Are Wetherspoons pubs that bad?

[RedM]

I was in London on Tuesday for the day. Cold, wet, hungry, tired so a quick google near the Tower of London and found the nearest Wetherspoons. It was late afternoon and the pub was very quiet,  Had a fantastic steak meal and a Guinness for £9.99. Certainly left there well fed, warm and dry. Not the best pub historically, Goodmans Fields I think it was but it was convenient and had a much better meal than a similar priced delux McDonalds.

When I sat down and noticed the pub was in Whitechapel/Tower Hamlets I feared the worse. My London knowledge isn’t great but those aren’t desirable districts are they? But unlike many ‘spoons it didn’t seem to have the resident drinkers. The pub was very clean too, seemed to have lots of Polish workers who were doing a great job, how is Brexit going to affect this. 

Probably not one of the most popular ‘spoons in London, I have been to a few but I don’t think I have had a better meal or service.

[Guest]

On 09/11/2018 at 17:49, Northern Red said:

You've not truly experienced a grotty 'Spoons until you've been in the one in Eccles.

The one in Redhill takes some beating too - I don’t think I’ve ever seen CCTV inside toilets before. I didn’t even think that was legal!! 

[Septic Peg]

Right.

So I'm an ex spoons employee and I used to work at The Rob Fitz down Bemmy years ago. I met my husband as we both worked there so I owe Spoons founder Tim Martin a fair few beers.

So I'm gonna try and clear up some of the misconceptions.

1. The customers are mainly OAPs in the day. Two Pints Mike, Big Abbot John, Butcombe John, my dear old Roy (I miss him), scooter Len, Postman Howard, as well as many more. All the girls behind the bar had our favourite old boys who we'd have a chat with on our breaks. They all had nicknames as you can tell and they had wonderful stories. They really used to come in for the company and a chat with their fellow peers. 

2. The Friday/Saturday nights were occasionally awful. We would immediately stop serving if trouble began. A swift call to the OB or the manager wading in and the handbags were done. The best shifts I ever did were Friday nights - Black Friday - The Builders version - the last friday before Christmas brought out the trades. Builders, sparks, chippies etc. 3 different companies of about 30 blokes each gave me 3 credit cards and I put £200 through on each card. It was heaving from the minute I started til closing. I was essentially their personal bar maid and one of the owners gave me £50 cash at the end of the night. We were not allowed to accept tips and told him so so he dropped it behind the bar so I had to pick it up. The second was Xmas Eve. At midnight, we all stopped and had a beer on the house with the remaining old boys (youngsters had gone into town about 2 hours previous).

3. The food is what it is. In my day only a handful of things were cooked fresh (excluding breakfast). The rest was microwaved. It probably still is.

4. The staff were a close knit team. Like I said, myself and my husband paired off and to my knowledge, there are two other "WetherCouples with WetherBabies" from my time. 3 families started from a simple pub. There was normally a manager on shift, 2-3 bar staff, 1 floor staff and 1 chef. So that's why Wetherspoons is always so busy and dirty because we just didn't have time to do it all. We also had strict instructions to restock throughout the day as well as sort out machinery in the back etc. 

5. The prices are so dirt cheap because Spoons buys in bulk direct from the breweries or a brewery intermediate. Certain things such as Marston's Pedigree had a contract so that was always in there no matter what. Yes, the cheap prices do attract the unusual characters but after working in a few pubs, they really do pop up everywhere, believe me.

6. The toilets are upstairs because that's where the plumbing is, up in the roof. Next time you go to a loo upstairs in a Spoons, there will be a locked door on the same floor saying "Private". That's the cellar. All the beer flows down the pipes thanks to gravity, this reduces the amount of gas required to draw the beer, making it cheaper.

 

And that's that really. Any questions, send them in.

[northsomersetred]

On 23/11/2018 at 17:32, Septic Peg said:

Right.

So I'm an ex spoons employee and I used to work at The Rob Fitz down Bemmy years ago. I met my husband as we both worked there so I owe Spoons founder Tim Martin a fair few beers.

So I'm gonna try and clear up some of the misconceptions.

1. The customers are mainly OAPs in the day. Two Pints Mike, Big Abbot John, Butcombe John, my dear old Roy (I miss him), scooter Len, Postman Howard, as well as many more. All the girls behind the bar had our favourite old boys who we'd have a chat with on our breaks. They all had nicknames as you can tell and they had wonderful stories. They really used to come in for the company and a chat with their fellow peers. 

