- Do you tip the bartender?
How do you order a drink?
I'm gonna tell you some of the important things to know
before you visit a pub in London.
By the way, I'm Jess and I've lived in London
for over five years and I've make videos for people
who are coming to visit London.
If you've never been before, I have a special freebie
for you, so make sure you watch the end of the video
to find out how to get it.
Order at the bar.
At most pubs, you'll go up to the bartender, order a drink,
pay for it there, and then take it
to wherever you are sitting.
The same goes for if you're also going to be having food.
You just got the bar, tell the bartender what you want.
They put the order in and you pay the bartender there.
The only difference is if the pub has a special restaurant
section, then you'll have regular table service
like you would at a typical restaurant.
When in doubt, if you're not sure how the pub works,
just find a staff member and ask what the deal is.
Order beer and cider by the pint.
So, it's customary to go up to the bartender and say,
I'd like a pint of whatever drink is on tap that you want.
You can also ask for a half pint if you don't want
a big drink and you just want a little bit.
Most bars will also have bottled beer
in fridges behind the bar.
So, you can kinda have a look at what they have
or ask the bartender and order yourself a bottled beer
or cider as well.
You can stand outside with your drink.
When a pub starts to get crowded
and all the seats are taken up
people start to just stand around in circles
with their drinks or, if it's a some-what decent day,
they'll go outside and spill out onto the streets
and the pavement outside of the pub.
In fact, you know when it's quitting time
because you'll see all the pubs around London have people
spilling out of them or crammed inside
if it's too cold to be outside.
Pubs are family affairs.
Almost all bobs around London are family affairs
during the day, especially on the weekend.
In fact, it's really common for families to bring their
kids and their dogs to the pub on a Sunday and have,
or a Saturday, and have a really nice Saturday or Sunday
pub lunch or even dinner.
It feels more like a casual restaurant rather
than like a bar.
So if you really want to feel like a local,
take the whole family to a pub and act like you're British.
You order by rounds.
Typically, when Londoners go to a pub together,
what they do is they all order rounds, so that people don't
have to each go up individually to get their own drinks.
You can kinda tell, if you're in a big group,
that would be pretty easy for you to get drunk fairly
quickly with this method.
And you don't have to go by this method if it's just you
and your travel buddy, but it does
make things a lot easier.
So, everyone doesn't have to go wait up at the bar
for like 15 minutes for their drink.
It's casual dress.
Most pubs during the day are super casual
in terms of what you wear.
The only exception is later in the evening
where you might start to see people
who are more dressed up because they are either
going for a nicer dinner afterwards
or they plan to go to the club after they're at the pub.
So, in the evening you can do either or.
You can be a little more casual
or it's totally fine to be dressed up too.
Seat yourself.
Generally speaking, at pubs,
it's a seat yourself kind of affair.
You might see those little reserved signs on some
of the tables, as a lot of pubs do take reservations.
So if you can think that far ahead, it would be good
to make a reservation if you have a little bit
of a larger group and especially if you want to eat
on a weekend or later in the evening.
Otherwise, it's every person for themselves
when it comes to seating.
Not all pubs are equal.
There is a huge range of pubs in London all the way
from really fancy nice Gastropubs with like really beautiful
high-end food and that are more expensive
down to chains like Wetherspoons which are known
for doing really cheap food and also cheap alcohol.
Of course the food quality is going to vary greatly
across all different types of pubs
but if you're just going for a drink, don't stress too much
about finding the perfect pub.
You can't really go wrong if you're just ordering pints
from somebody at a bar.
And if you get a drink and you're not keen
on the atmosphere just finish the drink
and move onto the next one.
You don't tip the bartenders.
Americans, I think, they'll love this.
You do not need to tip bartenders when you are here
in London or even in the UK.
Do you plan on visiting a pub when you're here in London?
Let me know down in the comments
and if it's your first time visiting London,
grab my free London 101 Guide.
It tells you everything you need to know before you touch
down here in London town.
You can get that here by clicking the card, popping up there
or the link that's down there in the description
and it's fo' free.
I have lots and lots of videos for people
who are coming to visit London.
You can watch a couple of my really good ones
by clicking over here and I'll see you in the next video.