Wetherspoons Pubs List

[Ediswan]

I'd hazard a guess that 'omelette mix' likely comes in a bottle, premixed. That isn't unreasonable really!

Pre-made frozen omelettes are easy enough to come by from the likes of Brakes. Zap in a microwave for the specified time. Much simpler, and repeatable.

 

[SuspectUsual]

It sounds stupid but you'd be surprised how many establishments operate in the same way. And it isn't just pubs. Lots of cafe's and restaurants are like it too. Even preprepared meals are much more common than what most people would think.

I remember going into the cafe at Sainsbury’s in Keighley once when my kids were younger and getting them their tea while their mum did the shopping.

Fishfingers chips and peas please.

Sorry, we don’t have any peas.

But there are loads in the freezers in the shop?

Yeah but we’re not allowed to use them

 

[Jimini]

I was once in a Wetherspoon's in Reading, a few years ago now, and the bloke in front of me at the bar ordered an omelette, only to be told "we've sold out".

This particular pub was across the road from a fair-sized Sainsbury's. "Then go over there and buy some eggs!" the customer replied. Oh no, said the Wetherspoon's bar person, we don't use eggs in our omelettes, they're pre-made.

Cheap, yes. Value, no.

Ah, the Hope Tap. Great people watching pub, that

 

[Runningaround]

Pre-made frozen omelettes are easy enough to come by from the likes of Brakes. Zap in a microwave for the specified time. Much simpler, and repeatable.

Repeatable that's true. You do wonder why the ''Chef's'' in the kitchen cannot figure out how to turn the eggs into an Omelette, after all it's one of the first thing you'd make at Catering School.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2022 ==

I remember going into the cafe at Sainsbury’s in Keighley once when my kids were younger and getting them their tea while their mum did the shopping.

Fishfingers chips and peas please.

Sorry, we don’t have any peas.

But there are loads in the freezers in the shop?

Yeah but we’re not allowed to use them

Hospitals and Schools are as bad, if they have Apple trees and Blackberry's in the grounds they cannot be used to produce a pie as they are ''untraceable'', even though you can trace them by looking out the window. Far better to use ones transported in numerous vehicles across hundreds of miles, handled by more than one person

 

[Meole]

I'd hazard a guess that 'omelette mix' likely comes in a bottle, premixed. That isn't unreasonable really!

The steaks are pre cooked as well and marked with flags as to their status.
There appears to be a strong tie up with Green King as their products feature in every bar, Ruddles, Abbott and the multi national Doom Bar, the chain used to support emerging brewers, those days are over, a while ago a local small brewery was offered 50% of the normal barrel cost for a Wsp contract, those who do obviously have cut costs i.e. ingredients which brings us back to Doom Bar of course.

 

[Runningaround]

The steaks are pre cooked as well and marked with flags as to their status.
There appears to be a strong tie up with Green King as their products feature in every bar, Ruddles, Abbott and the multi national Doom Bar, the chain used to support emerging brewers, those days are over, a while ago a local small brewery was offered 50% of the normal barrel cost for a Wsp contract, those who do obviously have cut costs i.e. ingredients which brings us back to Doom Bar of course.

Marstons are following the Wetherspoons philosophy, there new builds are almost identical less the cheap price menus all identical.
Any landlord of it's brands better not have there own way of running a pub because if they are successful Marstons will squeeze every last drop out of you. Aberystwyth had five Bank's pubs all with there own individuality and with character some good some not so but each one different, then they built a generic food style pub out of town, sold off the ones in it, some were taken over by the existing landlord others have gone forever.
5 - 10 years later they buy out Brains, replace the landlords who made the pubs busy again even with covid, rip all Brains beer out and replace it with Pedigree, then close them down. Even the Brains branded pubs that have survived are now selling Wolverhampton brewed Brains Bitter.
You could source produce for 90% of the menu within 30 miles, you could serve beer produced locally. But then I'm glad neither Wetherspoons or the Chains do as they'd ruin the product and damage the reputation.
Who would drink a Ruddles from a proper pub after tasting a Wetherspoons one?

 

[PMH]

+1
Support an independent pub wherever and whenever possible.

100% this.

The only penny I spend in Wetherspoons is in their inaccessible, though admittedly excellent, toilets.

 

[Runningaround]

100% this.

The only penny I spend in Wetherspoons is in their inaccessible, though admittedly excellent, toilets.

Surprising considering how poor the food and Beer is and how dirty the tables are.

 

[dk1]

Empire State burger I had in Paignton last week was superb. I use my local Spoons at least three times a week & the toilets are always extremely good. The same cannot be said for many other pub chains. Best of all is £1.20 for unlimited Lavazza coffee. Why go anywhere else?

