Neverspoons App

[irc]

Cheap awful food, poorly paid staff, suppliers ground in to the ground to keep prices low and owner who spouts rubbish. However, there is no need of an app to avoid them.

Cheap food? Yes. Awful? IME as good as anywhere else at that price point and better than many.

Poorly paid staff. Like any pub then.

https://www.indeed.co.uk/salaries/bar-staff-Salaries

Feel free to avoid it's a free country.

[Sweep]

Sweep there's no need to state what's so bleeding obvious from a lot of your posts here.

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

What have I stated that's obvious?

If I've stated something that is so "obvious" you agree with it, well all well and good.

We can all sleep well.

[ANTONISH]

One loves it or hates it, the latter in my case, forby I only visited one once, to use the toilets, which of course were hidden (are they accessible for disabled persons?)

Hoping for more Neverspoons toilet observations

You hated a world of something after a single visit?
Rather reminds me of folk who say
I went abroad once, hated it.

Gave up drinking 30 years ago, have no use for such etablissements
They should be converted back to cinemas, stables, bookshops, train stations
Political views of mr w are off-putting too for me and many others

I take it you mean you gave up drinking alcohol - and of course you have no use for such establishments except that they are convenient when you need a toilet .

[simonineaston]

Going back to the app, as the subject, I imagine that the purpose of the app was solely to offer an alternative to pub chain pubs, of which JD Wetherspoons is just one example. The pub lanscape is now dominated by pub chains, large or small, which is not good for vibrant independant locals, such as one of my favourites, the Volunteer Tavern in Bristol, which you will note should you wish to follow this link, pays its staff a living wage.
I'm only guessing but the app's branding as "Neverspoon" was probably meant as much as a wry amusement as a statement of political intent - who knows??

[Ben@Forest]

Going back to the app, as the subject, I imagine that the purpose of the app was solely to offer an alternative to pub chain pubs, of which JD Wetherspoons is just one example. The pub lanscape is now dominated by pub chains, large or small, which is not good for vibrant independant locals, such as one of my favourites, the Volunteer Tavern in Bristol, which you will note should you wish to follow this link, pays its staff a living wage.
I'm only guessing but the app's branding as "Neverspoon" was probably meant as much as a wry amusement as a statement of political intent - who knows??

Perhaps they'll offer a section for independent pubs that are rude and frankly, bloody awful. I knew one, just googled it, it's permanently closed. I guess that's the best type of recommendation.

[pete75]

Sweep there's no need to state what's so bleeding obvious from a lot of your posts here.

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

What have I stated that's obvious?

If I've stated something that is so "obvious" you agree with it, well all well and good.

We can all sleep well.

Your support for Wetherspoons and admiration for Tim Martin. W know you like them both.

[Sweep]

Sweep there's no need to state what's so bleeding obvious from a lot of your posts here.

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

What have I stated that's obvious?

If I've stated something that is so "obvious" you agree with it, well all well and good.

We can all sleep well.

Your support for Wetherspoons and admiration for Tim Martin. W know you like them both.

Yes I like Wetherspoons.

It's why I counter some of the points put by some on here.

Especially when I consider some of the points innacurate or founded on insufficient or wrong information.

Entirely reasonable.

Free speech and debate is allowed I assume?

It is in all the spoons I have ever been in.

I also sometimes reply to points made by folks who seem to have a certain, in my view objectionable, agenda.

Take this from you:

>>They certainly form a big part of the chain's unique aroma.

There is a fair bit I disagree with Mr Martin on.

You are assuming rather a lot.

Which reflects on you I feel.

(info note - I haven't been in a spoons since a week before lockdown.
It will very possibly be mid to late August before I go in one)

[peetee]

I’ve ‘spooned once, in Penzance. Rather a strange experience. Seemed to me to be a cross between an airport lounge In August and a ‘Hollywood movie’ ghetto soup kitchen.

[mjr]

I think the reason it was called "Neverspoons" is that they are rather notorious for burying their brand, especially in cities where they are unpopular, plus the chain has some rather zealous followers who leave glowing reviews even for pretty rotten sticky pubs.

