Photos and First Impressions
 |
| Streetside |
 |
| View from across Sandland Street |
 |
| The Bar |
 |
| Seats on the Side |
 |
| Everybody's Working through the Weekend |
Chronicling from the
Barstool
I’m beginning to sense a
theme with my pub visits: Lawyers and judges are drunks. That’s the logical conclusion,
anyway, as the Old Nick is yet another watering hole frequented by legal
professionals. That said, this one has a fun back story.
When it was originally
established in 1776, it was called the Three Cups—a proper, English pub name.
As the legend goes, a local barrister (presumably named Nicholas) used the pub
as his chambers. As such, he drummed up quite a lot of business for the owners,
who renamed the pub in his honor. That’s one hell of a customer loyalty
program! Contrary to popular opinion in Bloomington, Nick’s English Hut is not
named after me—not yet, anyway.
Oddly enough, elements of
that judge’s chambers lineage still subsist. The most obvious is a series
of…cubicles, I guess? Basically, it’s four barstools in front of separated
desks, complete with reading lamps and power outlets. It seems they encourage a
work hard while playing hard mentality, which I can certainly
appreciate.
The space itself is
pretty nice as well. There large, L-shaped bar accommodates a crowd, and
there’s plenty of space both inside and out. There are several small tables
scattered about the main room, along with some hefty barrels that double as
tables for standing guests. Outside is standing room only, but they’ve carved
out a healthy patio, and it gets pretty lively in the early evening.
I happened upon this one
largely by accident, just looking for an afterwork drink nearby my London
office, such that it is. Given my namesake, this one was hard to turn down, and
once I got there, how could I say now to the mustachioed devil on the sign
grinning down at me? I mean, much of their clientele are lawyers, and being a
PR guy myself, I goota give ‘em credit for the market research.
Also in the pub’s
founding year of 1776…
- George III rules Britain.
- Edward Gibbon publishes first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
- Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations.
- First U.S. fraternity is founded at William & Mary College: Phi Beta Kappa.
- U.S. Declaration of Independence signed: “America! Fuck yeah!”
On Draught
Badger
4.7% ABV
Not a huge fan of this
one. It’s a smooth, easy drinker, but on the whole a bit bland in terms of
flavor.
No comments:
Post a Comment