The Irish author of The Dubliners would be surprised to find the pub he described so vividly in Ulysses, placed nowadays in central Zurich, one of the three cities where he lived. The James Joyce Pub's original name was Jury's Antique Bar, and it was placed in Dame Street, Dublin, within the Jury's Hotel. Some thirty years ago, the hotel was demolished and the pub’s interior was put for auction; in a well-inspired move, it was taken to Zurich and reopened in 1978, behind a relatively humble front in a street just off from the central city avenue, Bahnhofstrasse.
Once inside, the place takes you one century back and northwest to a world that does not exist anymore but in the readers’ imagination. The comfortable green coaches by wooden tables and the classic bar invite for a long visit, maybe in the company of the appropriate pages in Ulysses, especially in the first century anniversary of the tale. The blackboard menu lists the daily specials (plattes) and the regulars are hamburgers, fish-and-chips and fried chicken legs; there is no greener place to taste a Guinness.
Open Monday through Friday from 11am to midnight and on Saturday from 11am to 6pm.