by Steven Doyle
This week we are looking for your very favorite pub. The pub doesn’t have to serve haute cuisine, it actually doesn’t require food served at all. But what we are looking for is your favorite place to grab a great beer, good people watching and generally a place to relax and wind down after a rough day of discussing food work.
So roll out your best and select the People’s Choice for Best Pub!
As always, the winner will receive a fine commemorative plaque and top honors of knowing the people have spoken. We will also select one lucky reader as prize winner of the week, sending them a gift certificate to a fine restaurant in the DFW area (so use your real email addresses).
Trinity Hall
Anvil Pub!
While there are many great pubs, my pick is the Old Monk. My reasons:
1. First and foremost, its just a short walk from my place. (IE, I have a location bias). Any place that allows me to avoid worrying about how I’ll easily, safely, and cheaply get home after a night out gets points from me.
2. I love their cheeseburgers, be it the classic Monk Burger, the Stilton, or the Bruder Basil. Good cheeses on a good burger is a good thing indeed.
3. Whomever picks the tunes has musical tastes that are nearly perfectly aligned with my own. I regularly hear pretty obscure tracks that I’ve never heard anywhere other than my own iPod, including songs by bands that I only knew because they played at the bar near an apartment I lived in 5 years ago in a city on the other side of the country. Its uncanny. I once got into a great conversation there with a random businessman visiting from Pittsburgh after bonding over our mutual awe at the fact that the bar was playing a late 70’s tune from an Australian band that probably never sold more than a few thousand albums (Crime and the City Solution…Who? Exactly.) [this is more true on the “quiet” nights than during the busier times.]
4. I like the variety of seating choices, from the inside options to the covered patio, to sitting outdoors right out front where you can watch all the people walking around on Henderson. Its good for big groups, small groups, or just a quick drink/meal all by your lonesome.
5. If you do get bored, there are many other good bars and restaurants that one can easily walk to. When you go there, you’re not “stuck” there. Whether you’re just starting your night there, ending there, or spending the whole evening there, its a great “home base” for a night out on Henderson.
6. Some of those waitresses are pretty darn cute.
7. Being new to the city, I find it one of the easier places in Dallas to strike up conversations with strangers. Its one of the few places where I’ve met people who became actual friends…not just strangers I only talk to for the night.
8. And finally, it has a pretty killer list of beers and whiskeys.
Holy Grail
Hands down the Old Monk. It’s the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon drinking beer and playing cribbage.
The Old Monk
Trinity Hall
Common Table!
Square Burger in McKinney
I vote for Anvil Pub.
The Common Table. Without a doubt!
I vote for the Common Table, the only establishment with enough balls to do a beer vs. wine dinner. I can’t wait for the rematch!
The Old Monk, for sure. Always comfortable. The bathrooms are appropriately disgusting.
vickery park. they take there beer serious, and they play killer music.
Gotta be The Common Table. Best craft beer list in Dallas and is always changing. Also one if the few places in uptown that has a late night menu
Old Monk
What an interesting question… and, from reading the responses, I can see the question isn’t specific enough to answer fully. Some folks are answering because (1) they work there, or (2) they are near the establishment, or (3) they have different tastes than I do…
The answer is way too subjective asked that way. So, I can give Old Monk cred for having a selection above 90+% of Dallas establishments, but they really dont venture into anything that I can’t find elsewhere. A solid choice based on atmosphere, age and location (but still owned by the same folks that brought us other *cough cough* dallas-deuche bars).
Victory Park – ok, can’t give you a nod here. Too yuppy, inconsistent and trendy to fit what I look for: a place that will stand the test of time with a solid selection.
Trinity Hall – that’s something I can get behind: they have a solid selection, the decor is awesome, they’ve been around long enough now to be “established” by Dallas standards, plus that’s where I first had a Maredsous. Too bad the food and service suck.
Holy Grail is a solid selection, and they are my current 3rd favorite place in DFW. Unfortunately, location kills them. Too far from major freeways/tollways to make them pertinent. Sorry Holy Grail, I love you, but Preston and 121 just makes you cool to a very niche geographic area. 🙁
Anvil – lol, that’s funny – they are cool, and Josh is awesome, but I assume you work there? They have been open less than a year, have an “ok” selection of beer and the food is just decent, so I’m guessing someone that works there or lives next door wrote that. The vibe is awesome there, the owner is pretty cool and it’s in Deep Ellum, so I love the place and want it to succeed, but come on guys, let’s be serious here.
The Common Table – that could be a winner, here – they have decent food, and the beer selection is outstanding. Service is definitely still lacking after a year, but the people there are fun to hang with. Not sure.
What about Meddlesome Moth? Where are they in this list? Or Libertine? Amsterdam or Meridian? How about Flying Saucer – a solid choice, and a DFW original? There’s more to discuss…. I could make a case for several of these….
Ultimately, it depends on what you like. If you think Stella is a good beer, then any of these could be your first choice depending on your location or mood. If only a rare ale cask beer will do, then The Common Table or Meddlesome has to be number 1. If it’s atmosphere, then maybe Idle Rich if you’re a $30,000 millionnaire or Old Monk if you’re on the fence. If you’re looking for a 20 year old waitress, then Flying Saucer.
It’s all about the qualifications or variables, which the question left open-ended for us.
Tait
ANVIL!
The Common Table. And, yes I work there. But, it IS my favorite pub.
Common table. beer and grilled cheese!
Common Table…..food’s good too!
The Common Table! GREAT food!
TCT. Beer, music & patio are all some of the best in DFW.
Idle Rich: great grub, great folks, fabulous staff, amazing selection
I would like to vote for The Common Table.
Thank you.
ps Tait, why you gotta be hating on Vickery?
Votes are counted, except for Tait’s who voted for everyone but left us confused what his favorite was. Gotta love the Tait. Will post winning pub and winner of the reader weekly prize shortly.
Lol – The Common Table is my favorite, Steve. Easily. I’d be mayor if not for Ollie
Common Table!
Common Table for sure!
Common Table!
libertine. by far.
Common Table. They had me at the Turkey Meatloaf and amazing beer menu.