MacLaren's Pub

MacLaren's Pub

First appearance	Pilot

MacLaren's Pub is the bar where Barney, Lily, Robin, Marshall and Ted hang out. Notable employees include Carl, Doug, Wendy and Karina.

History

The Apartment is located in the building above the bar, making it a convenient place for the gang to hang out. Although they can be seen at a variety of tables throughout the series, they are most often found at their favorite booth near the bar.

MacLaren's is known to have a full kitchen offering a variety of food as well as the usual bar fare.

Ted and Barney became temporary barmen in Three Days of Snow. In a flashback scene in the same episode, it is revealed that Ted and Barney have previously enthused at the prospect of owning a bar. When Carl has to leave, they try to get two college girls drunk so that they can sleep with them. This turns out badly for them when the girls, who are in the Arizona Tech Marching Band, invite the rest of their band to the bar.

In Tailgate, Ted and Barney are outraged with the price to get into MacLaren's on New Year's eve, so they offer for everyone to come upstairs. They then open their bar at The apartment, named Puzzles

In The Perfect Cocktail, Carl bans the gang from the pub due to Barney and Marshall fighting.

MacLaren's Pub is based on four New York City bars where Carter Bays and Craig Thomas used to drink, and is named after an associate producer of the show.^[1]

Employees

Carl MacLaren (Owner, Bartender)
Wendy (Waitress)
Doug Martin (Bouncer)
Karina (Bartender)
Travis Frenchroy (Back-up Bartender)

Gallery

The gang at MacLaren's
Exterior of MacLaren's in winter
MacLaren's Pub (left) in the background of the set of Bones

See Category:MacLaren's Pub images.

Notes and Trivia

In Moving Day, Barney laments that the MacLaren's pub is exactly a 23-minute cab ride from his own apartment, which is often a cause for his conquests to fail.
In Showdown, Future Ted states that there are 11 deep-fried appetizers on MacLaren's food menu. In the same episode, Lily orders all of them in an attempt to gain weight so that her wedding dress will fit.
A variety of MacLaren's-themed merchandise is available in the How I Met Your Mother store from CBS. ^[2]
MacLaren's is based on a bar in 240 West 55th Street, New York City called McGee's. ^[3]
- In Right Place, Right Time, the pie chart describing Marshall's favorite bars include McGee's.
It has a mural that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas both liked and wanted to incorporate into the show. ^[4]
It is named after Carter Bays's assistant, Carl MacLaren, who was also the namesake for Carl the bartender. ^[5]
The bar appears in the background of the set of Bones Season 5 Episode 3. (approximately 3 minutes and 43 seconds into the episode). It even includes the stairs leading up to The Apartment.
- The same "street" (on the Fox Studios Lot) contains the Royal Diner, a frequent setting on Bones.
The gangs booth is always seen and thought to be near the middle of the bar and can be entered from either side however this is a slight continuity error as in Slutty Pumpkin the booth is shown from a different angle and it is actually joined onto the back wall of the bar, although it has been seen in later episodes to be in the middle, with another row of booths on the wall behind the camera
Throughout the seventh season (and later seasons), the No Boogieboarding sign has remained infront of the bar.
The opening sequence of How Your Mother Met Me shows that the Mother and her gang frequent MacLaren's as well, although it is a different MacLaren's in another part of town.
In music video for song Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, you can see entrance to MacLaren's pub around 3:04. ^[6]