Post lockdown pubwatch

[thistledo]

33 minutes ago, anotherchance said:

Best place for walk in pubs for Saturday in Glasgow? Ideally not Spoons if humanly possible.

Depends what you're after really, I'd say most of them you'd be able to walk in no problem. Last Friday night was very quiet when I was out. Busiest place was Howlin' Wolf, but even then we got in and got a table no bother. 

[Have some faith in Magic]

No office parties and no groups of coked up call centre gimps in pubs is a huge plus that I would like to remain forever. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Have some faith in Magic

[Gaz FFC]

9 hours ago, anotherchance said:

Ideally not Spoons if humanly possible.

As a general rule this is Fantastic

[Todd_is_God]

10 hours ago, anotherchance said:

Best place for walk in pubs for Saturday in Glasgow? Ideally not Spoons if humanly possible.

For the football? Good luck

[MONKMAN]

Angels in Uddingston, for example. You might have had to stand for a bit if you went later on in the day, but pre-covid you'd never not get in to the bar. Now, despite them having extra tables in their car park, it's booked out Friday - Sunday days in advance. No walk in opportunity.

 

 

I’m fairly certain it was Angels that I seen plastered all over social media during the last world cup, because they had Love Island on the telly instead of the football. If that’s the case, then I’m sad to see it’s so busy.

 

[psv_killie]

heading into Edinburgh through the week for a few probably during the day. do you have to book in advance or are there walk ins?

[TheScarf]

Heading to the pub this afternoon. We’ve booked a table purely because we’re having some food but I don’t think there has been much issue so far with just walking into a pub in Inverness since we could go back inside them. My mate called a few yesterday just because the football is back and was told we could just come in, no need to book a slot.

[8MileBU]

On 29/07/2020 at 08:04, Bairnardo said:

Aye I think the booking system will soon be weekends only. I actually think pubs are going to struggle once everyone has had a turn or two of going out for the novelty.

It's just not very good really, in the cold light of day.

This...

23 hours ago, Blootoon87 said:

I was in the pub last Friday and I'm in no rush to go back if that's what they'll be like for the foreseeable.

And this...

Was out for a few in Falkirk last night and found the whole experience a massive anti-climax. Whilst it was great to actually catch up with mates and have pints in person, I found the experience of wearing a mask to be escorted through the pub, past tables of mask-less people rather odd and slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Also, in a pub I’ve been drinking in for 20+ years, being stopped at the bottom of the stairs and given military-esque precision directions of how to get to the table my mates were sat at was really weird as opposed to just being told ‘they’re upstairs mate’.

Edited August 1, 2020 by 8MileBU

[Blootoon87]

The beer garden at my local.

[Walter]

I was in a couple of pubs in Dumfries yesterday. The first one was the Caven Arms which seemed to be more of a restaurant than a pub. Everything seemed to be meticulously organised. You have to book, can't just wander in without permission, sanitizer available as soon as you're in the door and all staff wearing visors. They lead you to your table straight away so no hanging around and were also very attentive so no need to leave the table unless you were going to the spotlessly clean lavvies. There was a pro independence event in the town and the manager/guy in charge was absolutely raging when a 2 or 3 saltire covered cars drove by tooting their horns that went outside to mumble and glare at them which was good for a laugh. They have a great list of cask ales at £3.10 a pint and Stella at £2.95 for the lager drinkers.
Next pub was the hole in the wa'. Deary me! They had separate entrance and exit doors which no one paid a blind bit of notice too and absolutely no social distancing inside. There was a screened service area at the bar which couldn't be accessed because of people sitting/standing at the bar so the staff just served you wherever. A wee jakey guy sitting at the bar was in the toilet the same time as me didn't even wash his hands let alone use the sanitizer then returned to his stool to put his grubby mits all over the bar. Another undid his belt, button and fly on the journey from his seat to the toilet door. If he had walked a little slower I'm sure would have had his knob out.
On the plus side there was a bit of Queen of the South memorabilia on the walls to remind you you were in Dumfries.

[vikingTON]

First Scottish post-lockdown pub visits for me over the past few days during a trip to Mull, I'll focus on the pubs in Oban on Saturday night though for a more useful comparison point:

Oban Inn - following the guidelines very closely, with separate exit/entry (not always followed by customers of course), walk ins accepted but table space very limited as it was busy. Still managed to get a pint of Fyne Ale outside just before they closed that section at 10. Only issue with the regulations that I could see was a couple of likely pished regulars sleverring nonsense at one of the staff from about 0.3 yards away and then hugging them which is yeah not really what's supposed to happen at all. 

Aulay's - much more accommodating in terms of table space, to the point where people could walk in and ask to sit alongside different groups that were already in the pub at the same table. I really can't criticise pubs for allowing this though rather than turning regulars back at half 11 on a Saturday night. One group of women were getting the shots in and shrieking like banshees which yeah is also probably not the best thing to be doing in a confined indoor space right now. It was certainly less safe than the pub above but also closer to a normal pub experience.

