If there is one thing Brits are known for, it is queuing. They form orderly lines for the loo or spend hours waiting to enter a popular restaurant. But there is one place where standing one behind the other is just not right: the pub. The proper etiquette is to walk straight up to the bar, find a space along it, and wait your turn to make eye contact with the bartender to indicate you want another pint.
If you do not believe this is the correct way, take it up with the etiquette experts at Debrett’s, who insist: ‘Although it really does not look like it, a kind of queuing system is in place; everyone is loosely aware of who is in front of them and who has come after them, and a competent bartender will also be keeping an eye on the seemingly anarchic dynamics.’
But this slightly chaotic ordering system is under threat, as a bizarre trend has been emerging in boozers up and down the country, a phenomenon Metro is coining as ‘snaking’. Instead of standing their ground at the bar, chests puffed out like proud lions, people are snaking their way around the venue like slithery reptiles in single-file queues that wind around tables and sometimes even stretch out the door.
It might sound like peak Britishness to some, but it is actually driving many Brits mad. So prevalent has this become across the UK that there is now even an entire account on X (formerly Twitter) dedicated to the behaviour. Known as @queuespub, the page has more than 13,900 followers and its description reads: ‘A campaign to end the recent phenomenon of queuing single file in pubs. We queue for the bus, or for the checkout, not at bars.’ There are snaps of queues in pubs across the nation, as well as images of signs put up in bars, encouraging people to go back to the way things used to be and to spread out if they want to order.
Reddit users are also fed up with this new ordering practice, with u/JamesDarlo90 turning to the internet to vent his feelings about it. He posted: ‘This new phenomenon I’ve seen of people queuing single file in the pub. I can’t get my head around it.’ The post garnered hundreds of responses, with many equally confused and infuriated. A fellow pub goer, u/blainy-o, replied: ‘Absolutely diabolical behaviour. Spread out along the bar, you thick c***s, that’s what it’s there for.’ While u/Aggravating-menu466 replied: ‘Wrong, wrong, so very very wrong…’
On TikTok, people felt similarly, with Mica Antonia sharing a video of a long queue out the door at a pub, writing: ‘UK queue culture has gone too far.’ A user known as @jamesmatthews259 added: ‘It’s called a bar for a reason, you line up along the bar and get served, not standing in a line out the door.’ Others hailed it a ‘red card offence’, ‘insanity’, and ‘outrageous’.
What do bartenders and pub landlords really think about the queues?
Pub owners and landlords are somewhat divided over snaking, with some not seeing an issue and others getting as riled up as punters over it. Callum Murphy, the Landlord of The Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, says he would welcome single-file lines in his pub, telling Metro: ‘Given the current situation, we believe any pub in England would be happy to have a queue. At The Newman Arms, we are delighted to be busy and will always give our guests the best experience possible, however they decide to order their drink.’
Steven Smith-Hay, the co-founder of Vault City Brewing, admits that seeing straight-line queues form in his taproom feels a ‘bit odd’, but Andy Kerr, the owner of The Sun Tavern, Parasol and Umbrella London, did not hold back with his thoughts, branding the practice ‘completely idiotic’ and ‘ridiculous’. Speaking to Metro, Andy said: ‘No idea where [this trend] came from or how it started, but it’s mental. People queuing up like that goes against everything a British pub is about. Bars are designed for people to stand at them, chat with the bartender, and get served. It’s ridiculous. I’ve seen people queue, while others jump the queue, and get served straight away. It’s absolute madness. If I had this happening in one of my venues, I’d probably throw them out. I like to think my punters are smarter than that, so I don’t think it’d happen often, but if it did, it’d get sorted.’
He continued: ‘It might be a leftover from Covid, but it’s time to move on and get back to the way pubs are meant to work. Queues are for Tesco, not the bar!’
Dougal Sharp, the founder of Innis & Gunn, also believes the phenomenon is a direct result of the pandemic. He claims he has seen some single-file lines forming in taprooms in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and it is mostly Gen-Z customers who queue like this as they do not know any better. ‘It’s not how things have traditionally worked in pubs, but who’s keeping score? Some folks missed out on a few formative pub years thanks to lockdowns, so they’re just making their own rules – and that’s kind of the joy of it.’ Dougal is not bothered by snaking either way as he believes the most important thing is that the pub should be a ‘relaxed space where everyone feels welcome’ and not somewhere you feel ‘worried about breaking secret etiquette’. ‘If a queue forms, great. If someone wanders up and catches your eye, that works too – no drama,’ he adds.
Hospitality workers and bartenders are not as chill about it, though, if the responses to a TikTok video from @claireeh19 are anything to go by. The clip showed a long queue inside a pub in Wigan and prompted a woman who claimed to have worked in hospitality for 20 years to urge people not to follow suit. Known only as Becca, she said: ‘DO NOT queue like this, it makes it so much harder for us to do our jobs.’
How punters are dealing with people ‘snaking’ in pubs
As Andy mentioned, several punters who feel ‘p***ed off’ by the queues have been ignoring the lines completely and heading straight for the bar to grab a drink. More often than not, they claimed pub staff had enjoyed their brazen actions and served them right away. u/happyhippohats revealed on Reddit that they always jump a queue like this, saying: ‘I normally just walk past them and wait at the bar like a normal person. I’ll happily let them get served first if they were there before me, but I’m not joining the back of a queue, it’s not a post office.’
However, it is worth noting that this is not something every pub or bartender will encourage or appreciate. In some venues, bar staff are actively encouraging snaking and will send red-faced punters to the back of the line if they try to skip it. This has been the case in several Wetherspoons pubs across the UK, where signs instruct customers to queue single-file at the bar. The chain’s founder, Tim Martin, explained that some Spoons ‘prefer it’ this way, and it depends on the layout of the pub. He previously told The Sun: ‘Wetherspoon does not have a specific policy on queuing and, generally, leaves the decision to customers. In some pubs, often due to the location of the bar and positioning of tables in front of it, customers prefer to form a single-file queue. Traditionally, customers wait along the whole of the bar, enabling them to see the beers on tap, the spirit range and to shoot the breeze with bar staff. Probably, most customers prefer this method.’
A version of this article was first published on May 26, 2025.
