The Berkeley - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in Bristol

Large pub with a stained-glass dome and a small whispering gallery in a former shopping arcade.

Like all Wetherspoons, the whole Nation over, the place suffers from the occasional staff deficit, with all the problems of service this will entail and this one, being in the heart of student-land (from which they court the majority of their temporary employees) the problem here is exacerbated.

Notwithstanding this, the establishment is a pleasure to enter for the history buff, the place is a mine of information regarding local events. Dotted around the establishment are excellently mounted pictures with explanatory text, concerning events such as Monmouth's Rebellion, 1685, Bristol Riots, 1831 and much about Bristol's changes of fortune during the civil war, 1642 and much more.

Fast forward to the present and the Berkeley, like most of the Wetherspoon stable, is on the Cask Marque Ale trail and justifiably so. The pint of Green King Heritage 5%abv went down exceedingly well as I boned up on local history.

There is a Tardis like effect to the place, once a Victorian shopping arcade and seems to go on and on, with nooks and crannies aplenty. There's a beautiful stained glass dome in one area, that is lovely to perceive when the sunlight shines through it.

There are large windows facing the main road - ideal for people watching.

On the down side, considering it's location and the demographic of it's main customer base, the place is, and looks, 'much used.' A team of cleaners, followed rapidly by a squad of decorators could apply much needed TLC to...

I was in Bristol seeing family and came here for breakfast, I usually go to the Commercial Rooms on Corn Street.

However, my flip flops broke whilst running for the train. So I needed to go to Mountain Warehouse after having breakfast. Hence the change in venue.

Typical for a Weatherspoons, old building, tables are very close together so access for a wheel chair is possible but a wheelchair user would be limited to where they could sit.

Standard menu for a Wetherspoons, vegan and vegetarian breakfasts available, many other vegetarian and vegan dishes also available.

My son is autistic so has to create his own breakfast so he only has items he likes. We were served by a staff member named Jen, Jen welcomed us with a smile, was politely, chatty, tentative to customers needs and delivered fantastic customer service.

After a crappy train journey from Swanse this was fantastic and brightened our day.

The ambiance was better here than we usually find at the Commercial Rooms, as it was quieter due to the time of the morning, whereas the Commercial Rooms can be rather busy being more centrally located.

There was no music playing making conversation far easier than I’ve experienced in some WS in the past.

Service was fast, our food arrived in less than 5 minutes after ordering. The food was well presented on plate.

The food was hot, very tasty and well cooked, but it cooled down rather quickly so no time to hang about or you’ll end up with a...

One of our worst ever dining experiences. The place is filthy, the toilets smell disgusting, service appauling and some of the food cold, that's when they eventually got the order right. Our disappointing experience started when we went to the bar to place our food order for 4 people. We were told we could not order at the side bar and should go to the front. We placed the order and he read it back to us. He didn't offer me a receipt, which by law he is obliged to do so. I needed this so asked him and he made me feel guilty for asking and said he would have to go to the other side to another printer. We waited about 30 minutes for our food and thought that this seemed like a long time. So we went to the bar to enquire and was told that there was a delay and all orders were at least 40 minutes. We should have been told this at the point of ordering. So we waited and the food came approx 10 Mins later. The vegan breakfast we asked for came with bacon on it and the hallomi on my Quinoa salad was stone cold. The egg on my daughters meal was solid (just as she hates it). There was cutlery and rubbish all over the floor, on top of the radiator next to our table. The picture on the wall was smeared with food, it was altogether an apaulling experience, we shall never go there again. We have been going to various Wetherpoons pubs in different towns and never had such a poor experience. Seriously this place needs some management and...