To hope that this "new" way of queuing at pubs just becomes the norm

[OptimismvsRealism]

A fair way of lining up instead of everyone jostling stressfully and the hottest or tallest or most pals with the bartender getting first dibs?

Honestly I don't think pubs will survive when the current oldies die off if they don't bin the weird old fashioned ways!

Well I'm in my thirties so wouldn't consider myself an oldie about to die off. Also it's not weird, pubs are literally designed to have people queuing along the bar and multiple bartenders working behind it.

Was at Brewdog Waterloo last week and you ordered from your table with an app. No service at the bar. It was stress less

I was very, very confused by the English system in bars when I first went to London in the 80's. The bar staff got arsy if you tried to order before they had finished serving the previous customer. I was used to the Irish system where the bar staff had a minimum of 4 orders on the go at once. Standard approach is similar to England in trying to catch their eye but you place your order as soon as you catch their eye for them to do next. I couldn't believe English bar staff only did one order at a time.

The Irish system is due to Guinness - you have to leave it to settle and then top it up - so if you waited until you finished serving one person before serving the next, the bar staff would spend have the evening doing nothing.

The queuing system in that article is mad. Really inefficient for a bar selling any amount of Guinness.

No, it's AWFUL!!!

Completely alien to pub culture and pub architecture. Bars are built to be huddled around not queued at. An abomination.

I work in a pub and wish people would queue normally! We have 4 tills on a long bar, often I'll be on my own serving on one side and people will go and wait on the other end and get annoyed when I don't serve them next. When it's busy we try to keep track of an order people got to the bar , but with multiple tills and app orders coming in its not easy and tends to be a case of 'whos next?'
Then you've got all the people blocking the card machines etc making it hard to actually serve the next customer.
I've never understood why this one place people don't queue the usual way

I hate the anticipation of 'the turn'. You know when the person in front is being served, you are peeping over the left shoulder, someone else peeping over the right. If person in front turns right you are in, if you move quickly. Eyes on the prize. But if they turn left you have to let them pass and person on right wins. This always stresses me out no end.

Because it's not normal to queue in a pub.

The staff say who’s next and the customers have the good grace to tell the truth.

If a pub was so busy that theywere queuing out of the door I wouldn't go in.

No no no the scrum queue is a staple of pub etiquette !!!
hiw would a “normal” queue work in a small pub ? You’d end up with someone’s arse in your face while you’re eating your scampi in a basket 😲

But what should I do with my cloak of invisibly that I seem to put on even when I get to an empty bar?

Don't use pubs often - but I really did like pubs coming out of lockdown, where you could order with a QR code and have drinks brought to the table - for more civilised.

Ooh, don't like that, sorry! They must be looming over everyone sitting down, and tbh I quite like the bar jostle. It's such a extremely British tradition, while at the same time being so non-British - the one time we let our hair down and don't form an orderly queue! I used to work in pubs and part of the job was knowing who was next. Maybe it's a skill that's being lost?

I like the Wetherspoons pub where everyone stands at a bar that's 50' long and no one gets served. There's normally one bloke unloading a dishwasher, another one changing a bottle of Bells, someone coming out of the kitchen with a plate of nachos and a fat manageress type with an elastic till key fob looking busy but not actually serving anyone.

It's awful. I hate it.

If I see a queue in a pub, I will walk straight past it and go directly to the bar. The bar staff thank me for doing so.

This Twitter account is actively campaigning against it.

"A campaign to end the recent phenomenon of queuing single file in pubs. We queue for the bus, or for the checkout not at bars."

x.com/QueuesPub

I noticed this the last time I was in a (quite posh and not cheap) village pub. People were waltzing to the bar and loudly placing their order without consideration for those already standing there waiting to be served. I don’t go to pubs often, but I’ve seen better manners in the Wetherspoons next to my student halls a decade ago. In fact, everyone there was very friendly and obliging as far as I can remember.

And Greene King!
Which is how I know they do an alcoholic slush puppy,

Me too, and I've worked in pubs too (although a while ago).

What I always hated was when I'd know in my head who was next, I'd look towards them but they'd be looking down at their phone, or turning away asking their mates what they wanted. Usually someone else who was actually paying attention would quickly make eye contact and call out their order, so I'd start dealing with them instead. The original person would turn get arsey but bad luck, you snooze you lose.

So with the current system there's a bit of pressure on people not to fanny about. That would be lost with a proper queuing system. People would get to the front and because they then feel it's their "right" to be served next, they'd take their time, start looking at the taps, deciding what they want, asking their friends etc. So each turn would take longer on average and everyone would end up waiting longer.

Me too. They had a sort of barrier running parallel to the bar to make it clear.

I've noticed people queueing in pubs now, the front of the queue is at the till which is now more often in the bar. The queue is still along the front of the bar.

Some people pretend not to know.

Yes exactly this! The current system means everyone has a chance to see what's on tap, look at a wine list (if they're so inclined) and be ready to order as soon as the bartender makes eye contact. And as a PP has said you can get the guinesses on the go. It's so much more efficient.

If you want to order from a QR code or stand in a single line queue then a pub is not for you. Don't ruin it for everyone else.

And this is why tits on the bar works regardless of your sexualities.

Tits out, looking at the bar person on to a winner

I always found that the best way not to lose your place when the bartender is struggling is to correctly point out the person next in the queue. They're grateful, and the bartender is also often grateful enough that you go next.

See I’m the opposite, I prefer to wait at a busy bar and have to find a gap and get served. I hate this queuing system.