A primer on British pubs

British pubs are an entity all their own -- a type of venue that I have never encountered in the U.S.

Not exactly anyway.

Respite and refreshment
During my trip to London this past March for graduation, I enjoyed meals in five pubs and ducked into another couple for respite and refreshment -- so I'm fairly convinced that the commonalities I observed probably apply to London pubs in general.

First off, there's no crowd sitting on stools around the bar. At most, you may find three or four stools. But if they are occupied at all, its most likely by patrons who will head off to a nearby high-top table as soon as they give their food and beverage order to the bar staff and pay for it.

That's how it works...

The bar staff at a pub called "The Globe" on Marylebone Road

No tipping in the bar area
If you don't see anything to your liking on the handwritten menu posted behind the bar, the staff will give you a menu and you can have a seat, in which case you order at your table. Still, no tipping is generally the custom in the bar area.

Most of the pubs do have a separate restaurant area, where the service is more like what we are accustomed to in a U.S. pub-type establishment. There, tipping is part of  the service, and according to the guidebooks I read, 10 percent is fairly standard for sit-down service.

Because London is a city -- with space at a premium -- the various rooms within a pub are often on different floors out of necessary. If the establishment has a traditional dining area, don't be surprised if it's up a flight of narrow stairs. If you need to use the loo/water closet, it's almost always upstairs or downstairs, which is not great news if your feet and knees are aching from walking or if you have some other mobility issue. If you call it a "rest room," the British will know what you mean, but they don't generally use the term.

Next post: Pub fare and pricing

More photos from The Globe:

The bar area "The Globe" looking out onto Marylebone Road

Delicious open-faced seafood sandwich with chips. Notice that the chips are wide,

 similar to what we know in the U.S. as "steak fries." The seafood medley included

baked salmon, cod and tuna salad. Nothing wrong with the tomatoes. I just don't like tomatoes.