So you look up a nearby pub on a general app like Google or CityZen and pick a high-rated one, then it's sometimes only obvious it's Wetherspoons when you get close enough to read the small print on the signs, which is rather different from most chains like Greene King who hang their crest on the wall or signpost or often both, or Whitbread renaming most of theirs to "Brewers Fayre whatever" or "whatever Table Table".

[Ben@Forest]

Wetherspoons has free refills for hot drinks,
I've heard a story about someone who would walk into a 'Spoons, pick a used mug off a table, rinse it in a toilet sink, go back and help themselves to free coffee.

And no, this was not because of extreme financial hardship. But not sure if that's been factored into track and trace

[Syd]

The main reason they are popular is most likely because they are cheap, have a decent selection of beers and sell food that is ok.

I’d rather spend a bit more and be in better surroundings and better food.

E.g I’d walk past The Moon Under Water on Deansgate, Manchester, to go to The Living Room (though I see it appears to have closed sometime in the past three years).

[simonineaston]

Last time I went in one, was the jobbie round the corner from Temple Mead station. It's in the middle of a group of office blocks in central Bristol. It was lunch-time and it was packed, what with the rail passengers and the office workers plus the odd, compulsory nutter or two. Menu read like a pan-global Top 100 of famous dishes, special offers abounded. Our orders were taken swiftly and delivered to us, at one of dozens of tables with startling efficiency. The stuff on the plates did indeed resemble what we had ordered and although clearly straight out of one of huge bank of microwaves, was piping hot, completely edible in a cheap, thoroughly factory-made, sort of way, with meat in particular obviously bottom-of-the-range ie chicken pieces of the 'formed-from' variety... All at my table cleared their plates and we returned to the office block, on time & job done, having spent very little. I wouldn't go back there under non-working circumstances, but it did a job, on the day, rather well!! Horses For Courses.
My local independant pub, on the other hand, is either empty or sweatily rammin' depending on when you rock up, has had the same young, cheerful staff for years, who know my name, what I like drinking, will chat happily for hours - and who even look after me by feeding me a mug of hot lemon toddy for free when I went in there last year after a horrid cold (not C19 ) - absolutely zero chance of any of that happening at a Spoons! Pot-luck is taken when there's a pop-up chef in the kitchen - and if there isn't, they'll let you eat a Deliveroo on the premises, although it makes sense to go and get it yourself as Cabot Circus is 5 mins walk away.
The down side is that their "eclectic range of boutique beers" can be, literally, over twice the price of those at the 'Spoons. More horses... Neeeeeiiiigghghgh!!

[simonineaston]

I've heard a story about someone who would walk into a 'Spoons, pick a used mug off a table, rinse it in a toilet sink, go back and help themselves to free coffee.

That's a good example of how places like a 'Spoons deteriorate, both in real terms, as in, it may , or may not, happen as described and in the public consiousness, as in stories told, that may, or may not, be true. When you make freebies available, it's not long before word gets out and especially where places are large, busy and staffed by people who are a) busy and b) may not exactly give a damn... then liberties start being taken, often by folk whose social skills may be - shall we say - lower than average. And Bingo! All of a sudden, what started as a Good Idea (what could be wrong with offering endless coffee??) turns into something that's used & abused and rocks the boat, reputation-wise. Hard line to walk.
All I have to put up with at the Volly is the occasional class-A addict hogging the toilet, or the occasional CITC jobbie coming in for a soft drink and a chat with themselves... it being near the city centre - it's all part of life's rich tapestry, tho'.

[Bonefishblues]

The main reason they are popular is most likely because they are cheap, have a decent selection of beers and sell food that is ok.

I’d rather spend a bit more and be in better surroundings and better food.

E.g I’d walk past The Moon Under Water on Deansgate, Manchester, to go to The Living Room (though I see it appears to have closed sometime in the past three years).

That's the nub of it right there, I think.

[Bonzo Banana]

I bet W's make more money from their sales of high margin soft drinks than anything else.

Possibly but I just go with the free soda water myself, very nice and refreshing often with a bit of lemon or lime added and ice cubes and completely free in Wetherspoons or I should say free if you are ordering other products, food etc.