The Lescar - is it going down hill ?

Don't get me wrong I think this pub has "atmosphere" but ...

I went there last night to meet a friend at 7pm to be encountered by ...

Front bar - too loud music, screaming kids running around (are they allowed in a pub at 7pm?) a fierce looking dog (are animals allowed in bars also at 7pm?), slow surly service waited 10 mins to be served even though not a lot at the bar - the bar man obviously looked part-time and was more interested in the hilarity another bar man (the owner?) was generating my wearing a 70s wig rather then serving the customers - when I did eventually get my pint served in a dirty glass - no matter what part of the glass rim I turned it was unsavoury - I retreated from the drunken noise, children and animals to the "lounge" next door only to be confronted by the vague smell of vomit, crowded with jostling rude student types who had no manners at all and pushed you out of the way if you tried to stand at the bar, I had time to survey the decor - tatty wallpaper, really dirty tatty largely worn carpet and tables ... and the really worrying notice of "no baseball caps to be worn in the pub" so must get a lot of chav types in - I could go on ...

Is it that this place has had a change of managent and not for the better - or is it general apathy - they know this "bohemian" pub will draw its "unique" crowd anyway and I guess at the reasonable prices of £1.70 for a pint of lager they dont have to bother improving the place and will attract the "cheaper" punter ... ho hum just having a moan ...

I think your trippin, it's still the best pub in sheffield and the stuff your talkin about man..... ?

The lescar is a great pub, do remember it was new years day yesterday, and the state of the place would have beeen down to the busy New years eve.

This place will never go down hill!!!!

Originally posted by Patrick2000

Don't get me wrong I think this pub has "atmosphere" but ...

 

I went there last night to meet a friend at 7pm to be encountered by ...

 

...a fierce looking dog (are animals allowed in bars also at 7pm?),

Yes they are, and if you mean that Rottweiler, he's ded nice

Originally posted by Patrick2000

... and the really worrying notice of "no baseball caps to be worn in the pub" so must get a lot of chav types in - I could go on ...

No, they have an extended licence which involves them being able to identify customers who may have made a nusiance of themselves on departure. The 'no baseball caps' rule is so that the cameras can see people's faces, and therefore applies to all pubs with a late licence

Edit: The 'spit and sawdust' atmosphere they are aiming for is no excuse for how they keep their beer though

Lescar has been my local since 1983, I've seen several incarnations of management, and in my opinion the present manager (Duncan) has let the pub go downhill.

He lost control of the place ages ago And he knows it. So now he's running around like a chicken with it's arse on fire trying to scutch a bit back.

Too late, Duncs.

And regarding the extended license Strix mentions above - friends told me earlier tonight (mon) that they tried to get into the Lescar last night (I would normally have been with them) (Sun) at 22:10 hrs only to be greeted by Duncan on the door saying that no one would be allowed in because he was closing early. He gave the reason that the locals 'had been at it for two days and it was a bit sluggish inside and he needed to clear them out' or words to that effect. The mates of mine that where trying to get in are also 'Locals'

Duncan - you are losing the plot mate

Seriously.

Originally posted by Patrick2000 I retreated from the drunken noise, children and animals to the "lounge" next door only to be confronted by the vague smell of vomit, crowded with jostling rude student types who had no manners at all and pushed you out of the way if you tried to stand at the bar

I know you've said 'student types' but I'd just like to say that the students are mostly away at this point, having left before christmas and term/exams not starting til about Jan22nd. They get alot of blame for things as it is.

I was there that night - I think the 70s wig actually belonged to my mate...

Service was slow, but i think that is understandable on NYD, was unaware of any screaming kids, liked the dog.

Didn't find the 'student' type crowd rude at all, just a little bit dazed and confused which was also unsurprising.

Originally posted by Draggletail

And regarding the extended license Strix mentions above - friends told me earlier tonight (mon) that they tried to get into the Lescar last night (I would normally have been with them) (Sun) at 22:10 hrs only to be greeted by Duncan on the door saying that no one would be allowed in because he was closing early. He gave the reason that the locals 'had been at it for two days and it was a bit sluggish inside and he needed to clear them out' or words to that effect. The mates of mine that where trying to get in are also 'Locals'

 

Duncan - you are losing the plot mate

 

Seriously.

To be fair I did ask at the bar on Friday what times they were open til on new years day and the barmaid showed me - on the wall they had a poster saying only until half ten, apparently to give the staff and customers a break after the new years eve binge. So they had clearly stated a few days before that they would be closing early on Sunday.

Dunno about it going downhill as I've only been drinking there a few years but I still like the place

I was also in The Lescar that night, and I think you've got some of your facts a bit twisted.

Firstly, if you receive a dirty beer glass, why not just ask the staff for a clean one? A fairly simple solution really.

And as for the back room, what on earth are you talking about? Smell of vomit? Neither I, nor anyone I spoke to that night noticed any such stench. By "student types" I'm guessing that you're referring to young people (students tend to frequent the Porter Cottage rather than the Lescar IMO), but I didn't really notice anyone standing at the bar, let alone any "jostling", pushing or rudeness of any kind.

I think the answer here might be for you to just change your attitude when going out for a drink - you sound like Alan Partridge.

The Lescar is, and always has been a dirty little griefhole, filled with soap dodgers and chavs.

Why on earth woul anyone wish to drink in there when you have the nearby Banner Cross, Porter Cottage, hell, even the psalter tavern is a better establishment.

What u trippin 'bout you deluded mofo? Leslie Car is quite obviously the greatest pub in the universe. Seriously, if you're after a boozer with absolutely no activity going on at all, you could always go to The Union, although the stasis-like plodding atmosphere will make you think that the barkeep has laced your ale with ritalin.

The Lescar succeeds because it caters to such a diverse bunch of regulars, whether they be young families, students, locals, bohos (and the bohemian comment...I mean, it is on Sharrow Vale Road, AKA the Bohemian Village of Hallamshire, so that shouldn't be a surprise) and other weirdos who just feel welcome there. Helen and Duncan are very friendly and open to new ideas, and have variously let people put on bands, regular comedy and jazz performances, novel quizzes, art shows and DJ nights, and even new media experiments. Where else can claim to have such a wide variety of stuff going on?

Also, you've got to expect people to be a bit boisterous on New Year's day. I'm sure that if you had confronted the 'students' about their rudeness they would have apologised. Most of the youngsters today will have been on the blue gravel and pigeon dust at some kind of futuristic warehouse rave the night before, and you can't blame the kids for growing up in a Britain where the PM came into office to the fanfare of D:Ream's disco biscuit stormer "Things Can Only Get Better". Don't blame them: it's society's fault.

I put it to to you that The Lescar is going uphill (due to some kind of weird techtonic reverse subsidence on Cowlishaw).