Sitting at the bar in a pub !

This was something I noticed for a while, but as I get older only started to think on.

When you go into a bar/ pub - bust spot. why do people feel the need to sit at the bar itself, even when tables around are free. It just makes getting served a nightmare!

Tony EH

Because getting served is a nightmare.

o1s1n

Same reason people park right beside each other in a car park full of empty spaces.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058243316/sitting-at-the-bar-in-a-pub

If you are sitting at the bar it is easier to get served, and if you are by yourself them quite often you have a chat with people while they are waiting for drinks.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979634#Comment_118979634

this, it's where the locals sit and chat to each other, usually fellas on their own like me, and it's where the barmen prefer the locals to be aswell as it's company for them and protection if anything kicks off. Silly thread if you dont want to be in "the bar" sit in the lounge with the girls

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979659#Comment_118979659

I wasnt aware anything here was silly. Its more around that to then get served you end up shouting over lads sitting there, trying to squeeze past them, lift drinks over the head etc.

Would a specific service area be a better idea?

I only noticed it last night in fairness as three lads sitting in a reasonably quiet pub had blocked the bar area, a server trying to move past them dropped two glasses of wine.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979659#Comment_118979659

or in the snug with the old dears.

PTH2009

Bit of an Irish thing about sitting in the best position that you think you may get served faster. Tbh if you're in the pub on your own or 2 of ye the bar stool might be better than taking up a full table. That shite during covid was a farce

Another thing that annoys me is at a match where there a plenty of seats in the stand to sit down with some of them on the end of the row but nope people will decide to cram into the middle instead

NedsNotDead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979675#Comment_118979675

You only noticed people sitting at the bar last night. You must not get out much

thefallingman

locals are the bread and butter of any pub, ask any publican. It's silly to suggest they should sit at a table or in a service area., it's a bar ffs

Drummerboy2

I prefer the high stools because they are more comfortable and you can have a chat with locals.

Trigger Happy

It's easier to top up your pint when the barman's back is turned if you are sitting at the bar.

whippet

my auld fella would never sit anywhere else but the bar in the pub and that has rubbed off on me. I just like the bar. My local might only have a hand full in it on a Saturday night and everyone sits at the bar and the conversation is more or less all inclusive.

I tend to pop in for a couple of pints on my own and chat to whoever might be in there. I just couldn't imagine taking a seat in the corner on my own !

hynesie08

If a pub doesn't want you sitting at the bar, they're free to remove stools.

artanevilla

No better place to be sat then at the bar.

hynesie08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979726#Comment_118979726

I used to drink in a bar that did cheap drinks on a Tuesday, the barman was always their biggest customer, he'd often vanish for 20 - 30 minutes for a smoke and it wasn't uncommon for those of us who regularly frequented the counter to fill our own and keep track of our own tabs.

The pub did not last long.

Strumms

Depends on the pub. My local it’s at the bar. The high stools are luxuriously comfy, with cushioned leather seat, arm and backrest… barman sees you with 20% of your drink left, it’s just mutual nodding drink served, cash exchanges and easy…

Pub I used to occasionally frequent in town the bar is quite small and narrow, it’s near the Olympia theatre and when busy, before a gig or after you are getting bumped and jostled almost constantly…by enthusiastic gig goers… you nearly have to time your ingestion of your beverage so as not to lose a tooth…or be wearing a percentage of drink down your front. Non gig night it’s perfect…. Lounge has lots of servers too if you can get a table.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979809#Comment_118979809

Brogans ?

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979833#Comment_118979833

Nope, The Oak.

During quieter times, love that bar.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979841#Comment_118979841

great history of Irish rebels lying on the roof of that building shooting over at Dublin Castle during the rising

NedsNotDead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979841#Comment_118979841

Its nice a Bar. But I prefer mine a bit more like this

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979855#Comment_118979855

Didn’t know that, might have to do a bit of research !

hynesie08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979872#Comment_118979872

Thought that was the Brian Boru at first glance.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979889#Comment_118979889

i thought slatterys rathmines !

whisky_galore

The preferred seats of the pub bore or professional drinker, desperately seeking conversation.