 

[nw1]

They dont sell Jager cos jager is forin innit?

Isn't it just drinks from EU countries (which does include Jagermeister admittedly) that Martin boycotted? Still silly though.

 

[py_megapixel]

I remember going into the cafe at Sainsbury’s in Keighley once when my kids were younger and getting them their tea while their mum did the shopping.

Fishfingers chips and peas please.

Sorry, we don’t have any peas.

But there are loads in the freezers in the shop?

Yeah but we’re not allowed to use them

Asda outsource their cafes to Compass Group which would explain their inability to use the shop's stock. I'm fairly sure Sainsburys ones are run in-house though so I'm not sure what the problem is there.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Apr 2022 ==

Best of all is £1.20 for unlimited Lavazza coffee. Why go anywhere else?

You might go somewhere else if you're a tea drinker. They make the basic error, that so many places do, of having a coffee machine which dispenses hot water rather than a separate water boiler. This ruins the tea.

 

[dk1]

Asda outsource their cafes to Compass Group which would explain their inability to use the shop's stock. I'm fairly sure Sainsburys ones are run in-house though so I'm not sure what the problem is there.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Apr 2022 ==


You might go somewhere else if you're a tea drinker. They make the basic error, that so many places do, of having a coffee machine which dispenses hot water rather than a separate water boiler. This ruins the tea.

There is almost always a separate hot water boiler beside the coffee machine(s) in Wetherspoons. One friend of mine always asks me to get his tea water from it as it’s apparently hotter.

 

[Runningaround]

Isn't it just drinks from EU countries (which does include Jagermeister admittedly) that Martin boycotted? Still silly though.

Did he boycott Guinness, Murphys, Stella, Kronenberg, Irish Whiskey, French and Italian Wine, German Beer, Swedish Vodka and stopped employing East European Barmaids who took advantage of free movement to plug the holes that UK workers won't fill?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2022 ==

Asda outsource their cafes to Compass Group which would explain their inability to use the shop's stock. I'm fairly sure Sainsburys ones are run in-house though so I'm not sure what the problem is there.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Apr 2022 ==


You might go somewhere else if you're a tea drinker. They make the basic error, that so many places do, of having a coffee machine which dispenses hot water rather than a separate water boiler. This ruins the tea.

If a food led Pub Chain can't get Beer right or cook an egg, what chance has it got of making a good cup of tea?

 

[py_megapixel]

If a food led Pub Chain can't get Beer right or cook an egg, what chance has it got of making a good cup of tea?

I'm not quite sure what the problem with beer in 'Spoons is, but then I don't often drink beer.

The food isn't fantastic, but again I don't see what the issue is. I suppose it's a bit bland and greasy, and you don't get a massive portion - but it does the job, and it's cheap. You get what you pay for.

 

[52290]

Empire State burger I had in Paignton last week was superb. I use my local Spoons at least three times a week & the toilets are always extremely good. The same cannot be said for many other pub chains. Best of all is £1.20 for unlimited Lavazza coffee. Why go anywhere else?

Hmm, now £1.20 for unlimited real ale would draw me into my local Spoon.

 

[dk1]

Hmm, now £1.20 for unlimited real ale would draw me into my local Spoon.

They are good but not that good

 

[Runningaround]

I'm not quite sure what the problem with beer in 'Spoons is, but then I don't often drink beer.

The food isn't fantastic, but again I don't see what the issue is. It suppose it's a bit bland and greasy, and you don't get a massive portion - but it does the job, and it's cheap. You get what you pay for.

Because you will find far better anywhere else you just need a bit of imagination rather than head straight for the brand names which lead you into thinking ''it'll be cheap here'' and it's product is just passable. They believe they are getting a bargain due to the brand. Its no different to passing a local bakery and heading straight to the nearest Greggs.

The problem is it's a pub serving food. If I pay someone to cook I expect them to know what they are doing and preferably be better cooks than me. Quality, quantity, service and often value is superior elsewhere. I'll also likely get a different experience each place I enter..
If you can sniff out a Wetherspoons you can surely sniff out a dodgy local( Quite often it's the Wetherspoons) you want to avoid.
The clientele most frequenting the local Wetherspoons are there for cheap beer served at 8am. They don't care how it's kept, how it tastes or how its served or whether they're sleeve sticks to the table and Wetherspoons know this so stick to it's warn out style.
I paid £2.20 for a Pint in a local pub yesterday it'd never be served that well, taste that good or ever be served in a Wetherspoons as the Brewery wouldn't risk its reputation being sold there.
I paid less than £ 7.00 for a big breakfast in a Cafe, I had what I wanted, cooked the way I liked. The cook even managed to fry an egg!!! They'd have Poached or Scrambled it if I wanted it. And due to the quantity didn't need a bag of chips on the way home later. So I saved money by not going to Spoons.

