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Original poster

To not want to eat in Wetherspoons?

617 replies

giveitarestplease · 27/10/2021 23:13

Popped out with BIL and OH today, I absolutely despise Wetherspoons but they love a bargain and aren't too fussy.

I'm not a snob in anyway shape or form I just can't stand it. I eventually went with them and sat in there and waited until they finished.

I just hate the old dirty pubs and how fast the rancid food comes out 🤢 the alcoholics that have been sat there since the moment they opened the doors on the morning.

I'd much rather go to one of our local independent cafes and have a nice lunch and I know it's not coming out of the microwave. I know it's not the same price bracket but you know what I mean.

They always laugh and joke and call me a snob and say I think I'm better than everyone else. But I'm really not and I don't think that.

OP posts:
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19
keffie12 · 29/10/2021 23:02

You don't want to frequent there or eat there yhstd fine. Don't go with them in future

For the record it's not my type of place either. Anyway as a #HardRemainer and activist I wouldn't put a penny in Wetherspoon pocket.

No tears from me his business is struggling and he is making a loss. The guy is an

RampantIvy · 29/10/2021 23:02

I'm with you on this OP. Weatherspoons, all of them, are vile places

What, every single one of the 925 pubs in the UK? And you have been into and eaten at every single one?

Notmrsfitz · 29/10/2021 23:18

Well, I quite like Friday fish and chips and a double pink gin at ‘spoons.
I also like to go out to nice restaurants too- been to one tonight -but I enjoy the company of the people I’m out with as much as the food.
But for me the best fridays are lunchtime at ‘spoons.

I think with an attitude like yours - you’re missing out on more than just a menu.

I’m also not against having chips peas and gravy and a can of Coke sat on the outside market if that’s what my friends want to do.

Meh2020 · 29/10/2021 23:21

OP completely agree with you and others who mentioned about the disgusting owner.

I’ve been to quite a few in the past but couldn’t take the all day drinkers, general grubbiness and the glasses never seem clean.

Stolengoat · 29/10/2021 23:27

I'd rather spend money in Weatherspoons, than Sports Direct. Plus the spoons by us in not in the, so it's much better than the town centre ones.

MissNothing1991 · 29/10/2021 23:38

@IggleyP

I don’t eat in there either OP, or in premier inn type places. This is not because I am a snob; I happily eat in greasy spoon cafes if I want a cooked breakfast for example.

What I don’t want to do is pay around £10 for a ready meal to be microwaved and put in front of me. I don’t eat frozen cheap microwave meals at home, so why on earth would I pay 4 times the price to go out and have one?!

(Also, the one near me is always full of alcoholics who sit in the same chairs all day, and it smells bad in there, so the OP is probably quite correct in her description, they aren’t all lovely old buildings)

So going by your wording... You are a snob. Talking down about the 'alcoholics' as usual whilst nothing nothing about their lives and whether or not they actually do have an addiction to alcohol. You've just assumed
exaltedwombat · 30/10/2021 01:49

The Wetherspoons boss is a horrible Tory Brexiter. But probably no worse than any other pub chain owner, he just liked publicising it.

He shot his mouth off at the beginning of lockdown, but soon recanted, and treated his staff about as well as any other employer.

I've known one Wetherspoons that was a bit grubby. But otherwise, I don't recognise your description at all.

FrenchBulldogsareFab · 30/10/2021 05:52

Snob. I support independent high street business when I can based on quality and service. I have no idea if they are a good or bad employer. You've just jumped on the 'acceptable' anti bandwagon.

Darlingx · 30/10/2021 06:35

giveitarestplease

I remember a friend in my youth whose strapline when working at the Harvester was ‘ Have you been to a Harvester before? and you came back ’He would greet all visitors at The Harvester with this at the door and they did come back Confusedsounds like you concur.
I was out with my mother who said lets go somewhere nice to eat as I had done some work for her. She was nipping in M&S and decided on revisiting their cafe . I ordered the Sourdough toastie with Swiss cheese and mushrooms as soups are usually a disappointment as in too watery and It arrives the sandwich had not been toasted it had been microwaved it was like a car sponge with melted cheese very soft and doughy no crunch to it as in toastie hasn’t been near a Toaster or grill. It looked exactly like the picture though . My mother got an important phone call as bad reception and I was left sitting there with an atmosphere that I can only describe as Service station as in strip lighting and people mopping the floors around you and a sort of canteen misery. I realised the M&S cafe would have evolved from their service station stops and that’s why. When I think Kew/ Richmond there was a really lovely cafe nearby with views , crunchy toast and fresh air I was gutted I had been steered into hanging out there as in turned out to sit solo I did have to laugh and held back on my views as she had treated me but I completely empathise with you in not wanting to sit somewhere that feels soulless to you. I don’t often get to do cafe stops and it’s a treat plus vote with your feet on who you support those independents depend on it unlike chains that monopolise train stations or service stations where they have a captive audience so to speak

TrickyD · 30/10/2021 06:41

Why is calling someone a snob meant to be an insult? What's wrong with being one?
I have never been to Wetherspoons but from what is described here there is plenty to be snobbish about.

