One of Belfast’s best and most controversial publicans John Bittles today shocked the local hospitality industry by announcing his retirement.
There has been a bar at 70 Upper Church Lane since 1868, and, although John Bittles hasn’t been working there quite as long as that, next year will mark 50 years in the hospitality industry, many of them as the notorious proprietor of his eponymous bar.
In an exclusive interview with Meanwhile in Ireland, John revealed, however, that this year will be his last, as he plans to bow out of the pub game.
Bittles Bar owner announces retirement – 50 and out for John Bittles
“Next year I’ll be 65. 50 years in the industry,” John said. “Official announcement: I’m done! That’s me. I’m packing it in. I’ve had enough. I can’t take it anymore. It’s all getting to me”.
The shocking announcement begs the question: what will a man who’s dedicated so much time and effort into one of the best pubs in Belfast do next? His answer was simple.
“I’m moving to Donegal,” said John. “I’m [just] gonna walk about […] up and down Errigal, and that’s me.
He continued, “I’ve a house up in Donegal and that’s where I’m going. It’s a secret location and I’ll not be telling anybody where it is. I won’t be telling them how to get to it. And I’ll just keep moving about.
“As they say: keep moving about, it’s hard to hit a moving target”.
Fancy a half-pint? – how to get past Bittles Bar’s strict rules
In announcing his retirement, John took particular umbrage with “coffee drinkers, Coke drinkers, and the new one coming on the scene, water drinkers”.
“They’re walking in – complete strangers, randomers – and telling me they want a pint of water. You can’t be coming in here and ordering pints of water. You might be able to get a pint of water with your pint [of Guinness] but not instead of it”.
This will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with John and his bar. Back in 2022, John made headlines for refusing to serve customers Coke. Indeed, he told Meanwhile in Ireland just last month that he ejected four customers for ordering the drink.
We asked him the all-important question: what do you have to do to get barred from Bittles Bar?
“The things that can get you barred in Bittles Bar [are] asking for a half-pint, looking for a pint of water, annoying the management, Coke drinkers, coffee drinkers,” lists John.
“They don’t blend in to the ambience of the bar,” he explains. They don’t fit the elusive “criteria” that only John knows.
John did reveal however, that there exists one mitigating circumstance that allows you to sidestep the half-pint ban: illness.
“We’re now gonna get passes issued where, if you have a valid medical condition and you have a letter from your doctor, we’re gonna issue passes for half-pint drinkers”.
Reflecting on 50 years – some fond and not-so-fond memories
John also shared a few anecdotes with us from his years behind the bar, the “craziest story”, according to the man himself, being when he was advised to get a gun for his own protection.
“The police said to me, ‘They’re looking for you. They’re coming to get you. You need to get yourself a personal protection weapon’”.
Though excited at the prospect, his then-wife was less enthused. “If you bring a gun in there,” she argued, “you’re gonna start shooting the customers”. John’s ensuing laugh suggests she might have been right.
