I'm not really a bar kind of guy, but I did hang out at the Grad Club when I was at Western. It was more to socialize with classmates than anything (Friday tradition in the library school was to head for the bar after classes on Friday), though I did develop a taste for Seagram's vodka coolers . I didn't actually meet my wife there but we did go there together more than a few times in our heady, giddy first summer together, both as a couple and for school social events.

Mendalla

I USED to go to pubs in Scotland to meet friends or simply for a good ale and craic (banter) with strangers. A good pub had full-bodied ales, good, affordable meals (fish supper and steak pie were the staples) and a happy buzz. There was very little ego strutting (it attracted ridicule) and a lot of interesting conversation to be had... it was a good, relaxing place to do interviews (for a writer) and, although most bars were thick with tobacco smoke and the tables sticky with generations of spilt beer, they had their own kind of comfort and the social rules that prevailed outside were typically relaxed (except for the football club dominated pubs in Glasgow). I've enjoyed some wonderfully rich, interesting and enjoyable conversations over a few pints with complete strangers in low-mid range old pubs in Glasgow. 

Now, they've banished smokers, who interrupt things to go and stand in the rain outside to get their fixes; there's typically a wall of amplified noise ("music") and the menu has got expensive and pretentious though the food is still cooked by sweating deep-fry goons. The general geniality has been replaced by under-dressed girls and over-sexed guys  all performing like peacocks for each other and conversations have been reduced to monosyllabic shouts -- "fancy a shag, luv?"... "wha...? Uh can'nae hear ye!" --- deep, engaging stuff like that.. There's usually a television no-one can hear unless there's a "gem" (game) on... then things can get tense and bitter. And the beer is that mass-produced slop. A lot of Scots had turned to cider the last time I was there -- something that would have been unimaginable a few years back.

I've never found anything attractive in Canada when it comes to bars... and it's gone in Scotland. I prefer a barbecue with friends -- at home.

I find bars and pubs to be completely separate entities. I can't remember the last time I set foot in a bar, but I frequently go to pubs to socialize with friends. The pubs I go to generally have a good atmosphere - some even have live music. The food and drinks are good and the time spent with friends is excellent.

I hate bars now. They are pretty much as Mike describes. I might go to a sit down pub with a few friends for an hour or so,just because it's a convenient meeting place, but that is rare. I'd prefer to have people over for a few drinks, food and conversation...and I can pick the music. I'm not single, but I if I were, I would not meet someone at a bar. Perhaps through friends, through taking classes, maybe drop in sports or activity clubs,  at church if you're inclined to go...but not bars. They're depressing, and people are generally depressed, hiding their insecurities behind alcohol, the perception of material status, and shallow small talk. It's sad, I've been there. Never again.

I don't go to clubs very often anymore, the last time was for a stagette.  I feel like I've outgrown them.  I used to go to drink and dance, or sometimes just to dance.  I would enjoy it still if more people my age went and maybe if the music was just a little quieter.  I never enjoyed how loud the music was, your hearing would be affected that night and maybe the next day.

I agree with you on the pubs, I want to be able to talk to friends and the music is often too loud for that.  You can find decent ones though.  I go to eat, have a few drinks and have a good time with friends.  I also go to a dive bar, the type of place that are usually connected to a hotel and are all too often being closed.  I would not call it a pub or a club.  They have live music and no dress code.  I've never seen any food served.  All kinds are served there.  I go there for the music and to dance. 

I would never go to a bar to meet someone.  Usually, the type of guys who pick up girls at a bar are not the type of guys I would want to go out with.  It's better to meet someone through a friend, at an activity or something like that.  Online dating is better than a bar IMO.  If your friend happens to bring someone to the bar, that's a different story.

My favourite bar experience was a time when I was with my family visiting family in Britain.  One of my cousins decided to show me around the countryside which consisted of him driving on these narrow gravel roads through the these blasted heaths at night and then trying to scare me by turning off his headlights -- now THAT is dark (no wonder the Brits seem to have melancholy genetically ingrained).

In the middle of nowhere, no city lights around, there is this Pub.  Just like in the movies and role-playing sessions.  And just like in the movies when I go inside EVERYONE STOPS what they're doing.  After a few beats, they start again.

I half expected to see an old fortune teller or a wizard at a shadowy table.

The whole room was so dim that dim people from a dim convention would come to ask for advice.

I think that is where I first got to try Guinness.  I didn't finish my pint.  I ended up drinking rum & coke in a dainty wine glass.

My cousin drinks like a fish.  He's the kind of fellow that would be a good King's guard -- stocky and fearless.

So after that (we didn't stay for very many pints) we went into the city and he took me to at least one more.  This one he warned me aboot poofs and that it wasn't a real pub at all.  This one was lively & brightly lit.

My cousin would, every so often, go outside to relieve himself.

And I foolishly let him drive me home (I wasn't old enough yet to drive I don't think).

Alas, I didn't get to see stonehenge, even though my other cousin (who looked a lot like David Niven) offered and didn't follow through.

