British Pubs

British people love going to the pub, where they meet friends, have a drink and play darts. Pubs open at about 9 o’clock in the morning and they usually close at eleven o’clock at night. You can order [1] drinks until a quarter to eleven. Then the landlord has to tell everyone that it is closing time [2]. He rings a bell [3] and shouts: “Last orders!”. When everyone hears this, they know that the pub is going to close and so they go to the bar to buy a last round of drinks.

You have to remember two very important things about pubs in Britain: you have to order your drinks at the bar because there is no table service and you have to pay for your drinks when you order them! If you go with friends, everyone usually buys a round [4] of drinks.

There are lots of different kinds of beer; such as lager, bitter or stout for example. Lager is light in colour and body, bitter beer has a strong flavour of hops [5] and is obviously bitter [6], and stout is strong and dark, made with roasted malt or barley [7]. When you want a glass of beer, you can order a pint or half a pint.

In British pubs, when you buy spirits [8] the barman gives you a very small amount [9] of alcohol. He measures the amount of alcohol (0.0284 litres) that he puts in each glass. In Britain, the law says that pubs have to do this. If you want a bigger drink, ask for a double – but remember you have to pay double as well. If you want, for example,  with ice, you can ask for it “with ice” or “on the rocks”.

Did you know that you can also eat there? In fact, some pubs serve very good meals and lots of people go there to eat. This is affectionately called “pub grub”, and you can bet you will get your fill of meat and potatoes.

You are now ready to survive in a British pub!

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[1] pedir, [2] la hora de cerrar, [3] tocar la campana, [4] ronda, [5] lúpulo, [6] amargo, [7] cebada, [8] bebidas alcohólicas, [9] cantidad