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why are there no J D Wetherspoon pubs in ROI?

dd972

You'd think with the boozing culture we have they'd have colonised our town and cities some time ago, plus costwise they'd annihilate the opposition paying through the nose for their Guinness and Heineken.

Only heard bit and bobs of rumour as to why there's no Spoon pubs here ranging from the fact that it's in the Eurozone and it doesn't fit in with their business plan and the Victuallers Association here are keeping them out by some means or other, anybody heard anything more substantial?

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12 march 1930

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kooga

its very simple if you don't like wetherspoons don't go into them. I'm not a fan of KFC do i whinge and moan about them no i don't ..................just because they exist doesn't mean you have to patron the premises.

Good to see they stood up to diageo, however beamish at €3.95 in blackrock won't be too popular a price when they open in cork!

i was in the bridge house belfast last monday, busy day and i popped in and got a drink and roast of the day for £5.49, it did me and kept me going until i got back to cork.

I like wetherspoons and am happy to go there.

awec

To be fair the food is what it is. I don't think anyone is under any illusions that it's anything other than cheap and average. Good for a bite to eat if you happen to be out and about, but not somewhere you are going to take the family for pub grub.

I'm pretty sure the food arrives pre-prepared and is just heated up on the premises.

Seaneh

I'd say the cork prices will be a little lower than Dublin anyway. They have regional pricing in the UK, London and the South East is more expensive than the rest of the UK.

Sleepy

The craft beer prices are feckin fantastic... would almost make it worth the DART fare out to give it a try some night...

Never much liked the place when it was Tonic but it seems they're spending heavily on the refurb.

keith16

dd972 wrote: »

Some of them in nicer towns and areas in the UK are quite plush, comfortable places where a bit of effort's been put in, you'd find a far nicer Wetherspoons in a city like York or Exeter than you would in some s**tehole like Luton, their food is a bit school dinnerish but decent value compared with paying twice the amount for something average elsewhere, I'll certainly be giving the Three Tun Tavern the once over ( before heading up to the Craft Beer place further down, of course )

NO NO NO! THEY IS ALL THE SAME....CARPETS, FRUIT MACHINES, SKY NEWS WITH SUBTITLES.

The truth is that they vary in quality drastically. I bet the one in Blackrock is going to superb and will be a big shock to the local boozers:

Conways - overpriced and AWFUL food

Breffni - grand, bit of an old mans pub. Nothing special, nothing terrible.

O' Rourkes - ????

Wicked Wolf - I'd say they'll hang on to their clientelle of rag tag band of crusties - they might try Spoonies, but they'll be out of their quicker than a scrounger in the job centre when they find out they have no "Bud"

Seaneh

awec wrote: »

To be fair the food is what it is. I don't think anyone is under any illusions that it's anything other than cheap and average. Good for a bite to eat if you happen to be out and about, but not somewhere you are going to take the family for pub grub.

I'm pretty sure the food arrives pre-prepared and is just heated up on the premises.

They employ trained chef's, it's cooked in house, I'd say a lot of it is "pre-assembled" and thrown into ovens though (the piri-piri chicken, currries, etc).

But yeah, it is what it is. If you want a curry and a pint for a tenner or a burger or something it's grand, it's just pub grub though, it's not going to change anyones life.

I quite like their chicken wings, just wish the hot sauce didn't come on the side.

Geuze

kooga wrote: »

i
Good to see they stood up to diageo, however beamish at €3.95 in blackrock won't be too popular a price when they open in cork!

JDW prices are higher in Belfast than Enniskillen/Derry, so expect them to be a bit lower in Cork.

Maybe 3.50 for Beamish? Maybe 3.75?

PWEI

FTA69 wrote: »

They're awful, soulless places. The carpets are usually vomit-coloured and look like they were picked out by a woman in her 80s. The sh*tty furniture is usually dotted around in a fashion that predicates against talking to anyone else; not that you'd want to talk to half the people who frequent there anyway. Throw in blinking horrible fruit machines and you can be assured that the local JDW will most likely be the biggest p*ss hole in the area.

