As Yogi Berra said, that place is so crowded nobody goes there anymore

Those of you who know me can imagine how excited I must've been when I found out that one of my favorite bars, The Publick House in Brookline (Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen Tripel IPA on draught!), had begun to host one of my favorite pasttimes, bar trivia.

I thought it would be like peanut butter meeting chocolate for the first time, but what ensued on a recent Sunday was downright awful. The bar was far too crowded despite a recent expansion, and it was as though the surly waitstaff had never handled a crowd. The trivia jockey looked lost.

The vibe was just all wrong. A bar that was my favorite because it felt like someone's home had pulled in its welcome mat. It was like trivia night was being run by Germans, but without the efficiency and only half the charm.

It was so bad, my friends and I just got up and left our table, which I think is unprecedented.

Maybe the place has become a victim of its own success. But whatever the reason, I'm torn about whether I even want to go back to the place. What's a beer snob to do?