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I don't know. Bars aren't a big Texas thing. The closest we have is Oasis, but its the 3rd largest restaurant in the US.

Actually there are a lot of bars on 6xth street. But 1) they play live music; 2) you take kids into a bar on 6xth street and CPS may come a knocking.

A bar that would have CPS knocking on my door sounds like my kind of bar.

Most of my jobs have been in the retail sector. Customers are donkey-caves.

ShumaGorath wrote:Most of my jobs have been in the retail sector. Customers are donkey-caves.

I know what you mean...

I used to work in a grocery store, this lady walks in, looks at me "I want water." Well, we happen to carry three different kinds of water, oasis water, filtered water, and bottled water.

So I ask her, "What kind of water do you want?" She just looks at me stupid, and repeats "I want water." So I replied and said "I know, but we have three types of water, and I don't want to sell you something your going to hate." "WHATEVER! I'll just go ask someone else..."

Needless to say, I got yelled at for it, becuase thats just the way my boss at that time works....

Amen to that.

Selling booze isn't so bad as I get to dictate who I sell to (I love being able to refuse if a customer I card can't show ID). You'd think the way they storm out if I refuse to sell to them I'd be asking them to cut off their own limbs.

Fateweaver wrote:They do everything in pubs Frazz.

Yup.

I'm sure even in the seedier pubs they procreate.

Yup.

Odd culture across the pond.

Yup... no ! wait !

Traditionally bars/pubs were never very family friendly and were pretty much the sole domain of adults. BUt as time has gone by and the margins on alcohol have gotten tighter pubcs, especially the larger chains have moved more into the food market, and a big part of that of course is about attracting families in.

And then of course it kind of becomes the norm for a pub to do food of some type.

Also remember that the small traditional British village might well have been able to support one ( or more) pubs but probably wouldn't have been able to support a restaurant as well, so there's kind of a tradition as well. I guess they are our equivalent of your diners with regards to their traditional place in a society.

Don't forget some of our pub buildings and the culture related to them have been around longer than your country has existed. Some things are deeply engrained.

reds8n wrote:

Fateweaver wrote:They do everything in pubs Frazz.

Yup.

I'm sure even in the seedier pubs they procreate.

Yup.

Odd culture across the pond.

Yup... no ! wait !

Traditionally bars/pubs were never very family friendly and were pretty much the sole domain of adults. BUt as time has gone by and the margins on alcohol have gotten tighter pubcs, especially the larger chains have moved more into the food market, and a big part of that of course is about attracting families in.

And then of course it kind of becomes the norm for a pub to do food of some type.

Also remember that the small traditional British village might well have been able to support one ( or more) pubs but probably wouldn't have been able to support a restaurant as well, so there's kind of a tradition as well. I guess they are our equivalent of your diners with regards to their traditional place in a society.

Mmm Bar evolved into diner/barbeque joint sort of thing. Interesting that. You go out in the coutnry they still have country stores like that, and gas stations that are really such. Here's a yuppie version of such but the real thing still exists.

http://www.rudys.com/SearchResults.aspx?GeoLat=30.5119418&GeoLong=-97.8177601&distance=15

reds8n has it correct.

Pub food is (generally) good, filling, and cheaper than a restaurant. Total=

Frazzled wrote:So tell me, whats the Brit fascination with eating in pubs. A pub looks like a small bar to me. Why on earth would you want to eat in a small bar with family? What exactly is the deal Dakka Brits?

Because a pub isn't a small bar. A good pub is like someone's house who has a huge amount of beer and chairs and stuff.

We also have gastro-pubs which are like pubs with decent restaurants attached.

Maybe its a regional thing, because the bar/restaurant dominates the Chicago food scene. In fact, there are relatively few places serving as dedicated bars, and most of those are dancing/techno clubs. There almost no pure restaurants.

I was at a picnic for a greyhound adoption group a few summers ago.

It was hot as deer nuts out, so someone gives me a twenty to go to a Dunkin Donuts and buy a crapton of drinks.

I was the third person in line. When they get to me, the lady behind the counter just abruptly walks away to the back.

Me: ?

I wait a minutes, nobody comes to the counter.
After about five minutes of waiting, I manage to get the attention of another person working there.

Me: Why'd that lady just walk away when I was about to order?
Her: Oh... we work really hectic hours. She needed a smoke.
Me: Then why didn't someone take over for her?
Her: Oh, I was supposed to, but it's been a really busy day.

I had been at the picnic the past two hours, just down the street from this dunkin donuts. I had seen all of seven people go into the place in that time.