The Irish pub tradition is one of the best in the world, anyone who'd prefer some brightly-lit sanitised drinking hole over a decent Irish pub is half cracked.

The same can be said for a lot of the Super Pubs in Dublin most of which are soulless places.
The above description could be of Knightsbridge on Bachelor's Walk (without the fruit machines) or even O'Neills of Suffolk Street with it's Victorian English country inn decor.

Seaneh

Sleepy wrote: »

The craft beer prices are feckin fantastic... would almost make it worth the DART fare out to give it a try some night...

Never much liked the place when it was Tonic but it seems they're spending heavily on the refurb.

The Sixpoint beers are gorgeous, €3.50 each is crazy value.

FTA69

Seaneh wrote: »

They employ trained chef's, it's cooked in house, I'd say a lot of it is "pre-assembled" and thrown into ovens though (the piri-piri chicken, currries, etc).

Trained chefs? A member of kitchen staff in JDW gets paid around 50p an hour more than the minimum wage and their training consists of being taught how to assemble the pre-packed stuff that is delivered, how to use a grill and how to heat stuff up in a combi-oven. They aren't chefs at all but they do have to do a couple of basic workbook-based courses in food prep and hygiene. The sauces etc are pre-bagged and also heated up.

I used to work for a similar company over here for ages. The one thing I will give them though, is they have a great variety and standard of real ale. I have never had a bad pint in one of them.

JohnK

Theres some pictures up on twitter showing the inside of The Three Tun Tavern and some promo shots of the food https://twitter.com/ThreeTunTavern/media

whisky_galore

noodler wrote: »

Sadly, alot of truth in this.

Yes, there's one pub I have in mind in a certain tourist town, very popular, but a dark poky interior that looks complete sh*te, like it was just fcuked together like the set of a school play. The niteclub part is a poor imitation of a mosque crafted in mass concrete with fixtures usually found selling at a car boot sale. Nightmare getting from one end to the other when crowded, as it usually is. They have live music, bands playing covers of varying quality. No craft beers, just the usual suspects.
Other pubs I've been to have ripped all the original interiors out during the Celtic tiger years and rejigged and relaunched as an 'Irish' pub.... you know the ones, bare unrendered stone walls and assorted crap hanging off the ceilings and walls that would never have been found in an authentic pub back in the day.

ThisRegard

JohnK wrote: »

Theres some pictures up on twitter showing the inside of The Three Tun Tavern and some promo shots of the food https://twitter.com/ThreeTunTavern/media

That place looks good, despite what people who know what all Wetherspoons are like are saying on this thread.

awec

Seaneh wrote: »

They employ trained chef's, it's cooked in house, I'd say a lot of it is "pre-assembled" and thrown into ovens though (the piri-piri chicken, currries, etc).

But yeah, it is what it is. If you want a curry and a pint for a tenner or a burger or something it's grand, it's just pub grub though, it's not going to change anyones life.

I quite like their chicken wings, just wish the hot sauce didn't come on the side.

Given the amount of dishes on the menu I'd say at least a good bit of it would have to be just thrown in the oven, otherwise I don't see how they could possibly manage to cook to order.

I wouldn't even call it proper pub grub to be honest. It's almost fast food.

awec

JohnK wrote: »

Theres some pictures up on twitter showing the inside of The Three Tun Tavern and some promo shots of the food https://twitter.com/ThreeTunTavern/media

Looks pretty similar to all other Wetherspoons.

Seaneh

Interior looks well.

Those booths look very comfy.

I'll be popping in when I'm back in Dubland at the end of July.

Lockstep

I'm excited about this.
I liked Wetherspoons when I was in the UK, decent food and a great choice of beers at cheap prices, they like to source local beers for pubs so where I was, they sold a lot of Nottingham ales for example.
Their burgers are awful but they do really nice ribs, wings and a great fish/chips for a fiver on Fridays.

Also, anything that gives a kick up the hole to the Vintners is fine by me.

old hippy

keith16 wrote: »

NO NO NO! THEY IS ALL THE SAME....CARPETS, FRUIT MACHINES, SKY NEWS WITH SUBTITLES.

