The idea of sociability seems inherent in our concept of the pub, exemplified by the “Cheers” bar of American television fame, or in Britain, the Rovers Return Inn of the deathless series, “Coronation Street.” It’s easiest to imagine these drinking spaces full of bustle, throngs of people, beers constantly in motion. Yet its flip side, a pub near closing time or near-empty on a weekday afternoon, is just as magnetic. Particularly for those past a certain age, when “pub nights” are mostly behind us.
There’s a stillness that makes the experience more welcoming than a bar at high buzz: Servers have nothing if not time and I can focus on each sip of my beer. This is often the situation I find myself at around 4 p.m., when I visit a local option in Toronto, usually after a two-hour walk. Most recently, it was at Granite Brewery’s “library room,” the ideal place for reflection over a pint.
Breaking up the silence were occasional talk—the kind for which the busy bar has no time. A server explains how prospects for actors are dimmed since COVID-19. The bartender who, when asked if he knew a particular rock song, said, “When you’ve worked in bars 20 years, you’ve heard all the songs.”
Sometimes a stray customer engages in chat, which edges the experience a single step closer to the social space we may expect. But the way to enjoy a bar, even learn from it, has no playbook: Vibe-check its off-times.
Words by Gary GillmanPhoto by Rick Radell