The Irish Volunteer’s Days Look to Be Numbered as Team Braces for Potential Rent Hike

Long-running Lido watering hole The Irish Volunteer is facing bleak prospects, according to the bar's main shareholder George Smith. Today he tells the Beijinger that he and his IV cohorts are bracing themselves for a rent hike that could put the humble but beloved sports bar out of business.

When the Irish Volunteer opened nine years ago, the Beijinger noted it lived up to its name with “historical photos hanging on its exposed brick walls and the expected Guinness branding on the bar counter.” Not long after its launch, it became a hit with Lido dwellers who didn’t want to stray all the way to Sanlitun for a pint, along with slews of house hockey league players looking for a place to party on their way back from Shunyi's rinks.

All that may soon come to an end, according to Smith, because the IV’s lease ends on Jun 30, and the landlord will then close the space throughout July for renovations. After that, Smith says the landlord will “offer up the lease to us or anyone else who is interested.”

Smith says that doesn’t bode well because “My sense is the price will be too high for our business model.”

Fans of the bar’s down to earth, unpretentious vibes and notoriously raucous parties will surely be disappointed if what Smith anticipates comes to pass, no doubt prompting them to hurry out for one last pint of Guinness before the renovations begin after Jun 30. However, the neighborhood’s F&B landscape has certainly changed since the IV opened all those years back, meaning barflies will at least have other options if the stalwart goes under – be it fellow old favorites like Eudora Station, or newer, flashier spots like Ramo, not to mention Great Leap’s forthcoming 30-draft-strong Lido location.

News of the Irish Volunteer's potential demise also comes shortly after the closure of two of Beijing's other long-time favorite watering holes: Great Leap Brewing #12 in May and Jing-A's 1949 location, confirmed late last week. 

We’ll update this blog as the IV’s prospects develop. If you’re feeling nostalgic for the pub’s heyday, check out F&B blogger Jim Boyce’s excellent recent trip down memory lane with Smith as the IV celebrated its ninth anniversary, not to mention our Q&A with one of the pub’s key players, Zach Lewison, before he left Beijing for Guam last summer.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
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Photo: the Beijinger (1), irishvolunteer.wix.com, the Beijinger (2)