Weatherspoons discount of ten per cent

why are the toilets so far away?!

Because many of the branches are in old buildings, not purpose-built ones, I think.

Not that most purpose-built toilet facilities I've been in leave much to be desired. They are often very bady ventilated.

It seems to me some of the mud slung around during lockdown has stuck - the hatred can’t all be down to him being a Brexiteer (which is not illegal and not even that unusual). Our Wetherspoons experience has been mostly positive. We have a couple of decent ones locally that we sometimes call into for a drink - I enjoy trying different beers and their range is huge (and very cheap, of course).

When we had a few days in London for the Olympics back in 2012, the Wetherspoons close to our hotel was fantastic. The food was good, the drinks too and cheap enough even for us Northerners, and the atmosphere while we watched events on their big screen was electric.

We’ve also stayed in one of the hotels and I couldn’t praise it enough - they could teach other hotel chains a few things. It was in central Hull and while the bar got very, er, interesting late at night, we couldn’t hear a sound from our room and everything was spotless when we went down for breakfast.

I like the way they convert interesting buildings that might otherwise have been demolished. And finally, some of our locals have been run into the ground by one management company after another - I’m guessing I wouldn’t like the politics of the people behind them, but I don’t boycott the businesses. Funnily enough, they always struggle to recruit staff and the ones at Wetherspoons don’t seem keen to jump ship. I’m guessing they’re better treated than most bar staff.

There are good and bad in every chain. We go to Wetherspoons for coffee because we don't like coffee shop coffee it's either too strong or cold.

I go away quite often with a group of friends for weekends or mid-week breaks. We always look for the local Spoons because we know we can get good food and drink at a reasonable cost. We have been in a lot of WS over the years and some are better than others but all have high hygiene ratings and clean (if distant) toilets.

I used to do 'mystery shopping' and for a while Wetherspoons was one of the chains I had to 'audit'. Basically, some are great (there is a beautiful Wetherpsoons in Ramsgate) and some are not very good at all (I won't name them but one of them is near me in Essex). I think the company have a timetable for refurbishments so it may well be that as the time approaches, a pub has 'gone down hill' as it awaits a facelift.

My son has worked for Wetherspoons for ten years and he was paid throughout the pandemic the correct amount and from week one.
How on earth can people dislike somewhere they’ve never been? It’s a bit like people say “ I’d never go a cruise, it would be awful”

To be clear, I have been to quite a few Wetherspoons in different places and enjoyed meals with friends and family. I like places which don’t admit dogs and don’t have muzak. My objections are solely on the grounds of the pro-Brexit views so strongly expressed by the owner. Of course voting Leave was legal, but I am convinced that leaving with such a hard Brexit was an act of complete stupidity.

A bit of trivia. Every Wetherspoons pub carpet is different. They are designed with patterns to represent the history of the pub.

Wheniwasyourage

To be clear, I have been to quite a few Wetherspoons in different places and enjoyed meals with friends and family. I like places which don’t admit dogs and don’t have muzak. My objections are solely on the grounds of the pro-Brexit views so strongly expressed by the owner. Of course voting Leave was legal, but I am convinced that leaving with such a hard Brexit was an act of complete stupidity.

Do you know what wheniwasyourage you’ve got to let this Brexit obsession go. 😉

Just because the owner of Spoons voted Brexit and you didn’t, you detest him for this? Do you loathe everybody who voted for Brexit? The majority of British people who voted, voted to Leave!

He keeps thousands of people in jobs, he encourages people to start at the bottom and work their way up, he turns these lovely old buildings into pubs where thousands of people do want to go and meet friends and he provides good pub grub at affordable prices and, the best coffee going with free refills.

If I lived near you I would treat you to a lunch and show you it isn’t a spit and sawdust dump full of Brexiteers. You wouldn’t take me up on it though would you? 🤣🤣

paddyann54

marydoll we dont use this vile mans pubs either and never will ,the one local to us has an awful reputation for disgusting ping food and bad treatment of staff .

I'm sure they won't miss your patronage. At all.

Lots of places you least suspect do ping food. There is a lovely Arts and Crafts style hotel along the coast here aimed at the more upmarket customer.

A friend and I went for afternoon tea and were blocked in by a delivery van. We sat and chatted and I suddenly noticed that there were large boxes of ready meals going in to the hotel! All labelled and exactly the same as on the menu …… we checked!

Ive only been in 2 WS, one in a historic building in Gloucestershire where we stayed for a funeral, and a similar one in Bristol. The first was lovely - but having worked in the building previously couldn't understand how they got planning permissions that Forte had repeatedly tried to obtain. Yes, parts of the old were untouched, but others had been totally ripped out!

2nd was truly horrid, filthy tables, abusive alcoholics, sticky wood floors etc. They both had the same issue - apart from 1 or 2 items virtually the whole menus when we visited were deep fried...

Our local one us excellent & extremely popular. There's good and bad in everything..

