# Names for American Pubs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 17, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444 "2007-05-17T13:53:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/1 "2007-05-17T13:53:33Z")
Reading this thread ( [U.K. and Irish Dopers, What's Your Local? - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=421054) ) and recalling the names of the pubs I’ve seen on my trips to the UK and Irelans, I feel sorry that we don’t have such things in the US, especially with those evocative names.
1.) Are there any US pubs with such names? (There are two faux-Irish pubs in Salem, MA near me, but the names are just something like “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_'s Pub”)
2.) Anyone got any ideas for clever US pub names? Like “The Wrestler’s Arms” or “The Myopic Optometrist” or something.
We need more individuality, and fewer Starbucks and McDonalds.
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/2 "2007-05-17T14:02:23Z")
well CBGB’s was pretty distinct, in an American sort of way.
As was Save the Robots.
Just what I could think of off of the top of my head.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/3 "2007-05-17T14:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
1.) Are there any US pubs with such names? (There are two faux-Irish pubs in Salem, MA near me, but the names are just something like “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_'s Pub”)
[/QUOTE]
Not in the US, but is Canada close enough to count? If so, then I’ll offer “The Flying Scot” and “The Earl of Whitchurch,” both of which I used to drink at. Sadly, each has closed down now, but they were nice little independent places with their own character.
Now if I want a beer in Calgary, I usually head for BP’s. In Edmonton, I’ll head for Hudson’s. Nice places, even if BP’s is kind of a cookie-cutter North American sports bar. But the names and the character just can’t compare to my old watering holes, the Scot and the Earl.
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### Author:  [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/4 "2007-05-17T14:44:25Z")
Here in my neighborhood, we have The Brick Store, The Angel, and The Universal Joint. The Angel was designed to be a faux-English pub, but the Brick Store and the Universal Joint are the real deal. The U-Joint’s name is particularly clever because it’s in a converted gas station. In another part of town they’ve opened up a sister pub, also in an old gas station, called The Brake Pad!
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/5 "2007-05-17T14:53:58Z")
The closest two to me are -
The South Park Saloon (yep, that South Park, the bar was there way, way before the cartoon)
Almas Only Bar. Also know as the AOB. It also has a couple of rooms for rent.
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/6 "2007-05-17T15:03:33Z")
Well, thinking about Portland, the ones in my neck of the woods were, in no particular order, The Barley-Mill Pub, the Lucky Labrador, The Horsebrass Pub, The Space Room, The Laurelthirst (pun on Laurelhurst neighborhood), Dots (does that date me?), Pub at the End of the Universe, Belmont’s, and a place with a neon sign that said “Tavern” but the T and A were always burned out so it was called Vern’s but I don’t know if that was the real name.
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### Author:  [@exastris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exastris)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/7 "2007-05-17T15:07:14Z")
In Tucson there’s The Surly Wench Pub. Not at all authentic, but a fun name nonetheless!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/8 "2007-05-17T15:10:24Z")
There’s a bar in Cleveland called The Office, so that its patrons can - truthfully! - call home to say they’re “still at the office.” There’s an Irish-themed pub in Cleveland Heights named after the Irish republican hero Charles Stewart Parnell.
A lot of British pubs have names with some historic significance or evocative quality. Why not pubs named after American statemen (“The George Washington”), sports stars (“The Jackie Robinson”) or fictional heroes (“The Sam Spade”)?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/9 "2007-05-17T15:25:42Z")
Well, I used to stop in a bar named “The Black Rooster” near my old office. There were two others nearby called “The Mad Hatter” and “Sign of the Whale”. There’s also one with the name “The Big Hunt”, which has made people look at me funny when I was telling them about it.
This is all in Washington, DC, btw.
