Pub entertainment in USA
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74th Street Ale House
A sibling to the Hilltop Ale House in Queen Anne, this is the kind of place that, if you lived nearby, you’d find yourself in several times a week. It’s immediately comfortable, to the point that you feel like an instant regular – plus there are dozens of outstanding beers on tap, and the food is miles above usual pub standards. The goat cheese salad ($9) is rightly famous.
reviewed
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Albatross
A block north of University Ave, Albatross is one of the most inviting and friendly pubs in the entire Bay Area. Some serious darts are played here, and poker games and Trivial Pursuit will be going on around many of the worn out tables.
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Liars' Bench
Placerville's bars are akin to the neighborhood watering holes in the Midwest: they open at 06:00, get an annual cleaning at Christmas and are great for people who want to soak up local color. The Liars' Bench has a classic old martini sign beckoning like a neon siren.
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Dargan's
Settle in for the craic at welcoming Dargan's Irish pub, where appreciative crowds listen to lively Irish bands in the back room on Thursday nights. Up front, shoot pool and sip Guinness just past the big green leprechaun waiting by the door.
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Heinhold's First & Last Chance Saloon
Heinhold's First & Last Chance Saloon, in Jack London Sq, is a lopsided quake survivor and National Literary Landmark; open daily for inspirational drinking. Yes, your beer is sliding off the counter.
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Abita Brew Pub
Abita Brew Pub is where you can choose from nine Abita beers on tap that are made a mile west of town at Abita Brewery.
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Starry Plough
This comfy Irish pub is more of a neighborhood dive (no fake decor) with a varied lineup of local and touring rock, jazz, country and blues bands.
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Pacific Coast Brewing Company
Right in the heart of Old Oakland, this place serves full meals alongside its own tasty brews (try the Gray Whale Ale).
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Cato's Alehouse
For beer fans, Cato's Alehouse, off Broadway, has a large selection of microbrews, plus pub food.
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Ben & Nick's
For beer fans, Ben & Nick's in Rockridge has a large selection of microbrews, plus pub food.
reviewed
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Motherloaded Tavern
The choice dive in Breckenridge isn't all that divey. Sure it's a bare bones tavern, but it also attracts the local hipsters and anyone else who dreams of a tastier, well-crafted brand of comfort food best paired with something buzz-inducing: black bean burgers, grilled PB&Js, homemade mac-and-cheese, meatloaf paninis and a menu of martinis, shooters and hot, steaming boozey sips.
Surprisingly, there are no microbrews on tap so it'll have to be a Pabst, Hank. There's live music every Friday and Saturday night, and Trivia Night draws draws a crowd on Tuesday.
reviewed
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Woody Creek Tavern
- Aspen, USA
- Entertainment › Pub
Enjoying a 100% agave tequila and fresh-lime margarita at the late, great gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson's favorite watering hole is well worth the 8-mile trek from Aspen. Here since 1980, the walls at this rustic funky tavern, a local haunt for decades now, are plastered with newspaper clippings and paraphernalia (mostly dedicated to Thompson).
The menu features organic salads, low-fat but still juicy burgers, popular Mexican food including some quality guacamole, and plenty of alcohol. Eleven gallons of margaritas a day can't be wrong.
reviewed
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Blue Moon Tavern
This legendary home of literary drunks, both famous and infamous, is almost exactly a mile from campus, thanks to an early zoning law. Going in sober can be a harsh awakening. Everyone in the place has a limp and an unlikely story to tell. Hang onto your beer with both hands and be prepared for impromptu recitations of poetry, jaw-harp performances, formless rants and/or halfhearted groping – relax, you’ll have made new friends by night’s end. If things get too weird, try hiding behind one of the books that line the worn-in wooden booths.
reviewed
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Brouwer’s
Shaped like a giant industrial oubliette, this dark cathedral of beer has rough-hewn rock walls and a black metal grate on the ceiling, plus two curved metal balconies, a bunch of cozy, black-leather couches, snug booths and an epic bar behind which are tantalizing glimpses into a massive, expertly stocked beer fridge. A replica Mannequin Pis statue at the door and the Belgian crest everywhere clue you in to the place’s specialty: yes, you can have framboise. With 47 beers on tap, you can probably have anything you want.
reviewed
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Smugglers Brewpub & Grille
Beer-lovers will feel right at home at casual Smugglers, a great place to hang out, sample local brew and eat fried stuff. With at least seven beers on tap, it's a smorgasbord, but go for the chocolatey Two Plank Porter or the Smugglers' Scottish Strong Ale.
