How do you choose your pub?

Hills30 · 08-06-2015 02:32PM #1

Here' s a question that has baffled me for some time - "How do you chose your pub?"

I'll be honest, I am 30 now and nights our with friends are not as frequent as they were five years ago. When a night is happening I want all the stars to align so that it is the best craic that has ever been had in Dublin. PRESS-URE!!!

So,I am not asking you what your preference on a night out is, but rather how do you decide on your pub? Do you go for a location that's close? Do you check out twitter or check some internet friend in the know? Do you stay away from young/old crowd? Do you randomly roam the street till all your criteria are met (No, just me?)?

The_Valeyard · 08-06-2015 02:34PM

Depends on what kind of pub you want

For me it's pretty simple

1) no loud shouty music - I want to chat with mates

2) - decent pint

3) good barman with manners and 'varied' closing times.

smash · 08-06-2015 02:35PM

check out twitter? Like what... #bestpub ?

08-06-2015 02:38PM

Entirely depends on the size of the group and the kind of night we are out for. If I am with a group of lads interested in girls only - that might be a different kind of bar than a mixed group interested in chat. Or a small group would likely lead me to a more intimate smaller place. And so forth. So yea - entirely contextual which will not be of much use to the OP.

These days I tend to gravitate towards bars that have live music on for part of the night - but not the whole night. Gives a nice mix of atmospheres.

Your Superior · 08-06-2015 02:45PM

No food, no children, wide selection of beers, spirits and wines, plenty of seating, music that's not too loud, polite and efficient bar staff.

Will settle for 5 out of 6 of them at a pinch.

Hills30 · 08-06-2015 02:45PM

But, how do you know if the pub will deliver on what you want?
Do you check their twitter page? Ask people on here what the craic is with the place?

I've had waking fantasies of a live pubcam that you could check in on before you go... dream stuff!!

The_Valeyard · 08-06-2015 02:45PM

Hills30 wrote: »

But, how do you know if the pub will deliver on what you want?
Do you check their twitter page? Ask people on here what the craic is with the place?

I've had waking fantasies of a live pubcam that you could check in on before you go... dream stuff!!

Trial and error.

Hills30 · 08-06-2015 02:47PM

It the "error" part that scares the beJesus out of me....

keysersoze0330 · 08-06-2015 02:47PM

If in a strange town, go into a pub and enquiry which pubs to avoid in the town. Go to these pubs for the best crack.

Your Superior · 08-06-2015 02:47PM

Hills30 wrote: »

But, how do you know if the pub will deliver on what you want?
Do you check their twitter page? Ask people on here what the craic is with the place?

I've had waking fantasies of a live pubcam that you could check in on before you go... dream stuff!!

Yeah, always check Twitter, really handy for all those pubs that post honest critiques of their establishment "Bit crap really, and full of scumbags", "One old bloke at the end of the bar, and he stinks of piss"

Just go and try them out for goodness sake. It takes a while to find the right one, but then stick with it. Stop panicking like a child and just go out.

ScumLord · 08-06-2015 02:49PM

Go drinking during the day, enjoy sunshine if available. Be at home in bed by 8pm.

DavyD_83 · 08-06-2015 02:51PM

Kinda impossible to answer without taking into account my preferences.
Basicly I would go for the pub I knopw taht best fits my preferences.
The fact that one of my preferences is to avoid new and/or trendy places means using twitter or the interweb in general would probably end badly. I don't get out much these days, so when I do it's about catching up with people over pints. To a certain extent, the quiter the pub the better.
Some of the greatest banter ever had has been in quiet pubs

c_man · 08-06-2015 02:52PM

People using Twitter to evaluate pubs for nights out?

*draws revolver*

biko · 08-06-2015 02:52PM

Choosing a pub is highly subjective. My only location indicator is that it has to be within walking distance.
I have a few that doesn't have loud music nor loud people so you can have a bit of a chat and then move a late bar if we feel like turning the craic up a bit.

The Backwards Man · 08-06-2015 02:52PM

The three Gs.

Good company
Gleaming glasses
Great Tennent's

08-06-2015 02:53PM

Good beer, no children, no pool table, no music, no television and no donkeys.

Your Superior · 08-06-2015 02:53PM

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Kinda impossible to answer without taking into account my preferences.
Basicly I would go for the pub I knopw taht best fits my preferences.
The fact that one of my preferences is to avoid new and/or trendy places means using twitter or the interweb in general would probably end badly. I don't get out much these days, so when I do it's about catching up with people over pints. To a certain extent, the quiter the pub the better.
Some of the greatest banter ever had has been in quiet pubs

I bet you're the Archbishop of Banterbury...

