A Genuine Pub From the Old Country

“Who in America has not heard of an English pub?” asks Dan Sharp, who brought his John Bull pub to Pasadena. “It has become legendary I suppose, like the bistros of Paris.”

Sharp, in a pleasant Plymouth accent, describes how the John Bull is a decidedly English English pub as opposed to an American pub.

Proof of its authenticity begins with the menu: Cornish pasty (“Don’t say paste-ee,” Sharp winces, “it’s pass-tee”), shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash (sausage roll and mashed potatoes) and, of course, fish ‘n’ chips. Not a “British Burger” in sight.

“I wouldn’t stoop to that,” Sharp said. “Sure, I could sell a lot of hamburgers and pizza, make a few more dollars, but we would lose a little bit too.”

The decor includes a long, narrow, Tudor-style building with twisted-oak beams; three tournament dart boards, and photographs of the Royal Family and other distinguished-looking chaps covering the walls.

But the most important attribute of an English pub--and what attracts a loyal following of transplanted Britishers and other Europeans as well as Americans, Sharp says--is that a pub is a place where people can hold conversations.

“Europeans are used to going to a place where they can meet people and talk, rather than be entertained,” Sharp said. When unenlightened customers suggested putting in a pool table, dance floor or video games, Sharp answered: “One West is up the road; you can dance there.”

Songs of Old

“If I put dancing in, people couldn’t talk,” Sharp said. “You wouldn’t be able to carry on a conversation without yelling in someone’s ear or using pidgin English.” Background music is supplied by a jukebox, which plays ‘60s music and “folk songs from the Old Country.”

What brought the John Bull to Pasadena was Sharp’s homesickness for the real thing. “I missed an English pub,” he said. And his best advertisement for the pub is word of mouth from others like him, Sharp said.

“Whenever you go into business you worry,” he said, “but I believed if we provided (customers) with a good game of darts and good pint of ale for reasonable prices,” the pub would be a success.

The John Bull serves a mixed crowd, but listen closely and you’ll hear a variety of accents. In the afternoon and early evening, there are more business people and older customers, Sharp said. After 9 p.m., when the kitchen closes and the dining area becomes lounge seating, “more of a yuppie crowd and college-age” customers arrive, especially on weekends, he said.

Of course, there’s a wide selection of English brews, draft and bottled, including John Courage, Bass, John Bull and others; hand-drawn beers; Old Peculier, a strong, dark ale; Devonish, a lighter brew and less alcoholic; and some domestic beers.

Recently new owners took over the John Bull, but manager Lindy Hercus, who has been with the pub for eight years, said things will remain “pretty much the same.”

The John Bull English Pub, 958 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena. Hours: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday; Saturdays and Sundays, noon-2 p.m. Food served till 9 p.m. Information: (818) 441-4353.