For the first time in months, I went to a bar on Friday night. As I have written before, I have more or less stopped drinking as I could not stand the hangovers any longer. But I was curious to try the new Guinness 0.0 so off we went to the Errigle on the Ormeau Road. As I was going to try the non-alcoholic beer I was able to drive. As we have discussed, getting a taxi these days is …
As our bars, restaurants and hotels start to come out of cold storage they have a whole new set of challenges. The main one is a massive shortage of staff at all levels. There has always been a shortage of chefs but this has now expanded to most roles, especially at the lower end. Talking to people in the industry there seems to be a few things going on. We used a lot of immigrant labour to plug the gaps, …
Covid-19 has severally affected the hospitality industry with most bars and restaurants now closed. At some stage, we need to work out how we can let these businesses safely reopen. I came across a video that proposes a solution – open streets. In simple terms, it means having more outdoors areas for restaurants and bars. Customers will be uncomfortable sitting inside; they will be more relaxed sitting outside in the fresh air. The chances of catching the virus outside are …
I had a good Saturday night out the other week. A few games of pool, then into another bar where I got chatting with some Hispanic tourists from LA about the nature of second-generation immigrant identity. A good time was had by all and I Glided home to my bed. The problem came six hours later when I was awakened by my son at 6am. Since becoming a dad I have found hangovers and kids don’t mix – I no …
It’s odd to think that teetotallers and pub crawlers could have similar objectives but I wish to illustrate that they have similar goals if we consider the drinks trade more holistically rather than narrowly. First of all allow me to say that I understand fine and well the various reasons for being teetotal and I’d even say they are correct, many of us would be better off financially and physically if we abstained from the Devil’s buttermilk. However, reality must …
Recently I stumbled across a liquor license for sale in the Coleraine area. It costs £80 000. Yes. £80 000. Good for the person selling it but what is the bigger picture and how does this affect our pub tradition? First of all, what size of premises would be required to have the turnover to pay off the £80k loan for such a licence? I’m sure many of us have entertained the notion of semi-retiring to a country pub someday …
