Friendly Authentic Dining experience in Colchester

THE BEST REAL ALE PUB IN COLCHESTER

THE BEST REAL ALE PUB

Quality ales, great home cooked food and a relaxed environment where you can wind down from your busy day.

Our Awards displayed

around the pub

Our expertise lies in our ability to provide you with the best Ales, Beers and Ciders on tap

Award Winning Pub of the Year

– Every Year

Don’t take our word for it, just look at all the awards displayed around the pub

Cider Pub of the Year 2024

best real ale pub

City Runner-up 2024

best real ale pub

Pub of the Year 2022-2023

best real ale pub

Pub of the year 2022-2023

best cider pub near me

Pub of the year 2020

best real ale pub
Nethergate – Stour Valley Brewery

Looking for a Pub with Proper Beer?

“The pub is the best I’ve seen it. Great beers, great food & friendly as always .

Well done all at the Live !! “

Pub Opening hours
Open Every Day

Our Opening Times

Pop in for a lunch time drink or evening meal with friends.

Open Every Day

KitChen Opening Times

Why not book a table for an evening meal with friends.

LiveAndLetLive Kitchen Opening times
Pub Opening hours
Open Every Day

Our Opening Times

Pop in for a lunch time drink or evening meal with friends.

Kitchen Opening times
Open Every Day

Kitchen Opening Times

Pop in for a lunch time drink or evening meal with friends.

Menus

Main menu

Sunday Menu

Menus

Main menu

Sunday Menu

What our customers are saying about us

FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE REVIEWS

The Live and Let Live
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Steve HipgraveSteve Hipgrave
09:56 09 Jun 25
Patrick CorpsPatrick Corps
18:08 12 May 25
Established Pub with good Beer snd Food.
Rainbowdom1Rainbowdom1
15:24 25 Apr 25
Great Family run old style pub , many different beers and Ciders. Amazing Food ,Especially for the price. Sunday Roast is so popular your best to book first .Lovely Atmosphere and well worth a visit .Great Sun ☀️ trap garden in the Summer.I would Strongly recommend this Pub for a family visit or if on your own you will be welcomed. I myself Enjoy going to the Live and Let Live whenever I get the chance.Tuesday is only day there is No kitchen.Ps best Pub around Colchester because it’s a real pub with plenty of activities!! XDominic.
jim jonesjim jones
19:51 09 Apr 25
Great food, fantastic welcome, great selection of beer, gin and cider. Definitely go there again.
Zoe BuckZoe Buck
20:06 01 Apr 25
Highly recommend.Friendly staff. Clean and tidy. Food is amazing and great value for money.
Steve MannSteve Mann
17:12 21 Mar 25
Pete and Geraldine have done a great job with this place since they took over, quite a few years ago now. Extensive food menu, plenty of drinks on tap, as well as catering for some local brews, changed on a regular basis. Their beer and sausage or pie weekends are always a hit with locals and others from further afield. A la carte it's not but if you're after a good, honest and friendly local , give this a go.
Graham GardnerGraham Gardner
07:33 20 Mar 25
Great place, fantastic beers friendly staff.
Daniel SingerDaniel Singer
12:09 10 Mar 25
Daniel TownsendDaniel Townsend
14:53 23 Feb 25
Jayne MurrayJayne Murray
22:25 12 Feb 25
Tom CocklinTom Cocklin
16:59 02 Feb 25
Brilliant friendly pub, we always try get down to the quiz nights 3rd Thursday of the month. Dog friendly aswell.
KAMILA WELSYNGKAMILA WELSYNG
20:47 26 Jan 25
So delicious 🤤
C SC S
10:39 20 Jan 25
Popped in with muddy dogs on a Sunday lunchtime, despite it being busy we were found a table quickly. The beer was well kept, food was tasty and generous portions, prices were reasonable. Best bit was the staff who were really friendly and accommodating. Lovely place.
Brett Bennett-SmithBrett Bennett-Smith
22:17 17 Jan 25
Karl CallabyKarl Callaby
19:12 03 Jan 25
Great little pub with friendly regulars. A proper character pub. Good selection of beers and ales. Highly recommend this pub!
Maurice BackhouseMaurice Backhouse
07:32 31 Dec 24
itfc warrenitfc warren
19:04 28 Dec 24
Very friendly pub
Magda S.Magda S.
23:17 17 Dec 24
David WatersDavid Waters
17:41 01 Dec 24
I had a lovely Sunday roast lunch with my partner. Very tasty and excellent value.I often visit late on Friday afternoons, and there's always a buzzy, friendly atmosphere.
Bob CareyBob Carey
18:58 28 Nov 24
KarlKarl
07:11 18 Nov 24
We came here for a Sunday carvery with quite high expectations as this pub was rated in the top 10 of pubs in Colchester for a Sunday roast, but we were a pretty disappointed to be honest, the portions were pretty good but was let down a bit by the standard, it wasn’t the worst roast I’ve had in a pub but certainly wasn’t the best, the gravy was watery, the cabbage was quite hard, meat was a little dry, potatoes were ok but could do with being a bit crispy, we were also disappointed with the deserts.. a couple of us ordered the meringue mountain.. expecting there to be a fair bit of meringue as the name suggests! Well it was hard to find meringue in it! It should have been called cream mountain, about half a meringue in it, bit of ice cream and strawberry and the rest squirty cream! Others had sticky toffee pudding.. all complained about it being salty, Safe to say won’t be returning
SopblueSopblue
17:01 05 Nov 24
I love The Live & Let Live. They serve j2o and have an outside area. Ive never had real food but im sure its lovely
Ian BurgIan Burg
15:14 05 Nov 24
A marvelous place to have lunch.
Lily GallagherLily Gallagher
13:02 18 Oct 24
Best Sunday roast I've had
Matthew HillMatthew Hill
08:25 18 Oct 24
My first visit was yesterday and I have to say that the pub is really nice, the staff were excellent and the locals were great and so were all the little doggies that I met. I will definitely be going back and I might even try one of their roast dinners this Sunday.
James ShortlandJames Shortland
23:35 04 Oct 24
Lovely staff, very local but still felt welcome. Even though I live in Stanway. Is still a very traditional pub and not many about any more
Chelsea HollandChelsea Holland
16:06 02 Oct 24
Came in for a drink, garden lovely, staff friendly.
Christopher BlomeleyChristopher Blomeley
06:48 25 Sep 24
This is a friendly local pub. It was great for a face to face meeting. I'm not sure about WiFi...
Robert HeathRobert Heath
16:13 20 Sep 24
keith willsherkeith willsher
14:14 20 Sep 24
Russell KyteRussell Kyte
13:58 09 Aug 24
Rated atmosphere low as went lunch time on Friday so was quite. How ever food and service was amazing. Great pub highly recommended
Sharon CrispSharon Crisp
21:03 13 Jul 24
Haven't been in ages but pleasantly surprised. Good choice of drinks especially ciders and lunch menu good with really tasty food. Sat in enosed quirky pub garden.
Charlotte BlackmoreCharlotte Blackmore
20:34 02 Jun 24
Me and my family had our first roast at the Live and Let Live today and the food was delicious. Proper home cooked and with all the roast trimmings! The pub was a bit quiet though and could have done with some background music, but everything else was perfect!
Kate PittockKate Pittock
20:23 23 Jun 23
3 of us had afternoon tea as a little celebration of my daughter finishing school! Oh my god, it was amazing! Food was absolutely lovely and the service was fantastic!! Good price!I would highly recommend this especially if you fancy a treat!!!Thank you for making it a wonderful afternoon x
Andrew CartwrightAndrew Cartwright
22:27 22 Jul 22
This pub is tucked down a little lane, which to be honest unless you know it is there you probably wouldn't notice. Have popped in a couple of times a few years back, but not recently. Had noticed that they have a garden so decided to go again and sit outside. Whilst there we then decided to get some food.Food was well priced and good size, and tasted good too. They also have kids meals, but these were £5 which isn't quite as well priced as the adult meals...! They also have plenty of drinks choices, the wife particularly liked the gins. A few craft type beers and proper cider also available.The garden has some beach hut style areas to sit but also picnic benches. Fair bit of space outside. Staff were friendly and were able to recommend drinks which is always nice when your not sure...!
More Reviews
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TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS

