I don't really go to pubs unless it's a special occasion like a friends birthday or something. Even then, I call it a night at soon as I sense the "Twilight Zone" descend and everyone starts talking drunken nonsense.
If you remove alcohol from the occasion, pubs are very boring places and are often full of people who have nothing better to do with their time than sit in pubs all day.
Most of my friends know and accept that I don't drink - it's mainly acquaintances and (surprisingly) some family members who can't seem to grasp that it's possible for someone to not like drinking alcohol.