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### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/10 "2007-05-17T15:54:59Z")
The Irish/English pubs around here, off the top of my head:
The Little Shamrock
The Pig & Whistle
The Dog’s Bollix
Durty Nelly’s
Abbey Tavern
Blackthorn Tavern
The Blarney Stone
Edinburgh Castle
The Philosopher’s Club
Shannon Arms
Costello’s Four Deuces
The Dubliner
Genuine brogues can be found in all but two of these places.
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### Author:  [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/11 "2007-05-17T16:04:45Z")
The pubs/bars near me are:
The Argonaut,
Rock N’ Roll Hotel,
Showbar presents the Palace of Wonders,
The Pug, and
The Red & the Black
There are some other places nearby but they aren’t really pub like in the sense that these places are.
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/12 "2007-05-17T16:47:17Z")
How about
Jacko’s Rocketship
The One Eye Jack
My Sin &
The Lucky Star
AT THE HI-D-HI
& THE HULA GAL
BEE-HIVE BAR AND
THE ZIRCON LOUNGE
G.G.‘S COZY CORNER &
THE GIFT OF LOVE
STOP N’ DRINK, SIT N’ SIP, REST N’ PIECES
DEXTER’S NEW APPROACH
& THE GET DOWN LOUNGE
THE AORTA BAR, DETROIT’S MAIN VEIN
Thank youExene and John
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### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/13 "2007-05-17T16:56:01Z")
My local bar is called 3rd Base. Their slogan is “Your last stop before home.” Kinda clever. But the other two local bars, Spectator’s and The Dugout, also have the same baseball theme.
We also have a bar called “The Bar”. So, if you say you’re going to “The Bar”, it’s assumed you’re going to “The Bar” and not just the bar - so you have to specify. Jerks.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/14 "2007-05-17T17:14:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> We also have a bar called “The Bar”. So, if you say you’re going to “The Bar”, it’s assumed you’re going to “The Bar” and not just the bar - so you have to specify. Jerks.
Sounds like the place no. 6 would drop a few credits.
I forgot – in the Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall region in Boston they’ve got
\*\*Roison Dubh (The Black Rose)
The Purple Shamrock\*\*
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/15 "2007-05-17T17:18:19Z")
Betenoir, how does it feel to have your own bottle of booze behind the bar? How does it feel?
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/16 "2007-05-17T17:21:27Z")
McSorely’s in MYC. Awful name, great place.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/17 "2007-05-17T17:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
There are two faux-Irish pubs in Salem, MA near me, but the names are just something like "\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_'s Pub
[/QUOTE]
Ireland does have a significant number of pubs names in similar ways rather than the more English tradition of pub names.
**Elendil’s Heir** makes a good suggestion. There’s no need to have centuries of history to come up with a decent name: a housing estate built on a former RAF airfield near here has a pub named after Douglas Bader, the WW2 pilot who was briefly stationed there.
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### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/18 "2007-05-17T18:33:00Z")
Oh, well, if we’re talking _bars_ and not just _pubs_, my [list is here](http://troymccluresf.livejournal.com/275948.html). 😃
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### Author:  [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/19 "2007-05-17T18:49:00Z")
I occasionally go to the Pickwick.
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### Author:  [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-american-pubs/404444/20 "2007-05-17T18:58:01Z")
Well, I can add to the few North Bay/Santa Rosa places Troy McClure has listed in his link.
[Sweet Spot Pub](http://www.sweetspotpub.com/) (Lagunitas)
[Ace in the Hole Cider Pub](http://www.acecider.com/pub.html)
And not so much pubs but decent places:
[Upper Fourth](http://www.upperfourth.com/)
[Last Day Saloon](http://www.lastdaysaloon.com/)
[Red’s Recovery Room](http://www.redsrecoveryroom.com/)
in SF:
[The Chieftan](http://www.thechieftain.com/pub.html)
and in very exciting news:
[Stout Brothers Pub](http://www.stoutbrospub.com/) - Opening this summer.
I think a couple more true Irish/English pubs are expected to open in the next year or two as well.
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