Your Perfect Pub

Big Nasty

If you were to open your own pub tomorrow what would you do in terms of stock / decor / policy that would make it stand out from the rest?


My bar would have:

No Diageo draught / bottled products bar Guinness - the rest are tasteless muck IMO.
Good selection of craft and speicality beer, bottled and on tap.
Good selection of top shelf spirits and liquers.
Chilled soft drinks and mixers.
All pints €4
All standard spirits €4
All soft drinks (coke, 7up, orange, etc.) €2
All mixers +€1 with a spirit, i.e. Bacardi & Coke / Gin & Tonic €5
Wine by the glass for €4 - €5 (no qtr. bottles)
Decent and reasonably priced winelist.
Cocktails for €5 - €7
Good selection of teas, coffees and possibly smoothies from €2 - €2.50.

Drinks menu - most pubs in Ireland stock the same products, hence why you rarely see a drinks menu here. If every restaurant had the same food menu they would have no advantages over their competitors - why do the same with drinks? You have a wide selection of drinks available so provide menus with same for your customers.

Good and wholesome food, reasonably priced. I would try limit starters to €5 and mains to €10 excluding steak. A lot of pubs do the old reliables in food, would be no harm to bring back in some of the old, old reliables, e.g. half chicken & chips, lasagne & chips, chicken maryland, spaghetti bolognese, fish, chips & mushy peas and a bit of 'mammy' food, e.g. shepherds pie, corned beef with parsley sauce, pork chops with beans, bacon and cabbage, broths instead of blended soups, etc. Also a selection of tapas / tasters for €3 a pop for people to munch on as they drink without filling themselves.
Lunch specials for €5 / €6. Starter / Main Course specials for €12.

Comfortable low seating for eating at but also plenty of high tables too. High tables and stools are a better drinking environment. Drinkers sitting at low tables tend to get too 'settled' IMO.
Free wifi
Tinted mirrors in the toilets - you look better in a tinted mirror so it helps you feel good
Spotlessly clean toilets
Sound system with multiple small speakers as opposed to a handfull of blaring big ones.
Music loud enough to tap your foot to but not intrusive to conversation.
Music policy would be a mix of 60's-90's classics and alternative. There would be a lot of 'I haven't heard that in ages!'
Good lighting during the day and dimmed lighting in the evening - sounds obvious but a lot of pubs get this wrong.
Minimum amount of TV.
Board games for customers use.

Friendly, efficient, well trained staff with excellent product knowledge and sales skills - this might sound obvious too but most staff in busy pubs are order takers. A lot of staff in pubs that stock alternative beers have great product knowledge and will chat away to you about different beers, etc but are not very efficent. The Bull & Castle IMO is the only pub who has got the balance right.

Lastly: value for money. If you provide quality food and drinks at good prices people will spend!

So what would you have in your pub and why?

enda1

Bring back tabs in Irish pubs!
I hate having to pay for each order every time.

Like you mentioned, my main demand would be quality. Some design sense to the place too wouldn't go amiss.

Lovely Bloke

enda1 wrote: »

Bring back tabs in Irish pubs!
I hate having to pay for each order every time.

A pub I frequent on Dorset Street does this.

Ravelleman

'The Moon Under Water'.