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Love London Awards Holloway

Holloway area guide

Keep busy in N7 with Time Out's guide to Holloway's restaurants, pubs and things to do

Written by
Danielle Goldstein
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A long-underappreciated neck of the woods, Holloway has a fair amount of pubs to choose from, is a stone's throw from the trendy buzz of Upper Street to the south and the olde-worlde splendour of Highgate to the north, and has four stations along its stretch of main road (if you count Archway tube right at the top). There's a good mix of grocery, takeaway, hardware, bike and vintage clothes shops here, with the sense of community at its best on match days, when Arsenal fans fill every last neighbouring boozer with red shirts and good-natured bantz.

The best bits of Holloway

Ten reasons to go to Holloway Road, N7

Ten reasons to go to Holloway Road, N7

Poor old Holloway. It will never get called quaint, picturesque, village-y or charming. Why? Because its high street is a dual carriageway. And not just any...

Six things you never knew about Holloway

Six things you never knew about Holloway

Plenty of Londoners can look a little blank if you casually mention that you live in Holloway. Some may even ask if it's anywhere near the prison (erm, the...

Restaurants in Holloway

500 Restaurant

500 Restaurant

  • 3 out of 5 stars

The arrival of 500 (Cinquecento) in 2008 marked a miracle for what even the most charitable would describe as the scrappier end of the Holloway Road. The...

Marisko

Marisko

  • price 1 of 4

A seafood restaurant in Holloway, Marisko lets you do the serving, with food weighed and charged accordingly once you've plated up what you fancy. There are...

Spoke

Spoke

  • 4 out of 5 stars

It’s got a cycle-related name, for sure, and its strapline is ‘coffee, burgers, cycling’, but on visiting this new Holloway Road pub conversion, it’s a bit...

Bars and pubs in Holloway

Swimmer at the Grafton Arms

Swimmer at the Grafton Arms

  • 3 out of 5 stars

A large front terrace enveloped by branded umbrellas gives way to a classic, high-ceilinged pub, with one end dedicated to an open kitchen manned by a...

Bedford Tavern

Bedford Tavern

  • 3 out of 5 stars

One local resident described Seven Sisters Road to me as ‘predominantly a flat grey mass of gloom’. There are a few beacons, however, such as the recently...

North Nineteen

North Nineteen

  • 3 out of 5 stars

Don’t be deterred by the anonymous name and the drab housing blocks that surround North Nineteen: this is a gem of a makeover. The main bar adds a fireplace, a...

The perfect weekend in Holloway

Eat: Tbilisi

Eat: Tbilisi

  • 4 out of 5 stars

Superb stews at one of London’s oldest Georgian restaurants

Drink: Spoke

Drink: Spoke

  • 4 out of 5 stars

Enjoy cocktails, burgers and coffee at a cycle shop in a converted pub

Buy: Ooh-La-La

Buy: Ooh-La-La

Browse through furniture, vintage accessories and other treasures at this chaotic and bohemian shop

Eat: Oa Comtam

Eat: Oa Comtam

Sample summer rolls, salads and pho at this simple but enjoyable Vietnamese joint

Love London Awards: last year's winners

Zia Lucia

Zia Lucia

  • 4 out of 5 stars

Zia Lucia is your new favourite non-family member. The name is Italian for ‘Aunt Lucy’, and the kindly looking lady smiling out at you from its logo was the...

Vagabond

Vagabond

Expect flat whites in glasses and own-baked cakes at this hip Holloway coffee shop

Swimmer at the Grafton Arms

Swimmer at the Grafton Arms

  • 3 out of 5 stars

A large front terrace enveloped by branded umbrellas gives way to a classic, high-ceilinged pub, with one end dedicated to an open kitchen manned by a...

Freightliners City Farm

Freightliners City Farm

Islington’s small community-run farm is battling against large government cuts but is determined to keep afloat. Hidden behind the blustering Holloway Road,...