What was the dodgiest pub you have been to?

MonstaMash

ablelocks wrote: »

just out of college, so went to wild east germany in the early 90's. One of many dodgy pubs in chemnitz. so I worked in the new irish bar* and after we shut for the night, we sometimes went to one of the local bars. or at least we did for the first week or 2 after opening, but one night we got attacked by neo-nazis - who targeted some of our british and irish customers**, but didn't touch the staff for some reason. myself, my now wife and a few of the lads scarpered to a nearby flat. I had to talk big phil down from going back with samuri swords. 3 brought to hospital. one of ours, 2 of theirs.

Turns out the nazis were hired by the local mafia dudes to give us a warning because the owner of the irish bar wouldn't pay protection money. So he put out a rumour that the IRA was protecting us. this was pre-ceasefire and may have been true. I don't know how that worked out because...

we were home 3 weeks later after somehow getting unknowingly mixed up in a dodgy building development project - the regulars thought we were spies for a building contractor and that we were going to hire labour directly in ireland and under-cut their rates. We got a not so subtle word from the pub owner that we were possibly persona's non-gratas in Chemnitz - "better clear off, I'd hate to have to clean up your blood off my lovely new bar"

*new irish bar was well dodgy too...

**among the regulars, there were exiles from the loyalist and republican sides, ex-irish and british army, ex-foreign legion, ex-clonmel and one fella with a big scar across his face who apparently was wanted by the RUC for murder.

It wasn't Rico Schramm's place on Enzmannstraße 17 per chance...Larry's Irish bar?

Henry Ford III

Nuxer Ryan's on the Dock Road in Limerick would be a bit basic.

CarrickMcJoe

The Parliament Inn, Dublin 1981.

Had to get the key for the jax off the barman. It was like jail key and was attached to a huge block of wood.

Santa Cruz

Davy Byrnes. They used to have a 50 p nailed to the floor of the gents

stoneill

Finches - Neilstown

Reg'stoy

The Swallows in Clondalkin, had occasion to be there of a thursday morning. Bloke from our shift mentioned the pub as he had lived near by, so after a week of nights we said we'd give it a try.

Even at eleven in the morning there was some gentlemen and a lady who displayed all the signs of a rumbustious upbringing, missing teeth and some rather nasty shaving nicks.

Windows or rather apertures to let in the minimum of natural light were covered in bars and the floor had that shoe adherence properties and staining characteristic of recent bodily fluids. My how that morning verily flew by, remember how Sally might look at you; well we had *insert name* and add o to the end of it, and how he just stared at us.

I gave it an four out of five circles on tripadvisor.

Auldloon

The schooner in Aberdeen docks. Early house that used have decks on a sat morning, opened at 7am. The pill heads mixing with the toothless regulars. 'Twas quiet a place...last time I was in there I got knocked unconscious, blindsided by some twat who then ran out the door. Mistaken identity apparently. Not long after a girl got raped in the toilets (so I heard) and the place lost its licence.
Cops used regularly walk through and lift one or 2.
Funnily there was a bar up the road that was worse but I gave that one a miss!

qapmoc

Stopped in a pub in Bundoran once, many years ago. An English friend was with me and we planned on travelling further the next day. My friend stupidly asked one of the locals there how far was it to LondonDerry...a group of locals came over and told us in a very ugly voice we were in unoccupied Ireland now, not occupied Ireland, and we had two minutes to finish our drinks and get out.

Reindeer

stoneill wrote: »

Finches - Neilstown

No windows.

I don't need to say more, but I will. I was stood there on the path near the alleyway after having grabbed a sandwich from the deli next to it, deciding whether to chance the alley for a coke from stupid valu, when a young woman burst through the doors of Finches, hobbled towards the street like a zombie on meth, relieved herself of her stomach contents, wiped her face with her sleeve, and then re-entered. It wasn't quite noon yet. I had just arrived from the US for my first extended stay in Ireland a week before. Three months later, I grew tired of Clondalkin and decided to give Tallaght a try...

Billy86

Forgot this gem - http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2535/4236338977_1326edc251_z.jpg

frag420

qapmoc wrote: »

Stopped in a pub in Bundoran once, many years ago. An English friend was with me and we planned on travelling further the next day. My friend stupidly asked one of the locals there how far was it to LondonDerry...a group of locals came over and told us in a very ugly voice we were in unoccupied Ireland now, not occupied Ireland, and we had two minutes to finish our drinks and get out.