We did, however, get to see a live hedgehog :3  And my mother, ever since, has adored them.

My worst bar experience is when I went to one at Metrotown (or "Me Trot Own" as I like to say it).  I was hanging out with a Mexican friend of mine and he took me to a friend's place of his who were all very hospitable and friendly and some of us ended up at this bar.  It was the first bar experience I had had where there was no romance, I saw people as basically being miserable.  Though I did get a bit of a Spiritual connection with one fellow by listening to him talk aboot his life.  I ended up being the chaparone, because my friend got so drunk that being human was optional :3

I think bars are places to:

pick up people

people watch

share in community

drink rotting fluid in various flavours ;3

I would be inclined to agree with somegal about the distinction between a pub and a bar.  

I would generally not go to a bar to pick up women... however I might go to a bar WITH women.

I have had some very interesting conversations in bars, and I find that with a few drinks in them, most people turn into me: a man with no inhibitions when it comes to conversation.

It is a shame that you cannot smoke inside anymore, or that they don't have smoking rooms or even just a smoker's pub.  I'd love to be able to smoke my pipe inside.

I find that bars general have music that is too loud, people who are too abrasive, people who just want to get drunk and not talk, and lots of annoying people.

I have been to a pub before and it was quite the opposite, it was alive with the hum of conversation, perhaps with some background music, but nothing demanding attention, and certainly no one yelling.  The people were jovial, and people were there to enjoy their drinks and conversations, not to get drunk.

So in conclusion, why do I go to bars?  That's where the people are, water is free, and owning drunk people at pool is always fun.  If I can find a group of people to go 'pubbing' instead of 'clubbing' at University, I'll be most pleased (not that I dislike dancing in the least).

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

PIPE SMOKE!  *shudder*   It's a comforting childhood smell for me, like the smell of freshly baked bread.  I also really like and miss, for some reason, going into a greasy spoon and noticing the wallpaper is stained with nicotine and the air smells like a combination of stale cigarette smoke and coffee--ahh, memories :3  I'm so glad the Moral Police are trying to Make the World Safe.

My dad used to smoke a pipe. SOme of the blends smell nice, not like cigarettes.

I went to the most neato pub in England once, it was so old there wasn't a straight line in the place, and the seats were all warped and the tables were ancient and it was thick with cigarette smoke and booze fumes. It was like walking into the Prancing Pony.

Being a non drinker, I've only ever gone to pubs when someone else wanted to. I've never gone to bars. I never planned on picking up a mate in a nightclub either.

I really got into pub life when I went to work in England in my twenties.

The pubs I left behind in Oz  were "secret men's business" - where men went to get away from women, and women were pleased to see them take their excessive drinking elsewhere.

The pubs were large tiled monstrosities (so the walls could be hosed down)  and far from inviting.

By way of contrast, the English pubs were small, intimate - and a place for both good conversation during the week  - and jazz or folk music on week-ends.

I was always broke (and so were the men and women I hung around with then) so I was forced to be content with drinking lager and lime - a drink I can't say I enjoyed all that much.

Ah, but the conversations we had!

Pub life is more civilised here in Oz these days - but nothing equals the English pub scene of yesteryear in my mind.

Like Mike, I also enjoyed the rougher and tougher pubs of Glasgow. My Dad was Scottish - so it seemed like a homecoming to me. The manner of speech, and humour were familiar to me.

And, after a pint, I could talk with a passable Scottish accent. 

The things I really watch out for are bears in bars.  Because I wouldn't want to be near a bear in a bar with bitter bear beer face.  That's when I bring a bucket and bamboozle outta there.

When I was in Wales, I went to a few Pubs. Welsh beer and a ploughman's lunch kept calling to me. I had to answer the call.

Bars are not my scene. I find them too noisy, and too populated (and most often with semi- and totally-drunken people.) It's just not my thing. I'm an introvert and prefer quieter spaces.

Pilgrim reminded me of a pub hubby and I visited in Wales, we had a non alc drink, and listened to the live folk music. It was quite lively and old fashioned. Nice atmosphere.

A friend of ours is a traveller, someone who never seems to put down roots in any one place for long, but always seems to return. He's always telling us stories of his various experiences of settling into new towns.  The first thing he does is check out all the local  bars & pubs, and picks one as "his" new hang out.

He is a heavy drinker, so I guess that is the primary attraction, but he likes the atmosphere and lifestyle.  I got thinking one day, if I were to move to a new town, the last place I would go is the local bar, lol.  They just have no appeal to me at all.  

  I've just gotten so tired of all the people around here who seem to be interested exclusively in talking about the last time they got really drunk, and the stupid things they and/or their friends did, and how bad the hangover was, blah blah blah  Repeat endlessly.....  

I don't mind a few drinks, but my life doesn't revolve around it.  We do sometimes go to a little downtown pub, because they serve great chicken wings.  

oui,

I think that people would treat drinking much differently if they had to drink through their groins...though that would bring up new insults, actually :3