I've been waiting to try Big Ben Pub in South End for quite some time now. For some reason the red telephone booth and cozy building have been calling me off the main road.
My boyfriend and I decided to try Big Ben for a late dinner rather than a late night bar because we didn't want to miss out on English favorites like fish and chips. That night we were greeted by a friendly lady wearing a British flag tie and humming along to the Beatles, of course.
The decor is simple, but adds a rustic charm to the pub. White plaster walls with chunks of exposed brick are adorned with framed USA Today articles highlighting the restaurant. Countryside paintings are scattered along the entrance wall and depict men on horseback, fox hunting with hounds. Above the fake wooden fireplace at the back of the bar is a picture of the Queen Elizabeth II pouring a beer, which is pretty amusing. On the mantel a bust of Winston Churchill sits between two porcelain dog, and conveniently guarding the fireplace (with a large ax) is a life-size Beefeater man statue. The dark bar is separated from the dining area by a thick wooden partition with cream-colored lace curtains.
Prices at the pub were a bit higher than other bars I've visited, but the food was delicious. The small portion of fish was lightly breaded and complimented by lemon and malt vinegar. However, if patrons decide to go to the pub for lunch, meals are a bit cheaper. Lunch specials during July range from $7.95 to $9.95 and include items like bangers and mash, haddock and chips and Scottish meat pie.
The pub also offers 17 beers on tap, $3 well drinks, $4 20 ounce pints and $5 martinis. Patrons can participate in trivia on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. and enjoy live music on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 to 11 p.m.
Big Ben Pub
2000 South Boulevard
Charlotte, N.C., 28203
704-817-9697
http://www.bigbenpub.com/
Hours: Monday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Grab cold pint, meat pies at Big Ben
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16 comments:
No mention of the fact that the original Ben Ben was on Providence Rd & burned down last year?
Its the Queen mum pulling the pint, not the queen....
While the new location does not match the charm of the old place it is still one of the better quiet bars in Charlotte, if you can get a seat.
I do really miss being able to get Tetly's on draugh -- that is a major loss.
A pint, by definition, is 16 oz.
In a pub its assumed a "pint" is an imperial pint which converted is like 19.2 oz so rounding up to 20 oz seems ok to me.
Kelly, such mean comments. Now go back to your unimportant job...if you have one.
19 reviews. 12 Uptown (Atherton Mill is within a 5-10 minute walk), 3 NoDa, 4 UNCC. 11 left to come. You have a very long way to go to meet your goal of "Brittany Penland explores the Charlotte-area Bar Scene." Perhaps you should have titled it, "Brittany Penland explores the corridor from Uptown to UNCC without straying and without coming in contact with anyone older than 25."
Hey Kelly,
I was wondering if you realize how sad and small you have got to be to attempt to belittle someone for writing a column in the newspaper. Since Brittany just got out of college I would assume she is doing what she can to get a break in a tough industry to gain entry to nowdays. Good luck Brittany and don't let haters like Kelly get you down.
An Imperial pint is 20 ounces.
Anon. 10:47, American pints are 16 ounces. Big Ben sells imperial (British) pints, which are indeed 20 ounces.
No offense, but this is B-O-R-I-N-G. Do I really care what you did with your boyfriend on some Saturday afternoon? The life of couples in heavily family based Charlotte has to be one of the most uninteresting subject matters.... You can do everything worth doing in Clt. in one day tops, which says alot about the coolness of a city. Went to the US Whitewater Center, Discovery museum, Botanical gardens (some girl I was _____ wanted to go there), then to the Queens Road area to eat. South Park mall is just a lower class and much more crowded version of Phipps Mall in Atlanta, so didn't even go there. Some parts are pretty, but Charlotte is best described as BORING.
Only problem with Big Ben is ALL the food tastes like boiled water...a true testament of British cuisine.
Why the nasty comments against the blogger??? She went to a restaurant, made some comments and encouraged people to go. For that one person calls her blogs "unimportant"??? Really??? It's just a harmless trip to 30 local places with some thoughts. Good for her. Give some spots some publicity is help to these businesses. That's not a crime. Would you rather hear about the NFL or NBA lock outs???
Have we really come to a place that a discussion isn't a discussion if it lacks venom??? This makes me sad. Maybe some constructive comments are coming. To that I raise a pint.
LOVE the blog Brittany! I have not been to the new Big Ben location yet, I need to check it out.
You spend your days checking out bars all day...your haters spend their days reading your blog then writing comments about how their lives are so dull that they have to read your articles and then log in to complain about them. Brittany 1, Haters 0. ;-)
"You can do everything worth doing in Clt. in one day tops, which says alot about the coolness of a city. Went to the US Whitewater Center, Discovery museum, Botanical gardens (some girl I was _____ wanted to go there)....."
What kind of DB writes this crap? If you live in Charlotte PLEASE LEAVE! If you once lived here do not EVER return. You are a disgrace to our city.
Brittany- keep up the good work.
I personally like the blog. As for the complaints that Brittany focuses on venues that attract a younger crowd, I think that's fine considering that she's probably no more than 22 years old herself.
Concerning the location of the various venues, with her being a recent college grad, I doubt she can afford to go all over Charlotte. The cab fares alone would be thousands of dollars :)
oh great, yet another day/night of burgers and beer. wow, what a life. and she suckered the CO into paying her to write trivial nothings about it all. oh wait, didn't the CO already pay Helen Schwab to do the same thing? http://events.charlotteobserver.com/charlotte-nc/venues/show/694284-big-ben-british-pub
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