Weatherspoons

They are cheap for alcohol, the food is very basic, and variable, and the pubs vary hugely. Some are ok, some are awful.

They are the only pubs that won’t allow dogs, inside or in the beer garden, which may suit you.

Best way is to try it.🙂

Kate1949

They are certainly cheap here. Last week my husband had an all day brunch - 2 sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 fried eggs, chips, beans and a pint of beer for £5.99. He really enjoyed it.

They do excellent Eggs Benedict for less than a fiver. I went out with a friend to a posh cafe/restaurant and EB there was about £13 and honestly no nicer.

They also do a Miners Benendict where you get black pudding instead of ham. My husband loves that.

They are certainly cheap here. Last week my husband had an all day brunch - 2 sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 fried eggs, chips, beans and a pint of beer for £5.99. He really enjoyed it.

Indigo8

'Spoons' is a franchise and although their menus are fairly standard the ambience varies quite a lot.

I have two quite close to where I live. One is the sticky carpet, early morning drinkers variety although the food and service are very good. The other is very pleasant, clean and quiet. The service is also very good but the food is almost the same. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to eat out without taking out a second mortgage, Wetherspoons offers very good value but nobody would claim it is haute cuisine.

Wetherspoons is NOT a Franchise. They all have managers employed directly by the company. They do have individual pub targets to achieve and receive bonuses according. They vary a lot in food quality and service. Newer or refurbished establishments are usually worth a shot. It's not as cheap as it used to be to eat but drinks are good value. Personally I'm not a fan.

Cheap and cheerful. They are as good as the staff can make it, so each will vary.

Indigo8

'Spoons' is a franchise and although their menus are fairly standard the ambience varies quite a lot.

I have two quite close to where I live. One is the sticky carpet, early morning drinkers variety although the food and service are very good. The other is very pleasant, clean and quiet. The service is also very good but the food is almost the same. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to eat out without taking out a second mortgage, Wetherspoons offers very good value but nobody would claim it is haute cuisine.

I've never come across a franchised Spoons and they say they don't do franchise. They promote from ury existing staff which is probably a positive. Our local one is fairly acceptable, the city ones less so.
Lloyds are Wetherspoons with music.

One of the few places that accept the CAMRA 50p off vouchers too!

Wheniwasyourage

We stopped using them because we disagreed with the boss over Brexit. However, we have now started again because they don't allow dogs in and also because we understand that they are good employers. As others have said, they can be variable, but the food is reliable and not expensive, and they often have interesting beer.

A refreshingly honest comment. 👏👏

Fun fact about Wetherspoons. Every one has a unique carpet designed just for that branch.
They do vary enormously. the one at Whitstable was lovely when we visited 10 or more years ago. Also some in central London are/were pretty good. I've been to both the smallest and largest Wetherspoons in the country. The smallest has recently closed I hear.

We stopped using them because we disagreed with the boss over Brexit. However, we have now started again because they don't allow dogs in and also because we understand that they are good employers. As others have said, they can be variable, but the food is reliable and not expensive, and they often have interesting beer.

We've been to a number of Wetherspoons all over the UK and I agree it depends totally on each location. Some are lovely and some very grotty.

In-laws used to have breakfast regularly in the one near them and loved it. We have one near us that is always full of families with small kids running everywhere so we stopped going there. When it opened a few years ago it was really nice but it's gone downhill quite rapidly.

I think they are a bit hit and miss. Our local Weatherspoons is very good. Prompt service, hot food and pleasant staff. I've eaten in one of two that have been rather indifferent. One the whole though, mostly a good experience.

I once went to one in an airport and it was horrible.

They vary a lot. Our local one attracts lots of families with small children who drop crayons and bits of paper on the floor which don't seem to get picked up. Also, the tables are cleared infrequently and that puts me off going in there. I've been in others which are clean and tidy so it all depends. I saw a TV chef who said he could not make better curry than Wetherspoons do even though all their food is out of a microwave. Breakfast is excellent value.

I think Wetherspoon's is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I love Marmite but not enthralled by Wetherspoons.

They have got it right... Food is good, not expensive, price of drinks much cheaper than your average pub.
Some interior better than others, but
always reliable, you can't go wrong.

All was fine when I went in one, in Glasgow.
Clean, tidy, and decent food for a reasonable price.

Our very popular one is closing in our town . It is always busy , l love the fact it is full of different age groups and people playing chess and other games . No TV blaring and the food and drinks are affordable, unlike the other trendy bars and restaurants in our area. It will be missed by many. It’s closing apparently because the very old building needs major repairs.

Our one is lovely and we have never been disappointed with the food - freshly cooked. No sticky floor, spotless tables, furnishings all clean - you can even see the tracks where the fabric has been vacuumed! Good decaf coffee (Lavatzza)! It also has a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. We’re very lucky!

We’ve been to several others and the only one that disappointed was in Wimborne. Dreadful service, plus they ran out of food at about 5.30pm apart from burgers and pizza!

The new one in Grand Central, Birmingham is fabulous. No sticky carpets there.

dragonfly46

Surprised they are still opening new pubs - they have closed ours although we still have Lloyds which I believe is the same chain.

We still have one dragonfly. I went to the one that recently closed and vowed never to enter another one!! I think they are opening another in our town.

Didn't know about Lloyds being the same group.

I think these places are very variable and a lot depends on the area. My local Wetherspoons is in the High Street in a converted Argos store so not pretty. The food and drinks are excellent value compared with other places in the area.,
Unfortunately because of the prices, location in the town and being next to the bus stop it attracts a few noisy people who stay a long time and hang about smoking outside and using bad language. It’s such a shame as it spoils it for others.

We go to one when we have a rugby weekend the carpet is often sticky to be honest. It is an old pub supplying hundreds of fans with cheap beer it could do with a makeover though. We usually go there for a breakfast before our nearly four hour journey home it does us fine. It is a family friendly place the staff are always polite and helpful.
If you have a new one opening up give it a try you might be surprised and there may not be sticky carpets. We went to a large cafe in our city centre that had horrid carpet too. I have never understood why public places have carpet it’s a cleaning nightmare.

I have only been into one spoons I was at a conference in Llandudno, a few of us went in for lunchtime snacks.

We chose a mixture of picky bits all hot and tasty, I have had better pub wine though.

It was a restored theatre (could have been cinema) a lot of the original features remained, it was clean with very helpful and friendly staff.

I only have warm drinks there. Pay for first and all refills are free. Places tend to be drab and dingy in my experience. It's a convenient venue for my weekly friends gathering.