[News] Wetherspoons

[Perfidious Albion]

Such snobbish attitudes towards Wetherspoons… You may dislike the owner but so what?
The fact is that ‘spoons offers good value for money and , living on a pension I have to consider that. Also they are places where I can have a drink, the wife can have a coffee and we are all happy in comfortable surroundings.
My experience is largely daytime but I don’t recognise the seedy characters that you stereotype as Wetherspoons customers.
I have always enjoyed the food and drink so what’s not to like?
If you dislike large firms then also complain about supermarkets , Amazon , Macdonalds etc

 

[Hugo Rune]

Wetherspoons has three things that it does extraordinarily well. It’s very rare that one of their branches does not get these things right!

- Food served in 10 minutes.
- ‘Something for every one’ in terms of drink or food. (There is normally 20-30 draught beers/ales/ciders and I counted 28 different options for breakfast this morning)
- Value for money. I saw a pint of ale at the Cliffonville for £1.69, perhaps I got there in a Dolorian?

In addition, their average food hygiene rating (for the 861 outlets) is normally 4.9ish, one of the top scores for any chain in the country.

Ok, I’m not such a fan of the silence and the carpets but Wetherspoons has a place on every high street, and with the cost of living going through the roof, they are going to be very successful over the next few years.

Edit - the coffee is very very good for £1.20 per cup.

 

[jcdenton08]

Such snobbish attitudes towards Wetherspoons… You may dislike the owner but so what?
The fact is that ‘spoons offers good value for money and , living on a pension I have to consider that. Also they are places where I can have a drink, the wife can have a coffee and we are all happy in comfortable surroundings.
My experience is largely daytime but I don’t recognise the seedy characters that you stereotype as Wetherspoons customers.
I have always enjoyed the food and drink so what’s not to like?
If you dislike large firms then also complain about supermarkets , Amazon , Macdonalds etc

Absolutely this. The snobbery is quite hilarious. Wetherspoons "festival" is decent, a huge variety of real ales, very reasonably priced, all within their legal sell-by dates. They are never stale, or flat, all the pipes are maintained regularly, unlike many hipster "proper CAMRA pubs" which are filthy.

It's just like Macdonald's, cleanliness and standards are higher than most independents charging 5x the price.

I had to laugh at people moaning about the old boy alcoholics getting plastered in the mornings. Why on earth would you go there in the morning yourself??!

Really, this is to do with people not liking the owner's politics

 

[darkwolf666]

Having not stepped inside a pub now for over 2 years, I welcome the fact that many Wetherspoons have spacious outside spaces, where I can get drinks delivered to using their app, makes us feel “normal”, briefly!

 

[wigman]

I cannot believe the amount of snobbish comments on this thread.
Some of their establishments may be a bit rough and ready, but they are terrific value for money.

 

[Springal]

I cannot believe the amount of snobbish comments on this thread.
Some of their establishments may be a bit rough and ready, but they are terrific value for money.

Well thats the point. Plenty of people use the cheap builders cafe near me and like eating cheap catering sausages, chips with their breakfast etc - but personally I'd rather spend a bit more on a nicer environment, being served with a smile, without the staff having to wear small cctv cameras round their neck or some element of customer service when things go wrong such as a food order never turning up. Different strokes for different folk

 

[Notters]

It's just like Macdonald's, cleanliness and standards are higher than most independents charging 5x the price.

You say that, but I've been ill several times after having just a couple of pints at a Wetherspoons, particularly the main one in Nottingham, where I used to live.
I put this down to not cleaning the lines properly.
Obviously it depends on the particular branch.
The only place in Brighton I always had this problem with was the Globe, which I believe has closed down now?

 

[Southern Scouse]

My weatherspoons in March, is in the Hippodrome an old cinema. Every Sunday I have a traditional breakfast and we don’t mention the owner once. We just enjoy the breakfast and lots of decent coffee.

 

[Hugo Rune]

You say that, but I've been ill several times after having just a couple of pints at a Wetherspoons, particularly the main one in Nottingham, where I used to live.
I put this down to not cleaning the lines properly.
Obviously it depends on the particular branch.
The only place in Brighton I always had this problem with was the Globe, which I believe has closed down now?

Wetherspoons have a dedicated team of auditors for quality and a secret shopper programme for customer service and waiting times. I’d be surprised if many bars are falling through the net in 2022; really surprised. The average length of service for a pub manager is around 13 years, that’s astonishing in hospitality, they must be pretty good and must be treated fairly well (I think Wetherspoons have paid out over £350m in staff bonuses since 1996).

 

[wuntbedruv]

Speaking on a remainer who can't wait for the disaster to be reversed by a government that cares more for the security and wellbeing of a united Europe than the current spivs who care only for enriching themselves and cronies, the owners stance on brexit bothers me not one bit.

