please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
If your a Chav you will like this pub if your not walk the extra distance over to the station for a proper drink
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The Bottle of Sack is losing its touch... gone are the nights where it was 10 rows deep at the bar... last thursday I was one of maybe 100 people in... I remember when I was in Sixth Form Thursday nights meant the Bottle before O'Neills and it was rammed... Not anymore...
The standards have picked back up in the last 6 months or so... the new gaffer is great... its just a shame about the custom... Its gonna take a lot to turn it around... Sack the DJ, give the place a good refurb - the carpets are disgusting, and turn it back into a great place to go for a good meal and a nice quiet drink - apart Fridays and Saturdays - theme nights work occasionally.
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Update: I have twice visited during the current beer festival. Both occasions have been a pleasure. There have been 7 different guests on each time plus a guest cider. Each time we tried all the beers on offer and not one was disappointing. I like to visit a few different wetherspoons when they have their festivals on and amazingly for the second time The Sack has come up trumps. Compared to several CAMRA award winning wetherspoons I've visited during the festivals The Sack has been the real winner, something I didnt expect.
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It's a typical busy Wetherspoons pub. What more can you say? I went in twice on a recent visit to the UK - both times in the middle of the day - and it was fairly quiet. bar service was quick and the food arrived within ten minutes. No complaints there. Quite a nice pleasant outdoor area if you want to smoke or just watch the world go by.
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Ahh The Bottle of Sack. You either love it or you hate it. Thats a statement Wetherspoons could use as effectively as Marmite did. It still amazes me how diverse The Sack's clientel is, during the day you get a good mix of old people, families, couples, students and local working folk on their lunch break. At night you get a spread of age groups enjoying a quiet drink with friends or just out to get as drunk as possible, lets not beat about the bush. Saying that I've noticed the management and staff keeping a close eye on people doing the latter which is good to see. The guest ale quality is very good even with that tap water trying to be a beer Ruddles being �1.29 a pint. They often have beers from The Backyard Brew House and other local micro breweries which are always worth a try. The last beer festival was excellent and the staff were very enthusiastic when I visisted, shame the reviewer below didnt have the same experience. They had 7 of the 10 pumps for the guest ales and the remaining three for the house ales, we tried all 7 and were very impressed by the quality. I'm looking forward to the next festival. I find food can be hit and miss, the chip portions can be on the small side at times and I've noticed a couple of items go back because there cold but 9/10 its pretty good considering some meals are only �2.99. I think The Sack has improved a great deal in recent months, funny thing is that The Bottle of Sack used to be the cheapest pub in Sutton Coldfield and that garanteed custom but now the Litten Tree is cheapest yet its always empty but The Bottle of Sack is still very busy. Says it all really.
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Walked in recently to check out the beer festival. Two staff on, backs to the bar doing something terribly important - but not serving. Customers waiting. Walked out. Avoid.
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Indifferent beer quality. Staff don't tend to hide away so much these days (when the manager is around). Too many chavs!
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Fairly decent pint but takes ages to get served, especially on weekends
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I've been speaking to the bar staff recently about the plastic glasses on weekend nights, its thanks to the police and local council that they have to use them in the beer garden and not the choice of the management. So thats that cleared up.
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What do people expect? This is a Wetherspoons. The Real Ales are cheap, but good. I cannot comment on the other drinks, 'cause I don't drink them, but I assume they are also cheap. The food is relatively inexpensive and tastes good. It attracts a range of customers because it is cheap and it allows children in. I will drink here, because the ale is good and cheap.
However, as a pub, I prefer the Duke down the road. But I have no objection to drinking with a real cross-section of society. If you do not like seeing chavs, OAPs, families, people on benefit, Mr and Mrs Bog-Standard Average, or people like me, do not drink here!
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Horrible horrible place. Even by spoons standards it's awful. Yes they have ales that are alright and cheap, but for f*ucks sake. This has the worst atmosphere of any spoons i've ever been to and it's just so... soul destroying. Avoid!
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Real ales were nice, but this isn't a pub. Its a family eatery.
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I've already commented on this pub but I would like to add a few things.
Using the sack recently has bought a few things to my attention. Firstly during the day this is a coffee house aswell as an OAP dinning room and not a pub, alot of the regulars have moved on because the bar service is sooooo slow. Not because the staff are slow but because of the ridiculus amount of coffee being ordered along with a coffee area that isn't big enough to handle the demand. Secondly there never seems to be enough staff on, now this hasn't meant slow service but you do get the sence that an extra person would make a difference. At night its a complete role reversal with a very young crowd now dominating the pub with a smattering of other age groups. The beer quality is pretty good - the ale selection is like the decor abit tired. They have four house ales pedigree, abbbot, greene king IPA and old empire which arnt bad but they've had this selection for a long time now, a change might be nice. They also have one or two guests on which get dwarfed by the amount of house ales which is a real shame. The stuck up memebers of sutton who have names for this place are not worth listening too, if you have a normal human persona you'll find little to dislike about the sack.
