AIBU to think many pubs are overrated and not very welcoming?

Like yourself I really don’t like Wetherspoons and certainly not Tim Martin - however had to grab a drink and a bite at one recently due to lack of other options, it was a bit smarter and newer than the average one and whilst what I got was obviously freezer food it was okish and pretty cheap - and place was tidy and clean - on the other hand went to one our nicer gastro pubs here on edge of Bath in lovely spot - been before lots of times and couldn’t believe how down hill it had gone - still very busy ( bank holiday Monday) but grubby floors with litter on them , grotty loos, chipped paintwork everywhere, and the food was to be frank no better than Wetherspoons and more than double the price - it used to be a really nice treat - it’s now off the list!!!

Can’t get a decent vegetarian meal to save your life.
always a slimy bean burger slopped out of the freezer from a bag of ancient vintage.
I get that it’s economically challenging but come on! It’s not like vegetarians are rare or new.

My local closed for a refurb, reopened last Thursday. Yesterday I called to book a table for Friday as our sil is coming over. We're not taking bookings this week. Okay, so how do I ensure I have a table. I hit a brick wall, so I shan't be going there, not least because I cannot stand people addressing me as 'lovely' and 'dear'. It's a business ffs act like a professional . . .. I've banned myself 😂

Come up north. We have amazing pubs and wine bars have even reached us 😄
I love to go to Spoons alone with a book and feel safe and welcome in all.

When I go to a spoons it is for the atmosphere - either because they're usually one of the busier pubs (because they're cheap), so there is more life in them than an empty one. Or because the atmosphere is safe - again because they're cheap you get a mix of families, workers, students, etc. Often when I'm eating alone for work or whatever I go to a spoons because people don't look at you oddly as a single woman and you can order from your phone, so no need to take all your stuff with you and go to the bar. Whereas blokey football pubs can be intimidating, hipster IPA microbreweries snobby, and wanky finance bro ones expensive.

Safety/busyness/efficiency/down-to-earth are all atrmospheres too! A

nd because part of the theme is repurposing venues, many of them are in absolutely gorgeous buildings, ex-banks, opera houses, theatres, etc that might otherwise have been torn down, so the architecture is lovely even if the ubiquitous carpet brings the decor down!

Are they my absolute favourite pubs in the world, no. But dismissing all of them as crap is as much of an over-generalisation as OP.

I go to a local pub for local men people regularly at Van Man o'clock. I'm.a bit of an anomally there with my bottle of coke and book, but the barman sees me and reaches for the frdge, enquires about the book and I have a pleasant hour reading and people watching while my DCs are at an activity and the drink is probably a similar league to the petrol money to go home and be ineffective with time.

It's with a small independent real ale type of brewery and has retained it's traditional vibe when most pubs on the estate have died off in the last 20 years.

I'm a bit of an anomally in there, and nearly always any women are with male partners, but it's a nice place to be.

Pubs like that are a fundamental piece of British culture. Coffee shops just don't have the same sense of community and tradition.

Are dogs banned from Wetherspoons? If so, they've just gone way up in my estimation.

Moaning about pubs serving beer is a bit weird OP.

Yes. But you also have to look at free houses or bars in Spain...someone sinks their retirement money into a pub and suddenly it's hard work. Then they ramp the lease of they think they will sell it for a Tesco or flats.
Anthony Bourdain writes about restaurant owners being exactly the same in his book kitchen confidential. People who think they can run a pub, then find out the hard way

Would you agree that one of the problems is that if a pub looks like it will be profitable, the PubCo's will put in a manager, so they get the profit, if the prospects aren't so good they will lease it to some poor fool, who thinks running a pub will be fun, because they like spending time in pubs, then the reality will kick in and the tenant will go bust. Whatever happens the PubCo wins.

I've been around pubs all my life. My dad liked a drink and so do I. I part own a sports bar now.

Back to the op. Spoons is great. Why? Child friendly, woman friendly (more about that later, disabled friendly with accessible loos. Tim Martin sells cheap beer...but also supports local brewers and niech producers. The food is consistent and he's actually imposed a rule that it has to go from the kitchen to the table in a set time. The staff are relaxed about people buying just the unlimited refill coffee and sitting for hours.

Now for the problems with pubs. There's the national problem and the local problem which, in my view, can be boiled down to shite landlords...you know the type my pub, my rules. Which leads to regulars who rule the roost and be treated like honoured guests when someone popping in get treated like dog shit. Hence the fact there are many pubs that are not female friendly. It's the shit landlords that have dirty pubs and expensive drinks. And who don't seem to want extra customers

The other problem is actually CAMRAs (the campaign for real ale) fault. Back in the 80s ghf breweries owned most of the pubs....so they sold that brewery's beer...they were still designed to sell beer. CAMRA lobbied for that to change, breweries were no longer allowed to own more than 2,000 pubs...so pub companies were formed....they see themselves more as property companies. So they sell leases, but you have to buy all your beers, wine etc from them. So I can buy a barrel of 88 pints for £130, £1.47 per pint. Those landlords are paying £150. £1.70. They have no choice. And in many cases, if they start doing well then the lease goes up a lot at the next renewal. So you end up with decent landlords leaving and people who don't have a clue, but always wanted a pub. Or the shite landlord who pander to the regulars worried they go elsewhere but missing the big picture.