2. The Friday/Saturday nights were occasionally awful. We would immediately stop serving if trouble began. A swift call to the OB or the manager wading in and the handbags were done. The best shifts I ever did were Friday nights - Black Friday - The Builders version - the last friday before Christmas brought out the trades. Builders, sparks, chippies etc. 3 different companies of about 30 blokes each gave me 3 credit cards and I put £200 through on each card. It was heaving from the minute I started til closing. I was essentially their personal bar maid and one of the owners gave me £50 cash at the end of the night. We were not allowed to accept tips and told him so so he dropped it behind the bar so I had to pick it up. The second was Xmas Eve. At midnight, we all stopped and had a beer on the house with the remaining old boys (youngsters had gone into town about 2 hours previous).

3. The food is what it is. In my day only a handful of things were cooked fresh (excluding breakfast). The rest was microwaved. It probably still is.

4. The staff were a close knit team. Like I said, myself and my husband paired off and to my knowledge, there are two other "WetherCouples with WetherBabies" from my time. 3 families started from a simple pub. There was normally a manager on shift, 2-3 bar staff, 1 floor staff and 1 chef. So that's why Wetherspoons is always so busy and dirty because we just didn't have time to do it all. We also had strict instructions to restock throughout the day as well as sort out machinery in the back etc. 

5. The prices are so dirt cheap because Spoons buys in bulk direct from the breweries or a brewery intermediate. Certain things such as Marston's Pedigree had a contract so that was always in there no matter what. Yes, the cheap prices do attract the unusual characters but after working in a few pubs, they really do pop up everywhere, believe me.

6. The toilets are upstairs because that's where the plumbing is, up in the roof. Next time you go to a loo upstairs in a Spoons, there will be a locked door on the same floor saying "Private". That's the cellar. All the beer flows down the pipes thanks to gravity, this reduces the amount of gas required to draw the beer, making it cheaper.

 

And that's that really. Any questions, send them in.

Thankyou, great post . some great insight there and  I wish you and your hubby all the best for the future

[Robbored]

On 23/11/2018 at 17:32, Septic Peg said:

Right.

So I'm an ex spoons employee and I used to work at The Rob Fitz down Bemmy years ago. I met my husband as we both worked there so I owe Spoons founder Tim Martin a fair few beers.

So I'm gonna try and clear up some of the misconceptions.

1. The customers are mainly OAPs in the day. Two Pints Mike, Big Abbot John, Butcombe John, my dear old Roy (I miss him), scooter Len, Postman Howard, as well as many more. All the girls behind the bar had our favourite old boys who we'd have a chat with on our breaks. They all had nicknames as you can tell and they had wonderful stories. They really used to come in for the company and a chat with their fellow peers. 

2. The Friday/Saturday nights were occasionally awful. We would immediately stop serving if trouble began. A swift call to the OB or the manager wading in and the handbags were done. The best shifts I ever did were Friday nights - Black Friday - The Builders version - the last friday before Christmas brought out the trades. Builders, sparks, chippies etc. 3 different companies of about 30 blokes each gave me 3 credit cards and I put £200 through on each card. It was heaving from the minute I started til closing. I was essentially their personal bar maid and one of the owners gave me £50 cash at the end of the night. We were not allowed to accept tips and told him so so he dropped it behind the bar so I had to pick it up. The second was Xmas Eve. At midnight, we all stopped and had a beer on the house with the remaining old boys (youngsters had gone into town about 2 hours previous).

3. The food is what it is. In my day only a handful of things were cooked fresh (excluding breakfast). The rest was microwaved. It probably still is.

4. The staff were a close knit team. Like I said, myself and my husband paired off and to my knowledge, there are two other "WetherCouples with WetherBabies" from my time. 3 families started from a simple pub. There was normally a manager on shift, 2-3 bar staff, 1 floor staff and 1 chef. So that's why Wetherspoons is always so busy and dirty because we just didn't have time to do it all. We also had strict instructions to restock throughout the day as well as sort out machinery in the back etc. 

5. The prices are so dirt cheap because Spoons buys in bulk direct from the breweries or a brewery intermediate. Certain things such as Marston's Pedigree had a contract so that was always in there no matter what. Yes, the cheap prices do attract the unusual characters but after working in a few pubs, they really do pop up everywhere, believe me.

6. The toilets are upstairs because that's where the plumbing is, up in the roof. Next time you go to a loo upstairs in a Spoons, there will be a locked door on the same floor saying "Private". That's the cellar. All the beer flows down the pipes thanks to gravity, this reduces the amount of gas required to draw the beer, making it cheaper.

