What do you think of Wetherspoons pubs?

[pops4]

i like totalchaos answer ?

[Tavit]

I've been in loads of em all over the country and find that if your stood at the bar with a menu your served pretty fast, if you just want a pint forget it within 5 minutes, why don't they have a dedicated til for food, and why do people go to the bar without knowing there table number or if they want curly chips, standard chips, extra chips if they want to max it up for an extra 20p and don't even start me on the coffee situation. Once I've got my pint I like the places, upto that pint I've walked out several times

[SYorksDeano]

Just got back from the 1 in hillsborough, went for tea and in past always thought good value for money, but today it was rubbish food over cooked and bland, wont be going again for food

 

Strange because I have eaten there tonight and my food was fine.

[jibbs1977]

Sounds like you may have had one too many of their alcoholic beverages, my friend.

 

What you mean? most sheffielders know most alchys go into bankers draft its a known fact.

[Doom]

My ideal pub is one that serves a good range of real ales at a sensible price and doesn't have music blasting out so that you can hold a conversation......Thanks JD Wetherspoons for giving me my perfect pubs!!!

 

We tend to check out all the Wetherspoons in Sheffield on a Saturday afternoon/night looking for the one with the best beer (usually a minimum 5% ABV) and then settle in there before the ice hockey.

 

If we travel to Steelers away games in places like Hull and Nottingham we always head straight for the Wetherspoons there as well.

 

I wouldn't say the service is the best, but at the time we go (usually 4:30 - 6:30) it's not too busy so that isn't really an issue. I don't usually have the food, but when I have it's been fine.....You get what you pay for.

 

Give me a pint of Jaipur at £1.89 in the Swim over a pint of Tetleys at £2.50+ in some loud trendy bar in the city centre any day of the week.

 

Regards

 

Doom

[katy1981]

certain ones can be rubbish for service and after trying food in lots of them and at various times my opinion is that while they are good for alcohol prices and they are nice to meet a mate in for a few quiet drinks on the odd afternoon they are nothing special and the food im sorry to say is dismall, but i guess it depends what kind of food you like really.

 

the problem with chain pubs like this (i know first hand ive worked in the kitchens of them) is that everything on the menu out front is in a folder in the kitchen with nice pictures so the staff know exactely what it should look like, everything is usually pre portioned and the kitchen staff have very little room to use their imagination as it all needs doing to spec! they do not tend to actually create any of it, it merely comes in a box or a packet or sachet and they then follow the company guidelines on how its prepared and presented.

 

so if your wanting somewhere for a cheap snack to fill you for a bit or soak up some of the alcohol and you dont really care how its cooked or who by then id say its ok but if your wanting somewhere for a nice meal and/or your a bit of a food snob then id say dont bother with the food in these.

Edited January 22, 2010 by katy1981

[terryh]

wetherspoons has saved a load of pubsthat would have shut down great drinks at cheap prices what more do you want

[matt1889]

Having done my stint for Spoons within a higher role I know how hard it can be for the company to get the right staff to be fair, the company holds a sort of employ all attitude and many of times I ended up with new staff working my shifts with little to zero experience which is hard because when you have got to take the extra time to look after that extra person obviously that takes two people out of action which has knock on effects. I always found the general moral amongst staff to be really low as well, on a busy day you go home and feel it no matter which area of the pub you work in and a lot of the staff don't like the graft hence why the company have such a high turnover, as well as the fact a lot of people now tend to apply for wetherspoons to cover Student terms etc etc, which means basically it's a continuous circle.

 

What I will say about the company though is that if your willing to put in the graft then you get great training opportunities and can easily and quickly gain management roles as I did, but you have seriously got to want to and also have to be able to take loads of nonsense from idiots on a daily basis.

[Bilge]

The service is terrible in many Wetherspoons outlets. But you get what you pay for I guess. They don't employ enough bar staff and don't train them well enough.

 

Even on a relatively quiet afternoon/early evening there never seems to be enough staff to cope with the demand. You stand at the bar like the invisible man, sometimes for ages while people are ordering food, or other people who came in after you get served before you. They don't seem to be trained in spotting whose turn is next. Often some of the staff are not trained well enough in pulling real ale (as they obviously don't drink it themselves) and will give you a pint that is 25% foam and have already run off to serve someone else before you have chance to tell them to top it up properly. No it's not just me as I see it happen to other customers often. So you wait another 5 minutes (or sometimes just leave).

 

Despite all this I think they generally do a good job and I stick up for them when the real ale trainspotters whine about them. The beer is usually well kept and they have breathed life into some nice old buildings around the country that would otherwise have been lost.

 

The Benjamin Huntsman is a good one, though it's often a nightmare to get served. Swim Inn - not very good really. Lloyd's - OK I suppose. The Rawson is possibly the worst Spoons I've ever experienced in terms of service, so I almost never go there now. Which is a shame as it's a nice building that was refurbed very well. The Bankers' Draft? Well that's another story and is a product of the area it's in. I might call in for a pre-Boardwalk drink, but there's no other reason to bother with it. Haven't been in for maybe 2 years.

[stewgriffin]

DON'T EAT FOOD THERE!! If you've worked there you will know what it's like! Nothing is fresh, all frozen, the steaks are pretty much black before they are cooked. Food poisoning central! The staff couldn't give a toss if your food is cold, if it's the wrong order or if it looks crap.

The Head Office is the worst though. All about profit and sales, don't even give staff proper training. They treat the staff as though they've commited a federal offence if they make a mistake, and end up laying them off. The good ones have left. I complained to Head office a number of times but they won't change. They're all understaffed, in need of proper food and definitely in need of good management.

 

My work friends and i used to go to the Sheffield pubs but have now boycotted them all. We would rather go to a decent pub, where the prices may be a little more expensive. But you know you will get good service, healthy food and competent staff. The worst of the corporate chains. AVOID