So pubs are stuffed...even worse younger people don't drink!!

So op. I understand what you are saying, but there will be a pub for you. The town i live in has bucked the trend with 7 new bars opening in the last 25 years and only one closing. But the offering varies from a spoons to a cafe bar to craft micro brewers to traditional country pubs to ones with spectacular views over the sea. Traditional pubs where mobile phones are banned! To trendy tapas bars. Oh and our sports bar.

You need to try a few more and at different times. I like a more mature afternoon, early evening drinking crowd personally

@MidnightMeltdown

I’m not surprised that younger people can no longer afford it.

Ditto. At my son's old Uni, it's an out of town campus one, they used to have several "bars" - one for each college. From what I hear, they've closed half of them due to lack of demand/custom at the same time as increased running costs. Even though they weren't run for profit - apparently run by student union, they couldn't keep up with staffing costs, utilities, etc. and rather than running at a loss, they decided to "merge" them so it's now one bar between two colleges.

You know that things are bad when Uni students stop going to pubs/bars!!

I run a business selling pints. We charge approx £4.50 for a pint of beer and £3.95 for a pint of coke. We use exactly the same mark up from the costs on both. Soft drinks are not much cheaper than beer to buy in.

Yes they are. Soon the coke on sale in the toilets will be cheaper than the one from the bar.

That can’t be true. A pint is what, £5-£7, on average? Nobody is charging a fiver for a Diet Coke surely.

Wow! That's 8-10 drinks each in a night.
Way more than I would drink, which is why my friends buy their own or do mini rounds.

Maybe they've left their wives at home

that is sad @OnceUponATimed for the old men on their own.

Our Wetherspoons is horrible. Filled with groups of 18 year olds snd old men sitting on their own.
We have a few amazing other local pubs. I could go in most nights and know someone in there. One has a quiz night, local bands, DJs, sometimes it is full of 20 years dancing and sometimes it is full of my friends dancing. Often it is just groups of friends of all ages having a laugh. But if you like Wetherspoons I guess you don't like music being played.
We have a real ale pub too that definitely wouldn't care if you ask for wine.
I would couldn't live somewhere without a decent pub. We go at least once a week, usually more, it's a very good community place.

we had two pubs in our village 20 years ago
now there are none
you can drink coffee in a pub
it is nice to go to if you can get there and drink without driving,
many need to offer more than alcohol due to changing behaviour, meals, outdoor space, live music, our nearest pub is good at doing that.

I probably average going to the pub twice a week over the year.one of those is a packed regular pub quiz to see friends where most of us are on soft drinks, £1.20 soda water and lime…. It’s a nice pub, it’s friendly and has regulars at the quiz.

then probably once a week will pop in a pub at the weekend for a drink after a dog walk or to have a meal out.

our local Wetherspoons isn’t a particularly nice one. but I’ve been to good ones, there’s one in Putney right on the river.

every so often I’ll get a hankering for a pint in a proper old man’s pub of which there are a few where I live.

So I can’t agree they are all awful and I for one think they have a place.

I'm in SE London and I love my local pub. I don't go as often as I'd like (money reasons mainly) but do enjoy going with friends and family - my teenage kids love it there too.

Interesting comments about Wetherspoons - I like a Spoons mainly cos it's cheap, but I'd happily go as a lone female (there's one not too far from me that I go to during the day sometimes at the weekend for a coffee while I wait for my daughter) I've never been in a Spoons I felt uncomfortable or unsafe in. I like that they don't let in dogs and they don't play music. Cheap and easy to chat! We used to have one on our local high street and would regularly take the kids there for tea.

I like a pub. We usually holiday in the UK and will always find a pub we like. I think it's a real shame they are all closing. I love a cold beer in a sunny pub garden 😊

Sherry! I forget that even exists this century. Pubs certainly aren’t closing for lack of catering to the tastes of sherry drinkers.

Let’s not forget that times change. Years ago people didn’t have the entertainment available which they do now. Now you can chat to friends online, buy alcohol cheaper from the supermarket, sit in comfort in your own home with being harassed. Even the fact of meeting a new boyfriend has been eroded by online dating.
I wouldn’t go into a pub alone, a cafe yes but not a pub. So there’s that too.

I think the op does have a point. I’m lucky in that my town still has lots of pubs and lots of variety.
Some are much better than others.
One thing which really annoys me is how much they charge for soft drinks. Often it’s the same as alcohol which should never be the case especially for diet drinks.
At least Wetherspoons don’t charge the earth for pop.
I also like the fact that Wetherspoons don’t have tvs or sport.
They do tend to cram lots of tables in though, whether that’s a good thing or bad thing is debatable.
The food is poor but the choice of drinks and price of drinks is good.
Charging the same for a Diet Coke as a pint of beer doesn’t make me have any sympathy for failing pubs.
Pubs do need to up their game. They are providing a service and poor service means people won’t return.