Iwantmyoldnameback · 30/10/2021 07:04

A lot of snobby posters on here obviously live in shitty areas.😂

I think drinking a drink from outside in is very common personally.
And well done Iceland for inventing a special type of frozen food that goes off quicker than any other!

As I suspected some people think being called a snob is a complement. It really isn't.

ThirdElephant · 30/10/2021 07:16

@TrickyD

Why is calling someone a snob meant to be an insult? What's wrong with being one? I have never been to Wetherspoons but from what is described here there is plenty to be snobbish about.
Snob, noun: one who blatantly imitates, fawningly admires, or vulgarly seeks association with those regarded as social superiors

3a: one who tends to rebuff, avoid, or ignore those regarded as inferior

b: one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste

Do you still need help to understand what's wrong with being one? Or does this clear it up?

ThirdElephant · 30/10/2021 07:18

Oh, and source:

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snob

KeyLimePies · 30/10/2021 07:54

I have a friend who loves weatherspoons (he thinks some of them are ‘posh’ based on the building). I never really used to mind them. Cheap and cheerful and clean.

That isn’t the case any more where I live though. I’ve visited 3 different ones with him this year and each one of the venues have been dirty, from the tables to the floors to the paper menus and cutlery. The last one the staff were effing and jeffing loudly about another staff member and how she was “going to get her head kicked in”. Grim indeed.

Your comments about other customers is snobby though. There are people who wait for the doors to open at every pub. Some like an early pint and cheap breakfast and to read the paper / look at the form for the races. So what?

Lightisnotwhite · 30/10/2021 08:02

They do a sodding quinoa salad. Comes with cabbage, squash, tomatoes , kale, peppers, pumpkin seeds
No beige or microwave involved.
Under a tenner with a glass of wine.

No ones forcing ultra processed crap on you even in Spoons.

londonrach · 30/10/2021 08:11

I find it a great place to take DD too. You do sound like a snob

Belledan1 · 30/10/2021 08:15

I do too londonrach re my dc. He loves the curry and pizza. So good value as can get a j20 too in the deal. Nearly cheaper than a McDonalds meal. My local ones are nice.

liveforsummer · 30/10/2021 08:22

@Belledan1 their burgers are pretty decent too - far better than McDonald's and you can enjoy them with a glass of wine, as you say, for the same price as a Big Mac meal with coke. Perfect as a stop off when out shopping for the day with dc - less so for a nice evening meal. Definitely has its place.

over2021 · 30/10/2021 08:24

I'm with you OP. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with being a 'snob'.

MN is a weird place where the majority posters seem to have £100k+ incomes, private schooling yet apparently frequent 'Spoons for flat beer and a microwave burger.

liveforsummer · 30/10/2021 08:28

@over2021 when was the last time you actually had a beer in Wetherspoons? They actually do award winning real ales including guest ones which are hugely popular and found in posh traditional pubs too, pumped for my the traditional real ale taps. If you've received a flat lager then mention it and the staff will replace the gas. They serve the same lager firm the same pumps with the same gas ratio as every other pub. Beer is actually something they do do very well (I don't drink beer but I have worked in Wetherspoons in the past)

liveforsummer · 30/10/2021 08:29

Oh and the burgers are cooked on a grill.

Somebodylikeyew · 30/10/2021 08:30

Would i choose a spoons if it were down to me and there were other options? No. But if you’re going out as part of a group and the majority picks somewhere that isn’t my first choice I’d absolutely still join them at the meal.

You just sound a bit graceless/joyless tbh, sitting there with takeaway hot drinks from somewhere else (really??) refusing to eat.

Either go and properly join in or let your OH go and have a proper meal and catch up with his brother without your disapproval hanging over the whole thing.

saraclara · 30/10/2021 08:37

@over2021

I'm with you OP. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with being a 'snob'.

MN is a weird place where the majority posters seem to have £100k+ incomes, private schooling yet apparently frequent 'Spoons for flat beer and a microwave burger.

There's everything wrong with being a snob. Having preferences is fine. Looking down on other people's (when it may be all they can afford) is not. Lying to make your snobby point is also wrong. The beer is not flat, and the burgers are not microwaved. My friend goes to Wetherspoons particularly for the selection and the care they take of their beers, compared to the average pub, and I've eaten their burgers.
RampantIvy · 30/10/2021 08:50

[quote liveforsummer]@over2021 when was the last time you actually had a beer in Wetherspoons? They actually do award winning real ales including guest ones which are hugely popular and found in posh traditional pubs too, pumped for my the traditional real ale taps. If you've received a flat lager then mention it and the staff will replace the gas. They serve the same lager firm the same pumps with the same gas ratio as every other pub. Beer is actually something they do do very well (I don't drink beer but I have worked in Wetherspoons in the past) [/quote]
DH agrees with you re the beer. A lot of Wetherspoons pubs are in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

I think a lot of posters on this thread aren't familiar with the expression "tarring something with the same brush". They have been to one or two Wetherspoon pubs which are grubby with sticky carpets and think that they are all the same.

I have eaten in less than half a dozen of them (because they wouldn't be my first choice either), and the food has ranged from poor to pretty good. Every pub was clean though.

Belledan1 · 30/10/2021 09:22

Liveforsummer. Yes they are nice . I normally gave chicken skinny burger with salad .