By the 1880s, the kind of drinking establishment you have in mind was usually known as a pub, or public house, rather than a tavern. Taverns originally served food, and by the 19th century most taverns had morphed into coffee-houses or chop-houses, catering to urban workers seeking lunch or dinner. Some pubs were known as 'beer houses' depending on whether or not they were licensed to serve only beer, and no spirits. The late-Victorian pub superseded the alehouse, which served - you can guess - ale, and was distinct from the inn, which offered accommodation.

Walking into an 1880s pub wouldn't seem very different to our modern experience. In fact, plenty of London pubs which are open for business today have been trading since the 18th century - earlier, in a few cases. The Ten Bells in Spitalfields, one of the supposed haunts frequented by the Ripper's victims, is still there. Many, like Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese or the Black Friar, still have their original interiors. The essential layout - a serving bar, with tables and chairs for patrons - has been in place since the 17th century. One significant architectural change which you would notice, however, is that most modern pubs no longer maintain a separation between the 'saloon' and the 'public bar'. The saloon (or 'lounge') was previously a more respectable room, more elegantly decorated and with slightly higher prices; whereas the public bar was cheaper and rougher. Saloon rooms often offered table-service rather than bar service, and they would accommodate women, who were often excluded from the masculine space of the public bar. Even so, middle- and upper-class women would not visit pubs: they were the province of men, and of working/poor women.

Decoration in general could be extremely elaborate, involving marble counters, polished wood, brass fixtures, etched glass and brightly-coloured ceramic tiles - see here for a detailed overview.

From the late 18th century, with the rise of large industrial breweries, many pubs were (and still are) 'tied houses'. That is to say, they were contractually tied to a specific brewery, such as Shepherd Neame or Taylor Walker, which would supply all of their beer and other beverages. The brewery would effectively own the pub, and would reserve the right to appoint the landlord. In practice, landlordship was often obtained through personal connections, meaning that sons and nephews would take over from fathers and uncles. A few pubs were 'free houses', independently owned and operated. A rare example of a surviving 19th century London freehouse is The George Tavern in Stepney.

The social reformer and statistician Charles Booth gathered substantial amounts of data and anecdotal evidence on London pubs for his work London Labour and the London Poor; you can read more about this here, and also look at digitised versions of many of his original notebooks.