The Dolphin on King Edward Road is open again after a £168,877 refit by licensee Charlie Paterson and Admiral Taverns: bigger bar, new lounge, new menu, weekly quiz.

The Dolphin on King Edward Road in Tynemouth has reopened after a £168,877 refurbishment. The money came jointly from the licensee, Charlie Paterson, and the pub’s owner, Admiral Taverns. The company announced the reopening on 20 August.

The reopening lands on an anniversary. Mr Paterson took over the Dolphin on 21 August 2025, so the refit marks his first year in charge. He grew up in Tynemouth and, in the company’s release, says it is the pub where he had his first pint with his father.

What has changed

According to Admiral Taverns, the work covered the whole building, inside and out:

  • an extended bar area
  • a refreshed lounge, set up for sit-down meals as well as a quick drink
  • new fixtures, fittings, furniture, flooring and decor throughout
  • new exterior lighting, new signage and a repaint
  • an upgraded outdoor seating area

The company describes the aim as modernising the pub while keeping its original character.

Food, drink and what’s on

The kitchen has a revised menu, with an expanded Sunday lunch and a new “build your own plate” healthy options menu. The release says all dishes are prepared and cooked on site using local produce. A wine list has been chosen to go with the new menu. On draught and cask, the pub lists a range of cask ales, premium lagers, ciders and stout.

Mr Paterson plans a regular programme of events, including a weekly quiz and live sport on screen. The pub also says it will run regular fundraising for charities including the RNLI, whose Tynemouth lifeboat station is at North Shields Fish Quay.

The record behind the story

The Dolphin Inn holds a food hygiene rating of 5, the top mark, from its last North Tyneside Council inspection on 28 October 2025. That is on the Food Standards Agency register, where the pub is listed at King Edward Road, NE30 2SN.

Admiral Taverns describes itself as the UK’s leading community pub company, with around 1,350 pubs in England, Scotland and Wales. Samantha Banks, its business development manager for the area, is quoted in the release praising the licensee’s first year and wishing the team well.

One claim we have not been able to check is the pub’s age. Other reports have described it as 157 years old. Neither the company release nor the public registers we use give a build date, so we have not repeated it.

What it means for you

  • The Dolphin is trading again now, with a bigger bar and a lounge for meals.
  • Sunday lunch is back on with a larger menu, and there is a weekly quiz.
  • The pub is a few minutes’ walk from Tynemouth Metro station. If you drive, the on-street bays around Tynemouth are pay and display Monday to Saturday and free on Sundays; see our parking in Whitley Bay and Tynemouth page for the car park rules, and Metro times for the coast line.
  • Local pubs and restaurants that pass or fail their hygiene inspections appear in our regular roundups from the same register linked above.

A reopening is a good news day for a street-corner pub away from Front Street. A six-figure investment in a local with a revised kitchen is a vote of confidence in the King Edward Road end of the village.