And in city centres with more to them than bland dull centre. Why do the Wetherspoons hide as best they can who they are?

 

[cactustwirly]

I've never understood the adulation of a chain pub. Some claim it's saved historical buildings? saved a town centre? They may just as likely have become something else rather than a place that looks the same inside in every town and will look dilapidated again after a few years as most Wetherspoons do.

I thought if your into ticking things off a list that the rarer, more unique places would be more interesting.

I don't give a damn on the owners politics you'll probably find far more diverse and interesting opinions down a backstreet boozer off a landlord who doesn't crave the attention as much.

If you look you'll find far better than a Wetherspoons in any town from drink to food. I enjoy popping into a pub and not knowing what to expect and stuff the guides by CAMRA who offered vouchers for said chain if you joined.( Whose supporters admitted to me will back a Wetherspoons selling a few mass produced ales over an old, small, characterful local selling two), I'll make up my own mind.

You can get a better breakfast than any Wetherspoons in a local cafe, often far cheaper for what you get in a spoons, find a good one and it'll be supplied from local producers and not one who's had to reduce it's standards to match the low price a chain has negotiated it down to and normally the doorway won't be blocked by nicotine bouncers at 7am.
'' We can have a late cheap meal on Curry Tuesday''? Almost any town with a Wetherspoons will have an Indian they aren't that more expensive but you are getting a far superior service and meal.
Think of how Tesco treats its suppliers and wonder why Wetherspoons are cheap on it's Ale the Greene King size breweries can produce it's beer cheap enough( and they taste like it too) to supply pubs but at what cost to it's product will a small brewery need to?.
The odds of hitting a poor Wetherspoons is significantly higher as you aren't aiming higher than mediocre in the first place.
Some sites seem to hide themselves as a Wetherspoons, don't know why? I don't study guides or google before I enter a pub, but when caught out I soon realise my mistake as they are all the same. Menu regular beers, sticky tables, and welcoming to alcoholics at anytime of day.
The odds of hitting a bad local is getting less as they are disappearing quickly. Perhaps that's the only redeeming factor of having a Spoons it knocks out the pubs that are worse than it.

I actually had a conversation with an elderly lady from Liverpool who was disappointed that Llangollen did not have an M & S, Wetherspoons or a Greggs she'd passed a load of towns that have, if that floats her boat then why not stay there. Thank god Llangollen isn't like them it had good pubs, good cafes and a town centre unique to Llangollen, how glad am I it's not like every other dull town centre. It seems a large number of people like the familiarity of a bland mediocre experience.

The sooner the better for me. That the revival of independent locally run Coffee shops, Craft and local Real Ale pubs get joined by Bakeries, Butchers and Farmers Market can only enhance a town centre and give it individuality and make you feel you are somewhere else.

Interesting to point out that most pubs are chains these days. Either Spoons, Marston's or Greene King. Or they are Stonegate or Mitchell's and Butlers (the latter two don't make it obvious that they own the pubs).

My local is a M&B gastro pub, it's expensive but night and day difference with a spoons. A modern clean interior, decent selection of beers and the food is really good. It's definitely freshly prepared and cooked in the kitchen.

 

[jon0844]

Asda outsource their cafes to Compass Group which would explain their inability to use the shop's stock. I'm fairly sure Sainsburys ones are run in-house though so I'm not sure what the problem is there.

Sainsbury's are closing their cafes in a large number of stores this year, and I believe they'll keep the area but for a third-party operator - possibly going with a chain? A bit like some of the hypermarkets (or whatever they're called) having a Starbucks or similar within the store, albeit outside of the shop/till area. At my local store, the cafe is upstairs and next to the in-store Argos.

 

[py_megapixel]

Sainsbury's are closing their cafes in a large number of stores this year, and I believe they'll keep the area but for a third-party operator - possibly going with a chain? A bit like some of the hypermarkets (or whatever they're called) having a Starbucks or similar within the store, albeit outside of the shop/till area. At my local store, the cafe is upstairs and next to the in-store Argos.

Tesco have converted some of their in-store cafés to Costa concessions over the past few years, so maybe Sainsbury's want to do something like that. At least one of the Tesco locations that has had this treatment is actually across the road from a Spoons, which probably fulfills the demand for inexpensive but somewhat mediocre/boring cooked meals better than the Tesco in-house cafe did when it was open.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Most supermarket cafés have been subcontracted out for years. Any that are still in-house will be the exception rather than the rule.

