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.

Ok so I'm a snob and really dislike our local one and think the food is vile BUT it is cheap, the staff are always lovely, building interesting and absolutely agree that is provides a meeting place for people who otherwise wouldn't have anywhere affordable to meet.

I have been in some lovely Spoons but I don’t like my local one. It is a lovely old building, but sticky tables and carpets and rather rough clientele.

There are some that rough and others that are not. It depends very much where they are.

The one we go to is lots of families during the day time and is not rough at all. Unless you think working class equals rough.
There veggie breakfast is good value and I have had worse veggie sausages in more expensive places.

I love most spoons, our local one is very popular with elderly people who like the hot drinks refills and cheap meals. It's become a bit of a social Club for a group of ladies I often see in there, the staff take a genuine interest in them........spoons have done more for low income pensioners struggling to keep warm than our present government tbh.

For example, Amazon treats it's employees appallingly and avoids paying tax in the UK but I bet a lot of Wetherspoons owner haters still use Amazon

nope, I don’t use Amazon or Wetherspoons. I have a long list of shops & businesses that I will not use for a multitude of reasons

Yes that’s very true 😆

some are absolutely fine for lunch I know it’s not going to be the best food I’ve eaten out but good for the money and some settings are really nice I don’t drink often but they do nice tea and hot chocolate

Yes and that have horrible/Brexit supporting owners too!

I've dealt with some bloody horrible owners in the hospitality industry and on the Brexit front I live in a strongly Brexit voting area so I'm certain many local pubs owners were in favour of it too. At least Tim Martin does genuinely support UK suppliers in return.

No he furlouged his staff...and then was miss quoted in the daily mail (who seem to dislike him as they often miss report) they said he told staff to leave and work for Tesco. What he said was as his pubs were closed and the supermarkets were struggling for staff his employees should work there and he would 're employ them when he reopens

I have worked in nurseries. Most nurseries treat their staff appallingly, and lots of MN use them.
Its easy to boycott somewhere you were never going to go in the first place.

Anywhere that sells extremely cheap alcohol designed to be consumed immediately at 9am is ethically dubious in my mind. I don’t care if it’s a big brand like Spoons or an independent pub. Nothing inherently wrong with Spoons but the culture of drinking it promotes doesn’t sit well with me.

I got married in a Spoons. There was one in London that was licensed for weddings, although they have now sold it on. It was a very popular wedding venue too.

The 5 star Mandrake hotel sells alcohol at 9am. Is that ethically dubious? Or is it okay because it is not cheap?

My elderly aunt loves it. It’s very good value too.

The only thing is I wish they would drop their anti dog policy

Nope, cheap nasty food and the owner was a big Brexit supporter.
I won't ever set foot in one.

I literally said I don’t care what the venue is. I think anywhere selling alcohol at 9am is questionable. But I dislike the culture around alcohol in general and I don’t drink, so I am aware I am probably in the minority with this view.

@Ginburee have you ever eaten their food?

Love Spoons ❤

Funny how it's always the people who have never been in one who say how terrible they are.

By all means boycott them on political grounds but don't just make stuff up to support your argument.

I think it probably depends on location and time of day / week as to whether I like Spoons. To be fair a lot of my experiences of Spoons are a long time ago now. I had two nearby. One was nice but got rammed with drunks on Friday / Saturday pre club and there were often fights. The other one was dead and full of sleazy old men at the weekend. Both fine in the week.

It does a job though doesn't it. You know what you will be getting in terms of food, prices, etc.

Is that on Oxford Rd ? It looks familiar 😉.
The one in Stevenson square ( about a 5/10 min bus ride ) is nice , unlike most WS it's not a huge open space it's got smaller cosy rooms.

So you haven't actually tried the food?

Not sure how you can judge somewhere you have never set foot in.

I do like the buildings they take over and restore, the ones I’ve been into have usually been really unusual. They serve a wide variety of drinks.
That’s about where my love for it stops though. The tables of any I’ve ever been in have always been filthy/sticky, I went to a couple and the glasses were dirty and the food was horrible!
Fine for a drink at the station while waiting for a train home, not somewhere I’d suggest as a night out.

For me this would be going straight on the positives list 😂😂