Me: WTF! I've been standing here the past five minutes and you didn't realise that you were supposed to take my order?
Her: Well, I thought you would jsut leave, so i stood here.

Me: Dumb fething witch.

I walk outta the place, and walk up the street another fifteen minutes to a KFC to order some drinks.

This place is crowded, I'm the twentieth person in line. I get up to the counter, order my several dozen cold drinks, and pay.
One of the workers takes his break and helps me carry the drinks back to the picnic.

I never went into that dunkin donuts again.

ShumaGorath wrote:Most of my jobs have been in the retail sector. Customers are donkey-caves.

Oh man, you should try being a Croupier! Imagine a customer who is already a total arsehole, then imagine he's drunk. Now imagine you just took 10 grand off him in about 15 minutes, giving him nothing but a smile in return.

Gamblers are dicks, but gamblers when they've just lost are massive dicks. Most Croupiers I worked with drank VERY heavily, turned up to work on coke, stoned - you name it. It's a stressful job with gak pay. I wouldn't do it again in a million years.

dogma wrote:Maybe its a regional thing, because the bar/restaurant dominates the Chicago food scene. In fact, there are relatively few places serving as dedicated bars, and most of those are dancing/techno clubs. There almost no pure restaurants.

It is similar in the Bay area, especially San Fransisco. There are seedy bars, but they don't appear to be any type of majority.

Most bars serve from rather large (and expensive) menus, have billiards and darts, as well as an area that is specifically for families. The only decent bars in the area, really seem to be something along the lines of a billiards hall, with a bar attached. Microbreweries are always restaurants as well.

The thing about pubs, is that if you rewind a few hundred years, they were where the local working class bloke went to unwind after a hard day in the fields, or down the mines. So cheap booze, and a very laid back environment is essential. Not only that, the guy who owns it was probably local as well, so there'll be history if your families lived in the area for a while. Not only that, pubs also used to be inns if you go even further back, so having something in the pot, and a large joint on a sunday was traditional. The locals would pile in, as it would be a very inexpensive meal out, and everyone who was local that might not have seen each other all week would get to socialise. Many a courtship was made n the basis of the local pub.

Fastforward to today, and that sunday lunch, and something in the pot for travellers has evolved into being a very laid back place that does cheap, decent food during the day, the old geezers can sit and have a pint and read the paper in peace and quiet, there's often no music, and if there is, it's kept turned right down. The beer is cheap, the pub gets fuller in the evenings so there's a good chance of meeting girls. You can meet a mate there to swap stories and have a relaxed chat after work. Maybe order a plate of chips if you're peckish.

In short, it's a relaxed atmosphere, combined with cheap edible food, and cheap booze, in which there's no deafening music, and you get a healthy amount of privacy. In more rural areas, it's the main socialising ground as well.

Ketara wrote:The thing about pubs, is that if you rewind a few hundred years, they were where the local working class bloke went to unwind after a hard day in the fields, or down the mines. So cheap booze, and a very laid back environment is essential. Not only that, the guy who owns it was probably local as well, so there'll be history if your families lived in the area for a while. Not only that, pubs also used to be inns if you go even further back, so having something in the pot, and a large joint on a sunday was traditional. The locals would pile in, as it would be a very inexpensive meal out, and everyone who was local that might not have seen each other all week would get to socialise. Many a courtship was made n the basis of the local pub.

Fastforward to today, and that sunday lunch, and something in the pot for travellers has evolved into being a very laid back place that does cheap, decent food during the day, the old geezers can sit and have a pint and read the paper in peace and quiet, there's often no music, and if there is, it's kept turned right down. The beer is cheap, the pub gets fuller in the evenings so there's a good chance of meeting girls. You can meet a mate there to swap stories and have a relaxed chat after work. Maybe order a plate of chips if you're peckish.

In short, it's a relaxed atmosphere, combined with cheap edible food, and cheap booze, in which there's no deafening music, and you get a healthy amount of privacy. In more rural areas, it's the main socialising ground as well.

Which is why I prefer them to bars and nightclubs. Of course, you also forgot to leave the part where pubs also don't have the popped-collar douchebags that zip around in their crappy Civics with the fart cannons on the back, thinking they're race-worthy because their cars sound like they have cracked manifolds. Bars and clubs get those crowds. Pubs don't. Long live the pub!

I went to a local franchise to get some curry for my lunch break. It was 11 in the morning and I was the first customer of the day.
I ordered up my curry then went to sit down at a booth to await the food. A couple of minutes later the person who took my order came up to my table and asked if I ever had the curry there before. I replied that I had, and he then asked me how to make it.
I ended up having to give him cooking instructions as to what ingredients went into the curry.