That could be any bar in Bundoran!!

bockeys jollocks

Reg'stoy wrote: »

The Swallows in Clondalkin, had occasion to be there of a thursday morning. Bloke from our shift mentioned the pub as he had lived near by, so after a week of nights we said we'd give it a try.

Even at eleven in the morning there was some gentlemen and a lady who displayed all the signs of a rumbustious upbringing, missing teeth and some rather nasty shaving nicks.

Windows or rather apertures to let in the minimum of natural light were covered in bars and the floor had that shoe adherence properties and staining characteristic of recent bodily fluids. My how that morning verily flew by, remember how Sally might look at you; well we had *insert name* and add o to the end of it, and how he just stared at us.

I gave it an four out of five circles on tripadvisor.

I have bought from the off licence attached to the pub, I always wondered why they served you behind bullet proof Perspex.

robindch

Money Honey in St Petersburg, Russia.

Normally a fairly civilized place, but was there one evening when some small guy decided to take on the pub's bouncers. Best moment was when a bunch of them grabbed a limb or two each and slung him perhaps twenty or thirty feet through the air to bellyflop onto our table, skid across the top, then into a crumpled heap up against the bar beyond, with the table falling on him a few seconds later. We'd seen the buildup, so we'd time grab our beers before the table disappeared. Didn't even blink really.

H2UMrsRobinson

Raze_them_all wrote: »

The worlds end in kk.....what a kip

Long Onion wrote: »

I remeber it when it was the Perch - that was worse:eek:

A more aptly named pub I never did see !http://www.dropbox.com/s/axpk1qmu8r8x5mr/Photo%2016-05-2013%2015%2021%2024.jpg

Waitsian

Billy86 wrote: »

I did once walk into the Cu Chulainn (aka 'Ra Land) in Dundalk in a blue shirt and red/white striped tie once years back when I was doing a door-to-door sales job. That was an interesting experience...

I was 17, wore my hair very short and was quite athletic. To wit, I could pass for a soldier. I was born in Canada too, and had only been living here since the age of 10, and had a bit of an accent. So a mate in school, from Meigh in South Armagh, says one day - "You fancy going to the Armagh game at the Athletic Grounds? Get someone to drop you down at the Three Steps pub (look it up if you never heard of it) and Dad and I will pick you up." It was 1988.

So come Sunday morning, in I walks about half 11. I could hear quite a few men talking before I entered but as the door swung behind me - silence. And every man jack, about a dozen or so, staring at me and none too pleasant either. I go up to the bar and sit down. Barman comes over and asks what I want. I ask for a mineral I presume, can't really remember. Says he to me, "not from round here are you?" No says I, "Bessbrook." Bessbrook being the village where I lived, where my mother was born and reared. Which also happened to house the biggest fecking Army base in the North!

"So what brings you in here?" says he. In the meantime, silence reigns and two fellas are leaning against the bar either side of me who hadn't been there before I came in. "I'm waiting for a mate and his Da," says I.

"And they are...?" he asks. And I tell them. Is that them from such and such a road, he asks. "That's it" I answer.

"I know them well, why don't we give 'em a ring?" :eek: Talk about testing out my story! So my pal's Da answers and says he's on his way. Barman passes on the message, nods at all present and life returns to the pub, the whole lot of them ignoring me now and laughing and joking, backs turned on me.

I was a bit naive back then and honestly hadn't yet heard the Nairac stories. It's only later I got a chill when I copped on what the hell happened that morning and the reason for the funny looks and the questions. I felt distinctly unwanted that morning!

Dozen Wicked Words

Mill wheel in Northampton, like the jockey from Shameless only with more drug dealing and alcoholics drinking their own tins in "beer garden" People using old shopping trolleys outside as great place to stick their children whilst in the pub. Only went in there once but made it out alive so it can't have been that bad I suppose!

Sadly closed now, much missed in the Lumbertubs area of Northampton.

pragmatic1

qapmoc wrote: »

Stopped in a pub in Bundoran once, many years ago. An English friend was with me and we planned on travelling further the next day. My friend stupidly asked one of the locals there how far was it to LondonDerry...a group of locals came over and told us in a very ugly voice we were in unoccupied Ireland now, not occupied Ireland, and we had two minutes to finish our drinks and get out.

Ah you'd be sound enough. Probably just wannabe RA men. Donegal is polluted with them. If it was Buncranna, Letterkenny or a few areas out west you probably would have an issue.

Frankie Lee

mod9maple wrote: »

I was a bit naive back then and honestly hadn't yet heard the Nairac stories. It's only later I got a chill when I copped on what the hell happened that morning and the reason for the funny looks and the questions. I felt distinctly unwanted that morning!

