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

[PubFairyGodmother]

Totally posting for traffic!

I run a small village pub. We’re off the main road, people have to be coming to our village to find us.

We open 6 days a week, all day, serve food at lunch and dinner times. We have a main bar, a smaller room and a function room. These additional rooms are regularly used by local groups for meetings - we don’t charge for the rooms for local groups, but people buy drinks and they help make the place feel busy mid-week.

We have 2 darts teams, regular monthly quizzes. We’ve stepped back from regular live music, so many places do it, the local bands can always be seen somewhere else next week (ie no incentive to come to the sticks) and they charge a lot, it doesn’t always make financial sense.

I’m just wondering if any of your local pubs do something that you think “oh that’s a good idea!”? Let’s face it, I doubt we’ll be in competition! Anything in the pub or anything online? I need to find some untapped markets to keep our lovely pub going!! Thank you

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.

Not let dogs in.

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.

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

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!

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?

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

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?

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...

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.

Our local does movie nights for families, chip butties free of charge for the kids! Adults can have a nice meal and I guess they make money off the drinks? Really enjoy it

Do not underestimate the value of a good bowl of chips. Nice quality, not cheap with all eyes and black bits.

Topping options of cheese / chilli etc

Offering a warm space for elderly etc at a quiet time. Offer tea and biscuits. Whilst that doesn't make money, people will admire what you are doing and it's great advertising and community feel

If you've got good WiFi - offer a work-from-the-pub deal in the mornings when you would normally be very quiet. My local does a deal where you get bottomless tea or filter coffee, a lunch or breakfast and a table to work for a couple of hours. Make it clear the deal is only for your quiet periods though! You can also make it clear that headphones to be used, no noisy work calls etc 🙈

On the food front - keep it simple! So many local pubs seem to want to put fancy stuff on the menu but it's never really great. Unless you're a full on gastro pub, keep to the basics and do them really well.

My local:
Serves fish and chips into the care home over the road on Friday lunchtimes. It's cheaper than the local chippy and much better. They just walk it across on covered trolleys and serve it up hot!

Has a pizza van (it's brilliant! and owned by a local family) who come once a month on a Sunday when the pub kitchen is closed. We can take the pizzas in the pub and have a few pints. It brings lots of people in who wouldn't otherwise bother. They don't charge the van for the pitch, it's a win win for them both.

There's a book club, a knit and natter group and a crafty group who meet every week at different times. Not run by the pub, but they host it. Darts team.

Gift fayres every so often - no MLM types allowed or you'll be overrun with it. Car boot sale in the summer (the brewery don't see a penny of that or if the tea, coffee and butties they sell at it as it's run separately).

Dog food available to buy at the bar so people like us don't go home because it's their dinner time 😂

They host a breakfast club for the Armed Forces Veterans once a month - https://www.afvbc.com/

Friday afternoon they encourage the local tradies to pop in and allow them to leave their vans in the car park after a few beers.

Our local does pensioners lunches once a week. It’s a slightly smaller portions than the average pub meal as most of the local OAPs said pub meals were too big, and it’s really reasonable, I think £10 for 2 courses or £14 for 3 courses. It’s always packed!

Yes! Hot, savoury things like this for snacking while you chat and drink.

There are 7 good pubs in the market town where we live.

The reason why we mainly go to one of them:

They have a lovely outside space with gorgeous lights, under cover and heaters so those of us trapped in office all week can sit outside.

They do some basic food really really well, they are known for their burgers and do a great Sunday roast.

They source British crisps, British food and do a great pint, English sparkling wines etc

They are very family friendly, often really busy with families on a Saturday lunchtime

Major football and rugby matches are screened.

Summer BBQ

Separate veggie & vegan options that don’t involve fake meat.

If I want to treat myself on a Sunday or take a friend somewhere for lunch, I’ll go to my local pub because they do a delicious range of veggie options, which I can have with all the trimmings and gravy.

For me, it's the decor that determines if I go in or not. Anywhere with carpet is a no. Or where the smell of stale beer hits you when you open the door. Or that has a tv on.

We often go to local pubs to have a quick bite of dinner and a glass of wine. I'd agree that good chips are really important.

Ours locally is a powerhouse and has gone the overnight accommodation route - means they're open for breakfast which is popular, and coffee. They're also big on food generally, really friendly, and have a loyalty points scheme.

In general though, I agree about an open fire. I sometimes google 'pubs with fire' for a destination walk etc. And attention to the basics, whatever the basics are at your pub. We're lucky to have two pubs near us, but in our nearest more simple one, where the beer is pretty important, my dp had an off pint, plus a corner of the fish I ordered was still frozen. We haven't been back, because why would we risk it?

The best local pub in my area do a Friday burger night for £12 and they do a competition on Facebook every week for people to suggest different burgers and then they get 1 for free if they win. There's quite a lot of country pubs around here so they've got a lot of competition but do really well from their burger night!

Our pub has a fantastic GF menu, including GF fish and chips.

Be visible. Nothing fancy but have an Instagram and Facebook page with up to date photos and an up to date menu.

Yes yes to big bowls of good chips!!!