White Bear,Farringdon

The White Bear occupies a Grade II listed building at 57 St John Street, rebuilt in 1899 by the City of London Brewery Company on a site that had held a pub for longer still. Bomb damage in the Second World War and decades of piecemeal alteration had left the building in poor condition until a restoration returned the ground floor and basement to pub use beneath four flats above, recovering cornicing, tiling and other features that had been covered over or removed. Reopened under independent ownership, the pub now serves Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza alongside a rotating list of craft beer and cocktails. It trades from this single Farringdon address only, with no second site, standing apart from the managed pub companies nearby.