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

On the flip side of this, I do get irritated when the only veggie options are vegan! Some of us want our cheese (and I respect those that don't, to be clear). Vegan AND veggie options are where it's at.

A good roast dinner with crispy potatoes and cauliflower cheese!! They’re hard to fine

We often meet with inlaws at this pub despite a longer drive https://www.droversrestinn.com/ because it has surprising and interesting vegetarian food such as pickled cheese and deep-fried beer and cheese scones- has a free-range chicken wandering around and if I was closer would love to go to the crime book and the vinyl playing meetings -it is over an hour away from us but worth the travel. Love a pub that has a free book shelf too and board games.

I don't go our drinking very often these days so it's food that I go to the pub for. Really nice food with a specials menu that changes each week so it's not the same stuff all the time. Not just boring chain pub options either. A good fish option that's not fish and chips.

Half portions for kids rather than just the beige options.

Decent coffee, good nachos or loaded chips. I love a sharing platter. Book swap shelf, OAP lunches.

And veg with each meal.

Coffee and cake, safe parking for bikes (woo local cycling clubs - cyclists have hollow legs)

Themed seasonal events. Our local has recently hosted after school Halloween activities for kids, day of the dead party for adults, Christmas market stalls, local brewery and food truck takeovers. They rent out their private event space to local businesses. It's always rammed and very popular, the owners are visibly present often and very friendly/interested in engaging with the local community.

Good value kids menus. Theme nights. Love live music.

Decent coffee and staff that don't get annoyed when you ask for a latte 😅

We have a busy pub at the end of our road which lots of people travel to but locals tend to avoid as the food isn't great. It has a huge garden and in the summer it's tanking with families.

Our preferred option is a lovely old fashioned Inn a few miles away that do amazing food, change their beers/ales regularly, welcome dogs and have a dog menu, have lots of non alcoholic options and do a car park carvery for the local walkers (it's right on the side of a mountain). The staff are so friendly, it's lovely every time we go.

Get rid of the noisy boys propping up the bar! We don't use our village pub at all because it feels like going to a drink in someone's living room

Agreeing with all the above - it's quite a lot, you'll have to pick and choose! Being a focal point really matters; it requires more effort than in the old days when pubs just were the focal point. A Facebook page with frequent events & updates is needed.

Also agree about chips. All day if at all possible.

My little contribution is outdoor seating with shelter and heaters for smokers! The fresher-breathed majority might feel we deserve to shiver in the rain, but that's no way to keep our bar tabs running.

Good customer service.
Clean loos
No country and western songs on repeat.

People that care.

local pub to us, reopened after many years closed. Ask people to support the pub etc. When you go in, no one at the bar. You have to wait to be seated in a empty room, then walk back to the bar to order, order drinks, then wait for ages listening to country and western on repeat.

We want to support it, but the staff don’t ever seem bothered if we do or not,

You seem to have a fairly good and varied selection of activities - maybe Themed nights with food to match, e.g Cowboys and Indians along with BBQ and Baked Beans or something out of season like Christmas in July - do the Christmas theme with silly jumpers, put a tree up and serve Christmas Dinner.

Our village pub used to be like that and it really put lots of people off. It felt like the landlady was running it as her personal social group fir her mates

since she left and a new landlord took over, regulars are welcome to prop up one bit of the bar but the main bit is completely free of stools so no one can sit there. So much more welcoming

Gosh sounds like our village pub , and exactly the reason we don't go anymore

Do you have good walks or cycle rides in your area. My favourite pub has maps on its website and features on social media of local routes that start and finish at the pub.

If you are dog friendly then offer treats to all dogs and make a big fuss of them (my dog drags me into the local pub!). There's also a 'dog of the week' photo posted on the pub's social media.

Good food!

Pensioners special afternoon, set menu and bingo after.

A really good quiz night- packed in our local every Thursday because the quizmaster is funny and makes it a great night. Questions plus open the box and Play your cards right. Free snacks.

Buskers night, get someone from the local music scene to organise it and bring their pals.

Really really good food. I won’t go out of my way for your average pub grub but we will travel for a pub that serves quality food, decent roast dinners.

Also having an active Instagram/social media page is key. If we look at going to a pub for food then we look up the pub on Instagram and look at the pictures of the food they serve to see if it looks any good.

Decent pub garden, out door play bit for kids in the summer.

Dog friendly.

A good quiz. Top prize is a £50 voucher to be spent at the pub - we won and returned the following evening with DH's cousins who were visiting and spent an awful lot more than the voucher value (dinner for 10) so the quiz gave them good custom on two nights.

Another one near us has a coffee and cake guy who rents the space in the morning.

If you have a nice cosy seating area you could perhaps run a book club on your quietest night? Look up silent book club - people turn up, buy a drink and peacefully read for an hour (hopefully buying more drinks!) then have a chitter chatter.

Two meals for £12, Monday to Thursday.
Two cocktails for £10.
Live music/comedy acts.

My SIL says the same thing. She struggles to get a decent vegetarian meal because a lot of pubs just go for the lowest common denominator. Our local pub has one vegan/vegetarian option on their limited menu. However, there is usually the option to add cheese or prawns if desired.

And if you have one pudding, just one, that is gluten and dairy free/vegan, i would drive to your pub from miles away!

Breakfast with all you can drink tea/coffee. Depending on your demographic really good tea and coffee and homemade cakes.