please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Having just criticised Wetherspoon's in my last review, the roles seemed to be reversed in Exeter. This was a very enjoyable visit to this branch of the chain. The Imperial is huge. I thought I'd found the main bar, only to find a much bigger bar in the so-called orangery. The full ale range across the 2 bars was Hanlon's Yellow Hammer, Kirkstall Dissolution IPA, Greene King IPA & Abbot, Sharp's Doom Bar, Milestone Fletchers, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Walker White Gold, Bowman's Wallops Wood, Hunter's Black Jack, Otter Ale & Exmoor Beast. The real cider range was very impressive - Snail's Bank Yuzu, Mango Cider, Black Forest, Raspberry Ripple, Orchard Dry, Banoffee Pie & Appley Dappley, Barbourne Tangerine Dream, Thatcher's Stan's Cheddar Valley, Hunt's Hazy Dazy & Elf's Tipple, Thistly Cross Whisky Cask & Purbeck Cider Company Katy Perry. The place was absolutely packed with students from the nearby Exeter University. They all seemed to be having a final hurrah before vacating the university due to the coronavirus fears. This was a very good example of a Wetherspoon's and was a fitting last pub before what I presume will be a hiatus of a few months. Adieu for now.
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Never enough serving staff, given the size of the pub. Customers have an irritating way of queueing in the orangery by standing back from the bar - you sometimes don't know if they're in the queue or just standing there. If you want to eat, DON'T eat outside because your food will be stolen by herring gulls - they're a menace (probably a health danger too) and Wetherspoon's should do something about them.
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Interesting and usual Spoon's pub, with a number of small bars and seating areas within one very large establishment. Gets busy with a largely student clientele. Warm and welcoming with a typical food and drink menu offering the usual variety at low prices. Beers from Ruddles and Green King. A must is to through the body of the pub and turn left into the Orangerie area for a rather unusual and spectacular dining area.
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Take the trouble to make the short (uphill) journey from St.Davids station to The Imperial - it is worth it. This is a grand manor house with a superb orangery and is definitely one of Wetherspoon's most iinteresting properties. All the usual offers for food etc., but the beer range was good between all the bars, and the beer was in good condition. Plenty of staff on duty when I went which was good to see. Huge garden; car park (you have to pay initially) and some fine fittings inside. Worth a visit.
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A very characteristic pub especially the orangery.
Beer generally good with a fair choice between the two bars. Although busy (mainly students) service was pretty good by JDW standards.
Definitely one of the better JDW pubs worth a visit and only a short walk up the hill from the satation.
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One of only two Wetherspoons I would actually recommend. Grand building in a very impressive setting. The Victorian ironwork orangery is especially impressive.
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A not too bad example of Wetherspoons' better pubs. The beers could do with a bit more looking after, but that's the same at all of their pubs - the beers are almost past their prime when they're put on the bar. The cider - Gwynt-y-Draig's Balck Dragon - was very well kept though and several pints of this 7.2% nectar were consumed on our visit. Like someone has already said, there didn't seem to be that many staff on the many bars, but the staff that were on were all good. One girl even went off to find an - apparently - elusive Leffe glass, so my wife could have it in the right glass. This, I thought, was an example of good customer service.
Much improved since my last visit here a couple of years ago, I'd recommend it. I definitely wouldn't have done so last time....
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This pub has the grandest entrance of any I know. A sweeping driveway climbs past a gatehouse and sloping lawn to a fine building with extensive views westwards from the terrace beer garden. The interior is equally impressive, with two distinct drinking areas to the left of the wide hallway.
The bar is bisected by a dividing wall, with the ales dispensed from the counter on the right. A fairly uninspiring selection on my visit, I plumped for a pint of Brakspear's Triple - not a favourite but well kept. The bar was understaffed, a common problem in Spoons for some reason.
The pub was full of irritating students on my visit.
Architecturally the best Spoons I've been in and the beer garden is probably a great place to sit on a balmy summer evening. Worth visiting if you happen to be passing but not one to make a detour to.
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This is one of the flagship wetherspoons not like any other one i know.