NedsNotDead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979905#Comment_118979905

A slight sweeping generalization

NedsNotDead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979895#Comment_118979895

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979889#Comment_118979889

It's a pub very much in the city centre and something of a hidden gem. I'll say no more

hynesie08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979953#Comment_118979953

Yep, got it, hard to recognise without a bus parked outside.

Spoiler Warning

Bowes on fleet Street right?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979675#Comment_118979675

Pretty much every busy bar has a dedicated service area and you'll be moved on pretty sharpish if you block it. Sounds like the bar you were in was just poorly run, tbh.

I love sitting at the bar. Great for people watching.

realdanbreen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979675#Comment_118979675

Anyone drinking wine in a pub should be shot.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118980002#Comment_118980002

Why? The pub isn't just for pintmen anymore, with the women banished to the diddy parlour 🙄

Stone Deaf 4evr

Love sitting at the bar, but will give it a miss if the stools dont have a back to them, my lower back starts complaining after about 30 mins. and them small stools can git fvcked completely.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979766#Comment_118979766

I'm two steps ahead of them:

SuperBowserWorld

It's nice sitting at the bar in a not too busy pub. Can chat with the bar staff or whoever's also sitting at the bar. Or whoever is ordering.

Especially if you are on your own or with one other person.

Otherwise it might make sense to take a table.

dil87

For me I rather being on a high stool and easy access to request another pint. But as others have said, if it's a jam packed bar I'd rather be sitting away from it.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979737#Comment_118979737

thats it in a nutshell

im female and I feel the same...

there's a certain chemistry at the bar..

elperello

This thread has reminded me that I haven't sat at a bar for more than 2 years what with C19 and all.

Must put that right pronto 🙂

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119007740#Comment_119007740

i think its kinda understood that if you nsit at the bar with "the lads" you want to part of that... its a good place to get chemistry but it is usually asleep at closing time...

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118980009#Comment_118980009

For some reason reading this I thought of Ken Dodd.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119007782#Comment_119007782

C19?? Is that the thing that happened in two twenty?

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118980009#Comment_118980009

Well, the OP did mention a "bust spot" in their post.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979675#Comment_118979675

That's my bugbear with fellas who sit at the bar. Fine if its quiet but if its busy you have this wall of sitters blocking you when trying to attract the attention of the barman. The worst are those who turn and glare at you for daring to intrude on their personal space, youd think it was news to them that people actually have to go up to the bar and order.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119008410#Comment_119008410

That was my main point, you have to nearly go over these lads to get served, on top of them in some cases.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119008598#Comment_119008598

that sounds like you are just in a badly run pub, in my local the barman drops the drinks down to people at tables to avoid this

fryup

i sit at the bar to chat with the barman that way i feel less self conscious than sitting at a table on my own, 'look at that gowl with no friends'

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119008153#Comment_119008153

That's right, I was in the UK in March 2020 just when Covid was starting and I sat at the counter in a pub in Newcastle and that's the last time.

I never really thought about it until I saw this thread.

Just a little bit of normal life that passed me by.

thefallingman

1 hour to go before i'm sitting at the bar in my local with a guinness, nice.

French Toast

There's a spot in Nancy Blakes, Limerick, where you can sit in a corner with one arm on the bar and one arm on the mantlepiece of the fire. Peak positioning.

pappyodaniel

I wouldn't be fond of drinking but when I got at it, I go at it awful and very hard.

Riesen_Meal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979953#Comment_118979953

I was in said establishment with my pal and a load of locked English lads on a stag came in looking for a pint while doing what looked like a 12 pubs job, wearing Xmas jumpers and the like, I have never seen blokes march off as meekly when they were told "not tonight lad's" 😂

maestroamado

https://content.kegworks.com/blog/history-of-bar-foot-rail

I think this is why public house is called a Bar...