Anne has the personality I secretly desire, but try to keep to myself.
She moved to Saint Augustine 22 years ago from England, and has lived in the exact same spot since becoming an ex-pat. Anne owns The King’s Head British Pub on US1 in Saint Augustine, and lives in a small apartment on the property. She’s far from the typical restaurant owner of 20 years; every day that the pub is open, you can find Anne behind the bar and calling all of the shots.
It took Marshall and I a while to try King’s Head, as we (Marshall mostly) are avid review readers. To put it kindly, the pub got mixed reviews. Most that we read talked about the owner and how awful the service was. The words rude and slow came up more than a few times.
Well, I now understand all of the poor reviews we read. I don’t think most of them are fair, but none of them came as a surprise after trying the pub for ourselves. BUT! Marshall and I enjoyed our visit to the pub more than we’ve enjoyed many restaurants in St. Augustine.
Anne is not someone for the faint of heart. She is not to be reckoned with. She is certainly however, wonderful.
Anne serves no pretense. If you are arrogant, she’ll make sure you are uncomfortable with that before you leave. If you are rude, you can bet she’ll top it. If you tend to speak before you think, you’ll leave doing just the opposite. Customers at the King’s Head are far from being “always right”. I strongly believe in impeccable customer service, and have learned it’s value in more ways than one, but I really believe Anne is the one who has it right. She’s glad you chose her restaurant. She’s happy to serve you. But don’t be a jerk because then, all of that goes out the window.
As Marshall and I sat at the bar and talked with Anne, she was extremely happy to answer any questions we had about British beer, food or culture. She told us about her daughter who still lies in the U. K., why she chooses cats over dogs, why she’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and why she spends most of the night sucking on an electric “cigarette”. My favorite answer of all came when we asked her if she ever took any time off and she said “We’ll yes. Just to go do the right things like get a pap smear.” The look on Marshall’s face? hysterical!
I’m sure my wit will never match Anne’s, and I can’t do it justice by typing out examples of her personality, but I am always thankful to experience someone like her and have that piece of me awakened. I hope to spend more time at The King’s Head British Pub and learn even more about this woman with the crazy hair and attitude to match it.