Unless you were a psychopathic mass murderer like Nairac I'm sure you had nothing really to fear apart from unfriendliness.

arybvtcw0eolkf

qapmoc wrote: »

Stopped in a pub in Bundoran once, many years ago. An English friend was with me and we planned on travelling further the next day. My friend stupidly asked one of the locals there how far was it to LondonDerry...a group of locals came over and told us in a very ugly voice we were in unoccupied Ireland now, not occupied Ireland, and we had two minutes to finish our drinks and get out.

I'd a similar bad experience recently in Bundoran.

I was staying in Finner army camp and myself & a mate went down the town for a few beers.. We'd asked in the camp for a heads up on good pubs, but forgot the names tbh.

Anyway we ended up in a kip, only thing I remember is the barmaids name (Clodagh, a pretty blonde girl) ~ we were attacked twice in the bar and had to leave via a side entrance in case people were waiting for us at the front.

Long story short back in the camp next morning and I related the story to a few of the lads to be told "jesus lads you're not in Dublin now, soldiers can't just in any ol bar up here".

Ill never visit Bundoran again tbh.

oikster

Navigator on Wickham St in Limerick, anyone remember it.

Dyr

Merrick Scruffy Resort wrote: »

I'd a similar bad experience recently in Bundoran.

I was staying in Finner army camp and myself & a mate went down the town for a few beers.. We'd asked in the camp for a heads up on good pubs, but forgot the names tbh.

Anyway we ended up in a kip, only thing I remember is the barmaids name (Clodagh, a pretty blonde girl) ~ we were attacked twice in the bar and had to leave via a side entrance in case people were waiting for us at the front.

Long story short back in the camp next morning and I related the story to a few of the lads to be told "jesus lads you're not in Dublin now, soldiers can't just in any ol bar up here".

Ill never visit Bundoran again tbh.

if its any consolation, I nearly wound up decking a barman in some kip in bundoran, then we had to skidaddle outta the town and no one was going to mistake us for soldiers, all long hairs.

The place isn't even proper rough, its just a dump.

Daveysil15

Stirrups in Newbridge. Once a guy walked in and ordered a pint but the barman wouldn't serve him. So he went into the toilets, pulled a urinal off the wall, came back and threw it over the bar.

bodhrandude

qapmoc wrote: »

Stopped in a pub in Bundoran once, many years ago. An English friend was with me and we planned on travelling further the next day. My friend stupidly asked one of the locals there how far was it to LondonDerry...a group of locals came over and told us in a very ugly voice we were in unoccupied Ireland now, not occupied Ireland, and we had two minutes to finish our drinks and get out.

Bundoran has a few dives alright, is there any chance you stopped at the Shamrock bar which was formally known as O'Neills Bar, a mad mental Republican sympathiser bar. The best bar there is the Bridge Bar with good sessions and young enough staff with good music taste pumping out of the speakers.
Glasgow has some mad kips, too many to mention here, but if you go east out of the city centre, most bars out that way are as dodgy as hell.

harry Bailey esq

mod9maple wrote: »

I was 17, wore my hair very short and was quite athletic. To wit, I could pass for a soldier. I was born in Canada too, and had only been living here since the age of 10, and had a bit of an accent. So a mate in school, from Meigh in South Armagh, says one day - "You fancy going to the Armagh game at the Athletic Grounds? Get someone to drop you down at the Three Steps pub (look it up if you never heard of it) and Dad and I will pick you up." It was 1988.

So come Sunday morning, in I walks about half 11. I could hear quite a few men talking before I entered but as the door swung behind me - silence. And every man jack, about a dozen or so, staring at me and none too pleasant either. I go up to the bar and sit down. Barman comes over and asks what I want. I ask for a mineral I presume, can't really remember. Says he to me, "not from round here are you?" No says I, "Bessbrook." Bessbrook being the village where I lived, where my mother was born and reared. Which also happened to house the biggest fecking Army base in the North!

"So what brings you in here?" says he. In the meantime, silence reigns and two fellas are leaning against the bar either side of me who hadn't been there before I came in. "I'm waiting for a mate and his Da," says I.

"And they are...?" he asks. And I tell them. Is that them from such and such a road, he asks. "That's it" I answer.

"I know them well, why don't we give 'em a ring?" :eek: Talk about testing out my story! So my pal's Da answers and says he's on his way. Barman passes on the message, nods at all present and life returns to the pub, the whole lot of them ignoring me now and laughing and joking, backs turned on me.