The place is now out of business.

So either you're a crap curry chef or a crap teacher eh?

Frazzled wrote:
Mmm Bar evolved into diner/barbeque joint sort of thing. Interesting that. You go out in the coutnry they still have country stores like that, and gas stations that are really such. Here's a yuppie version of such but the real thing still exists.

http://www.rudys.com/SearchResults.aspx?GeoLat=30.5119418&GeoLong=-97.8177601&distance=15

Yeah, more or less anyway. Like Mr. K. says above a lot of the pubs were often coaching Inns or places for travellers for stay back in the day.

I'm more relieved these days that most of them now have inside toilets and you see far less of them with pet goats and the like. That was an odd fad. I have kind of vague memories of one pub somewhere that had a pet bear...maybe one off of or from a TV show ? Can't recall the details as such.

But a fairly typical example would be.. http://www.dogandbearlenham.co.uk/

If anyone ever visits Nottingham/GW HQ you should make a detour in the city and go to this place http://www.triptojerusalem.com/

..that's a fairly extreme example though I guess.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
AHA ! I am reasonably certain the bear was in fact Hercules http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(bear)

...

Hercules was featured on the cover of Time and helped to promote the Miss World contest.
Hercules caddied for comedian Bob Hope at the Scottish golf course of Gleneagles.
Hercules was once named 'Personality of the Year' by the Scottish Tourist Board and received a telegram from Ronald Reagan

....but.....what..... no..I got nothing.

metallifan wrote:

Ketara wrote:The thing about pubs, is that if you rewind a few hundred years, they were where the local working class bloke went to unwind after a hard day in the fields, or down the mines. So cheap booze, and a very laid back environment is essential. Not only that, the guy who owns it was probably local as well, so there'll be history if your families lived in the area for a while. Not only that, pubs also used to be inns if you go even further back, so having something in the pot, and a large joint on a sunday was traditional. The locals would pile in, as it would be a very inexpensive meal out, and everyone who was local that might not have seen each other all week would get to socialise. Many a courtship was made n the basis of the local pub.

Fastforward to today, and that sunday lunch, and something in the pot for travellers has evolved into being a very laid back place that does cheap, decent food during the day, the old geezers can sit and have a pint and read the paper in peace and quiet, there's often no music, and if there is, it's kept turned right down. The beer is cheap, the pub gets fuller in the evenings so there's a good chance of meeting girls. You can meet a mate there to swap stories and have a relaxed chat after work. Maybe order a plate of chips if you're peckish.

In short, it's a relaxed atmosphere, combined with cheap edible food, and cheap booze, in which there's no deafening music, and you get a healthy amount of privacy. In more rural areas, it's the main socialising ground as well.

Which is why I prefer them to bars and nightclubs. Of course, you also forgot to leave the part where pubs also don't have the popped-collar douchebags that zip around in their crappy Civics with the fart cannons on the back, thinking they're race-worthy because their cars sound like they have cracked manifolds. Bars and clubs get those crowds. Pubs don't. Long live the pub!

Wait, wait, a pub is not a bar?

Customer service in J-pan is usually really good. The no foreigners allowed stuff still does happen, but those places are generally for the very wealthy or near military bases where bum fluff moustached 17 year old sailors try to get into any bar they can find. Not saying it's right, but...

I gave up on "going out" to a bar or for food ages ago. Now, if one of Mrs.Khornholio's heads starts demanding the ingestion of nutrients, I go along with it. I usually cook most of the food I eat. Not that I expect the Japanese to spit in it or anything like they would in almost every other country in the world, but because I have no idea of what kind of health destorying chemicals they have pumped into it. This country has more than its fair share of tainted food scandals. Drinking is now an outdoor sport done at the beach or at the convenice store. Bars are ludicrously expensive and they couldn't pour a proper pint to save their lives. More than once I've paid over $10 for a beer that has come back 1/3 foam. Complain; deer eyes. Next pint, 40% foam.

The food industry aside, customer service in Japan is fantastic. Sometimes too fantastic.

Well pubs are very specific things in the UK, although the term is used as a catch-all for any place that serves alcohol. Without sounding patronising, pub is short for public house, which is a very specific type of drinking establishment. And as others have mentioned, due to the falling profit margins on beer and the availability of cheep booze in supermarkets and off licenses, pubs have been forced to branch out in order to survive.

I think the main difference between a pub and a bar, is you go to a bar primarily to get drunk. While you may do the same thing at a pub, there is usually a lot more on offer, whether it is food, sports on tv, meeting mates / locals, or just reading the paper with a pint.

