Brits asked to describe Wetherspoons and don’t hold back

Damning depictions of Wetherspoons went viral yesterday after Brits were asked to describe the pubs to people who had never visited them.

The responses came in thick and fast on social media platform X when @NoContextBrits asked: “Describe Wetherspoons to someone who’s never been to one before.”

The post, which has since racked up over 2.4 million views and thousands of comments, resulted in a series of descriptions that national press have since described as both “brutal” and “hilarious”.

One respondent described the value-pub chain as a “toilet-themed escape room,” while another said it was “a homeless hostel with a bar”.

One person said that the pubs were an: “inexpensive emergency food set to the backdrop of a dull Earthbound version of the cantina from Star Wars. Freakish looking locals, sawdust and maybe a severed limb on the floor. Often a slightly off smell.”

Another X user observed that the venues were: “Like a pub, but cheaper and without music that sounds like an explosion in a pan factory or a car alarm going off.”

Other responses stated: “When I took my American wife for the first time I said ‘first fight will happen before midday’. I was accurate.”

The budget chain, owned by keen Brexiteer Tim Martin, was also described on X by one user as a venue that offered “daycare for adults”.

Also joining the conversation, Apprentice star Tom Skinner, who responded to the question on X, said Wetherspoons pubs had: “sticky tables, grubby floors but always full of lovely people. Average 27,504 steps up or down to their nearest toilet inside”.

To level out the swathes of negative responses, there were also a smattering of positive descriptions that made their way online too. For instance, one pubgoer pointed out that Wetherspoons sold “affordable drinks and food in an age where everything else is overpriced” while another fan pointed out that the pubs offered a “decent meal and drink of your choice, under £10”.

Wetherspoon recently dropped 18 products from its venues including Buffalo Trace and Lambs Navy Rum, upping its proportion of no- and low-alcohol options. The chain has however announced strong growth in sales with year-to-date like-for-like sales up 8.3% so far.

In April, the price of a pint of mainstream lager in the Wetherspoons pub The Moon Under Water, in London’s Leicester Square was scrutinised for being almost £7 compared to other parts of the country where the exact same drink cost as little as £2.35.

To assist value-hunting pub goers, an interactive booze map that reveals where to find the cheapest drinks in Wetherspoons pubs was created last year.