Table service in pubs

[V8mate]

By a wonder of the internet, McDonalds has just informed me that they will have rolled out table service at 400 of their restaurants by the end of this year.

The news reminded me that I've always wanted table service in pubs. If you're in a group it's always a faff arranging a round, and if you fancy a quiet pint on your own, it's almost impossible if a pub is at all busy, as either your stuff or your seat/table is open to misappropriation.

I also quite like the option of drinking at the bar, rather than out in the rest of the pub area, and this again makes it difficult for people needing access for bar service.

Do any other countries have a tradition of bar service like ours?

[Pillskii]

In a run of the mill pub - no not for me. If I want table service I'd go to a restaurant or a fancier bar that I know provides the service.

Plus table service usually implies tips - no thanks for a couple of pints down the boozer.

[jep]

Where's the "The bar is my table" option?

Joking aside, it very much depends on the circumstances - the number of people in the group, are you all in a round, how busy the pub is, beer garden or not....

In a busy pub with a small group or a couple of mates, then unless I'm drinking at the bar I'd appreciate table service if it was offered - simple add-on when glass collecting.

[Kermit power]

If I'm eating, then table service. If I'm just drinking, then I really don't want to pay the sort of staff overheads that would be required to ensure I got served at least as quickly as just going to the bar myself.

[BenjiA]

They do table service in pubs really well in Dublin, a few young Guys and Girls wandering around looking to see if you need a refill. Obviously you can go to the bar too, but I've always wished we'd have that here. Getting up for 15 mins and fighting to the front is just no fun at my age.

[Type R Tom]

They have just opened a "micropub" in Canterbury (Thomas Tally), it's too big to be a true Micropub but there is no room for a bar so it's table service. You have a look at the menu (wall or paper) then tell them what you want and they pour it and bring it over.

Bit strange initially but seems to work, still not sure if I should tip them yet but I'd recommend it if a beer fan.

[PositronicRay]

Depends on the pub, I don't mind going to the bar but hate queues. If a table server wants to bring beer that's fine, particularly if I'm sat outside.

[Megaflow]

I like the table service you get in bars in other countries, you get a proper menu of the drinks available, able to choose without feeling like you are holding anybody up and also, in this increasingly cash less world, you can pay for the whole night in one hit at the end by card.

[21TonyK]

Seems like I'm in the minority preferring going to the bar in a pub. Anything other then I would say table service so I guess it depends on what you think of as a pub. For me it's somewhere that serves booze via a bar, maybe with some simple snacks and food. Anything more and you are a restaurant, maybe within a pub. In which case table service is required.

What really gets me are bars in 4/5* hotels who actually impose table service in the lounge despite having a physical bar, normally with some decent free nibbles!

[VTECMatt]

Paying £18 for a main course in a pub should mean service at the table imho, collecting my cutlery et all at that price is not right.

[Don]

What I dislike is a pub where you have to go to the bar, and the locals completely block the whole fking thing to the point where you have to reach over someone to accept your pint.

I can only delight in the fact that from time to time one of the blighters now has to get off their arse to go outside to smoke a fag. If you're quick you can get in a get a second pint at that point...

Otherwise I'm happy to queue at the bar if it's the right pub, but prefer table service really.

[Blown2CV]

people standing at the bar just drinking and getting in the way is one of my biggest pet hates. The irony is that it pretty much only occurs in the sort of places where you need to get served at the bar. Really fks me off. Especially if they don't move to let you in!!! The height of ery!!!

[Hoofy]

Blown2CV said:

people standing at the bar just drinking and getting in the way is one of my biggest pet hates. The irony is that it pretty much only occurs in the sort of places where you need to get served at the bar. Really fks me off. Especially if they don't move to let you in!!! The height of ery!!!

You're posting this right now standing 2 metres away from the bar unable to get any closer, aren't you?

[Blown2CV]

Hoofy said:

Blown2CV said:

people standing at the bar just drinking and getting in the way is one of my biggest pet hates. The irony is that it pretty much only occurs in the sort of places where you need to get served at the bar. Really fks me off. Especially if they don't move to let you in!!! The height of ery!!!

You're posting this right now standing 2 metres away from the bar unable to get any closer, aren't you?

no from my sofa in my pants... it just incenses me so much that thinking about it triggers an emotional flashback!!

i guess it depends whether a person sees themselves as a pub person or a bar person. Think I am more the latter. Me and Mrs 2CV's favourite place is a replica of a belgian beer cellar in an old mortuary (we are not goths), and they have a vast range of beers, table service by nice eastern euro girls that know all there is to know about all of their beers, it's a comfy place, seating and table service only, and it isn't too noisy. I love a good pub, but I'd tend more towards a nice bar where you get looked after unless I am out with a load of lads. I'm not one of these people who wants to go to the same pub 5 times a week, always has the same seat at the bar, has a 'usual', a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet etc. I think that maybe makes me less of a pub person.