Well, etiquette in pubs anywhere in the UK really. Charles Wheeldon explains the do’s and don’ts of enjoying a few jars in the many hostelries in our neck of the woods.
Ordering at the bar
Unlike bars in much of the rest of the world, table service is quite rare in the UK. Food and drinks are ordered at the bar when you arrive and you will be expected to pay the whole bill (check) for that order there and then. Most places will allow you to ‘run a tab’ where your card is either held behind the bar or run through a machine so the bar can collect the amount owing should you forget to pay when you leave. If your card is behind the bar you simply settle up when you are ready to leave.
Tipping
In days gone by, the correct form when tipping was to say to the bar person when ordering “Have one yourself” whereupon the member of staff would ring up half a pint of either bitter (ale) or lager (light beer) and then drink it while they were working, or consume it after time (bar closed – half an hour to drink up) when the staff would sit down after their shift to have a relaxing ‘lock-in’ drink together. This tradition has gone out of fashion a little with the current trend of forbidding consumption of alcohol when working. Staff will still ring in a drink at the till should you offer, but changing times means the etiquette has become a little hazy nowadays and some bar staff (many of whom are not UK born) may ring in drinks probably more expensive than you were intending to pay for.
Cash tips have traditionally been confined to restaurants (often as a mandatory service charge over which you are not expected to supplement), black cab drivers and women at the hairdresser’s. These days it’s fair to say that the best way to show appreciation for the service you are receiving in a pub is to offer a cash tip. Sometimes the staff will put these gratuities into a communal jar behind the bar and share the proceeds at the end of the night, especially if there are kitchen staff hidden from the customers. Almost everyone working behind a bar is earning minimum wage or a bit more, so your gesture will always be gratefully appreciated.
Rounds
There’s a very long-standing tradition in Britain of groups of friends buying ‘rounds’ of drinks for each other when they go to the pub, where they each take turns to buy drinks for all members of the group. This doesn’t mean that each round is identical in cost, as people change their drink choice over the course of the evening or skip a drink if the haven’t finished, or as people join and depart from the group. The attitude is “what goes around comes around” and that everything evens out over time. People who join in rounds and then regularly disappear off to the loo (restroom) when their turn arrives to pick up the tab are soon rumbled and will earn the scorn of their compatriots.
If you meet someone you’ve never met before in the pub and get chatting it will not be at all unusual if they offer to buy you and your partner a drink. While strictly speaking reciprocation is not a hard and fast rule, there’s an unspoken expectation that you will return the gesture when you are both ready to order again. Then you keep taking turns until the end of the evening or until one or both of you collapses.
Personal space
Talking to strangers is absolutely fine in British pubs, particularly if you’re standing or sitting at the bar. It’s one of the joys of our pub culture that the duke and the dustman (garbageman) can meet on absolute equal terms in the boozer and will often get along famously as the drinks flow. As a caveat, there’s an old maxim that you “Never discuss religion or politics in the pub” which is probably sage advice until you get to know your new mate (buddy) a little better and can judge where the land lies.
However, although you can chat freely to anyone at the bar – and can have discussions with people at nearby tables, don’t park yourself uninvited at someone else’s table, particularly if you are a guy and that someone is a woman on her own.
No offence meant
One rather peculiar aspect of the British character is the habit some of them have of sometimes saying seemingly insulting and derogatory things to their closest friends. This can take some outsiders by surprise but it should not. This is just a manifestation of the British sense of humour which veers towards the absurd and self-mocking. Just look at it this way – the more the British like you, the more likely they will be to take the mickey. Don’t take it personally if you are gently teased.
So, I hope you now feel comfortable to pop along to your nearest watering hole and enjoy a convivial time at one of the many great pubs in W2 and beyond. And please free feel to add your comments, advice or personal experiences below. Cheers!
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