I was a bit naive back then and honestly hadn't yet heard the Nairac stories. It's only later I got a chill when I copped on what the hell happened that morning and the reason for the funny looks and the questions. I felt distinctly unwanted that morning!

south armagh can be very tricky,its not just the cops and soldiers they mistrust,they don't trust ANYONE I went for a pint in a place called the cartwheel in crossmaglen a good few years back and no sooner had i sat down with it when i was approached by an elderly gentleman who was drinking in there telling me we 'had no business up here' and 'away with ye now or ye'll get the blade' At this point his drinking companions,who were much younger than him i might add,started eyeballing us so we got the fcuk out of there.similar experience in larkins near forkill but i wasn't actually threatened per se.That said,I've had some great sessions up that way when the dubs were playing armagh,locals would have a bit of banter and a laugh but turn up on your own on a midweek evening and you will be met with suspicion.Drinking in south armagh is interesting to say the least!

HalloweenJack

Have posted here before but something came back to me.

I lived in Brno in the Czech Republic for a year and my local was a sports bar slash bookies slash mini casino right across the street. Actually, it wasn't my local. My real local was on the bottom floor of my building and was supposedly an invitation-only club full of drug-dealers and prostitutes. The one time I tried to go in i.e. knock on the massive steel door I was told to **** off.

So anyway, the sports bar was a 23-hour-a-day place. They were closed from 5am til 6am, presumbaly to clean up. I'd go in to watch the football or hockey, there was always something on and it was usually full of middle-aged Czech guys betting or just plain plastered.

I lived right across the street and remember one night being woke up by the sound of a fight on the street below. I looked out my window and saw two massive lads knocking the **** of each other while a girl tried to pull them apart. The street I lived on was one of the main ones so there was a tram track through the middle of it and sure enough a tram was passing by while these two lads were at it. The tram had to stop and the driver musta rang his bell twenty times before the lads moved off the tracks and onto the path to continue their scrap. Eventually, they stopped and straight away they both just strolled back into the same bar as if nothing had happened.

I lived in a part of the city that was on the edge of the gypsy ghetto and I had had numerous warnings about the local residents but that whole things was perpetrated by two Czech guys. The bar was definitely dodgy, I saw dozens of drug deals go down and despite being a sports bar, it was always packed with all types and also had a charming but extremely racist barman. If I ever mentioned to my friends that I'd drink there, I was met with disbelief. Funnily enough, I miss it.

Also, I'm surprised to see the Parnell Mooney mentioned here. I went there a few times around 2006 and didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. If anything, it was a lot nicer than the other sites you'd get around that part.

stefan idiot jones

My old local in Swansea took a nose dive so I stopped going there. £1 a pint and you get all the dregs coming in.

There was one family fued to do with drugs that sparked off a big fight between the two vermin factions. One guy was hit so hard on the back of the head by a stool that his eye popped out and with his good eye could see the other dangling down his cheek.

It used to be a good rock bar but the subhuman scum from the estates with their lack of standards and morals overran the place like a plague of rats.

There is another pub in Swansea nicknamed 'The Flying Chair'. Stay classy Swansea.

oikster

oikster wrote: »

Navigator on Wickham St in Limerick, anyone remember it.

Fcuk yeah! No one who ever entered (and made it back out again!) the infamous black double doors with the "ZZ Top" logo would never forget it. Jesus, even Today Tonight had a feature on the place back in the 80's. Pow! Take that Dublin! Ever hear of The Bermuda Triangle in Limerick? You draw a line in the map joining The Dew Drop Inn, The Olympic Arms, and The Navigator to make a triangle.

Was Harry's Court in Clonmel mentioned anywhere? Bikers driving their Harley's in the door, and the staff getting up early to pinch the deliveries from neighboring pubs (allegedly!).

DonQuay1

The Container, aka Lizzie's: Danquah Circle, Accra Ghana. Though three or five years ago when I was there...may not even be there any more. Made up of a number of 40 foot containers welded together.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Anyone ever drink in the infamous Ravenite Social club on Mulberry St, Little Italy before it closed? A 'members only' sign was on the door. I'd say a 'Mick' wouldn't have gone too well there.

The Subrite Bar in Hell's Kitchen is another dodgy joint. I'd say a guinea wouldn't go down to well there. :pac:

Bluefoam

I've been in The Swallows in Clondalkin... You had to pay an entrance fee, but I was told it doesn't go to the management... The only reason I was safe to be there was because of who I was drinking with. Otherwise my southside accent would have had me in trouble. It was a proper scary pub.