Bars Bars and More Bars

Following his doctor’s strict advice, Barrespondent Drew continues to get all lit up a few times a week and sober up long enough to scribble out a review of the only place he remembers going. At least we think it was a doctor. He had a white coat on…

People are always telling us to Get out and see the world. Or at least telling us to ‘get out’. So following that advice, we recently took a CalTrain down the peninsula to check out a bar or two south of our fair city. With an open mind and a relatively low blood alcohol level, we ventured off to the suburbs to see if life exists south of Monster Park.

You’ll be relieved to hear that it doesn’t… Just kidding. More after the jump...

The Prince of Wales Pub on E. 25th near El Camino Real in the beautiful ‘race track’ neighborhood of San Mateo has gained quite a bit of notoriety over the years. From winning The Chron’s Best Peninsula Bar award the last two years to being hyped up for its taste bud incinerating Habanero burgers, it seems to be getting a lot of good publicity so off we went.

You really do have to be looking for this place in order to find it. Unlike most bars on the peninsula, this place doesn’t have any huge neon signs trying to hustle in people that just ate at Panda Express. This place is off the beaten path and may require a certain amount of bravery to step into for the first time.

Once you are inside, however, this place immediately becomes more inviting. Sure, it’s pretty darn corny. Lots of hilarious ‘Tipping is not a city in China’ style signs on the wall and the names of all the suckers who have either eaten a habanero burger or have spent $12,000 to go to London (you see, if you join their ‘beers of the world’ club and drink 30 different beers 100 times, the owner will send you to London). But all in all, it still maintains a very city neighborhood-like feel even though it’s smack dab in between a godawful mall and one of the dingiest horseracing tracks in the free world.

Aside from hazing new frat pledges or trying to kill your rich uncle who has a peptic ulcer, there’s little reason to eat here. The super hot burgers give way to a pretty lackluster rest of the menu that’s just your basic fish and chips and burgers and stuff. And despite its reputation, the drink selection doesn’t really knock your socks off either. They’ve got enough decent stuff on tap and in bottles to keep you busy for a little bit, but for the most part seem to lack a lot of the specialty beers you'd expect to find in an authentic British pub.

The staff and patrons are friendly enough, but even though it wasn’t terribly busy when we went there, we felt more than a little rushed, as if our trying to figure out where the beer list was amongst the knick-knacks and funny plaques was holding up all the other no customers behind us in line.

So there, we did it. We got out and saw something outside of Gavin’s jurisdiction. Good for us! Continue to send us good tips on places in and out of the city in the comments.

Liver... Out!!