star rating  Great to be back- fabulous service as always - I popped into the Live and Let Live with my cousin and her husband yesterday. They are always busy on a Sunday, but even more so as it was Mothering... read more

avatar thumb Victoria Campbell
20/03/2023

star rating  Great Pie and Beer Festival - Attended yesterday for the Pie and Beer Festival. Enjoyed a lovely steak and ale pie and a pint of cherry mild. I have reviewed this venue before, and it is... read more

avatar thumb Victoria Campbell
18/09/2023

star rating  Awesome home cook food !!! - Took my partner for his birthday dinner here . I had booked table and pre ordered food . We were not disappointed , food was home cooked and amazing as... read more

avatar thumb Jules J
13/01/2024

star rating  Great food - Had a lovely meal of steak and all the usual trimmings., including mushrooms and onion rings which you don't always get these days. The steak was superb and cooked just... read more

avatar thumb Vivienne J G
15/07/2023

star rating  Definitely worth a visit - Separate menus for vegetarian and meat eaters, staff friendly and beautiful garden area. Would definitely come again and recommend as the food was delicious. They also have gluten free and... read more

avatar thumb GigiB66
12/08/2024

star rating  Colchester's hidden gem. - Excellent value and great service so will certainly go again. We all enjoyed our food choices and the portion sizes where generous.

avatar thumb jatar18127
11/08/2024

star rating  Good food and drink, dog friendly. - Been visiting here a couple of years now. Very good pub and reasonable priced. Nice garden, friendly staff.

avatar thumb Michelle B
04/12/2022

star rating  Quality wee place  - Fantastic pub wee pub. Really good quality food and the staff where so polite and helpful, even put the scottish cup final on for the only one in the bar.... read more

avatar thumb Mark Gibson
03/06/2023

In the Beer Garden

Beach Huts

Quality ales, great home cooked food and a relaxed environment where you can wind down from your busy day.

The Best Real Ale Pub in Colchester

And a fabulous Beer garden to enjoy with all the family

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