Gastropubs tap into U.S. customers’ growing desire for upscale grub and beer

When Michael Belben and David Eyre launched the world’s first gastropub in London in 1991, they never considered how—or if—the concept would play across the pond.

The Eagle was simply a pub that offered good food, and while that wasn’t a new idea in England, the gastropub label caught on as chefs snatched up drinking establishments that the Monopolies Commission forced brewers to divest, lest some companies control the flow of beer from farm to tap. The label suggested a place where