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

[Bertiebiscuit]

More banging on in the news about pubs closing, who cares? Most of them are annoying blokey places, not much use to those like me who hate beer and sport and are sneered at for wanting decent sherry or good wine, which most pubs are very bad at. London pubs are especially awful, not enough seating, horrible music, very poor toilets and t v s broadcasting sport. Nightmare. Only Wetherspoons seems to get it right, affordable food, good range of wine and cocktails, lots of seating inside and out - I can ignore the sport. If I'm buying alcohol at ordinary London prices i expect somewhere comfortable to sit and decent facilities, most pubs aimed at men i suspect. So good riddance. I wish we were more like Europe, cafes serving alcohol as well as coffee and food.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 😂

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.

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!!!