A Week in the Life of a Pub Landlord Behind the Scenes

People usually notice the pub when the lights are glowing, the pints are being pulled, and dishes are being served from the kitchen. That's the part everyone gets to appreciate.

What they do not always see is the rest of it.

The quiet mornings. The cleaning after everyone has gone home. The orders, rotas, wages, accounts, staff training, tax returns, prep lists, phone calls, deliveries, and the never-ending jobs that somehow appear the minute you think you are on top of things.

I love this job. I really do. But running a pub is a consuming way of life. It is not just pulling pints and chatting at the bar. It is long days, late nights, early starts, and trying to keep every plate spinning at once.

So I thought I would give you a proper look at a week in my life as a pub landlord, behind the scenes.

Monday is closed, but it is not a day off

The pub is closed on a Monday, but that does not mean the work stops.

In many ways, Monday is the day when I catch up with everything that cannot be done properly while we are open. It starts with paperwork, accounts, wages, ordering, tax returns, staff training plans, and rotas for the following week.

None of it is very glamorous, but it all matters.

The accounts need checking. Suppliers need paying. Wages need sorting. Orders need placing. If something is missed on a Monday, it usually causes a problem later in the week, normally at the worst possible time.

There is also the rota to think about. That sounds simple enough, but it rarely is. You have to balance people’s availability, holidays, busy services, quieter shifts, kitchen cover, bar cover, and events or bookings coming in. You also need to make sure the team are not stretched too thin.

Then there is training. Sometimes that might be a proper session with staff. Other times it is going over small things that can make a big difference, such as service standards, menu changes, allergens, cleaning routines, or how we want things done.

Monday is also a big cleaning day.

The kitchen gets a proper deep clean. The pub gets the same treatment. Floors, surfaces, fridges, shelves, corners, equipment, storage areas, and all the places customers never see but we have to keep right.

By the time Monday is done, it has often been a full working day, even though the doors have never opened.

That said, Monday and Tuesday are also our version of a weekend. They are the days when we try to squeeze in some family time, catch our breath, and remember there is life outside the pub too.

It does not always work perfectly, but we try.

Tuesday is beer, lines, cleaning, and family time

Tuesday usually starts early with the beer delivery.

That means being ready for the delivery to arrive, checking everything off, making sure the right stock has come in, and getting it stored safely and properly. Barrels do not move themselves, and they are not light.

Then Tuesday is line clean day.

This is one of those jobs that customers might never think about, but it is so important. If the beer lines are not clean, the pint will not be right. A good pint starts long before it reaches the glass.

Clean lines help keep the beer tasting as it should. They help with quality, consistency, and pride in what we serve. If someone comes in for a pint, I want it to be the best pint we can give them.

So yes, the pub may be closed, but Tuesday is still full of jobs.

There is usually more cleaning to finish, more admin to tidy up, more ordering to check, and sometimes a few unexpected bits that have landed since Monday.

Then, if we are lucky, we get a little bit of family time.

That part matters. When you live and work around a pub, it can take over very easily. There is always something to do. Always something to fix. Always something that could be improved.

So Monday and Tuesday have to carry a lot. They are work days, cleaning days, admin days, delivery days, and family days all rolled into one.

No wonder they disappear so quickly.

Wednesday is the reset before opening

Wednesday is when the week starts to feel like it is properly beginning.

I am usually in from 9am to prep for the week. That might mean kitchen prep, checking stock, looking over bookings, sorting anything left from the closed days, and making sure we are ready to open at 5pm.

There is a lot to think about before the first customer walks through the door.

The kitchen needs to be ready. The bar needs to be ready. The pub needs to be clean, warm, and welcoming. Staff need to know what is happening. The menu needs to be in order. Any specials or changes need communicating.

It is easy to think a pub simply opens its doors at 5pm and off it goes.

The truth is, a good service depends on all the hours before it.

If the prep is right, service has a much better chance of running smoothly. If the prep is rushed, you feel it later. It can show up in the kitchen, at the bar, or when someone asks a question and you realise you have not had a chance to check the answer yet.

Once we open, the day changes pace.

You go from prep mode to service mode. Suddenly, everything is live. People are arriving, drinks are being poured, food is being cooked, tables need checking, and the phone might ring just as three other things happen at once.

That is pub life.

Then, when the doors close, the work is still not finished.

Most nights I will not be done until at least 11:30pm. There is cleaning down, checking everything is switched off or put away, sorting the kitchen, tidying the bar, restocking where needed, locking up, and making sure the pub is ready to do it all again.

Thursday keeps the engine running

Thursday brings more deliveries, more food prep, more emails, and more checking.

By this point in the week, you are trying to keep ahead of the weekend before it arrives. That means making sure stock levels are right, deliveries are put away, prep jobs are finished, and messages or bookings are up to date.

Emails might not sound like much, but they can quickly take up a good chunk of the day. Reservation changes, enquiries, supplier notes, paperwork, invoices, staff messages, and all the other little pieces that come with running a pub.

Then there is the cleaning.

