I don't mind Wetherspoons meals when I'm out with lads for a few beers and we fancy something to eat. But then I don't thing they try to be anything else but crappy food for drunk people.

If I was out for an evening meal or taking someone for a meal I'd go somewhere a lot nicer.

Wetherspoons got me through my student days, it wasn't bad and they had some good deals. This was quite a few years ago, the ones I've been to lately haven't been that clean, the staff serve customers based on breast size and there has been a depressed feeling about the places overall. So actually wanting to eat there has been a no go.

Nottingham has got some good ones and some bad ones, the one in market square is disgusting always full of pissy smelling alcoholic tramps but the roebuck is much nicer, ive always enjoyed the food and alcohol is very cheap

I found it really does depend on the area. Ive been to two in Manchester city centre and they vary so much. The one in Piccadilly Gardens is quite possibly the worst place on earth. I have to walk past it every night on my way home, and 99% of the time there will be either a) police outside b) drunks fighting or c) a drunk woman slumped in the doorway.

But the other one in St Peters Square is actually quite nice, food is decent, like others have said you pay for what you get.

That's the Joseph Else which I mentioned earlier. The last time I was there ( We were on a pub crawl and the chap whose round it was decided to go in) a group of middle aged women blatantly stole a large pot plant and just walked out with it.

Not the place to take a girl on a first date!

Anyone been to the one in Exeter that used to be a church? Amazing place.

Beer Festival next week!

I'm not a fan but pop in for the choice of ales every now and then.

Found the best one to be around the corner from holborn station not the one next to it.

There are 3 around my way. One I don't mind going to but the other two are just full of old men drinking beer from 10 in the morning until 10 at night.

The food is of varying quality and quantity but the cheese and spring onion sauce on the gourmet burger is always 'lish. Reasonably priced beer and well kept ale are their strongest points.

Been once, to the one in Cardiff. Hated it. The food was dire, even for what we paid.

The range on offer isn't that bad but the quality isn't the best. However, you are paying a reasonable price for mostly reasonable food. I have had some poor experiences though but the staff have always been obliging if I have told them. I don't think a lot of their burgers anymore though. As a student, I used to take advantage of the beer and burger offer quite a bit. As Lisa J and others have said, they vary from area to area. I used to prefer food from the Yates chain though it must be said.

As a general rule, I am fortunate in that there are lots of independent and local restaurants that offer better quality food for only a little bit more than what I would pay for food in a wetherspoons. Regrettably I eat out with a friend quite often that is quite tight with money and tries to convince me to go to some of the chains that don't really have a lot to offer. She doesn't like Wetherspoons though, which is a pity, as we could probably compromise a great deal more if she did.


Good taste! I wouldn't be able to get buffalo trace in any other pub or bar in my local town so normally a visit to Spoons is in order for a crawl. The prices and range of the alcoholic beverages is a winner in my opinion.

There are pros and cons to Wetherspoons and I'm sad to say that in my experience, the cons outweigh the pros. This is a shame as their concept of REAL beer at a cheaper price really appeals to me.

My big bug bear is with the staff. Apart from the Red Lion And Pineapple in Acton (who have excellent, attentive and clued up bar staff), other Wetherspoons have dreadful staff.

Typically, you'll get between 4 and 6 staff behind the bar. However, when trying to order a pint, I'm met with "oh, I'm not serving". Well, why are you standing behind the bar then??

I then find there's 1, maybe 2 at most who are serving and are rushed off their feet. The others just stand there chatting. Tim Martin used to boast about Wetherspoons having an excellent management training scheme. Well Tim, tell your managers to get as many staff as possible SERVING, so they are taking the customers money and keeping them happy.

Their food is delivered ready cooked in packets. I know this after a failed curry night when I was told the night was off as "we've not been sent any rice".
Curry night in the Surbiton Wetherspoons was a massive success; it took us 3 visits before we could even bag a table!
So, that evening, we were gobsmacked to be told curry night was cancelled because they had no rice.

At the time, there were 3 supermarkets within a few minutes walk. A good manager would've gone there, bought as much rice as he needed, boiled it for 10 minutes and served it. He didn't have a clue and instead, wholly cancelled the lucrative curry night.

They wouldnt have pans.

The rice comes in bag that you lob in the micro for 2 mins.

The food in wetherspoons is just short of awful. I wouldn't never go there if food was my main motivation.
The reason to go to a wetherspoons is their real ale! They have a great selection, a good prices and they always have new ones to try.
Atmosphere is down to the individual pubs. We are lucky to have an older type pub with booths and cubby holes with fairly good staff (it can be a little slow).

You can get it in ASDA for £19. That surprised me when I first found out as it is the "cheap" option in Wetherspoons compared to JD and JB.

I just by supermarket own if I want a bottle for home

Thanks for the heads up on that. I shall make a point of having a look for it the next time I go to ASDA. Surprising on the pricing though I'll say.

The Wetherspoon in Merthyr Tydfil might well have the cheapest coffee in the country. The Latte was just 65p for a small cup and 95p for a large cup!

I've only eaten in two Wetherspoons pubs: the one in Cheltenham was lukewarm and awful; the one at the NEC was disgusting – you wouldn't think it was possible to make such a godawful mess of fish, chips and peas.

The beer's usually okay though.

Weatherspoons is excellent for proper beer, and the food is decent. it's not awful, and I've paid a lot more for worse. The curry club is great value.

Not had a curry there for a while but was sat with a friend who was having a tikka masala a few weeks back and he wasn't too happy.

He said they'd changed the recipe and that it was full of spinach (Actually it was corriander).
It also looked like a visibally smaller portion.

I tried it and it tasted fine but as I haven't had one for ages then I really couldn't compare between how it used to be.

Only ever been in one once, 9am, had a bacon bap and a coffee,wasnt the best, I couldn't believe the amount of people having a beer that time in the morning, a proper cafe and a good fry up wins me over.

I've had the veggie breakfast many times, good value. I also enjoy the fresh fruit with yoghurt.

Their chips are excellent. They also do chicken goujons which are delicious and actually taste very fresh, I would be surprised if they were cooked from frozen. The hotdog is great, and is huge and I had cheese and bacon added to mine and it was divine.

I don't mind Wetherspoons but I do agree about the drinking. I wouldn't dream of downing pints at breakfast but its clear many people do.

The first Wsps I went to had a 'chef' and all he did was prepare food. He was soon dispensed of and the work was shared amongst the bar staff who also had to clean the toilets when required. I don't eat in Wsps.

It really depends on the individual Wetherspoons. Some are awful, some are really good.

I went to one in Taunton a year or so back which was fantastic, and the one in Newtown Powys is pretty good too.

Unfortunately the two in the centre of Swansea tend towards the lower end of the scale...