Another Wetherspoons fan here. We visit most weeks as you know exactly what you’re getting for your money and my husband likes the wide selection of ales at reasonable prices. There’s lots of jokes circulating about having to climb a mountain to get to the toilets 😆. (although there is always a ground floor disabled toilet)
My goodness whoever started this thread knew exactly what they were doing 🤣🤣

ExaltedWombat

The owner's an arch-Brexiter. But the pubs are actually as clean as any other (i.e. have occasional bad days) and he actually treated his staff OK during Covid, after shooting his mouth off with a ridiculous initial statement,

He didn't 'shoot his mouth off with a ridiculous initial statement'. He furloughed his staff and continued to pay them. He told staff that if any of them would prefer to work for another organisation during lockdown (eg delivering orders for Tesco, who were desperate for more drivers ), they were welcome to do so and they could have their old job back at Wetherspoons when they reopened. This was then 'spun' by a number of newspapers to say that he would not be paying them and they had better go and get jobs at Tesco. Disgraceful and, unfortunately, many people still believe it.

They both had the same issue - apart from 1 or 2 items virtually the whole menus when we visited were deep fried..

How strange. I don’t eat deep fried food and have had very decent curries, salads and wraps at Wetherspoons. They offer staples such as soups, grills and baked potatoes. They also have a good selection of veggie options. Calorie counts and nutritional information are given next to every item on their menu, which is useful. I’d assumed the menu would be the same at every location.

Primrose53

Wheniwasyourage

To be clear, I have been to quite a few Wetherspoons in different places and enjoyed meals with friends and family. I like places which don’t admit dogs and don’t have muzak. My objections are solely on the grounds of the pro-Brexit views so strongly expressed by the owner. Of course voting Leave was legal, but I am convinced that leaving with such a hard Brexit was an act of complete stupidity.

Do you know what wheniwasyourage you’ve got to let this Brexit obsession go. 😉

Just because the owner of Spoons voted Brexit and you didn’t, you detest him for this? Do you loathe everybody who voted for Brexit? The majority of British people who voted, voted to Leave!

He keeps thousands of people in jobs, he encourages people to start at the bottom and work their way up, he turns these lovely old buildings into pubs where thousands of people do want to go and meet friends and he provides good pub grub at affordable prices and, the best coffee going with free refills.

If I lived near you I would treat you to a lunch and show you it isn’t a spit and sawdust dump full of Brexiteers. You wouldn’t take me up on it though would you? 🤣🤣

Primrose 53, please read my posts properly.

I am not going "to let this Brexit obsession", as you put it, go, as I think Brexit is damaging in the extreme to our country and our future.

I do not "detest" or "loathe" anyone who voted for it, and I never said that I did. I think they were wrong, and in some (not all) cases, misguided and misled. I find the owner of Wetherspoons obnoxious because of what he says in public, including when he complained that he couldn't get staff now - what a surprise.

If you would take the time to read what I said, you will see that I have enjoyed meals in various Wetherspoons establishments, and have not accused any of them of being "spit and sawdust" dumps, whether full of Brexiteers or not.

As for lunch, I would be delighted to join you for lunch, but preferably in some other pub with good food and good beer.

I've been in a Spoons in south Devon this morning with one of my sons.
I particularly made a point of looking around at everything and there was no doubt it was clean, the table had been wiped etc. We had the muffin breakfast things and they were fine, and coffee with a free refill. Everything was great. It was very busy with a happy atmosphere.
But I have remembered one I went in in Scotland about 4 years ago. I won't name the town. It was nothing like our lovely ones here in south Devon. It was very basic indeed, - I'm trying to be kind here, - So they do vary.

a couple of points about spoons
No football/sport is shown except what is shown on terrestrial telly.
If your ever near Deal in Kent,there is a Norman Wisdom pub.
If the place(or any eating place) is covered in crockery.
Why do people continue to stack up plates etc on other tables?
If the table has not been cleared I just pick up all the crockery take it up to the counter and say "I know your very busy"and then ask for damp cloth so I can wipe down the table,this would not suit if you are on your own as some one might pinch the table you have just cleared.

We went to Spoons on Sat lunchtime. i was cooking in the evening so we only wanted something small.

We each had a 3 oz burger in a brioche bun with gherkin and salsa and some very good chips. A soft drink is included so I had pepsi and husband had cappuccino and it was £5.12 each. You get free refills on hot drinks so he had 3 coffees in total. It is such good coffee.

The food was lovely and hot, the waitress was charming and as it was very hot the air con was welcome. Lots of people sitting outside too.

Glorianny

Been in quite a few Weatherspoons and they do vary. Some of them are in lovely buildings which they have preserved. The ones in old cinemas are especially impressive.

Yes, I've been in really good ones but at the last one (last summer) my meal was really terrible.
The local one is always busy, apparently but we've rarely been in there as the local Marston's is always very reliable, even if it's not haute cuisine.

The Weatherspoons buildings are usually interesting.

Maggiemaybe

^They both had the same issue - apart from 1 or 2 items virtually the whole menus when we visited were deep fried..^

How strange. I don’t eat deep fried food and have had very decent curries, salads and wraps at Wetherspoons. They offer staples such as soups, grills and baked potatoes. They also have a good selection of veggie options. Calorie counts and nutritional information are given next to every item on their menu, which is useful. I’d assumed the menu would be the same at every location.

They have stopped labelling which meals are gf (vegan and vegetarian are clearly labelled) so we found it very difficult to find a suitable meal for the person with us who is coeliac.

Strangely enough I was just told that yesterday, Callistemon, by a friend whose husband is coeliac. I wonder why they stopped doing it?

Maggiemaybe

Strangely enough I was just told that yesterday, Callistemon, by a friend whose husband is coeliac. I wonder why they stopped doing it?

She was told to look at a high up TV screen showing the menu and scroll through to try to find something gf!
We'd had left but other nearby establishments were shut and there was a group of us.