I know I keep mentioning cleaning, but that is because it is constant. A pub only feels relaxed to customers if a lot of work has gone into keeping it that way. Tables, floors, toilets, bar areas, kitchen spaces, glassware, cutlery, windows, shelves, and everything in between.

Before opening at 5pm, I want the place to feel ready.

Not half ready. Not nearly ready. Ready.

That is the standard we aim for, even if behind the scenes we have been chasing our tails to get there.

Thursday evenings can be steady, or they can surprise you. You never fully know. That is part of the challenge. You prepare as well as you can, then respond to whatever comes through the door.

Friday is all about weekend prep

Friday starts at 9am, and the focus shifts properly to the weekend.

Weekend prep is a different kind of pressure. You know the next few days will be busy, and you know there is very little room for mistakes. If you run out of something, forget something, or fail to prepare enough, it can make the whole weekend harder.

So Friday is prep lists, kitchen work, emails, reservations, stock checks, and making sure the team know what is ahead.

Bookings need updating. Tables need organising. Any changes need noting. If someone has cancelled, moved time, added people, or asked a question, it all needs dealing with.

The kitchen is busy before we even open. There is food to prepare, fridges to check, ingredients to organise, and the service to plan.

Then we open at 5pm.

Friday night has its own feel. People are ready for the weekend. They come in for a drink, a meal, a catch-up, or a bit of time away from the working week. That is one of the best parts of the job, seeing people relax and enjoy themselves.

But while everyone else is winding down, we are working at full speed.

There are plates going out, drinks being poured, tables turning over, orders coming in, and the constant need to stay aware of what is happening everywhere.

By the end of Friday night, I am usually tired, but Saturday is already waiting.

Saturday is a full day from prep to close

Saturday starts around 10am for prep, ready to open at midday.

Once we open, food service runs all day. That makes Saturday a long one. There is no gentle build-up. You get ready, open the doors, and then you are in it.

The pace can change quickly. One minute it feels manageable, then suddenly tables arrive, orders stack up, and everyone is moving.

On a busy Saturday, you are constantly thinking ahead.

What needs cooking next? What needs topping up? Are the bookings on time? Do we have enough of everything? Is the bar keeping up? Does anyone need help? Has that table been checked? Is the kitchen clean enough to keep moving safely and properly?

There is a rhythm to it, but it takes focus.

That might be the part people notice if they see me rushing through the pub from the kitchen. I might not stop for long. I might be carrying something, thinking about three jobs, and trying to remember the next thing I need to do.

Kathryn says I have a chef face that I need to learn to leave in the kitchen.

She is probably right.

If you see me and I am not quite as smiley as you expect, please know it is not intentional. I might just be halfway through a long week, thinking about a table, a timer, a delivery issue, the next service, or whether I have remembered to eat anything myself.

It is never because I do not want to see people. The customers are the reason we do all this. Sometimes my face just has not caught up with my heart yet.

Saturday finishes with the clean down.

That means kitchen, bar, floors, tables, toilets, bins, stock, fridges, equipment, and all the final checks. By the time everything is done, it can easily be midnight.

Then Sunday is just a few hours away.

Sunday starts early and ends with the week beginning again

Sunday begins at 9am with prep for Sunday lunch.

Sunday lunch is its own beast. People look forward to it. Families come together. Tables are booked. Roasts need to be right. Timings matter. Portions matter. Gravy matters more than anyone wants to admit.

We open from midday, and the pub stays open until 8pm.

Before that, there is plenty to do. The kitchen has to be ready for service. The pub has to be set. The team needs to know what is booked, what is available, and how the day is likely to look.

Sunday can be lovely, but it can also be demanding.

There is something special about a pub on a Sunday. The mood is different. People are often more settled. They stay longer. They bring family. They want comfort, good food, and a proper end to the week.

For us, it is not quite the end.

Once service finishes, we clean down, sort what needs sorting, and start looking towards the next week. What needs ordering? What ran low? What needs fixing? What needs changing? What does the rota look like?

Then Monday arrives, and the whole cycle starts again.

The bit people do not always see

Running a pub is hard to explain until you live it.

It is rewarding, tiring, stressful, funny, frustrating, and brilliant, often all in the same day. You go from paperwork to plumbing problems, from staff questions to kitchen prep, from cleaning beer lines to chatting with regulars, from tax returns to Sunday lunches.

There are days when it feels like everything is going smoothly. There are days when every small thing seems to go wrong at once.

That is the reality.

Behind every pint, every meal, and every open door, there is a lot happening that most people never see. There are early mornings, late nights, and plenty of jobs that do not make it into the cosy picture of pub life.

But I would not be doing it if I did not care.

I care about the food. I care about the beer. I care about the team. I care about the building, the people who come through the door, and the atmosphere we create.

So if you see me rushing through the pub, or looking a bit serious, or wearing the famous chef face Kathryn keeps telling me about, please do not take it personally.

It has probably been a long week.

I hope this gives you a little insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes. The pub may only look alive when the doors are open, but for us, it never really stops.