It has been closed since 2014, with an ongoing battle to save it for the community, but Highgate's The Winchester is finally back open.
An intended "soft launch" on Saturday turned into a party as customers poured into the Archway Road pub.
Its return is the work of the Northern Union Pub Company, which also has the Old White Bear in Hampstead, The Albert in Primrose Hill and the Haverstock Tavern in Belsize Park.
Director Sam Moss said the opening night was "absolutely brilliant".
"The warmth of feeling towards the pub from everybody coming in has just been a bit overwhelming," he said.
"It's one thing to campaign for something for a period of six months, it's quite another to campaign for something over such a long period of time. And then there's just the delight of everybody coming past. It really, really felt that there was a proper buzz all around the community, and people have been talking about it to their friends and their families. It was just such a joyous feeling."
Since the pub's closure, residents have resisted developers' plans for the property, and successfully applied for asset of community value (ACV) status.
Christopher Riley, chair of the Miltons Residents Association, which launched a petition to save the pub when it closed, said this week: “You could feel the buzz of energy from the community on Saturday night after waiting all these years for the Winchester to reopen.
“Sam and his team have done an incredible job on the restoration and I’m sure this will be a successful community asset for the local neighbourhood to enjoy."
A licence was granted by Haringey Council in January.
Some work is ongoing but most facilities will be complete by the official opening on October 20, and food service will begin in November.
The Winchester in the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead was based on The Shepherds, now The Boogaloo, just up the hill. But Clark Collis, in his book You've Got Red On You, out this week in paperback, reports director Edgar Wright as saying of Highgate's Winchester: "We may have taken the name from there, but I have never been in there."
Plenty have though. When Pat and Val Collins called last orders in 2014 after 32 years, the Ham&High reported that they had served the likes of Liz Hurley, Amanda Holden, Martin Clunes and Tom Hardy.
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