Royal chef, loyal subjects

THE sign above the entrance boasts, “Warm Beer Lousy Food.” Inside, Union Jacks are waving and regulars are belly up to the bar, having a laugh over pints of Guinness.

A bar band named Snotty Scotty and the Hankies is lighting up the dining area, where old dames in smart hats are twisting and shouting to a firecracker cover of the Kinks’ “Victoria.”

It’s a scene straight outta London town.

Yet you haven’t ventured any farther than eastern Pasadena, the home of Brits, a folksy pub on Colorado Boulevard.

“This place feels so authentic,” says Dennis Arnold, a Monrovia gent who spent St. Patty’s day at Brits. “It makes me feel like I’m back in a pub in York.”

Arnold is among the locals who favor the down-home Brits over fancier Old Town competition.

“I really enjoy the fact that it’s something different,” says Richard Grabowski of Rosemead. “I like the whole package, and there’s really nothing like it around here.”

That’s just what the owners figured when they opened Brits two years ago.

“There was no competition,” says Elizabeth Holder, who owns Brits with her husband, Peter. “We tapped into the neighborhood crowd, and they’re really loyal.”

What separates Brits from the average British pub is Peter’s pedigree. A former executive chef for both the Ritz in London and England’s royal family, Holder knows his way around a kitchen. Among the pub’s delicacies are fish and chips, which includes a secret fish batter he created for the queen of England.

Although he worked for the royal family for nearly four years, he says the stress got to him.

“The family was lovely,” says Holder, who was born in Liverpool. “But the machine around it was punishing.”

At Brits he can have his chips and eat them too. Although open for lunch and dinner six days a week, this mom-and-pop operation hangs loose. They close the bar early or sometimes stay open late, depending on the crowd and their whim.

“We wanted to create a space where people can come down, have a bit of fun, take a load off,” Holder says.

Like the fictional oasis Stars Hollow, where the “Gilmore Girls” run free, Pasadena has that small-town feeling. Chances are if you’re rubbing elbows at a pub on a Friday night, you might just see someone you know.

Although Brits started off as a one-room venue, the pub attracted so many patrons that its owners bought out a neighboring business last year and more than doubled its capacity. Now the pub area is separate from the dining area, although the smell of shepherd’s pie and Banger Bites wafts through both rooms.

The beer and wine bar stays well stocked with such pub faves as Smithwick’s, Harp, Guinness and Newcastle.

The Holders bring in a variety of entertainment, from jazz to blues to local faves like Snotty Scotty. Next up is Morris Wade from the Drifters, who’ll be performing April 7.

Altadena resident Steve Gauthier showed up for a recent Snotty Scotty set, and like many guests he was shouting requests even before the band plugged in.

Each month, the owners use the dining area’s walls to showcase the work of local photographers and artists, with proceeds from the sales going toward the Haven House in Pasadena, a battered women’s shelter.

Although there’s nothing fancy about Brits -- to be sure, the decor could use some freshening -- the atmosphere is as comfortable as a Cornish pasty.

Says Gauthier: “Anyplace that brags about its warm beer and lousy food, c’mon, you just know it’s gonna rock.”

*

Heidi Siegmund Cuda may be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

*

Brits

Where: 1770 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays; noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 9 p.m. Sundays

Price: No cover

Info: (626) 578-1301