please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This Wetherspoon's outlet enjoys a fairly central location in Dumfries. It was as busy as you'd expect on a Saturday evening. As such, it was quite noisy. I was looking forward to a visit, as it is the only place in the town that serves real cider. Both Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon and Thistly Cross Elderflower Cider were on. Ales were Greene King Abbot, Sharp's Doom Bar, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Kelburn Jaguar, Orkney Red MacGregor, Sulwath Galloway Gold & Nelson Shipwrecked. Service was out of order, as is the norm for a Wetherspoon's (when will they employ observant bar staff?). They also refused my CAMRA voucher for a real cider. When challenged, they tried it on the till and to the barman's surprise, the till accepted it. It was nice to have a cider though.
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This used to be an OK 'Spoons, though I'd not been in since about 2008! In a brief visit for a Queen of the South v. Hibs game it still looked fair enough. Typical large 'Spoons with an upstairs balcony. With 1,500 Hibs fans in town, it was very crowded and we only stayed for the one before looking for somewhere less popular. I had a standard plebs' cider, as I wasn't arsed struggling to the bar to view the selection of ales. The member of our party charged with getting the round in returned from the bar impressively quickly. Doesn't seem to be a lot wrong with the place.
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The selection of ales has improved slightly.service ok on quiet nights ie no steak or curry club nights but if its busy tables are left for long periods with dirty plates and glasses .Also the heating is set too high in the raised platform area at the left of the bar and makes dining there uncomfortable
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Possibly the worst Wetherspoons pub ever which is a shame as it used to be really good until the current manager took over. This place should be called the "Available Soon Arms" as you can bet your life that when you go in there a number of the beers will have "availablle soon" notices on them. I went in there recently and there was a grand total of two very poor beers with all the others, you guessed it - available soon! This pub even runs out of its regular ales such as Deuchars IPA which, quite frankly is bad management, a pub should not run out of its regular beers. The standard of the beer is also absolutely terrible, I was served a pint of cloudy "muck" yesterday and took it back to the bar to change it for another, equally poor beer. The ironic thing is that the girl who served me reported to her supervisor that there was obviously a problem with the beer yet nothing was done about it and they continued to serve it. I hope CAMRA and Cask Marque hear about this place as it has literally gone to the dogs, which is a shame.
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In an old converted red sandstone chapel, it is standard 'Spoons decore inside. There were 6 handpumps with only 4 working 2 each of Ruddles and Deuchars which I found puzzling, but another 6 with all Scottish independants featured so that'll do for me! There didn't seem to be the usual staffing problem but it wasn't too busy anyway. The Orkney Raven was spot on
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Now a very poor example of a JDW outlet. Dirty, scruffy and unloved premises. Cold in winter, damn high tables encourage standing drinkers to clutter the area by the bar, and takes an age to get served, unless of course you spend every waking hour in there. Unadventurous real ale range and often more coming soon badges than actual ales on sale.
Even the beer prices are no longer significantly cheaper than say, the Cavens.
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nice smoking area , usual high standards of weatherspoons but i was tickled when they had plaques up describing the trouble they went to cleaning the paint of a beautifull red sandstone building, hope they never repaint
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This really was very nice for a 'spoons, when we visited on a Monday eveniing. Good choice of beer, and what we had was good. Cleaner than the average 'spoons, staff friendly. Lots of CAMRA promotional stuff about.
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Very standard Wetherspoon's with beers well-kept and the conversion had made this one quite airy. Saturday lunchtime service was slow, and it seems that the manager has not read the accurate and constructive points about understaffing.
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This pub has been through several incarnations some of them were dire, BUT it's looking up with Martin as manager. Having said that I agree with several of the other poster's comments regarding the staffing levels. Particularly in regards to times when a lot of meals are being served, bar staff having to serve the diners as well as the drinkers. I find the bar staff friendly and can only wish company, not local, managment can be persuaded that timely service will be an asset in retainining customers especially durin recession.
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Must have improved recently. We had no problem getting served even on a Saturday night. Usual Wetherspoons fare with a couple of guests. Usual Wetherspoons clentele with a couple of dipsticks who'd had a couple too many. Not bad though.
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update
for a Weatherspoons I guess this rates pretty high-
for a normal pub it is pretty bad though
horrible service- not enough staff working in the first place- 20 minutes to get a pint... amazing how the owners do not see that putting on more staff would actually make them more money...
If you want cheap beer- cheap bad food- terrible service- then this is the place for you
not very friendly people or staff...
almost no malts...
popular- but I have no idea why....
not dog friendly...
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I only went in for a coffee, as I was driving back into England. Helpful service, but Wetherspoons usual corporate decor prevailed.
anonymous - 16 Oct 2006 15:48 |
If you like good service don't bother It is a complete nightmare when you want to be served. ....Staff are never aware of who is next.....unless you want food "is that with fries or pots peas or salad jacket or .....dip this dip that sorry phone has just rung must drop everything got to answer it within 5 ringsor else...b****x to the thirsty drinker.............Wethers original concept was top ho...sell it cheap stack it high....no itsa mess.If you want a decent pub with high standards go down the road to cavens
anonymous - 20 Jul 2006 18:18 |
Ok, so opinions are divided on weatherspoons pubs as they largley follow the same formula - great building, boring decor, cheap booze and sub-basic deep fried food. They are always run to be the most efficient means that they can be, and this usually involves giving the staff a rough deal. So there's the bad bit out of the way first.
Like most Scottish Weatherspoons however (see my other reviews) this one is a lot better thany any of its English counterparts and has a good range of ale despite most people preferring the cheap colored drinks. Moderatley friendly if a bit basic - I actually enjoyed being there.
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Good as a pub - rubbish as a restaurant.
Drinks were about �1 for a vodka & mixer but have recently risen to about double that! Haven't been in for a while.
Food here is stinking - to be honest they would be better just closing that side of the business. I demanded money back on a meal that was frozen cold. They had it sitting for 15 minutes before bringing it out to us. The girl denied point blank - saying it had just come down in the lift. Despite the fact I could see it sitting there!!
Not good at all.
anonymous - 11 May 2006 12:03 |
very big place... beautiful building... usually packed...
not very friendly people...
no music... pretty sterile atmosphere...
almost no malts...
popular- but I have no idea why....
very average food... all pre-frozen and bland...
not dog friendly...
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It'll never be anything other than a Wetherspoon, but it's a good use of a dead Methodist chapel. The Family Area is raised up three steps, and works well, but does get busy.
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always full of folk when am in you can never move i suppose thats a good thing tho! classy pub
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