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November 5, 2009

The gastropub poll

You asked for it. You begged for it. Here it is:

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:23 AM | | Comments (24)
        

Comments

Something uncouth or is "Bar & Grill" just too down market a term these days for the hoity toity?

Posted by: MrRational | November 5, 2009 10:44 AM

Isn't bistro bar redundant?

Bistro:
1. A small bar, tavern, or nightclub.
2. A small, informal restaurant serving wine.

If you don't think you're a Bistro, then go with Bar & Grill, I agree with MrRational.

Posted by: baltimoregal | November 5, 2009 11:10 AM

degustations?
suds & sapids?

Posted by: Lone Lady | November 5, 2009 11:32 AM

Is a fine-dining bar and a gastro-pub really the same thing? I feel like a gastro-pub has several elements of trendy decor. While a fine-dining bar (Peter's, etc) is just quirky, wood paneled, and its been that way for a while.

Posted by: scottbbfm | November 5, 2009 11:32 AM

Bar with Good Food

But what is the percentage of regular seating to bar seating that would make a place a "Bar with Good Food" vs a "Restaurant that has an Active Bar Scene?"

Posted by: lisah | November 5, 2009 11:43 AM

Why such the focus on (veiled disdain of) trends and buzzwords lately? It's been taking up the bulk of the discussion.

Are you kidding? I LOVE trends and buzzwords. They are so much fun to talk about. EL

Posted by: sue veed | November 5, 2009 12:12 PM

sue veed,

Trends and buzzwords = putting lipstick on a pig. Maybe people are tired of marketing.

Posted by: Rusty | November 5, 2009 12:44 PM

Foobars.

Posted by: dave the suave | November 5, 2009 12:45 PM

Sue,

Any chance you are related to Dee Constructed?

Posted by: NickinEC | November 5, 2009 1:00 PM

How about Tavern.

Like the Hamilton Tavern.

Posted by: PCB Rob | November 5, 2009 1:23 PM

it doesn't matter what they call themselves, it's the food that matters! I've been in bistros that were awful and bar and grills that were superb.

I'm just un-trendy like that though...

Posted by: Joyce W. | November 5, 2009 7:32 PM

Bistro Bar sounds good but it doesn't apply to a place like Victoria that has a spacious dining area as well. I like Tavern, even though it sounds rather generic.

Posted by: Dan D | November 5, 2009 8:24 PM

Bar.
Hat tip to MrRational.

Posted by: jl | November 5, 2009 9:10 PM

I would go with "Tavern" or "Bar & Grill". And please hold the "e" on "Grill", unless of course, it's "Ye Olde Barre & Grille" in Willaimsburg or some other kitschy colonial town. (Or is that Towne?)

Posted by: JackInEC | November 6, 2009 9:36 AM

How about bistro pub. That's more encompassing.

Posted by: Dan D | November 6, 2009 10:59 PM

It should be called a Bar, it is what it is. If this keeps out some of the more pretentious people, even better.

Posted by: Billzappa | November 7, 2009 10:16 AM

Bilzappa has a very good point. If it'll keep out the rifraf (I mean, of course, hipsters, yuppies, etc.), maybe we should call them "dives with dinner."

Posted by: Lissa | November 7, 2009 12:44 PM

But some of my best friends are yuppies. Or hipsters. And the rest are etc.

Posted by: Laura Lee | November 7, 2009 2:33 PM

Laura Lee, all of my friends are etc.

Posted by: Dahlink | November 8, 2009 7:52 AM

I think I'll go with tavern as well, even though I think taverns in the old days didn't necessarily have imaginative food. I believe there would only be a dish of the day, and if you didn't like it you didn't eat.

Posted by: Robert of Cross Keys | November 8, 2009 9:01 AM

All right Laura Lee, to paraphrase Slim Pickens in "Blazing Saddles": "We'll take the yuppies and the hipsters but NO etc!"

Posted by: Billzappa | November 8, 2009 10:49 AM

Billzappa, I believe the "Blazing Saddles" line you're paraphrasing was actually uttered by David Huddleston (as Olson Johnson), and not by Slim Pickens (as Taggart, henchman of Ledley Lamarr),

Posted by: hmpstd | November 8, 2009 11:03 AM

Ah, the classics!

Posted by: Lissa | November 8, 2009 12:47 PM

That's Hedley.

Posted by: Retired in Elkridge | November 8, 2009 9:31 PM

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About this blog
Richard Gorelick was appointed The Baltimore Sun's restaurant critic in September 2010. Before joining the paper staff fulltime, he contributed freelance criticism and features articles about food to area and regional publications. Along the way, he dispatched for short-distance trucking companies, shilled for cultural non-profits, and assisted in cognitive neurology research – never the subject, always the control.

He takes restaurants seriously but not himself, and his favorite restaurant is the one you love, too.
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