[Drinking] The Pub Debate - Weatherspoons

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I try to avoid Spoons when I can and i often do.
However up at Brentford me went in that big pub (Shepherd Neame possibly) overlooking the Thames and paid over £30 for two fish n chips and over £6 for a lager.
Yes the food, service and surroundings were fantastic but the reality is as the boy is only 15 (and have you seen a 15 year olds wallet? It has so many Velcro folds it takes them half hour to get a fiver out!) if we’re doing a couple of aways in the same month we sometimes have to dance with the devil and have the £7.99 burger*

*£8.99 with an alcoholic drink

 

[TomandJerry]

I don’t think thats true Tom. Hipsters drink a different type of beer that Wetherspoons rarely stock. Maybe Punk or some crappy pale that no one can keep down. Doom bar and Abbots ? Jesus wept. Their beer is never in good Nick and often stale as HT says.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I don’t think thats true Tom. Hipsters drink a different type of beer that Wetherspoons rarely stock. Maybe Punk or some crappy pale that no one can keep down. Doom bar and Abbots ? Jesus wept.

Dunno. The Red Lion @ LGW always sold Punk IPA. There's rumours of a Brewdog outlet opening in the same terminal (was supposed to be opening at the back end of last year). I guess it depends if you want a far more expensive pint with far less chance of a fry up

 

[GT49er]

Wow! Well that speaks volumes...

Does it? I wonder what percentage of hipsters know who owns their favoured watering hole. Or, for that matter, what percentage of pub goers give a toss about who the shareholders are in the corporate company that actually owns it.

 

[Guinness Boy]

They serve a purpose. Cheap grog and scran. Some are undoubtedly nicer than others, I went to one in Newquay which was lovely. Great location by the harbour, nice building, spotlessly clean and an Eggs Benedict (plus limitless coffee) for less than 4 quid which was frankly superb. Of course some are open sewers with many people hosting less teeth than eyeballs, but thats like any other pub. The Spoons in the Marina is ok, nice outside area too.

I take as I find. That George Street one was grim, but most are alright.

Strange area for boozers that was at one time. The Spoons was grim, Slug and Lettuce was grim, Seafield was a home for retired criminals. Literally.

Have the replacements been any better, does anyone know?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Hipsters hate 'Spoons despite it being the exact same bottles and cans and maybe even pints at a reasonable price. What the hipsters are actually doing is sneering at the 'Spoons clientele. Which is not very nice

It’s nothing to do with sneering. They’re just not a nice experience.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Does it? I wonder what percentage of hipsters know who owns their favoured watering hole. Or, for that matter, what percentage of pub goers give a toss about who the shareholders are in the corporate company that actually owns it.

I know exactly who owns my two locals and I’ve talked to them behind the bar. Not a corporate share in sight.

When I’m further into Hove I sometimes have a pint in The Watchmakers whose owners live round the corner from me. We often meet them on dog walks.

 

[Easy 10]

Strange area for boozers that was at one time. The Spoons was grim, Slug and Lettuce was grim, Seafield was a home for retired criminals. Literally.

Have the replacements been any better, does anyone know?

That George St one was for the professional soaks - punters standing around outside at all hours whenever I sloped past. Ladbrokes bang opposite as well, so a pisshead paradise all round. Slug and Lettuce, I never understood the attraction. Just another Spoons, but much more pricey.

I do quite like the George Street Tap though. Good sports bar that, loads of TV's all round, plus those TV's in little booths. Decent.

 

[tedebear]

Does it? I wonder what percentage of hipsters know who owns their favoured watering hole. Or, for that matter, what percentage of pub goers give a toss about who the shareholders are in the corporate company that actually owns it.

I guess I'm not a hipster, but most people around here know who owns each pub, who the landlord is and where the beer comes from....I thought that was fairly standard.. maybe its a city vs town thing...

 

[BNthree]

Doubt that 98% of the punters even know - or give the tiniest shit about - who the owner is. All they know and care about is that they're getting food n drink at a fair price - even in the Red Lion airside in LGW North Terminal. Maybe even especially there

Think he meant the hipsters rather than the regular punters

 

[W3 BHA]

I haven't been in a Wetherspoons for years.

Maybe they have changed in that time but I couldn't stand the sticky floors and lack of music.

One of the best things about Spoons is they don't have what passes for music nowadays.......and neither do they have a highly irritating tv screen on every spare patch of wall. They have a better range of 'proper' beers than most places nowadays. You can have a chat with mates without having to shout to overcome the 'ambient sounds' and, all in all, depending on which one you go to, it's a pleasant time out in what is as near as you can get to an old fashioned pub. But then, I am very old

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Does it? I wonder what percentage of hipsters know who owns their favoured watering hole. Or, for that matter, what percentage of pub goers give a toss about who the shareholders are in the corporate company that actually owns it.

Good challenge. I have just run through all my favourite bars and I think I know who owns them. I can certainly say this for Berlin and I’m pretty sure I can for Brighton as well. I’m a little bit sketchy on the Evening Star these days though.

I can also do this for all my favorite cafes and restaurants. If you take an interest in an establishment, and frequent it, you learn who owns it just from interest.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It’s nothing to do with sneering. They’re just not a nice experience.

Why?

 

[GT49er]

I guess I'm not a hipster, but most people around here know who owns each pub, who the landlord is and where the beer comes from....I thought that was fairly standard.. maybe its a city vs town thing...

Know the landlord, yes - but not all landlords own the pub! Know who the brewery is, if it's a tied house, sure - but who actually owns the brewery? Does anyone care?

 

[maltaseagull]

Really? I thought it was more to do with its obnoxious brexit supporting owner?

I thought the haters were just superior snobs.

 

[maltaseagull]

I know exactly who owns my two locals and I’ve talked to them behind the bar. Not a corporate share in sight.

When I’m further into Hove I sometimes have a pint in The Watchmakers whose owners live round the corner from me. We often meet them on dog walks.

Ahh how nice for you.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I know exactly who owns my two locals and I’ve talked to them behind the bar. Not a corporate share in sight.

When I’m further into Hove I sometimes have a pint in The Watchmakers whose owners live round the corner from me. We often meet them on dog walks.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Ahh how nice for you.

It’s lovely. We’ve both got cockapoos too, Very Hove.

*strokes beard*

To be fair my pub owing knowledge skills are ace. I also know Spoons is owned by a Brexiteer back to front.

 

[Springal]

Dunno. The Red Lion @ LGW always sold Punk IPA. There's rumours of a Brewdog outlet opening in the same terminal (was supposed to be opening at the back end of last year). I guess it depends if you want a far more expensive pint with far less chance of a fry up

It’s already open in North terminal, has been for a good few months

 

[maltaseagull]

It’s lovely. We’ve both got cockapoos too, Very Hove.

*strokes beard*

To be fair my pub owing knowledge skills are ace. I also know Spoons is owned by a Brexiteer back to front.

I am not sure how knowledge of ownership affects the taste of the beer.
But really, pretentious moi?