Five Things a Dubliner Looks for in a Good Pub

And now for something completely different.

In some ways, this business of doing pub reviews is a sort of racket.  A native born Dubliner has imprinted upon his DNA a Platonic Ideal of the perfect pub and they can tell how close any pub is to the Ideal just by looking at a matchbook cover with the its name on it.  Pub reviews are for tourists; especially American tourists.

But how are tourists to know what the real Dubliner’s criteria are for the perfect pub?  For Americans, the answer would seem deceptively simple since most pubs in Ireland are now modeled after Irish pubs in America.  And just as the Dubliners were able to imitate perfectly the British “Bar” down to the large potted plants, the red flocked wallpaper, and the two waiters ignoring you while they chat in the back, all Dublin pubs seem authentic to Americans right down to the old farm tools, the Guinness signs nailed to the wall, and the festive paper shamrocks hanging off the light fixtures.  But there are significant if subtle differences between a good pub and a bad pub if we look at them as a Dubliner would.  Although I am not a native born Dubliner, after several years of personal research I have been able to discover the five crucial things a Dubliner looks for in a good pub.  

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