To not understand snobbery against Wetherspoons?

[CatsArePeople]

They're really ok. Certainly not worse than McDonalds or your local greasy spoon.

Nope, closed my Amazon account about two years ago. Practical action is not virtue signalling. Closing my prime account has saved me over £1000 in non essential purchases per year as well as telling Jef Bezos I don’t like his business practices.

I love our local spoons! Often take the kids for a midweek tea, the app makes it easy!

City centre one is grubby and def a drinkers pub but there are two others in town that are nice!

I think the food is fine! Steaks are lovely! The fish and chips is really good too!

I'm not snobby about them but the owner is a Brexiteer and I'm coeliac so not really able to eat there. McDonalds has the holy grail of a meal that is both vegetarian and gluten free.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Wetherspoons are happy to sell booze long after they should be refusing service"

I find the opposite. They're stricter than other places about this, maybe because they have a reputation as a cheap pub.

Definitely not the case in the 2 local to me - hence the fights & lakes of vomit outside at the end of the night

I should hate it, I know. But I love a bargain and I love their nachos (only thing I eat there). I am teetotal so I just get a pepsi. I like eating out at nice restaurants too but I do like to balance it out with a cheaper meal at spoons. Also my orthodox Jewish MIL is somehow ok with going there cos she can just get tea there (and it's cheap) while we eat so this does expand our options during days out. And yes some of their pubs are in beautiful listed buildings

There are some wetherspoons pubs that don't feel safe but at least the staff have always been friendly; I have been to pubs who would serve white people but refuse to serve me (in towns outside London). No spoons has ever treated me this way despite their owner being an odious Brexiter.

Tim Martin is NOT 'the owner'. He is yes, a major shareholder (c22%), and thus one owner amongst many others (including 14,000 employees), but the majority of ownership is in the hands (as with other large companies) of pension and investment funds - and if you own any of those, you'll probably find, that you are ipso facto, an owner yourself !

@Smorgasborb actually yes there are signs but not in your words.
There are 2 real fires. One in the adult for food and one in the family section.
(Large fire guards)
I'm sure it might get the bigger drinkers in the evening.
I've even been in for coffee while waiting for DH coming from the dentist.
The staff are friendly. The food is decent and reasonably priced for mid week.

I agree that Wetherspoons is not worse than McDonalds. That does not make them a good thing though.

I don't go for the same reason already mentioned, Tim Martin. Don't agree with a lot of his politics (supporting Brexit for one) and don't want to line his pockets while his staff get treated like crap, especially during the first lockdown.

I like going to my local spoons. I know the staff by name etc. It's clean and cheerful. It used to be a cinema years ago and they've actually restored the seats etc upstairs and have dummies sitting like they are watching a film.

I was in there last night on my own till about 11pm with my kindle and pints. Always felt safe in there on my own which is handy as I used to live alone. We were also in in the morning getting a breakfast.

It's known as 'A Pint and a Fight' in our area. Last time we were in was a lunch time and a guy was so drunk he peed as he sat on the barstool and it puddled around the floor. DH went to loo and two guys were openly taking cocaine. The food was general 'Iceland Food' our local greasy spoon however is fantastic and totally family friendly and I don't worry about my DS going to the loo and seeing drug use (he has LDs).

Well, food is awful. The clientele can be interesting, though perhaps that is location dependent.

And the founder/CEO is an unpleasant, self-satisfied arse who had treated his staff pretty poorly historically (and bas not improved with covid). I won’t set foot in a weatherspoons on point of principal, even if I could be persuaded to leave my tastebuds at the door. I very, very seldom frequent a MacDonalds/KFC/Burger King and don’t go to greasy spoons either, because I don’t enjoy it.

It's fine but it's not exactly NICE. Like if someone booked dinner and you were looking forward to it, wouldn't you be at least a little bit disappointed if it transpired to be a Wetherspoons?

The ones by me are not the kind of place I’d go with my children but don’t mind going there as part of a group but would never be my choice

Love ours in Merseyside, always get good service, love the app, toilets always clean and know what the food will be like. Ours are definitely a mix of people, not hardened drinkers. I used to go on maternity leave alot as a sole female and never felt out of place or uncomfortable.
If you don't want to read the mag just put it on the side. We enjoy going when in local area and when around uk and haven't had a bad visit.

Vile places. Large and impersonal. Like drinking in an aircraft hanger. Can't stand them.

Sticky carpets and sticky tables. I can’t stand sticky tables. You always feel as though you’ll put your hand in some stray ketchup if you touch anything 🤮

It's Tim Martin, the big boss, I have a problem with. I don't go in Wetherspoons pubs as I don't want that awful man, who treats his staff like rubbish, getting any of my money.

We met up for family drinks in one , we all found something we liked to eat, their pizza was very nice and great value for money. The gluten free member of the party had a choice of things to eat. You often get different beers than are normally seen and apart from the few weeks before Christmas had never found anyone annoying in one. They're even better now as Covid means they have to clean the tables more often.

@Boood

Sticky carpets and sticky tables. I can’t stand sticky tables. You always feel as though you’ll put your hand in some stray ketchup if you touch anything 🤮

Yes, my old local one had sticky tables. I don't think they're all the same though.

@balanceo

Tim Martin is NOT 'the owner'. He is yes, a major shareholder (c22%), and thus one owner amongst many others (including 14,000 employees), but the majority of ownership is in the hands (as with other large companies) of pension and investment funds - and if you own any of those, you'll probably find, that you are ipso facto, an owner yourself !

Isn't he the chairman or something? He obviously controls the content of the magazine and is the public face of the company. Doesn't really matter if he owns100%.

Wikipedia (!) says as of July 2018, Martin owned 33.7m shares (31.9% of shares).

@saraclara I wasn't actually disagreeing. It's lazy not to read posts properly

I've never been to a Wetherspoons and not heard any snobbish remarks about them.

They look OK to me, browsing online. I wish there was a branch near me.

It's nearly 11pm and I'm in my local spoons alone. Friendly atmosphere, drinks brought quickly etc.