What makes a great pub?

In common with many, many others, I like a drink. But, these days at least, I don’t drink at home alone. To me, drinking is wound up with socialising and discovery.

I know some people prefer the familiar comforts of their “local” — and I admit that I have a few favourites myself — but part of the appeal of travel and life in general is exploration, be it of your own backyard or the big wide world.

When I travel, I want to find somewhere a little bit different in terms of design and atmosphere, entertainment and the menu (both the food and the drinks).

My aim is to rule nothing out, unless it looks dangerous, dirty or otherwise uninviting. And, while I like one-of-a-kind places, I don’t shy away from the franchises or generic venues, because they sometimes offer a surprise. 

For instance, there are “Irish” pubs everywhere in the world, and few of them are really like the pubs you’ll find in Ireland. In fact, I once met a man who supplied pre-fab pubs which arrived in shipping containers.

But not all of them should be written off simply because of their “cookie-cutter” appearance. Some of them have great local flavour, too, including menus that stray from the well-trodden pub-grub path and live music that isn’t always predictable.

When I first went to London in my twenties, I couldn’t fathom why other expat Aussies wanted to congregate in “Australian” bars. But I discovered that some of those bars weren’t too bad. I met a lot of interesting people, many of them not Aussies, who gave me good advice pending my further adventures. And, when I think about it, those pubs were no more artificial than the various Shakespeare-, Dickens- or Conan Doyle-themed premises designed to attract tourists expecting “traditional” British delights.

I’ve been to some wonderful watering holes over the years, from a brewhouse in Boston to a punk bar in Barcelona and a repurposed pharmacy in Belarus.

But what it is that makes a good pub? Why is one place virtually empty while the place next door is rocking to the rafters? In many cases, it’s down to the staff who ensure a warm welcome.

As my mate Ted says, he was disappointed to go to the original Cheers bar (which eventually relented and changed its name from Bull & Finch) and discover that nobody knew his name.

Of course, great staff attract an interesting clientele.

At a beachside bar in Rayong, Thailand, recently I had a few beers with some English, American and Dutch musicians. With the encouragement of the bar staff, we were taking turns selecting songs from the video jukebox, with the selection criterion that there must be a link from one song to the next. Usually it was a word from the title of the song or the artist, and we genre-jumped from blues to metal, pop and electronica.

That was a good night, but I wouldn’t want to do it all the time.

So, what does make a good pub? It’s the staff, for sure, as well as the food and the drink (very important), and it’s also the location, decor and amenity of the place. But there’s also a sort of magic that only occurs in some places at some times. 

So for me, a great pub has to be familiar and comfortable in some way, but also promise the sort of unpredictability that can turn an ordinary occasion into an extraordinary one. 

Oh, and it would also be nice if — as happened to me the other night — the manager gives me a lift home when I’ve had enough.