The Ivy

This local family run bar is situated in the heart of the Newtownards music scene. The small town of Newtownards on the outskirts of Belfast hosts the annual guitar festival and this bar is always a prominent venue. My fiancé asserts that this bar serves the best Guinness in Ards. Another selling point is that there are no other bars in Newtownards, which I can think of anyway, that still have pool tables. The upstairs bar is available for hire for a very good price. Bizarrely, I remember seeing an elderly lady strip at a function here a long time ago!
This bar always reminds me of guitars: my favourite memory from a recent visit involved a night of big screen Play station 2 Guitar Hero challenges. My fiancé had a go but I didn’t bother, my fingers are nowhere near fast enough. I thought this was a really cool idea for a themed night and we had a great laugh watching all the big guitar men playing with a plastic toy!
Rock music, a very traditional menu and a really great pint all rolled into one nice little venue.