The George Tavern is a Grade II listed public house and music venue located on Commercial Road in Stepney, London. It is owned and operated by artist Pauline Forster.

Venue: George Tavern
Address: 373 Commercial Road, London, E1 0LA
Town: London, GB
Capacity: 150

The George Tavern is a Grade II listed public house and music venue located on Commercial Road in Stepney, London. It is owned and operated by artist Pauline Forster. Formerly known as the Halfway House, the building contains original brickwork some 700 years old, and is mentioned in texts by Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Pepys and Charles Dickens. In 2002, artist Pauline Forster bought the derelict building at auction and has reopened it as a music, performance and arts venue, and pub. It is also a popular location for photo, film, and video shoots. The George Tavern was built approximately on the site of the Halfway House, believed to be of mid-17th-century origin. Map evidence shows that the Halfway House was rebuilt in the 18th century, some time after 1745, approximately 50 yards to the north east of the earlier inn. A corner building, with the annotation 'George', appears on William Faden's Fourth Edition of Horwood's Plan map published in 1819. The present building was probably built between 1799 and 1819 and also appears on Greenwood's map of 1827. The pub therefore forms part of the development of Commercial Road, which was created following the Commercial Road Act 1802 (42 Geo. 3. c. ci) to link the newly built East India Docks and West India Docks to the boundary of the City of London. The pub was remodelled in 1862 by James Harrison and the ground-floor pub interior was further remodelled in 1891 by R. A. Lewcock. In the 1970s, a nightclub, Stepneys, was added in a building that backs onto the pub. The nightclub was famous for its illuminated dance floor. The pub received Grade II listing in 1973 for the following reasons: A handsome corner public house with well-detailed Italianate elevations of 1862, which has strong townscape interest Retention of earlier features from remodelling 1820s building Fine ornate tiling to bar, presumed to date from the 1891 remodelling Of historic interest as a reminder of the use of the site as an inn, possibly since the 17th