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General
Stock standard Weatherspoons pub split over two levels with a small outside area for smokers, d�cor is tired and hasn�t really changed since the pub was launched. The cheap prices do bring in a younger more boisterous crowd which isn�t for everyone.
Space
The table arrangements are ok but it does feel a bit like a dining room in the centre. The seats to the far left hand side of the pub offer slightly more privacy, the conservatory area makes the place feel spacious, there is also a the small upstairs area incorporates a small seating area and the toilets, however there is no bar which means it isn�t an attractive option to sit on busy nights. There is also a small outside patio area which is a good use of a small space although smoking outside breathing in loads of petrol fumes at rush hour maybe a little too much even for the most staunch smoker.
Variety of drinks
As with all Weatherspoons pubs the choice of lager and ale is excellent, the bottled foreign beers such as Leach provide a bit of comedy! The real ale is (nine times out of ten) very good and there is a good variety of ales to choose from. The pub serves alcopops such as WKD if you wish to drink such rubbish. The wine is dispensed from a beer pump, but it is Stowells so like the place itself, not amazing but not offensive.
Price
Like all Weatherspoons pubs they are cheaper and with a lot of Sutton bars being expensive they stand out as a market leader on pricing however this does have its pit falls.
Staff
I have only been in on a Friday or Saturday nights and the bar after 7.30ish is always at least 3 deep. However the bar staff worked really hard and we got served quite quickly. Classes can be left lying around a bit which makes the place look untidy and can easily be sorted out.
Food
Stock stand fare for these kinds of places but with the meal deals and general pricing you don�t mind too much that the quality might not be up to Michelin standards, it is what it is.
Events
The pub doesn�t really cater for that sort of thing.
Conclusions
Pros
1. The beer/lager is cheaper than the rest of Sutton and there is a good selection.
2. Bar staff work really hard to keep the numbers at the bar under control.
3. Has an outside area for smokers
Cons
1. There can be high percentages of Chavs using the place as a pre bar before somewhere else, so be warned.
2. Slightly soulless.
3. Needs a bar upstairs (there isn�t room but it would help)
4. Can get very busy.
The pub is Ronseal and there is nothing wrong with that, I think if they had a refurb and were slightly more selective about their customers I would go more often.
The real ale is well kept and the prices mean that you can go out get drunk and not worry too much about your bank balance. The chav element of the pub isn�t as bad as some and as long as you keep yourself to yourself no one really bothers you. The food is ok to fill a hole too.
If you don�t mind the chavs give it a go, it gets a bad rap but apart from having to wait to get served (the bar staff do work v hard) I thought it was ok!
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Large pub on roundabout with large selection of ales, 8/10
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This place is dubbed the Bottle of Sick by the locals. It is full of chavs and although it is cheap there is no real atmosphere and when you walk in it feels as though the locals are looking you up and down.
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Easily Suttons buisest pub, became a lloyds no1 in november last year when the new licening laws came into effect.
It is generally a nice place with good food, good beer and decent customers. But like with all spoons it does have its share of crap, the occasional chav but mostly its middle aged men that should be at work. Otherwise the pub has a very lively but peaceful (no fights) atmosphere. The decor is pretty crap considering its a lloyds.
Overall not a bad place, one of the better wetherspoons.
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Very busy " Chav Free" Sutton pub - usual Wetherspoons benefits - Open late on a Saturday Night - As much as it was busy it had a very friendly atmosphere .
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Nice, for a Sutton Pub as it seems unpopular with the vile spoilt youth of Sutton. Nice and "local".
Chris - 22 Sep 2004 15:06 |
Gin and Tonics for 99p, can't be bad!
Kat - 13 Sep 2004 18:51 |
Good pub, only 1 bar unlike many other WetherSpoons I've been to, but its always good! As for following down to Rosies, those days are gone now that the place has gone down hill!!!
Phil - 2 Jun 2004 23:16 |
"A reasonable Wetherspoons Pub, with open plan downstairs, small balcony area up top & noisy & younger at weekend. Has good range of beers, conversion of former solictors/doctors premises."
It is infact a purpose built facility!
Paul Mills - 20 May 2004 16:00 |
fantastic and friendly pub!! great value food and drink too!
Russ - 16 May 2004 23:06 |
A reasonable Wetherspoons Pub, with open plan downstairs, small balcony area up top & noisy & younger at weekend. Has good range of beers, conversion of former solictors/doctors premises.
bg - 26 Mar 2004 20:56 |
great cheap night out. on a thursdays a follow on to Rosies is a must!!
anonymous - 1 Oct 2003 20:26 |
Cheap prices and always a great atmosphere
gogirl - 23 Jun 2003 01:26 |
