Originally Posted by David (2):
“Is there actually any demand for a pub?
Most now serve and rely on food to keep the business going. And that requires a bit more skill than a vending machine.”
That may be true over here, but I met a guy from New Jersey around 1990 who had quit his job, sold up, and moved to Hernando Beach, FL.
He bought a bar/restaurant, and we began to frequent the place and got to know him well.
One year we were there when the Ryder Cup was being played, he was a patriotic golf nut, and of of our gang, who played with him at a local course made him a bet.
Sure enough Europe won, and the next time we pulled into the parking lot there, he'd rearranged the letters on his advertising hoarding to say, CONGRATULATIONS EUROPE, YOU ARE THE DOGS BO**OCKS, except he used the two Ls.
He had no idea what it meant, but that had been the bet.
We'd get in there around 5.30-5.45 p.m., get plugged into some fire water, then about 8.00 p.m. we'd have beautiful fresh grouper, soft-shelled crabs, or steaks.
Then it was back to the bar until our eyes began to droop, then he'd run us back to our rented house.
One of us would take a cab back to get the car next day.
He said that the food there was like a loss leader for him, he made his $$ with the booze,
and that when we'd been in a couple of days running, he could have a day or two off on the strength of what we'd put over the bar.
Originally Posted by barbeler:
“I thought this was about one of those pubs where people sit playing with their phones and ignoring everyone around them.”
Actually my first thought was that the pubs wouldn't take contactless card payment, or that the pubs didn't publicise their phone numbers.