Wetherspoons — Restaurant in Gateshead

Whetherspoons at metrocentre today was attrocious. First, the ladies toilets were in a very poor state and smelled pretty bad. I used these twice within one hour and the state did not change. Then our food came. My daughters nuggets were very chewy, wet and seemed microwaved as the batter was not crispy. I had also sent a burger back after noticing white edges which indicated to me that it had been microwaved also. A member of staff kindly replaced this however I noticed that they brought out the same burger within a minute as it had the same whitish edges and was wet and rubbery. I mentioned this to a member of staff and was told she would give me a refund. I waited at the table and was then greeted by the duty manager who very rudely and abruptly said I would not be refunded as this was not microwaved and seemed more interested in creating a scene infront of other customers and my table rather than assisting the problem. My company had all finished there food and I pointed this out to him aswell as having to explain my complaint again. He could see I hadn't touched my food and when I explained that his college had offered me a refund he rejected. He said that I was welcome to go to head office with the complaint as he disagreed with my complaint and when I asked if I could take the names of staff who had tried to be helpful as well as his name so that i could explain to head office my experience, he refused and said he was not obliged to do so. Myself and my company witnessed a couple leaving prior to my complaint as they were not happy with there food too. Another table next to us during my complaint witnessed my situation and said that i was in the right, that the duty manager was rude and that her and her table would not be back as they didnt eat there food either. I dont usually have such an experience and im usually satisfied with the food and service at other whetherspoons although todays visit leaves me very disappointed. I would really appreciate it if a member of head office could take the time to address this matter and educate the duty manager of polite customer service. I pointed out a number of times that I had already politely explained my situation but he seemed eager to defend my complaint with a bad attitude which caused embarrassment to myself and my table. This was the afternoon of 5th may around 1.45pm. I must however point out that this was not the actual manager and only the duty manager. Very poor food and service. I just hope whetherspoons chain will appreciate this feedback to save the same thing happening to anyone else. I won't be back visiting whetherspoons at metrocentre but I will at other locations as Ive never had such an experience...

I find myself in the rather odd position of rating a J D Whetherspoon poorly. This for me was one of the worst displays of staff knowledge and service.

It's Argentina vs France, it's not busy just business as usual, we take our seats, I already know my order. I go to the bar and despite being the only one there and staff talking among themselves I'm feeling good. Two gentleman arrive and stand next to me. They both get served before me which I find quite rude, the staff should be paying attention to the bar. Despite what the response might say there was plenty of other staff around the venue including a manager. I'm hungry and thirsty so I let this go, get my drink and take my seat. My partner gets up to order and comes back looking very disappointed. I ask what's wrong and they got her drink wrong, at this stage I would like to say it was not busy, at all. No one was going to the bar when we did. She ordered a Ginberry fizz which from the picture I have attached is, Pink gin, Chambord black raspberry liqueur, lemonade and lime. She came back with clear gin and a bottle of lemonade. I urge her to get this corrected, the staff did not offer an apology or offer to make a new one from scratch which she paid for, but the staff just poured a little Chambored in and said that's right. I find it quite difficult to believe that bar staff should not know how to make the cocktails on the menu, if not they should and do have cards that tell them the recipe because I have seen them. The customer service displayed here was non-existent and has put us off this venue. The staff should be trained in both customer service and how to make drinks on the menu, not half arsed excuses for cocktails. Not even the right gin was used, and the pink gin was on the shelf next to the normal clear gin. Staff here are just lazy. Much like your tables you need to clean...

Absolute average, at best. We arrived for breakfast early to fuel up ahead of some last minute Christmas shopping. A queue had already formed outside waiting for opening time. Surely a good sign.

Like all Wetherspoons, ordering through the app was a straightforward process. We ordered a Traditional Breakfast, a Vegetarian breakfast wrap, two cold drinks and two hot drinks.

Service was pretty quick, but staff looked and sounded as though they were all direct descendants of Ebenezer Scrooge himself.

The cold drinks were OK. It's pretty difficult to mess up cordial with water, but they managed it. Who puts lime blackcurrant?! Maybe we should have stuck to eggnog.

If you're familiar with 'spoons (my usage of a colloquial nickname let's you know I am) you'll know that hot drinks are self service and refillable. Unfortunately, within 10 minutes of arrival, one of the handful (being generous) of machines kicked the bucket. This led to queues forming to obtain coffee longer than those of children waiting to see Santa. The lack of caffeine ingestion early in the morning meant there were a similar number of tantrums too.

The coffee itself was wretched. I'm not sure how it's possible for something to taste simultaneously bland and incredibly bitter. Had the staff used their Christmas coal instead of coffee beans? It certainly tasted like that. I didn't bother refilling.

My usual Wetherspoons breakfast experience is good for the price so when breakfast was plonked onto the table I was eager to tuck in... I should have reigned in my fervour. Every item on the plate tasted like damp cardboard. Well, bacon aside. That tasted like salty damp cardboard.

Needless to say, I left feeling as disappointed as a child who was expecting a Playstation but Santa left a Stationplay instead.

2 Stars. Probably...