The layout is superb with different seating areas to suit all tastes. The beer garden is enormous with beautiful trees and catches the evening sun well.
The problem for me is is just too busy and full of young people (i am an old fart really!) so an 8/10 from me because of that.
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Charges for car parking! Outrageous. I've never heard of a pub charging for car parking before. And a �50 fine if you don't pay even if you've spent ��s in there. Don't go, this shouldn't be allowed.
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Architecturally, one of the best Spoons. Beer choice and quality were fine yesterday but, like most Spoons, the service was awful, the tables (inside and ou) full of empty glasses and plates.
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Don't go in here with the bias many people have against Wetherspoons, this is a really nice pub in an amazing building with a huge beer garden. Summer days in the sun outside with a beer, what more could you want? Oh, unless the bloody Wurzels are playing there.
th261 - 18 May 2010 15:18 |
For a Wetherspoons I thought this was really good. OK it had a beer festival in a tent, but with most pubs lurching towards �3 or more a pint you can't knock the pricing here. For those complaining about lack of atmosphere I don't think you can expect too much in a large chain pub. No problem with table clearing in the garden-the resident gulls sorted that out expertly. Very interesting building, I'd go back again happily.
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Had high hopes for this one but found it strangely disappointing. The building is enormous and the Orangery impressive - like sitting in a huge ship. We were there on an ordinary weekday and yet the place looked messy - spilt beer and wine all over the place. There weren't that many customers but the service was slow and perfunctory. Having said all that, the beer quality was good, there was plenty of varied and comfortable space and the usual strengths of Wetherspoons are evident (price, range of available beer/food and an interesting building). Worth visiting to see the place, but I would head quickly along the New North Road into the centre and the Old Fire House
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trequites probably got it about right , u know if your too mean 2 go anywhere else ,too impersonal , 2 big no atmosphere . shite
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I can hear the music from the Michelmore's Charity Run over the other side of the river.
TURN IT DOWN!
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Called in before Exeter Winter beer festival,the fry up was good but the ale selection for a high profile weekend was a bit ordinary. The barmen seemed to be trying to outdo one another with broken arms but were still efficient,although the standard spoons coffee fiasco applied. Still what we drank was fine.
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Wandered up the hill from the Great Western and glad I did. Impressive building, must be the best looking Spoons in the country. Beers included Banks & Taylor Golden Fox, ~O'Hanlons Port Stout, Cotleigh Buzzard, Titanic White Star, Cottage IK Brunel and Ringwood Fortyniner along with the run of the mill Deuchars, Abbot and Pedigree. Beers I tried were excellent. According to some locals Tim Martin drinks in here and I can understand why.
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Although busy no problem getting served. Local ales Skinners/Bays/Cotleigh. Sat in the superb Orangey. Worth a visit for the building and beers.
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The choice in the Great Western was pretty poor, so we thought we'd take a walk up to the Imperial instead, to see what they had to offer.
It reminded us why we stopped going here, many years ago. I suppose that it's a bit better, now that there are some orderly queues for the beer - but really...
The only reason I can think of for going here is if you're too mean or poor to go somewhere better.
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Came in on 17th August 2007 - still waiting to be served. GET SOME BLOODY STAFF!
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as far as a spoons go this must be the best of the lot. big garden which means that during beer festivals they have a marquee with the barrells giving a lot more choice that is availible at other spoons. Apart from beer festivals i rarely visit, often find the beer is too cold although the odd interesting guest ale is sometimes availible
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Must be the best Wetherspoons pub, excellent large interior, great pint of Guinness - must visit.
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Came here years ago after getting kicked off the train for no ticket, was going back to London.
From what i can remember it was superb. Ended up at atudents party later on and spending the night in Exeter.
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Fantastic Pub. Real ales served, good wetherspoons standard. Enormous beer garden, enormous interior, plenty of seating. Good atmosphere, not too crowded. There are three bars, but only two are open. Due to the pubs size it can take a while to get served, but that can't be helped to be fair. All round it is a great pub and probably the best in the exeter area. Suits all kinds. Essential visit
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execellant pub....good beer, nice atmosphere, nice gardens. Would score 10 but scored lower due to no dogs policy
paulb - 18 Dec 2006 19:44 |
Stands out a mile, that being a good thing. Great and friendly staff, always happy to help and smiling, quite suprising when you see how busy and tiring it can get. The atmosphere is great, many locals (something that you dont usually associate with Wetherspoons) who are willing to chat and make you feel welcome. World Cup avoided like the plaque due to the large numbers that went there and trashed the place, or so I heard. The best pub i have EVER walked into, i highly recommend it!!
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Yep without a doubt one of the best spoons i've been to,especially in the summer with its huge beer garden and 3 bars. 9/10
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probably the best wetherspoons i've been to too! don't really go there all that often but its not because i don't like the place! staff are friendly and the drinks are all cheap (expected, i know) and of a good standard
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An overly theatrical mad-scientist's lair of a place this one, with an air of the days of the raj added for good measure. Pretty big with a nice enough sloping car park, it is near a fairly busy main road, although I always thought this added pep to the stagger home. Inside, its big with loads of bars tucked about the place. The main feature is the orangery which is pleasant enough in a centreparks kind of way. The pub grub is the same as any other of the chain. I once had a free surf and turf burger here, thereby proving that there is such a thing as a free lunch in the process. The beer is all the usual and fine. They had a real ale festival here when I lived in Exeter, and it was a festival of beardy flatulence the like of which Id never heard. In summary, fun chilled-out and good in the summer.
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Best wetherspoons i've ever been too. Because of it's size they is usually a good mix of people although there are more students than anyone else.
If you live in Exeter they will always be some one you know in there.
Comes into its own in the summer when there are many beer festivals and an open air cinema. Lovely for relaxing out in the grounds after a hot summer's day.
Food is reasonable too.
reino - 22 Dec 2005 15:59 |
Agree with the general concensus of opinion in the last few posts. The only Wetherspoons pub worth visiting, probably because of the size and character of the building itself. On my last visit a small marquee outside housed a sort of mini beer festival - excellent stuff. Staggering distance from both main stations as well.
Even if you normally hate Spoons pubs, give this one a try should you find yourself in "Executor". Top banana.
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There are many great evils in this world � poverty, hunger, war, Justin Timberlake, the cast of Emmerdale � but for me one Satan`s finest effort has to be the chain turd supreme that is Weatherspoons. I`ve ranted at length about this abomination before on this site so I`ll just provide a short synopsis this time:
Spoons is a chav attracting curse whose combination of eye achingly bland outlets, garish internal advertising and restricted (lager heavy) tap �selection� is an insult of such proportions that someone, somewhere, needs a damn good thrashing.
However, like the vast majority of reviewers on this site, I found the Imperial not just a notch above the caked shite of Spoons usual offers, but also a rather good pub in itself. Rather unsurprisingly it achieves this by actually trying pretty hard not to be a spoons. The exterior and interior are a pretty good indicator: instead of a bland shop front we are treated to a big �lovely� country style house on the top of a picturesque green hill and inside a winding and old fashioned (deep wooden) frame that actually feels natural. Surrounding the place is a fantastically large beer garden in what, as Mark points out, feels like a National Park. The clientele too is far, far better than the usual pond life you expect in a spoons, probably owing to the touch of class that most chavs seem to find repellent.
Of course the Imperial cant totally escape some of its masters annoying traits. The tap selection is as restricted as ever and despite a toning down of the commercialised adverts there are still a few scattered about the place. And despite a better mix of people and atmosphere, it can become slightly overrun by morons at the weekend, although to a far lesser degree than usual for Spoons.
In the end the Imperial deserves a solid 7/10 � above average for most pubs, ball bustingly good for a Weatherspoons.
anonymous - 4 Sep 2005 16:42 |
Dire student haunt made even worse by the fact that these are students who are (in general) seriously rich and living on daddy's allowance (and sports car).
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I did a 500 mile round trip on a 48 year DEMU train to Exeter a fortnight ago. A fantastic day out, and a couple of hours in "Spoons" was the icing on the cake.
The beer was excellent, and although busy, service was prompt, polite and efficient. It was Sunday lunchtime and I was told there was an appoximate waiting time for food orders of 25 minutes. The food arrived in 15 minutes, and delicious as well.
Good beer, good food, friendly AND rakes of totty! Best "Spoons" I've visited - and I've visited a fair few.
If you're ever at Victoria railway station in London, avoid that particular "spoons" like the plague. It is truly awful. You would obtain more enjoyment from poking cocktail sticks in your eyes!
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Rumour has it that new Wetherspoons managers are taken to the Imperial, and told that this is what they should be aiming for. They should be. This is the best [only good?] Wetherspoons Pub I've been in. Great Beer Festivals (bi-annual, I think) curry nights, good and changing selection of ales - and the orangery is something else. Sweeping lawns, big windows, close to the University, St David's Station, and a short walk from the City Centre.
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The photograph above really doesn't prepare you for this place - it is massive. Huge. Gigantic. It really is. It seems to extend for miles when you get inside - they need to provide maps! A number of large rooms on the ground floor, an upstairs and a beer garden that from where I was sitting seems to rival the size of a National Park! I exaggerate slightly - but not much!
And its a nice interior, with reasonable food. Can't comment on atmosphere as I visited in the afternoon whilst on a uni visit, but bearing in mind how close it is to the university, combined with Wetherspoons prices, I'd imagine its a student stronghold. I wish I'd been able to stay the night.
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best wetherspoons ever been to!
have such a nice interior (THE ROOF INSIDE_WOW_)and exterior!
great pre bar/club pub!
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Massive, pub , exeters biggest, cheap drinks and meal deals, but sounds like a school hall with all the chatter and no music, feel sorry for the doormen as there is only 2 for the whole pub!
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As with all Spoons pubs this place has a very strange almost sterile atmosphere.Though even more so than normal because of its vast size.Full of Hoorah Henrys the beer is very iffy and it can take the length of a short ice age to get a drink on Fridays and Saturdays.Still you can get a nights drinking for a tenner...almost.
James - 13 Nov 2004 21:51 |
I am always in two minds with this place, sometimes it surprizes me...
This pub as with all weatherspoons bars is stupidly cheap (or reasonably priced?) the food here varies from time to time, im vegitarian, they don't offer much in the way of food for me, but we all know that most people only go there for the prices, which makes it very busy most of the time, there is always someone you know there if you stay in this area for very long..
No pool, no music, no darts, if you're there for a "Local" feel, you must be kidding me. its a booze hall (or perhaps a theme pub where the theme is to get ratted?).
They do however do Exellent beer festivals! with as many as 20(!) real ales on and usually 4-5 ciders, I always try to catch these!
Turbo - 13 Sep 2004 20:40 |
beautiful building and lovely open outside space.
Ideal to start night off as 5-10minutes from city centre.
Very studenty but some locals (including myself) who go for cheap beer and inoffensive atmosphere.
MC - 31 Aug 2004 22:45 |
This is predominantly a student pub due to its close proximity to both Exeter College and Exeter University. If that's okay with you then fine, but if you prefer to avoid the Hooray Henry's from Exeter Uni', avoid at all costs....
Paul - 30 Aug 2004 14:40 |
wundervoller Pub! Einmaliges Ambiente. Interessante Architektur
h.wider, germany - 26 Jul 2004 21:59 |
excellent pub with great staff
anonymous - 18 Jun 2004 16:07 |
Supperb prices and a great place in the summer with the huge beer garden outside. Shame the picture doesnt do it justice!
Kay - 7 Jun 2004 14:55 |
Worth going to check out the architecture, beer is cheap too.
Beware of bouncers at clearout they used to be prison warders from up the road.
Gill - 30 Mar 2004 13:43 |
Outstanding pub, busy, bubbling and great value. Often though, parking is impossible, be warned.
Craig - 11 Mar 2004 18:11 |
It's a great pub with a fantastic beer garden. Always buzzing - lovely bar in the orangery, designed by Brunel - stunning place. Go there!
Ed - 15 Aug 2003 12:23 |
Excellent wetherspoons!
Simon - 1 Jun 2003 15:43 |
