November 10, 2011
my god the haunt of the desperate! normally full of cheap poorly maintained ales .really not good to invite anyone in unless you bloodywell hate em.... do yourself and your mum a favour and set fire to any feekker whos bone idle enough to do owt but love them. their buisness model is to fek every other pub in their area.cheap beer for cheap people, sorry if this offends but wake up this is the truth

October 20, 2011
Yes.. Decent selection. Mainstream and mediocre.

October 14, 2011
You can always count on JDW to deliver a few ticks, ignorant service and a cheap meal. Most places look like the McDonalds of pubs, but if McDonalds had this beer selection I might actually go there...

August 18, 2011
Ill go in for a couple of ticks with a cheap meal, but thats about it.

August 9, 2011
Great selection of beer at cheap prices. other than that they have NO ATMOSPHERE AND POOR FOOD

July 26, 2011 [ Updated October 19, 2011 ]
My 100th place rating, so time to say something about Spoons. Love them or hate them, the real ale scene would be far more elitist without them. With such a large chain there are bound to be variations in quality, but their commitment to real ale, particularly the biannual festivals, means that there is always something new to try.

The pubs are often barn-like and lacking in atmospehere, but there are some interesting examples around, particularly some of the conversions. The clientele is varied, some attracted by the low prices, some by the family friendly approach, and some by the beer choice. The food is consistent, cheap, but not of the highest quality - however there are occasions when I succumb. Service is variable, there are some excellent teams, but also other places where they don’t seem particularly interesting in serving any body.

My main gripe - not the temperature or condition of the beer, although that can sometimes be a problem - but the time it takes them to serve coffee to the person in front of me - surely they could learn to multitask and pull a pint while the coffee is brewing.

April 23, 2010 [ Updated April 7, 2011 ]
Raising the bar for the pub standard across the UK. In many small towns such as my local, the Spoons is the best pub in town. Good variety of cask ales, as well as beer festivals twice a year. Food is average. Cask condition can vary greatly. Good value.

April 12, 2010
Value for money pub grub and a constantly changing selection of cask ales always in good condition because of the quick turnover and the staff training. The combination of good value food, good value beer, a comfortable place to sit, free internet, a welcoming attitude for all including families, no intrusive music, and prominent locations make the Spoons very popular. Almost all Spoons are conversions, these may be banks, cinemas, theatres or churches, and some conversions are very interesting. Complaints range from lack of atmosphere, which I’ve never encountered - there’s always people inside a Spoon chatting away creating a pleasant buzz. I think some people are not happy that a Spoon is not a traditional thatched country pub with a welcome fire and a ruddy faced landlord - but most other pubs are not like that either! Other complaints range from a dislike of the other customers (this can range from the customers being too old, too young, too rich, too poor, too foreign, too local, depending on the profile of the complainer) to a picky attitude about the speed at which tables are cleared. Spoons are OK, and are often the only place in a town you can get a scoop.

April 7, 2010
Great chain pub, cheap, you will always find a new beverage there, good food deals. Not much atmosphere, but its a pub for punters, go during the quiet times. Free net for ratings, and some nice old ones in London. They have given me, a traveller, some merchandise in the past and are always friendly. Go there and check it out.

November 13, 2009
Extremely cheap, and a safe bet to get new ratings. Tend to be (depending on time and location) either barn-like and devoid of atmosphere. or rammed to the gills (and still strangely devoid of atmosphere). fair play to them for being one of the very few big chains to promote varied real ale; go there during one of their festivals and you’ll probably pick up something unusual, or a one-off beer. Glad they’re around (I don’t think they deserve some of the abuse they get), they definitely add something to the UK beer scene - plus they’re relatively family friendly.