The American pub fare (mains $7 to $12) features burgers, fries, salads and sandwiches and snacks. The Smuggler's Nuggets – a mass of fried, sweet dough – will do no wonders for your waistline, but they are a gooey ending.
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Central Saloon
It may be two years younger than the official Oldest Bar in Seattle, the nearby Merchant, but the Central isn’t exactly new and shiny. More of a locals’ hangout than an object of historical interest, this long, narrow joint makes grody bathrooms and blah food seem charming, by virtue of cheap suds, friendly barkeeps and a comfortable, unfussy vibe. Live music most nights means that anyone who disapproves of metal should get in and out fairly early.
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Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant
This place sticks out in Chinatown like James Joyce in Shanghai. Somehow the Chinese restaurants are not so conducive to drinking, so Fadó packs in the thirsty, especially after games at the nearby MCI Center. Every room in this Disney-esque pub is decked out in its own unique Celtic style - country library, medieval castle etc. The place is old-school; its clientele remember when this was still considered in the 'hood.
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Two Bells Tavern
Flee the white belt/skinny jeans crowd and seek refuge in the Two Bells, a neighborhood pub with the friendliest barkeeps in town and a familiar crew of regulars whose intense discussions of the previous night’s adventures are portable enough to be taken out back to the patio for a smoke. The house special is a meaty burger stacked thigh-high ($9). Show up Sundays at 1pm for help with the Times crossword.
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Alice Cooper’stown
Yes, this ‘jock-and-rock’-themed beer hall really is the original shock rocker’s (and Phoenix resident’s) baby. On game days, it floods with giddy fans toasting their teams playing at the nearby US Airways Center and Chase Field. Come anytime for drinks specials and to tackle the ‘Big Unit’ (a 2ft hot dog), one of the most popular items on the tongue-in-cheek menu.
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Crown & Anchor
Homesick expats, university students and staff, soccer (oops, we mean football) fans from around the world and British beer lovers gather at this unpretentious pub. The list of draft beers seems endless, with Bass, Harp, Guinness, Hooegarden and even a handful of fruit ciders. Starving? Let ’em dish you up a Cornish pasty, plate of bangers and mash or basket full of fried Icelandic cod and chips.
reviewed
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Half King
A unique marriage of cozy pub and sophisticated writers' lair, you'll often experience top-notch literary readings in this wood-accented, candlelit watering hole. Its myriad seating-area options are bound to provide one that will seduce you – particularly during warm weather, when a front sidewalk cafe, main indoor room, cozy back section and mellow backyard patio are all open for business.
reviewed
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McMullan’s Irish Pub
McMullan’s Irish Pub ‘Purveyors of the perfect pint, ’ McMullan’s may be the friendliest Irish pub in Vegas. Stop by on Thursday night for all-you-can-eat fish and chips. Tuesday is quiz night (from 8pm), while Irish musicians perform on Wednesday (from 10pm) and most weekends after 9pm. Ask about video-poker happy hour promotions. Free wi-fi.
reviewed
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Grendel’s Den
Though a sign out front falsely claims that this subterranean tavern was established in 1271, Grendel’s Den has only been a Harvard mainstay since the ’70s. A big draw is the bargain pub food (beef stroganoff, burgers, token vegetarian stuff). When you buy a drink from 5pm to 7:30pm every evening (and from 9:30pm to 11pm Sunday to Thursday), all menu items are half price.
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Nine Fine Irishmen
Built in Ireland and shipped over piece by piece to America, this pubby establishment has cavernous interior booths and outdoor patio tables beside NYNY’s mini Brooklyn Bridge. Genuine stouts, ales, ciders and Irish whiskeys are always stocked at the bar, while live entertainment is a mix of Celtic rock and traditional Irish country tunes, sing-alongs and occasionally dancing.
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Longman & Eagle
It’s easy to walk right by this shabby-chic tavern, as the sign in the window is so subtle it’s almost invisible. Inside, 52 bourbons and 26 whiskeys prop up the bar, along with several craft beers and fancy comfort food like wild-boar sloppy joes and Kobe beef meatballs. At the time of research, the owners were planning to open a six-room inn on the upper floor.
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