J D Wetherspoon pub chain (Central (West) in general)

Member Name: slackjack

Product:	Central (West) in general
Date:	04/07/00 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap. No music so you can talk if you like.

Disadvantages: No atmosphere, poor service, always running out of things.

I don't know if this is the right place to put this - I know there are pub reviews in the city and campus guides, but I want to talk about the entire chain of J D Wetherspoon.

If you live in any moderately sized town, you can't have failed to have noticed a Wetherspoon pub. They've probably bought a big old building in your town, and the local paper will congratulate them for turning what was once a derelict eyesore into a useful building again. Then the pub opens, so curious, you go for a look around. They've spent a fortune on the place - it's all freshly decorated, and has carpets and comfy chairs. You go to the bar - what's this? These prices are really cheap. Great, you think I'll come here again. I have found though that the novelty soon begins to wear off. For a start, the pubs have no atmosphere at all - not even any attempt at any atmosphere. And what's worse, is that the numbers of Wetherspoons (and all the other chain pubs) are multiplying so rapidly that soon all the nice pubs will have gone and this is all we'll have. It's more like having a pint in the bar of a motel than in a pub. Service isn't fantastic - the staff don't seem to attempt to keep an eye on who should be served next, and often get drinks orders completely wrong.

Then a trend for running out of things began. At first, not major things. Order a plate of nacho's and they've run out of salsa. No big deal - annoying, but no big deal. But then it started to get worse. One time I ordered food to find they had no cheese. The very next time I was there, they'd run out of nearly all the food - one of the barmen had to come and point at the things that actually were available on the menu. My favourite Wetherspoon story is from a friend who's local branch managed to run out of draught beer for two weeks - this was the branch that had run out of change when I visited and still owes me three pence. Now and then t
his wouldn't be so bad, but it happens all to often, and it's not as if the staff are ever at all apologetic.

The pubs are also now beginning to employ bouncers in some of their larger branches. I have once been asked rather unpleasantly to get my feet off the furniture when they weren't even on it. On another occasion, after eight of us had been drinking in the pub for six hours, we were less than impressed with their method of emptying the pub - putting on the floodlights, and sending bouncers round to virtually scream in your face to drink up and get out.

They may be cheap, but the lack of atmosphere, the doubt that you'll even be able to buy what you want combined with poor service means that Wetherspoons isn't necessarily the best place for a good night out.

Summary: