As an American, I'm pretty sure that people in the British Isles (UK + Ireland) use "pub" much, much more than we do in America. We use "bar" much more, and I'm sure that in many instances when we say "bar" they would just say "pub". In America, I feel like a "pub" puts more emphasis on selling both food and alcohol. A bar might do this, but a bar could just be a place on the corner when people go to get a drink. For the above two reasons, again, in the States, bars sometimes market themselves as a pubs, to give customers the sense that it's a place where you can go and have a beer and a meal, maybe with a warm, friendly atmosphere, something a bit .... I don't want to say "sophisticated", but a bit more ... something that offers a bit more than a pub. Most commonly you'll see places in the States marketed as "Irish Pub" or "authentic Irish Pub", but you can find places here marketed as "British Pub" too. Many of them actually have workers from the U.K. or Ireland, to help give it the right "feel" for us Yanks. :o) Note also: "Pub" comes from the term "Public House" - a term not used in the States since the 1800s.

Here in Texas, they are the same. I think that bars are called "pubs" in England and Ireland, so a "pub" here is a bar that has an English or Irish name and atmosphere.

pub：public house，cheaper，simple decorated，noisy，traditional ，old-fashioned bar：expensive，good decorated，more modern dont know much，hope some Englishman could answer your question.