A pub is a location where people gather to drink and socialize with friends. It is often a place for entertainment, such as live music or sports events, and may serve food such as burgers, pizza, and barbequed meat. A pub may also be a bowling alley or host special events such as poker nights. Many have outdoor seating and/or smoking areas. Pubs that are chain locations typically share similar design and layout, promotional strategies, and range of alcoholic beverages. Some have themes and some emphasize a particular type of alcoholic beverage. Some are run by breweries and others are managed by PubCos. Pubs with a brewery connection are known as tied pubs, and the landlord has a legal obligation to only purchase beer from that specific brewery.
Many pubs have entertaining names that are intended to make them memorable, thereby encouraging patrons to return. This strategy is a key element of marketing. The Mass-Observer newspaper, writing at a time when a pint of mild was fivepence, commented that it was typical for pub-goers to consume fifteen to twenty pints per week.
Pubs are a common setting for fiction, including novels, stories, television shows, and video games. Notable fictional pubs include The Admiral Benbow Inn in the pirate story Treasure Island, The Garrison in the 1920s crime TV series Peaky Blinders, The Leaky Cauldron and The Hog’s Head in the high fantasy books The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Moe’s Tavern in the animated television show The Simpsons, and The Oak and Crosier in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion video game.
