The American Bar

02/11/2026

Comin Up…

Song credit, ‘Even Replicants Can Dream’ by David Browne Murray. Spotify link in bio.

01/11/2026

When you’re 13 and your ma buys you a new coat and a scarf for school and you don’t mind the coat but the scarf is mental and you’re saying to her, ma, you know they’ll rip the dick outta me at school for this scarf and she’s saying, don’t you use that language with me, and you say, I’m sorry, but they will, and she says to you, plenty of kids would be glad of a scarf like that at this time of the year and you’re saying to her, I know that but I don’t even need a scarf and then your da comes in and he’s telling you if you don’t get in the car this minute he’ll leave without you and you say to him, leave where without me? And he says, to school, where do you think and you try to remind him that he’s been off on the sick for weeks and if he leaves without you, he’ll only be driving himself to school and back home again just to sit in his chair all day watching snooker and he doesn’t like that all and so his ears go all red and he scrunches up his face and says how he’ll bloody well leave without you just you watch him, and you’re like ma, can I just leave the scarf at home and she says no, you’ll wear the scarf to school and that the scarf cost good money and now your da’s about to lose it completely and he’s tapping his watch with the wedding ring on his knuckle saying how if you don’t get in that car and stop upsetting your mother how he’ll break your back and you’re like, fine I’m going, and you go and you sit in the car with your da who isn’t talking to you now and you wear the bloody scarf and you don’t even have time to get it off you when you get to school and so all the fellas see it and that’s when they started calling you “dick-neck” which doesn’t even make sense and so now you’re 34 years old and you’re still “dick-neck” in the group-chat cause of that one time your ma made you wear a scarf you didn’t like 20 years ago that wasn’t even all that bad, it’s just that your wee mates were dicks, especailly to that one kid with the stutter who was in a really bad car accident and was off school for like 4 months and then when he came back everyone started calling him Princess Diana.

30/10/2026

Ali McKenzie is a bass guitarist and songwriter based in Belfast. He plays bass in Sam Davidson’s Taste alongside guitarist and vocalist Sam Davidson and drummer Lyn McMullan, performing the blues-rock catalog of Rory Gallagher’s original power trio alongside new material.

Across the Northern Irish live circuit, McKenzie is also a fixture in the Lee Hedley Band and plays bass and backing vocals for the blues-rock trio RagBone, with whom he recorded the album Sunday Night. As a solo artist and composer, he wrote and produced the album Sanctuary Wood, branching beyond traditional blues into rock, funk, and soul.

His earlier credits include performing with the Belfast Blues Band alongside former Them guitarist Jim Armstrong, playing with roots-blues outfit The Hardchargers, and contributing bass to Colin Harper’s 2016 album Sunset Cavaliers.

Catch Ali with Sam Davidson's Taste on Sat 7th Nov The American Bar, tickets are selling fast

Photo credit Keery Irvine

29/10/2026

Grateful Bread are just gagging to save you from doing dishes this weekend.

Kitchen open today from 4pm.

28/10/2026

The ABPQLC returned last night, fresh from its mid-season break (mid season - jesus christ, dragging a bit now this, isn’t it). Autumn has fallen on Sailortown. When the season kicked off, it did so in the cool late summer sun, our competitors adorned in light shirts, flowing skirts, sun kissed and jovial from a long summer of day-time pints and warm, languid evenings in the garden. Last night, in the long dark as a swirling storm threatened, our competitors, unperturbed, buttoned to the neck, faces flushed from the cold fell into the warm womb of the American Bar, where cosy pub season was well and truly underway. And what a night it was. 

The Bar Monkeys, the plucky staff team, were in fine form. As questions came they not only went about blowing the competition away, but deftly continued to pull some of the creamiest pints we’ve ever seen. It was a superlative, virtuoso, two-handed performance. It put us in mind of some of the great athletes that excelled in more than one area; like Arnie Schwarzenegger, champion body-buidler who became the highest grossing actor in the world in complete defiance of his total inability to coherently speak, or George Foreman, the world heavy weight who could not only punch the face clean off your chin but designed a best-selling counter-top grill while spitting firmly in the face of every conceivable health and safety regulation in the book. 

Quizmaster LeBron Crewcut could barely contain his discomfort. “Lads,” he said, “Now look, yous did great, done yourselves proud, but  I’ve a reputation to uphold. It doesn’t exactly look good when the house wins, you know what I mean.  Maybe next week, I dunno, maybe change it up a bit, give Rian the night off, maybe bring in Nato, or Jessie, or better yet, that Hannah one, or that sh*t-for-brains Pete - you know, the dumb dumbs. Let's not let this happen again.”

Strong words from LeBron - lets see how the staff respond, on next week's episode of The American Bar Pub Quiz League of Champions!

26/10/2026

The American Bar Pub Quiz League of Champions returns on Tuesday night. We've had our mid-season break, the teams have taken themselves off and regrouped, warm weather training sessions, dodgy transfer dealings, inflated corporate sponsorships have plagued the headlines all week, but finally, the action returns as we settle in for the final six weeks of The American Bar Pub Quiz League of Champions Odd-Quizzy, Season 3, Quiz Longer!

I Am Smarticus, The Roy Walkers and Quizty Moore are battling it out at the very top, but as we've seen before, it only take a few good results and we could see The Narrative Wh**es or Three Blind Mice muscle into the top spots, whilst a late surge from The Ruff Thinkers or Edward Quizzardhands isn't beyond the realms of possibilties. 

The Run-In Starts Here!

Tuesday from 7pm

26/10/2026

25/10/2026

A big Samhain session this Saturday to mark the turning of the season.

Donal O’Connor, Paul The Brother Maguire and many more guests will fill the room.

Bígí Linn.

25/10/2026

Comin up…

Samhain.

23/10/2026

Been spending the morning admiring and feeling very grateful for our gifts from Alexander Edward .

Alexander is a supremely talented willow grower and weaver based in Belfast, specialising in making willow work for every day needs. 

Give him a follow and look out for his willow weaving classes taking place in the new year upstairs in the bar.

We're completely chuffed with these pieces, Alexander, thank you so much.