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

Themed food nights with really good deals.
Our local pub has a brilliant chef and they have a different offer on every night. They're really popular and people travel for them.

retired restaurant/bar owner here. Paint nights were fantastic, the artist ran them and I charged her the price of one pint for each participant , most also bought another drink and /or a meal. (paintastic by ellie is fantastic but in canada) Industry night. Anyone that has a pay stub from another restaurant or bar gets half price appetizers with purchase of beverages (1 per person) one night a week..Thursdays worked well for me. Lunch club cards. Buy 10 lunches and the 11th is free. Free coffee, tea or soft drinks for designated drivers at night. speed dating. Yes this one was always booked. We closed at 8 pm thru the week so when we did speed dating it started at 8 pm.There was a 25 dollar fee for it, and they got a soft drink included, most bought more drinks or appies. I sold my restaurant/bar just over two years ago, and part of me misses the crazy customers and the always on the go feel. I have some others ideas if you want to PM me...

Log burners, designated dog and non dog areas (we are dog owners), good non-alcoholic beer/wine/gin, good sandwich/soup offerings, smaller cake offerings rather than mahoosive dessert sizes (maybe scones/mince pies/teacakes) as I love a sweet treat but my diet does not, are you a stop off for walkers? Knit and natter is always popular, many do it for charity and will only drink tea/coffee and eat smaller treats but ticks over, speciality pizza nights always work round here (where a wood fired can turns up and can either eat in or takeaway with a drink from the pub as part of the deal) and a good Sunday lunch or roast sandwiches with a jug of gravy (what we always crave after a Sunday dog walk). If you have a garden, then a night watching the stars with mulled wine, blankies and a good telescope would be fab (many local experts can be bought with a beer and a good roast sandwich). We live rural and we either have these or wish we did. We have to drive to our ‘local’ so quite used to it. And good social media! Where are you roughly geographically?

And agree re the roast dinner! It's really hard to find a decent roast these days!

One near us also does Bingo as someone else mentioned upthread and it seems popular going by their Instagram.

board games nights? Hosting a book club?

I went to pub in a village last week that had a Locals' option on the menu one night a month that just cost a tenner!

It was some nice baked pasta dish, looked warm & hearty & the pub was really busy! Lovely lively atmosphere , nice to walk into on a Thursday night!

Host a book club, bingo, easy social activities that people can come to on their own, maybe a walking society.
Wine tasting evenings.
Maybe some local acoustic singers or students - not too loud and over powering but nice chilled vibes.
Good wine

Massive cobs! Most of the time when I go to the pub I don’t want a proper meal, especially on a lunch time. I just want a nice big cob and a couple of good ales.

Not let dogs in.

I'll travel for an excellent roast, Comedy night, family fun event. A local pub near us does pop up food, so gets gourmet food vans in which always goes down well. Another one does themed discos (80s/90s etc) every couple of months which get really busy. They do kids parties too for Halloween, Christmas Eve, Easter etc in the afternoons.

Have a separate Gluten free menu. We drive miles to pubs that have a gf menu. It doesn’t even have to be particularly big, and will just be adaptations to existing menu items. There’s a gf app (Find Me GF) that’s just a map of gf establishments (not entirely gf but cater for coeliacs). If you’re registered on there you’ll get lots of extra customers. It makes a huge difference being able to choose from even 4 or 5 options, than being forced to eat the solitary gf item on the menu.

And yes, clean loos!

A tie in with a local food delivery service

Becoming known for doing a really good Sunday roast is also a big draw in our area.

A book exchange. Bring a book and take one from the bookshelf near the bar, enjoy a pint while reading.

Are you active in your local village Facebook group op (and local groups?) - IME the most successful village pubs are the ones that do a really good job of embedding themselves in the local community.

It sounds like you're doing a great job of this already so you maybe just need to shout about it a bit more?

Maybe post semi-regular photos of dishes and prices on local fb groups to encourage people to come on a weeknight so they don’t have to cook (I’ve been persuaded by this on more than one occasion 😂).

Also agree with pp who said good coffee and cake!

They sell a plain cheese sandwich. No salad or other crap, just butter and cheese.

We have a gorgeous pub walkable distance to us but my husband prefers the one we have to drive to because of the selection of draft beers on offer.

The pub we go to does excellent big standard pub grub, nachos, chilli, burgers, chunky chips, pies. Also an excellent red wine you can't seem to get in a super market.

Another pub near us runs frequent quiz nights, and this past weekend had a curry van outside so you ordered your food and ate it inside at the table you had pre booked. Place was packed.

Cheery non-snooty staff, a ready smile and happy to chat also goes a really long way.

Open fire

Not regular things but:

NYE ticketed night - a Vegas themed one was really good
Fireworks display with a couple of rides around Nov 5th
Breakfast with Santa?

Decent alcohol free options!

My local does a big meat raffle once a month, in partnership with the local butcher......it's VERY popular!

Good but not too try-hard food, eg really good hunter's chicken, chilli con carne, and a good Sunday roast. Plus a decent salad/veggie option.

Clean loos.

Super friendly service.

Dog-friendly.

Yes, came to say this.

Also the bigger pub is at the heart of everything - they have a santas grotto, they host the firework display, they do a cheap soup & sandwich January blues menu, they collect for the food bank and uniform bank. They have a book swap shelf.

Basically they make themselves the go to place in the village for everything.

Something good for children to do - unusual puzzles, mocktails, build your own sundae etc so that as parents you’re not spending the entire time entertaining them.

Also themed nights.

clear pricing is a bonus, eg I recently enjoyed a bottomless brunch which was a fixed price, I think people like to know exactly what they’ll be spending in advance.

agree with the poster who said about great drinks for drivers, advertise this if you can!

theres a pub near us that does crafting sessions eg a Christmas door hanger.