 

And that's that really. Any questions, send them in.

Very insightful post there Peg!

Lots of info I wasn’t aware of particularly the reason the bogs are upstairs! Sensible common sense when you think about it.

Thanks for posting it.

[BigTone]

On 23/11/2018 at 17:32, Septic Peg said:

Right.

So I'm an ex spoons employee and I used to work at The Rob Fitz down Bemmy years ago. I met my husband as we both worked there so I owe Spoons founder Tim Martin a fair few beers.

So I'm gonna try and clear up some of the misconceptions.

1. The customers are mainly OAPs in the day. Two Pints Mike, Big Abbot John, Butcombe John, my dear old Roy (I miss him), scooter Len, Postman Howard, as well as many more. All the girls behind the bar had our favourite old boys who we'd have a chat with on our breaks. They all had nicknames as you can tell and they had wonderful stories. They really used to come in for the company and a chat with their fellow peers. 

2. The Friday/Saturday nights were occasionally awful. We would immediately stop serving if trouble began. A swift call to the OB or the manager wading in and the handbags were done. The best shifts I ever did were Friday nights - Black Friday - The Builders version - the last friday before Christmas brought out the trades. Builders, sparks, chippies etc. 3 different companies of about 30 blokes each gave me 3 credit cards and I put £200 through on each card. It was heaving from the minute I started til closing. I was essentially their personal bar maid and one of the owners gave me £50 cash at the end of the night. We were not allowed to accept tips and told him so so he dropped it behind the bar so I had to pick it up. The second was Xmas Eve. At midnight, we all stopped and had a beer on the house with the remaining old boys (youngsters had gone into town about 2 hours previous).

3. The food is what it is. In my day only a handful of things were cooked fresh (excluding breakfast). The rest was microwaved. It probably still is.

4. The staff were a close knit team. Like I said, myself and my husband paired off and to my knowledge, there are two other "WetherCouples with WetherBabies" from my time. 3 families started from a simple pub. There was normally a manager on shift, 2-3 bar staff, 1 floor staff and 1 chef. So that's why Wetherspoons is always so busy and dirty because we just didn't have time to do it all. We also had strict instructions to restock throughout the day as well as sort out machinery in the back etc. 

5. The prices are so dirt cheap because Spoons buys in bulk direct from the breweries or a brewery intermediate. Certain things such as Marston's Pedigree had a contract so that was always in there no matter what. Yes, the cheap prices do attract the unusual characters but after working in a few pubs, they really do pop up everywhere, believe me.

6. The toilets are upstairs because that's where the plumbing is, up in the roof. Next time you go to a loo upstairs in a Spoons, there will be a locked door on the same floor saying "Private". That's the cellar. All the beer flows down the pipes thanks to gravity, this reduces the amount of gas required to draw the beer, making it cheaper.

 

And that's that really. Any questions, send them in.

Thanks for that Peg, very interesting especially item 6.  Am I correct in saying that the drains from the urinals flow straight into the Fosters tap ?

[Septic Peg]

17 minutes ago, BigTone said:

Thanks for that Peg, very interesting especially item 6.  Am I correct in saying that the drains from the urinals flow straight into the Fosters tap ?

Nope. That's the dishwater water. 

[ExiledAjax]

On ‎23‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 08:29, RedM said:

the pub was in Whitechapel/Tower Hamlets I feared the worse.

Goodman's Fields...yeh I used to live just near there. Strictly speaking you'd probably say it is in Aldgate/Tower Hill rather than Whitechapel/Tower Hamlets proper. Perhaps it used to be rough but recently it has had a load of development. There's a newly built 25 floor block of flats just down the road from that Spoons where one-bed's sell for £750,000. Bear in mind you are a 10-15 min walk from Bank.

It's far from the roughest Spoons in London.

[foghornred]

Wetherspoon pubs are great cheap beer and cheap food and whenever I visit a new town I visit and read all the history of the town or city which is great.

Also they tend to convert old buildings just look at the commercial rooms which would still be standing empty if Tim Martin didn't step in. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

On ‎03‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 07:36, BigTone said:

Thanks for that Peg, very interesting especially item 6.  Am I correct in saying that the drains from the urinals flow straight into the Fosters tap ?

 

On ‎03‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 07:54, Septic Peg said:

Nope. That's the dishwater water. 

The urinals must be connected to the Strongbow tap then?