.com. Follow @queensheadpubde for watch party updates and hours through the tournament.