The truth is that they vary in quality drastically. I bet the one in Blackrock is going to superb and will be a big shock to the local boozers:

Conways - overpriced and AWFUL food

Breffni - grand, bit of an old mans pub. Nothing special, nothing terrible.

O' Rourkes - ????

Wicked Wolf - I'd say they'll hang on to their clientelle of rag tag band of crusties - they might try Spoonies, but they'll be out of their quicker than a scrounger in the job centre when they find out they have no "Bud"

Ugh. Poor Blackrock, what have they done to deserve it?

Wicked Wolf used to be the place to go circa '96. Lat time I was there it was full of edgy characters in gold chains, so I won't be returning there.

O' Rourke's is a lovely old pub, can't get enough of it. Excellent service and once the haunt of a certain hero of mine - Mr Flann O' Brien.

The_Captain

I'm surprised people find the idea of Wetherspoons here so objectionable, considering the average Irish pub-goer would be happy to hoover up booze from a trough at €4 a pint.

Seaneh

They are having a ticketed opening weekend event this weekend, they are giving out tickets in Black rock today between 1pm and 2pm and 6pm and 7pm.

Ticket gets you into the event with free food and drinks for all.

Kermit.de.frog

Competition is welcome but i'm less enthused about yet another chain to make our streets indistinguishable from Manchester or Birmingham tbh.

Seaneh

Lockstep wrote: »

they like to source local beers for pubs so where I was, they sold a lot of Nottingham ales for example.

One in Bangor (wales) sells a lot of beers form the likes of Conwy, Purple Moose, Big Bog Brewery, etc as well, hopefully the same happens in Ireland with the casks.

old hippy

The_Captain wrote: »

I'm surprised people find the idea of Wetherspoons here so objectionable, considering the average Irish pub-goer would be happy to hoover up booze from a trough at €4 a pint.

Not true, we're a discerning lot - JDW may have its guest ales and suchlike but does it have the proper vibe? Oh well, I'll find out in a few months. On the plus side, Beamish & Murphy's is an acceptable substitute for Guinness...

ThisRegard

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Competition is welcome but i'm less enthused about yet another chain to make our streets indistinguishable from Manchester or Birmingham tbh.

You do realise they don't have the same shop fronts as each other ?

Seaneh

ThisRegard wrote: »

You do realise they don't have the same shop fronts as each other ?

Hey now, don't be bringing valid points in here, buddy!

Links234

JohnK wrote: »

Theres some pictures up on twitter showing the inside of The Three Tun Tavern and some promo shots of the food https://twitter.com/ThreeTunTavern/media

Ooooh! Adnams on cask!?

And Dogfish Head on tap!? :eek: That's amazing to see, I'd nearly take the trip out to Blackrock for a couple of pints next time I'm in Dubland

keith16

old hippy wrote: »

but does it have the proper vibe? .

And what would you define that as?

If it's not blaring music, or doesn't have the cricket / horse racing on big screens, then that is fine with me.

Seaneh

Links234 wrote: »

Ooooh! Adnams on cask!? And Dogfish Head on tap!? :eek: That's amazing to see, I'd nearly take the trip out to Blackrock for a couple of pints next time I'm in Dubland

Meet ya at the bar

ThisRegard

Seaneh wrote: »

Hey now, don't be bringing valid points in here, buddy!

I'm only angry that it's not close to me, I'd love to have a local with a selection of beers and ales like that.

Bits_n_Bobs

keith16 wrote: »

NO NO NO! THEY IS ALL THE SAME....CARPETS, FRUIT MACHINES, SKY NEWS WITH SUBTITLES.

The truth is that they vary in quality drastically. I bet the one in Blackrock is going to superb and will be a big shock to the local boozers:

Conways - overpriced and AWFUL food

Breffni - grand, bit of an old mans pub. Nothing special, nothing terrible.

O' Rourkes - ????

Wicked Wolf - I'd say they'll hang on to their clientelle of rag tag band of crusties - they might try Spoonies, but they'll be out of their quicker than a scrounger in the job centre when they find out they have no "Bud"

In fairness the Galway Bay (can't remember its name...) boozer on the bottom of Carysfort is a decent boozer.