To praise Wetherspoons

[itsnotmeitsu]

And no, I've not been to one tonight. I've spent the day on my own, at home. But when I visit it's always the same one, which is in a lovely listed building. As a caveat, I only go there on a Sunday lunchtime, so can't account for what it's like on a Friday/Saturday night.

The pub chain seems to have a bad reputation, but from what I've seen it can be a place for those, who would otherwise feel very isolated, to find a bit of life and get outside of their home, whilst being able to afford the drink and food prices. I would feel comfortable to spend time in the couple of Wetherspoons I know of as a woman on my own, or an elderly person just wanting to be in a social atmosphere, reading a book and having a cheap drink, or topping up my endless cups of coffee or tea, and not be sitting at home feeling like I was the only person in the world.

I agree, you always know what to expect when you visit a Wetherspoons.

In Sheffield recently, three of us just could not decide where to go for lunch. We kept going round and round "pizza, posh cafe, fish n chips, Gregs?" and literally none of us could agree on where to go either the place looked too busy or too expensive or wrong menu choices... it was getting so annoying. Then we were stood outside the Wetherspoons.

We all agreed there and then. Had a decent lunch, very affordable, nice atmosphere, big table, fast service, had a lovely natter and follow up drinks. Perfect!

Glad to have joined a Wetherspoons appreciation thread 😜

YANBU. I used to spend hours doodling and people watching in one, whilst having endless tea.

I agree. There is a very great deal of snobbery about 'Spoons which is a shame.

I love Spoons

I agree. I've recently started meeting a family member in one in a town which is half way between us. We don't get to catch up often, so when we do we just want to sit and chat but not spend a fortune or feel like the restaurant/cafe want their table back within 60-90 mins. So this large, clean, friendly Spoons with endless tea for £1.20 is perfect for us.

I don't like the fact the owner treated his staff appallingly during the pandemic tho...

I agree and don't get the spoons hate on here, ours runs lots of trips out to different towns/markets and is generally really good for the community.

I agree , I go to one a couple of times a month, it's a small one compared to most ( it even has toilets on the ground floor ! ) , it has a good range of drinks at a decent price, and while the food is never going to be gourmet it's reliable and generally quick service.
The fact that the app enables me to order at the table makes life easier too.

I love Spoons too!

As a family we quite often go to the Spoons in town.. its cosy, interesting old building with lots of history/old pics on wall, reasonably prices rinks and meals, quite family friendly, always get a table whenever we go.. I like the lack of pretentious in both decor and menu. I feel like some people I know would shudder at the thought of it.. bit I can't be doing with the snobbery around it. Much better value than some of the local more 'upmarket' pubs...

Love a spoons. We go for a family breakfast sometimes if we want a fry up as a weekend treat!

I really like how ’Spoons renovates and repurposes old historic buildings.

As to how it treats its staff and Tim Martin’s political views, not so much.

...waiting for the posters to come on to say they sacked a load of employees during covid 😂 That didn't happen but posters say it every time spoons are mentioned

Yes agree with PP that service is also good...never had to wait to order at bar and food comes along quite quickly. I rate the Chicken Jalfrezi meal with a pint by the way..about £10 IIRC

Love the spoons! We go there fairly regularly for a quick lunch at the weekend, the kids like the food, you can order on the app which makes it easy, the toilets are usually ok although you have to trek to get there. Staff in our local one are lovely too.

We went to the other non wetherspoons pub in our town that does food last week - took three times as long and cost three times as much, wasn't three times nicer.

The staff in our local Wetherspoons always seem quite happy to be there...unlike a lot of other pubs/eateries in town.

Love a Spoons, the pizza is actually bloody delicious and is a fraction of the price (WITH a glass of wine) of a pizza express or prezzo.

I like it too

No complaints here. I tend not to eat there, but have had drinks. I really appreciate their reasonable prices. I live in Edinburgh where you normally pay over the odds for most things, so it's nice to catch a break!

Great for me and my ND teen as he knows what to expect in Spoons and we can grab a table and order via the app.
Cheap puds for kids..guilt free prosecco for me.
Long live Spoons!!

@XenoBitch > I absolutely love my people watching. In our regular Wetherspoons its great to see the same people in there whenever we're in, and to see how much the locals treat it as a community space.

I agree, its somewhere warm and welcoming lonely older people can go and watch the world go by.

Well they rescued a major building in my home town. Turned it into a hotel. I don't think anyone else would have been able to put that kind of money up.
It's always full!

I love it! Never had a bad fish and chips there and their chocolate fudge cake is the best I've come across so far!

Big fans of Spoons. You always feel safe no matter what time of day. We stayed 3 days in one of their hotels once, wish we had gone sooner rather than the hotel we had chosen before moving to it to extend our break We had a very comfortable bed, excellent tv enormous shower, individual heat & aircon & absolutely spotless room, could not fault the place, and of course good prices