To ask what does your local pub do to impress you?

Keep social media up to date with menu specials, activities/events etc
a cozy atmosphere is an absolute must! Roasting fire, candles, fairy lights, nice cushions/soft furnishings
no high bar stools with tall tables! So uncomfy, I’ll walk out of a pub rather than sit in these. Proper tables and comfy chairs with backs.
friendly welcoming staff
oh also! Good selection of wine.

I used to live near here in London
People would go to get that country cosy feel ... had a fire, good food... etc

Have you a brown sign? In the good food guides etc?

www.theabbeville.co.uk/

A REALLY GOOD ploughman’s. Why does nowhere do a ploughman’s anymore… 😢

So many good suggestions (and lots that I wouldn’t be bothered about or I would actively dislike - theme evenings/food nope!). You’ll have to pick and choose what will appeal to your local demographic but are there parents with young babies/children around you? We were always looking for a nice daytime pub during the week on maternity leave - especially if you have a garden. Could be a good way to get day time traffic. Also love the thought of games, knitting/crochet group, family film evenings, the amazing Christmas suggestions from one poster (hot chocolates, mince pies, carols, Father Christmas letter writing), and just basically being the village hub with AMAZING food and wine!

Kids
Tea and cake ... with a bubbly gin option
Safe area for children to play outside
Decent childrens menu - for different ages eg 1 fish finger for a 2 year old... 3 for an 8nyear old type thing

What about some sharing plates together more £ when the darts team come in or groups not in for dinner

Good quizz

Sorry not very new ideas just listing what I've seen ..

I think people will.travelnfor well priced nice food. I don't think you need endless options. Do you have a usp to market ? Like hestons triple cooked chips!

Really good service. Well trained waiting staff with good serving skills.

Do you have cycling groups (like CTC) going through your village? They’re always on the lookout for somewhere for coffee and cake or lunch. You could contact them and offer a discount or something?

Also just to say GOOD LUCK OP.

I love a good pub and love to support local. I grew up in good old fashioned family friendly pub culture. So many laughs and a lovely sociable place to be, doesn’t have to be about excess boozing.

You’ve got a lot of suggestions here, some quite a hassle / expense to achieve.

My suggestion is simple: get a few classic board games. Four of us go to the pub to play scrabble once a week. And light the fire in the winter if you have a fireplace - it’s so cosy and a major draw over other pubs.

Dog friendly
Open fire
Friendly in general, a lot of nice people. Nice staff who are friendly and treated well, happy to be there.
They put acts on but I can see why you'd not want to, maybe find some unusual tribute acts or comedy or something unusual?
Advertise more?
Loyalty scheme for drinks/food

Have a really good Instagram account, display the beauty of your pub and the village as well, same with Facebook- make sure to post to community sites so people know what you're offering and when, but also just provide updates "The first frost has fallen on the Bell and Whistle, thankfully we've got the fire on and a cosy drink at the ready."
Take part in national events like Children in Need, and get that posted as well- you could have a raffle or theme the weekly pub quiz a little bit for the event.
Also, post on local walking group FB pages, advertise yourself as the ideal stop off on the way around.
If you have hotels, B&Bs etc. nearby, check that they're recommending you as a local place to eat.
I also agree with previous posters about events for children, like the 'letters for santa' idea (your local rotary club could help with that).

Different perspective, but my village local changed hands c.2 years ago & has changed for the worse ! This might give you some clues.

Proper dinners Fri-Sun made by a trained cook, v re-heated stuff from Brakes 6 days per week.

For lunch, real soup & sarnies with quality bread & ingredients, v crap.

TV only in one bar, v loud sports everywhere & difficult to hold a conversation.

Dogs & children welcomed (they had both), but not allowed to roam free,
v dogs & brats running around & being a nuisance.

our mean landlord caused the pub to close down - he banned loads of people and bitched about people and was so miserable he had no customers so he was even more miserable.
actually two pubs in the vicinity closed down,

Ours does a parent/ baby toddler morning. Free toast and juice for the little uns and the parents get to enjoy a coffee or two. They put out toys/ blocks/ books etc and the kids play. It's 9:30-11:30 and was a life saver on maternity leave as it was regular and broke up the day and was a change of scenery for just the cost of a coffee or two.

Wow some of these suggestions are fantastic.
All I ask for is a really great crusty roll with cheddar and onion, sometimes you don’t want a full lunch just a drink and a lovely crusty bread roll, butter with a proper filling.

Our local pub has a community cafe. Very popular with us oldies and the school run mums.

I spend a lot of time in pubs it seems. Loads of good suggestions so will say what not to do!

• poor beer/cider/wine selection and only J20 juices and off beer
• bar snacks: only option is £7 for a small bowl of ‘hand picked nuts’ when I just want a packet of crisps
• bleach/mould/wet dog smell. Went in one pub recently and it was AWFUL. We left. A cloth that smelled like mold had been used to clean tables and the whole place reeked
• Comfortable seating, arranged in a sensible way

they have really good food
weekend roasts
open mike

A walkers group is super popular here organised by and they meet at the pub, then back there for lunch. It's always packed on walkers day.

One local restaurant gives me a little sticker book and colouring pencils when I go there with my young children. It makes the meal a lot less stressful particularly if I want to take them out by myself. It also makes me feel welcome to go there with my children. I’ve seen them available wholesale online and cost peanuts so it seems well worth it to get customers in.

A regular quiz night. That's what makes me want to go to a pub!

Has a miniature ride-on train that goes round the beer garden

Life drawing in the function room upstairs

Child free area.

open mic
comedy night
wreath making
christmas crafting
carols with local brass band

Ours has gastro/restaurant quality food but a cheap lunch menu that changes every weekday. It’s under £10.
Big garden.
Child-friendly and loads of high chairs etc.
They kick kids out at night.
No music (except for a piano), low lighting.
One off events: whiskey and wine tastings, carol singing, etc. They did a Brexit drown your sorrows thing. But not so many that it becomes frequent.
We think it’s perfect.

Flexibility. When I'd recently moved, I walked out of a local pub because they wouldn't do a kid's roast dinner on mother's day. I think for the cost of just doing a small plate of roast and charging me £10 for it, they've lost customers who were looking for a go-to pub for special occasions.

I was going to say live bands, our favourite pub has good live music on every few weeks. Other than that, it's an old fashioned pub (with older locals) with a good range of drinks that are not too expensive. They are the only local pub that don't serve food either. It's always really busy compared to the other pubs nearby that have mostly customers in their early 20s, they have had problems with drugs.