Frazzled wrote:Wait, wait, a pub is not a bar?

Technically, no. A bar tends to have a much more high-energy atmosphere, what with the various contests and such, while pubs might do karaoke - if you're lucky (or unlucky, in some cases). Bars are also much noisier, while pubs are usually very quiet, save for sporting events. I find pub food is also better, and they put out a larger range of imported beers, while most bars only serve domestic. Those are the key differences I can think of off the top of my head, anyway.

EDIT: And, again, pubs lack the aforementioned brand of self-absorbed D-bags.

I am so confused. To those who have frequented both the US and UK, would a Chilis be considered a pub or restaurant? How about a sports bar? How about a steakhouse with a bar attached?

i think pub vs bar also come down to location.
i dont think ive ever seen a pub here unless it was specifically themed towards a certain locale, ie. "the irish pub" etc...

Me and my buddy went to a show at a local small venue/bar. I am the kind of person that loves to give a good tip, but i don't tip till the end of the night, i like to see if my service stays the same through out. So we order a beer, and didn't tip the bartender. He mutters under his breath something I didn't hear.
So now we are $60 dollars into the tickets plus $12 for TWO beers.
After the first bands set, we went and got another beer. Once again... no tip, this time my buddy paid, and I watched as when my buddies back was turned the bartender flipped him the bird. and clearly said "THanks for the tip a**hole."
So another $12 down..... on garbage beer, and a bartender who likes to flip people off.
After that, I walked up to him and asked if he had a problem?
He said "no of course not sir!" in his best, "polite" voice.
Then I told him, you are full of gak, i saw you flip off my buddy, so heres the deal. I never tip till the end of the night, so you want a tip you EARN it. Don't think that getting me a cr*ppy beer outta your fridge is worthy of a tip, my wife does that at home for me for free. Now the tip you WOULD have gotten (i pulled out a twenty) is going to go to the other bartender, and not you.
I then precessed to walk down to the other end of the bar, and give it to the rather charming young bartender gal. And I told her I liked her smile and she looks like she really enjoyed her job, and I thanked her.
I then talked to the Bar manager about mister birdie.
The next night (yeah, the band was playing two nights!) I noticed that everyone of the employees was there except for a certain bartender.

I don't think you really have pubs in the US - even the Irish pubs are really bars. The concept of a pub is uniquely a UK thing really. I haven't seen anything like them in any other countries I have been too and I have travelled a lot in my time.

reds8n wrote:
If anyone ever visits Nottingham/GW HQ you should make a detour in the city and go to this place http://www.triptojerusalem.com/

..that's a fairly extreme example though I guess.

Been there when my brother lived in nottingham. Its great!
I liked the display of all the currencies of the world on the ceiling.
Shame i didn't go to GW HQ but aw well.

Yeah pubs in britain are more like like family places than straight up bars.

But going on topic:
I hate the type of cashier person who just stares at you the whole time. And when you go to the till they snap at you with the "would you like anything else" like i'm wasting their time.
I mean most of your job is to stand there, so why whine at my like in wasting your time

filbert wrote:I don't think you really have pubs in the US - even the Irish pubs are really bars. The concept of a pub is uniquely a UK thing really. I haven't seen anything like them in any other countries I have been too and I have travelled a lot in my time.

agreed and it truly is a shame...

usernamesareannoying wrote:

filbert wrote:I don't think you really have pubs in the US - even the Irish pubs are really bars. The concept of a pub is uniquely a UK thing really. I haven't seen anything like them in any other countries I have been too and I have travelled a lot in my time.

agreed and it truly is a shame...

It's not for want of trying - I have seen plenty of bars try to capture that 'feel', the sad thing is, it is very difficult to distill the atmosphere and centuries of history and tradition that makes up a pub and transplant it elsewhere.

That being said, if someone were to open a proper British pub in America, I'm sure you guys would love it!

filbert wrote:

usernamesareannoying wrote:

filbert wrote:I don't think you really have pubs in the US - even the Irish pubs are really bars. The concept of a pub is uniquely a UK thing really. I haven't seen anything like them in any other countries I have been too and I have travelled a lot in my time.

agreed and it truly is a shame...

It's not for want of trying - I have seen plenty of bars try to capture that 'feel', the sad thing is, it is very difficult to distill the atmosphere and centuries of history and tradition that makes up a pub and transplant it elsewhere.

That being said, if someone were to open a proper British pub in America, I'm sure you guys would love it!

Maybe, maybe not.