Spread Eagle, Acocks Greenback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
JDW have upped their game enormously in thepast couple of years, which means that the old-style Spoons look even worse in comparison to their newer, cleaner brethren.
This is an old-style Spoons. It's dirty, the customers are here because it's cheap and for no other reason, the staff don;t seen to give much of a toss about improving the place. On the night I was lucky enough to visit the real ale choice consisted of Wobbly Bob, Ruddles, Abbot, Doombar and JHB, which is usually one of my favourites but tonight would have been sent back anywhere else. Here, though, what's the point? I know from experience that you're not going to get any better.
A drink in this place reinforc es the opinion that there is clearly still a market for pubs catering to the lowest common denominator, and also shows that while they're all in here they aren't anywhere else.
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This Wetherspoons was the second pub I sampled in Acocks Green last night. The nearby Westley Hotel also houses a nice and busy pub with 3 ales on. Whilst there were a couple more beers on in the Spread Eagle, they were all pretty bog standard - Batemans Rosey Nosey & XXXB, Greene King Abbot & Ruddles Best & Adnams Broadside. Ciders were Westons Old Rosie &Wyld Wood. As if often the case, the beers 'coming soon' seemed more interesting than the beers being served. Nevertheless, the pub has slightly more character than most 'spoons. It has 2 separate rooms and the barman was fairly pleasant. Fairly average overall.
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A nice enough spoons'-quick service but the outside smoking area left a lot to be desired-Two wooden tables adjacent the Poundstrecher loading bay(classy) but at least it was somewhere to grab a fag and the ale was decent too..7/10
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Not being a fan of Wetherspoons houses I was pleasantly surprised to discover quite a mellow, efficiently run bar when I dropped in one late Sunday evening. The ale was nicely kept, and the service was pretty good in comparison to nearly every other Spoon I've been in. Clearly I visited at the right time. A minor spat between members of a card school flared up and blew over just as quickly, in slightly comic fashion. I'd call in again when next in the area.
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Bog standard Wetherspoons. Takes an age to get served and no atmosphere at all, everyone just staring silently at Sky News.
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A typical Weatherspoons, busy, rowdy, good fare at reasonable prices, BUT say I warm beer sometimes and as always an excuse why a certain real ale is not available, more and more the city pubs that weatherspoon own are becoming chap and cheerful eating and drinking places without the CAMRA type requirements, in the book for now but watch it weatherspoons you could loose the real ale ratings. Kings heath, Fox & Goose, Briar Rose. etc... all a poor 5.5 for me
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Decent pub. Good inexpensive food. A variety of beers at realistic prices. Bar staff are usually OK but do occasionally leave customers waiting. Now deveoping in to a cross bettween a friendly local and a well run chain pub. Overall a good pub.
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I used to live in Acocks Green and was overjoyed when 'The Spread', as it was often known, opened. At last a decent pint of 'real ale' for a 'real cheap' price. We left the UK three years ago, but I've been back in for a visit since and it hadn't changed. During the day a lot of the older villagers can be found having a quick drink while out shopping, even if that is only tea or coffee. At lunch, some of the local workers are in for a quick one. The pub tends to buzz all day. At night the place gets packed, especially on the weekend. Sure there's a rough element that go in there, but there are a lot of decent folk too. It's a popular pub so it attracts all sorts. If you can take the 'rough with the smooth' then you should get by at 'The Spread'. I used to like the 'Halloween Beer Festival' and the 'Summer Fest'. It was a real pleasure being able to savour beers from all over the country. The staff went to a lot of trouble also getting into the 'spirit' of things, dressing up and trimming the pub out. I drink in bars / pubs in Phoenix, Arizona now and I recognise a lot of the influences that Wetherspoon's took from across the Atlantic. By contrast, a lot of people here seek to sit at the bar, in preference to tables or in booths. The barstaff, or waitresses (out at the tables), take your order and it is usual to run a tab for the night. Sitting at the bar is good though, as here, they have another one waiting for you as you reach the end of your drink. Occasionally 'The Spread Eagle' staff surprised us with that kind of service, but more usually they were too hard pressed /stretched to deal with the volume of customers. I have pleasant memories overall of 'The Spread' and I daresay I shall pay it a visit next time I come over. It's a salty place, full of saints and sinners and a whole bunch somewhere in between! It's often a lively place in just about any way you could imagine and if you can be philosophical, or enjoy simple pleasures, it can be quite entertaining.
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Truly awful. Open all day.
Full of drunk old men.
All smokers crammed into one
corner for some bizarre reason.
Very moody and chav-like.
anonymous - 19 Aug 2004 16:42 |
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