Nor have I ever seen the type of people derided here any any weatherspoon I have visited, the 3 in Brighton seem to attract a young crowd rather than dossiers and on my travels around the country I must have visited another dozen, I tend to seek them out because I know they will have great beers, be ( grand) child friendly and usually sell just as good fish and chips as I can get at any seaside fish bar with a pint of Punk for £12 ish.

Besides, Quack from Belgium at £3.40 a pint!!! What's not to like

 

[Pavilionaire]

This, of course - but you have to remember that for those that shout very loudly about never reading the Daiy Mail, it is also mandatory to proclain their contempt for Weatherspoons (it supported B*****, doncha know).

Haven't been to a pub since Covid started two years ago, but have enjoyed many a good pint in Weatherspoons before that.

Given Tim Martin is a swivel-eyed Brexit loon I will not set foot inside any of his establishments until he is out of the picture.

I don't see the problem in having contempt for him over his Brexit position, in the same way that as a Lib Dem voter I understand why people had contempt for the Lib Dems because of Norman Baker and Lewes DC over their Falmer stance..

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Wetherspoons has three things that it does extraordinarily well. It’s very rare that one of their branches does not get these things right!

- Food served in 10 minutes.
- ‘Something for every one’ in terms of drink or food. (There is normally 20-30 draught beers/ales/ciders and I counted 28 different options for breakfast this morning)
- Value for money. I saw a pint of ale at the Cliffonville for £1.69, perhaps I got there in a Dolorian?

In addition, their average food hygiene rating (for the 861 outlets) is normally 4.9ish, one of the top scores for any chain in the country.

Ok, I’m not such a fan of the silence and the carpets but Wetherspoons has a place on every high street, and with the cost of living going through the roof, they are going to be very successful over the next few years.

Edit - the coffee is very very good for £1.20 per cup.

Food served in 10 minutes isn’t anything to necessarily cheer about.

 

[wuntbedruv]

Food served in 10 minutes isn’t anything to necessarily cheer about.

Currywurst and chips by the Chocolate museum in Koln took a lot less time than that

 

[Smillie's People]

Currywurst and chips by the Chocolate museum in Koln took a lot less time than that

More years ago than I care to think about, I found an automatic chip dispenser in a town called Rottweil in Germany - put in a mark coin and in a while a portion of French (well, German) fries was dispensed.

Never seen another machine like it. What happened to that concept I wonder?

PS does anyone know the current status of the "Dewdrop Inn" in Peacehaven, seems to have closed - for good?

 

[wuntbedruv]

More years ago than I care to think about, I found an automatic chip dispenser in a town called Rottweil in Germany - put in a mark coin and in a while a portion of French (well, German) fries was dispensed.

Never seen another machine like it. What happened to that concept I wonder?

PS does anyone know the current status of the "Dewdrop Inn" in Peacehaven, seems to have closed - for good?

Barber should get a couple for the Concourses

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Currywurst and chips by the Chocolate museum in Koln took a lot less time than that

I don’t doubt this. But we’re talking pub food here; slightly different.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

More years ago than I care to think about, I found an automatic chip dispenser in a town called Rottweil in Germany - put in a mark coin and in a while a portion of French (well, German) fries was dispensed.

Never seen another machine like it. What happened to that concept I wonder?

PS does anyone know the current status of the "Dewdrop Inn" in Peacehaven, seems to have closed - for good?

A friend of mine told me about a pizza machine in an off-license in Birmingham. Put in a 2 pound coin and after a bit of hissing and banging a slice of pizza emerges from the bottom.

 

[wuntbedruv]

True. But we’re talking pub food here.

In the pub garden .Besides cheap and cheerful food for feeding the family is exactly what both Weatherspoons and the Koln beer garden were
offering .
Some people want to eat food a poor man would reject as part of a "tasting menu "( have you seen the Interlude menu?)
They are prepared to pay a fortune for bone marrow and larks livers with a dressingof minted frogs foam.

Others want to entertain a different crowd.

 

[Weststander]

Food served in 10 minutes isn’t anything to necessarily cheer about.

They just have a bank of microwaves.

 

[jcdenton08]

Their food is exactly what you pay for, to be fair. Cheap, cheerful and perfectly good value.

I think of all the problems this country has, Wetherspoons is pretty low down on the list.

If we want to talk about pub chains with real problems, try Sam Smith's which is legitimately scandalous.

Wetherspoons are fine for what they are, don't like, don't go. It's the snobbery and misinformation in the thread prior to my post before which irritated me. Wetherspoons are a very well run company, who look after their employees and offer decent coffee, good value food, and affordable and varied beer choices.

If people want to make it political, there are few companies who would ever get business.