Kyle Regan—a masochistic Stranger reader—has vowed to do every single thing recommended by the Stranger Suggests (movies, galleries, bars, concerts) for the month of January. Look for his reports daily on Slog. —Eds.
My first impression of The People’s Pub was underwhelming. When you first walk in, you enter the dismal all-ages dining area. Refugee camps look cheerier. Once you get past the dining area, though, the pub part isn’t too shabby. I don’t know how well they hit the Germanic theme, but the low lighting, warm atmosphere, and large beer selection eased my nervousness.
The People’s Pub’s deep-fried pickles came with soaring online reviews. Slog, Facebook, and Yelp all fawn over PP’s pickles. I really didn’t think that they would amount to much. Surely I was enlightened enough to see through the simpletons’ love of fried pickles. “Sarah Palin probably likes fried pickles,” I thought, cultivating my nascent pickle prejudice. It was a stupid goal. First I’m no food critic, and second these pickles are just as fucking delicious as the online reviews make them out to be.
The battered spears were warm all the way through but held their pickle crispness very well. They were a little greasy, but hey, they were fucking deep fried. The grease was minimal and the breading was thin and crispy. A small container of garlic aioli came with the 5 spears. This was straight up food porn. You want to spice up forplay? Forget the melted wax, edible thongs, and nipple clamps: get these pickles. Slowly dip the long shafts into the creamy aioli and enjoy as the sour and garlic flavors burst climactically in, um, your mouth.
Hey, is it hot in here or is it just these pickles?
I enjoyed myself at the People’s Pub, even if I felt a little out of place. I meant to go with a friend, but never got the call back. Pickles wait for no one. I sat in a corner sipping my Strongbow Cider, which was delicious, but didn’t go well with the pickles. My mistake. My only complaint is that the waiter told me that the cider was happy-hour priced but when the bill came he suddenly remembered that Strongbow Cider isn’t on the happy-hour drinks menu. It’s easy to shit on waiters (I was one), but encouraging me to bump up my glass size when you’re wrong about the price is stupid. Not letting me pay the quoted price is worse. Dick. A minor annoyance more than remedied by the pickle bounty I had enjoyed.
I’m going back. Not in a month or a week. No, immediately. To quote Guantlet: “Kyle needs Pickles badly.”
Agreed. I was skeptical at first too, but those pickles slay.
The only problem with People’s Pub is that sometimes you want those fried pickles so badly, you can’t wait to get them in your mouth with their garlicy stupendousness, so you chomp down on something that came out of a deep frier 30 seconds before. Ow.
Try the fish and chips. they’re surprisingly good for a German-style pub. Oh, and Optimator, on tap, makes life better, always.
Now see, you quoted Gauntlet and now I’m in love with you.
“Nervousness” at the People’s Pub? Huh?
Too bad he can’t spell Gauntlet correctly. Reference quote is then nullified. No points.
(I was wondering at first what a guantlet was…perhaps a tiny collection of bat shit?)
@3 beat me to it.
Another great review! I haven’t sampled the deep-fried goodness at the People’s Pub in a couple of months; I’m going to have to do so SOON.
If the waiter quoted the wrong price to you, I think it’s ridiculous that he would make you pay more. But, that’s just me.
oh my god, i love those. @2, i’ve burnt my mouth several times.
I actually like the People’s Pub–it’s simple and down-to-earth.
“underwhelming”, “dismal all-ages dining area”, “refugee camps look cheerier”.
It’s called “The People’s Pub” for a reason.
Sometimes it’s the only place to sit at a table by yourself when the back’s too crowded.
I feel bad about your tab getting screwed up, though. That was rude of your waiter. I had my tab screwed up there once too.
Umm, I keep wondering, how is it that the seemingly-random “The Stranger suggests” volunteer actually happens to be able to write decently? Seeing as how most people can’t…
Oh my fucking God, I loved Gauntlet back in the day. You, sir, are now officially my hero.
Kyle Regan = amazing. After Officewatch 2009, I thought I wouldn’t love anything on SLOG that much for a good long time, and then you showed up. So good.
@11 – I’m not trying to give Kyle a backhanded compliment here, but his last few posts were much better written than his first few posts. He’s gotten the hang of it, so I wouldn’t doubt that this is “authentic”.