The_Valeyard · 08-06-2015 02:53PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

The three Gs.

Good company
Gleaming glasses
Great Tennent's

Surely by the end of your night, the entire place is gleaming.

jimgoose · 08-06-2015 02:54PM

I'm a tea-time drinker. I like a few nice creamy pints of stout with a few middle-aged 10-year-old dorks much like myself, and we're all outta there by 8pm. Quiet, deceptively down-at-heel suburban local. There's the city centre, about a ten-minute bus trip, for all the wilder skies, chungwans and incorrectly-spelt Crack for thems as wants such truck.

jimgoose · 08-06-2015 02:55PM

Your Superior wrote: »

I bet you're the Archbishop of Banterbury...

:pac::pac::pac: Oh well-hoofed, chief!

Your Superior · 08-06-2015 02:57PM

jimgoose wrote: »

:pac::pac::pac: Oh well-hoofed, chief!

I'm the Bantersaurus Rex!

Tzardine · 08-06-2015 03:00PM

Do you remember in Men Behaving Badly they were looking for a new pub. They had some great criteria. I will try and find it.

jimgoose · 08-06-2015 03:05PM

Your Superior wrote: »

I'm the Bantersaurus Rex!

Introducing the greatest Star Wars character that never quite was, Boba Fett's uncle, Bants Blindo! :pac:

SEPT 23 1989 · 08-06-2015 03:08PM

no natural light

jester77 · 08-06-2015 03:09PM

When I'm out for a good evening with some friends, I like to retire to a nice bar or beer garden until 5 or 6 in the morning. Somewhere nice and cosy where you can have a normal conversation, the barman brings down the drinks when given the nod and where you can pay the tab upon departure.

uch · 08-06-2015 03:21PM

I only have one criteria

1. Do they sell Beer

CruelCoin · 08-06-2015 03:57PM

I choose pubs by a couple of criteria.

1 - That i can have a conversation with my partner/friends without having to shout.

2 - (this one not always available in the sticks where i live) Preferably a pub with something IPA in bottle.

3 - Sterile sardine cans like Fitzsimons i hate. All the wood in a place like Stags Head/Sweetmans i enjoy.

4 - When in the sticks, a pub not showing horse racing. When in town, a pub not showing football.

1+3 are non-negotiable. I put up with the rest.

kfallon · 08-06-2015 04:02PM

Racing and football on the box, no loud music, no students!

awec · 08-06-2015 04:05PM

Depends what you're after doesn't it.

Aren't always looking for the exact same thing every time you visit a pub.

08-06-2015 04:08PM

I think I must be one of the few people who hate my local.

The exterior is as grim as a 1980's social welfare office, or the visitors' entrance to Long Kesh, with its dirty grey aluminium door and its bleak little frosted window.
Inside the carpeted grotto of the bar, red-faced bachelor farmers in top-boots and peak caps huddle together in little groups. Even on Summer days, the fire is roaring and the door is shut. It always smells of piss.

When the door opens, the regulars blink and glower in the flood of sunlight. They fix their eyes on you and any outsider you've brought along, registering each petty detail or perceived offence for later criticism.

Anytime I've taken Dublin friends to this pub, they goggle in enthusiasm at the absence of Sky TV, or listen in awe to the rancorous old bitch singing rebel songs and pissing herself beside the fire. The Sunday World's pub reviewer once called it "the real deal", which if there were any justice in this world, would have dealt this hovel a death-blow.

Still, it's the only pub left in our pretty little hamlet, the landlords that dealt in food, music and basic hygiene having been squeezed to the brink of bankruptcy long ago.

I run a mile from attempts to recreate the traditional Irish pub in modern hipster venues. There's nothing wrong with svelte modern interiors, music, sports and dartboards while you sip on a wide variety of beers. It's called progress.

jimgoose · 08-06-2015 04:10PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

...The exterior is as grim as a 1980's social welfare office, or the visitors' entrance to Long Kesh, with its dirty grey aluminium door and its bleak little frosted window.
Inside the carpeted grotto of the bar, red-faced bachelor farmers in top-boots and peak caps huddle together in little groups. Even on Summer days, the fire is roaring and the door is shut. It always smells of piss.

When the door opens, the regulars blink and glower in the flood of sunlight. They fix their eyes on you and any outsider you've brought along, registering each petty detail or perceived offence for later criticism.

Anytime I've taken Dublin friends to this pub, they goggle in enthusiasm at the absence of Sky TV, or listen in awe to the rancorous old bitch singing rebel songs and pissing herself beside the fire. The Sunday World's pub reviewer once called it "the real deal", which if there were any justice in this world, would have dealt this hovel a death-blow...

Valhalla. I love it! :cool:

How do you choose your pub?

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