What do you think makes for a good pub?

MonicaBing

Guys, forgive me if i'm not posting this in the correct place, so feel free to move if need be..

Anyway, a new bar has opened in our town, and i was wondering what do you think makes for a good bar nowaday's? Do you want music at weekends? Do you think music is a good idea on a Monday or any other weekday, we have students in our town so how do they get the students to spend in the pub? They have the usual wide screen Tv and the jukebox with the pool table/darts board..But is there anything else they could do to have that bit more of an edge than the other pubs in town..?

Any thoughts or ideas?

lenny1020

I would go for the student business.
Have a chat with the suppliers and see what sort of promotions can be organised.
Lets say pints at 3 euro on midweek nights .Thursday night is a big night for students.Go for one of the lesser known draft lagers and get the suppliers to do a promotion night .Local trade is a whole new ball game. Have some music at the weekends .Probably be expensive but do a deal with the local bands.Only agree to have them if they play in your bar only.Then you can charge say 20cent on top to cover costs .
Food is another great way to get the punters in . Breakfasts are a big thing now rather than lunches.An average chef can handle breakfasts so expense is down .Do a soup and sandwich lunch .
Labour is cheap these days and stick to the Irish .People take that into consideration these days .Good luck .

antoinolachtnai

Someone on here years ago said that a key issue is to attract young women. This sounds like a good idea to me. But there are books written about this stuff.

I would be careful about positioning. If you go hardcore student (for example) then that will exclude other categories to some extent.

Cianos

I'll tell you what makes a bad pub imo;

Widescreen TV on every wall face, showing Sky News on mute.
Whiney singer songwriter doing bad cover songs.
Music too loud to have a conversation.
Unfriendly staff.
Widescreen TV behind the bar - way to kill conversation.
Expensive and bad pub grub. When I go to a pub I don't expect fine cuisine, so as long as the price is cheap enough I don't care if the quality is not up to scratch.

Pixelcraft

Good selection of beers, and not the usual diageo crap.

Cheeble

MonicaBing wrote: »

.....is there anything else they could do to have that bit more of an edge than the other pubs in town..?

Yes.

Understand the target market and give them what they want.

Most bars are run according to what the owner/manager thinks makes a good pub, instead of what the actual punters want.

For example...
Are there any students in the town?
Are there any young women in the town?
Are there any beer drinkers in the town?

Cheeble-eers

Mr.Boots

MonicaBing wrote: »

Guys, forgive me if i'm not posting this in the correct place, so feel free to move if need be..

Anyway, a new bar has opened in our town, and i was wondering what do you think makes for a good bar nowaday's? Do you want music at weekends? Do you think music is a good idea on a Monday or any other weekday, we have students in our town so how do they get the students to spend in the pub? They have the usual wide screen Tv and the jukebox with the pool table/darts board..But is there anything else they could do to have that bit more of an edge than the other pubs in town..?

Any thoughts or ideas?

Like any business....well run
Keep it spotelss including toilets
friendly trained staff
avoid silly gimicks
dont do food if you cant do it well
know you target market and what they want

Southsider1

If you go after the student market, offer cheap food deals as well as combi deals ie a burger and a beer for a fiver etc. Remember this though, if you target the students the likelihood is that non students won't frequent it. So you'll be quiet at weekends and school holidays so that's nearly half your year. You may be better off having the place half full of locals 52 weeks of the year who have a bit more to spend and are better behaved than students fo half the year who are always broke and bringing their own beer when they can get away with it. It ain't easy!

Left

wifi!

There's about 1000 different types of people on boards.ie that will give you 1001 different answers to their ideal pub.

The answer is common sense depending on who your target market is and then getting the culture for that market spot on.

One common denominator is women though.

Conor J

Deleted User wrote: »

There's about 1000 different types of people on boards.ie that will give you 1001 different answers to their ideal pub.

The answer is common sense depending on who your target market is and then getting the culture for that market spot on.

One common denominator is women though.

That's fairly spot on.


Now that I have gotten over the singles scene, and working professionally, my priorities have changed. I have found a new local, and its relatively quiet, no tvs, no radio, interesting warm decor and friendly chatty staff.
This particular pub has a sports theme, (pictures and memorabilia hug the walls). to be able to get a chair and relax with mates is superb. but will this type of pub generate sustainable income and cashflow for a startup?

Conor J

Left wrote: »

wifi!

certainly is a good addition. that pub would really wana focus on having a good daytime trade to bring in people with laptops n so forth, but then again the Technology market is ever evolving, many people carry an Iphone/Ipod, so the Wifi will be ever more popular as the year goes on.