Overall I am really not liking the current setup. The regulations seem to have been written by folk who have never been in a pre-lockdown pub in their lives and are trying to turn even the most casual old man's pub into some stupid booking-only wine bar. This is not going to work out at all well when the weather turns and folk are having to walk from place to place in the driving rain just to try and get in somewhere. As someone who enjoys the solo pint with a copy of Private Eye or The Times on an afternoon, the new table-only system is also a fucking nightmare, as the vast majority of pubs are now orientating their space to cater for groups of four/six so you're blocking off a big part of their selling space by having the temerity to order a quiet pint. While better than nothing, it's quite literally a sanitised experience right now and I'll probably be spending less time in the pub for that reason rather than safety concerns. 

[mizfit]

Kirkside - 8.5 / 10
Shown to our seats and table service. No nonsense. Delicious pint of Tennants

The Tavern - 5/10
Let down by them having a group of 18-20 kitted up in stone island screaming and shouting. Not one attempt made to control them.

The Old Ship Inn - 8/10
Served within 2 minutes of sitting down outside and delicious pint.

[invergowrie arab]

3 hours ago, virginton said:

First Scottish post-lockdown pub visits for me over the past few days during a trip to Mull, I'll focus on the pubs in Oban on Saturday night though for a more useful comparison point:

Oban Inn - following the guidelines very closely, with separate exit/entry (not always followed by customers of course), walk ins accepted but table space very limited as it was busy. Still managed to get a pint of Fyne Ale outside just before they closed that section at 10. Only issue with the regulations that I could see was a couple of likely pished regulars sleverring nonsense at one of the staff from about 0.3 yards away and then hugging them which is yeah not really what's supposed to happen at all. 

Aulay's - much more accommodating in terms of table space, to the point where people could walk in and ask to sit alongside different groups that were already in the pub at the same table. I really can't criticise pubs for allowing this though rather than turning regulars back at half 11 on a Saturday night. One group of women were getting the shots in and shrieking like banshees which yeah is also probably not the best thing to be doing in a confined indoor space right now. It was certainly less safe than the pub above but also closer to a normal pub experience.

Overall I am really not liking the current setup. The regulations seem to have been written by folk who have never been in a pre-lockdown pub in their lives and are trying to turn even the most casual old man's pub into some stupid booking-only wine bar. This is not going to work out at all well when the weather turns and folk are having to walk from place to place in the driving rain just to try and get in somewhere. As someone who enjoys the solo pint with a copy of Private Eye or The Times on an afternoon, the new table-only system is also a fucking nightmare, as the vast majority of pubs are now orientating their space to cater for groups of four/six so you're blocking off a big part of their selling space by having the temerity to order a quiet pint. While better than nothing, it's quite literally a sanitised experience right now and I'll probably be spending less time in the pub for that reason rather than safety concerns. 

Did you get to the Mishnish? I'm there next week.

[vikingTON]

Yeah I was in the Mishnish on Thursday afternoon partly to get out of the rain, it seemed to be operating on a largely walk-in basis during the day (being full of day-trippers anyway) so as someone was leaving it was relatively easy to find a spot. It skinned me a full fiver for a bottle of the Tobermory ale though: sad! 

The distillery shop is offering tastings booked in advance or samples which is all I was interested in anyway, which led me to pick up a miniature of the delicious Tobermory 12 for the campsite. Like just about everywhere else in Tobermory it is still OCD-central in terms of letting people in at any given time (two in the distillery shop, about four in the entire Co-op), so be prepared to queue outside for just about everything like the good old days of April. 

 

[invergowrie arab]

Great. Once you have seen one copper still you have seen them all. Distilleries are for sampling

[philpy]

Won't be back at my local club for a while. A group of 8 guys were crowded round the pool table playing "killer", despite signs saying only 2 people at the table at any one time. The staff only made half hearted attempts to get them to stop, and they were getting a bit rowdy. Just didn't feel comfortable at all. 

[doulikefish]

On 01/08/2020 at 10:06, Blootoon87 said:

The beer garden at my local.

Fars that?

[Blootoon87]

Fars that?

The alley outside Bailie's

[NotThePars]

Was in the Viking Bar on Saturday and am glad to say that apart from hand sanitiser at the door and giving my details to the wifey at the bar, everything was pretty much normal. Of course since it was a game involving the **** it was full of clatty b*****ds that still think washing your hands is optional but it felt like a normal Saturday for the first time in yonks.

[welshbairn]

On 01/08/2020 at 10:06, Blootoon87 said:

The beer garden at my local.

Finally going all continental, just needs a couple of old boys sitting there, cackling away.