Search “best pubs in Nassau” (Bahamas) and you’ll find the pickings rather slim, which I found rather discouraging – and surprising – ahead of a recent visit. Yes, American-style bars and Caribbean beach shacks were to be expected, but the nation’s British heritage suggest that a pub or two ought to be tucked away somewhere in the area around George Street and the cruise port.
Google did lead me to The Swimming Pigs Gastro Pub, which was conveniently located in the Baha Mar resort where I was staying, so, with dutiful journalistic initiative, I checked out the establishment, which was fine in every respect but clearly lacked character – the kind of place one might find in a 2,200-room resort complex.
Thus, it was with great relief that while wandering around downtown, we stumbled across the Pirate Republic Brewing Co. – proof perhaps that some of the best things in life are found when you’re not really looking for them.
Located on the waterfront – across from the cruise terminal – and a few steps from the back entrance of the famed Straw Market, the establishment serves the only (self-brewed) craft beer in the Bahamas and covers all the bases: lager, IPAs, stout, Kolsch, and wheat beer.
Fun beer names denote the pub’s pirate theme: Gold and Haze of Piracy, Black Beer’d Stout, Long John Pilsner, etc., and they can be ordered by the glass or in a sampler flight.
Of course, what would a pirate-themed pub be without rum, and there are more than a dozen choices, including five vintages from the Bahamas including John Watlings, not to mention an extensive list of pirate cocktails.
Meanwhile, “hand-crafted” food ranges from conch fritters to burgers, wraps, sandwiches, and salads, all of them listed with suggested drink pairings.
Open and airy inside, where an eye-high block-stacking contest was going on when I was there, patrons can cozy up to the bar, settle in at a table, or head upstairs to a second-floor balcony overlooking the street and harbour. And with a nod to its location and many cruise pax patrons, an integrated gift shop beckons for the requisite T-shirt or branded beer mug.
To delve deeper, brewery tours are offered every day except Sundays at 11:30 and 2 p.m.
Open since 2015 and catering to both tourists and locals, the brewing company is located on Woodes Rodgers Walk (though prominent, even my local companion didn’t know the name of the street we were on) and is open from 11 to 11 daily. There is a second location at the Atlantis on Paradise Island.
(“Pub Crawl” is an ongoing series in which we reveal some of our favourite public houses, both at home and abroad – and, in the spirit of the establishment, invite you to share with us yours. Send suggestions to baginski@travelindustrytoday.com. Cheers!)
Previous pubs:
THE MARQUIS OF GRANBY: Something for everyone in the fertile Garden of England
PUB CRAWL: The Caledonian a wee taste of Scotland in Toronto