Back to Spoons, I've noticed that some do better than others in terms of clientele. For example in Batley's branch (The Union Rooms) it only gets really busy at mealtimes and if the Bulldogs (local rugby league team) are at home. As a result it doesn't get too rowdy or rough. The Timepiece in nearby Dewsbury is to be avoided though.

 

[dk1]

Most supermarket cafés have been subcontracted out for years. Any that are still in-house will be the exception rather than the rule.

Back to Spoons, I've noticed that some do better than others in terms of clientele. For example in Batley's branch (The Union Rooms) it only gets really busy at mealtimes and if the Bulldogs (local rugby league team) are at home. As a result it doesn't get too rowdy or rough. The Timepiece in nearby Dewsbury is to be avoided though.

Sainsbury’s where always in-house.

I’ve ticked getting on for 550 Spoons & it varies quite a bit. The generalisation does annoy me as it’s very far from the truth & usually comes from the haters. Rotherham always stood out for me. The original one in the shopping area was awful, in desperate need of a refurb with many of those taking their sticks for a walk & lots smoking outside. The other just up the hill was well run, full of families & a world away from the one I’d visited 10 minutes earlier.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Tim Martin is a creep and I’d far rather spend my money anywhere else but goodness, so many pubs don’t make it easy.

I’m a cider drinker. Most Spoons have a real cider on. Most independents don’t, even those that pride themselves on their real ales. If your cider offering is Wrongbow and Krapparberg then sorry, but I’m going to the Spoons down the road.

(A bag in a box of Old Rosie keeps for up to six months. There’s really no excuse.)

 

[DarloRich]

Sainsbury’s where always in-house.

I’ve ticked getting on for 550 Spoons & it varies quite a bit. The generalisation does annoy me as it’s very far from the truth & usually comes from the haters. Rotherham always stood out for me. The original one in the shopping area was awful, in desperate need of a refurb with many of those taking their sticks for a walk & lots smoking outside. The other just up the hill was well run, full of families & a world away from the one I’d visited 10 minutes earlier.

I agree - I have been in some good Spoons and some chavy ones with sticky carpet and day long drinkers on whom life has given up. Regardless, I still don't want to spend any more money in them, good or bad.

Most independents don’t, even those that pride themselves on their real ales. If your cider offering is Wrongbow and Krapparberg then sorry, but I’m going to the Spoons down the road.

I have noted an increase in the variety of cider on offer in decent pubs. Those in the good beer guide tend to keep a good one but it is by no means a given.

 

[dk1]

Regardless, I still don't want to spend any more money in them, good or bad.

Spiting the nose off your own face there

 

[DarloRich]

Spiting the nose off your own face there

If you are happy with average be my guest. That is your business. I will go and drink a better beer, in a better pub with a better clientele and do so without any political nonsense from the owner. I acknowledge that in wanting higher quality I will have to pay a higher price. I am comfortable with that.

 

[dk1]

If you are happy with average be my guest. That is your business. I will go and drink a better beer, in a better pub with a better clientele and do so without any political nonsense from the owner. I acknowledge that in wanting higher quality I will have to pay a higher price. I am comfortable with that.

Couldn’t care less about the owners attitude or political or sexual orientation for that matter in any business. What it costs me & how comfortable & happy I feel in any establishment is all I would care about. Average is one of my favourite words too. It hasn’t got much to do about beer either for me.

 

[DarloRich]

It hasn’t got much to do about beer either for me.

it does for me. I like good ale.

What it costs me & how comfortable & happy I feel in any establishment is all I would care about.

I don't feel good or happy to be in Weatherspoons so I don't go in. If you do then crack on.

Couldn’t care less about the owners attitude or political or sexual orientation for that matter in any business

Neither do I as long as he doesn't force it on me, which is exactly what Martin did and exactly why I stepped back and looked at what he was offering. I decided I didn't like it any more. I went in Weatherspoons all the time, up and down the country following the football. Now I don't. There is so much better out there

 

[dk1]

it does for me. I like good ale.


I don't feel good or happy to be in Weatherspoons so I don't go in. If you do then crack on.


Neither do I as long as he doesn't force it on me, which is exactly what Martin did and exactly why I stepped back and looked at what he was offering. I decided I didn't like it any more. I went in Weatherspoons all the time, up and down the country following the football. Now I don't. There is so much better out there

There is no A in Wetherspoons. That’s my biggest pet hate.

 

[DarloRich]

There is no A in Wetherspoons. That’s my biggest pet hate.

good point - predicative text. Apologies.