Yeah, that's exactly it. (E.g. at my local bar the regulars can just add another tally on the sheet at the bar and grab a beer.) Dive bars / neighborhood bars

Yeah, that's exactly it. (E.g. at my local bar the regulars can just add another tally on the sheet at the bar and grab a beer.) Dive bars / neighborhood bars are just a shared living room with beer. The catch is that something called a "pub" in most of the US implies it's a bit fancier. Somewhere you're going for dinner, but not to chat with random folks. That's not necessarily the case in the midwest, but still, something labeled as an "Irish Pub" or "British Pub" here is going to be 1) slightly more upscale and 2) focused more on food. So what you'd call a pub is a "dive bar" or "neighborhood bar" over here. Food is typically a potluck or something grilled outside, as having a kitchen would make it a restaurant and result in different inspections/rules/etc. There's probably a potluck anytime there's a big game on TV. You're _highly_ likely to run into your neighbours. There will probably be at least one bar dog or bar cat.