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| Well, possibly true... |
There is a pub in Lancaster. It has a sign outside proclaiming a "Warm Welcome". From what I've heard, the only warmth you'll get there is if you upset the clientele there, say by looking funny at their pint, and they set you on fire. If anyone from Drinkaware wanted to prove the link between lager and fighting, this is the place they would go to. It is "under new management". Nothing has changed.
If this teaches us anything, it's always to be wary of pubs that have "Warm Welcome" displayed on the exterior. If it's something they actually have to say, then it's doubtful it has ever existed.
And why do pub websites always proclaim things like "excellent home-cooked food" and "friendly service"? In the majority of pubs, I've found, such things are barely true, if not downright lies. In fact, I would prefer it if some places were honest and said "reheated processed stuff from Brakes" and "surly and grudging service" :
CUSTOMER : "A pint of Mudgington's Old Perigrinator, Please"
<BARMAN grumbles and fiddles with sparkler, while dispensing froth that cascades over the glass>
BARMAN : <thumps down pint glass to dislodge inch of head> "Two ninety, and if you don't want another you can bugger off to the Bluebottle And Botulism down the road"
May not get the best reviews in Tripadvisor, but it would make a change if nothing else.
Some people say that British pubs would do better if they went the "table service and tips" way of the United States. No doubt casual diners and drinkers would like it, but the average UK pub denizen is a miserable bastard who, if he's not putting the world to drunken rights with his mate or random fellow barfly, just wants to be left alone with his pint. He doesn't want to be asked "Is everything ok?" every 20 minutes, because he knows damn well things aren't ok and never will be.
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| Would you prefer the pub equivalent of the left or the right? |
I'm afraid if you change pubs too much too soon, they will end up with Dandy Syndrome where every "improvement" halves sales at a stroke.
If pubs have to say they sell "good food", it's odds-on that they don't.
ReplyDeleteThe one that always gets me is when you go up to the bar, specifically ask for "A Pint of Old Scrotum" and then get asked whether you want anything else, which you obviously don't. Customer care manual trumps actual sensitivity to customers.