The High Main - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

My family and I go to The High Main every Wednesday for their pub quiz, and always order food and drinks throughout the evening.

The food at wetherspoons is extremely tasty, cheap and there are a large variety of items on the menu, both for meals and deserts. The portion sizes are very generous, however very inconsistent. Some days, I get lots of chips on my plate, and others I get very few.

The drinks are very cheap, however the service at the bar is often quite slow. The majority of the time, they tend not to have more than 1 person on the bar, and the waiting time to be served can sometimes reach 10 minutes, which is a long time when you're just after a drink. There are a large variety of drinks, with a constantly changing menu of craft beers. The staff do ID people a lot, however, so if you look young and don't have ID, you'll likely not be served.

The service varies from staff member to staff member, some extremely kind and considerate, and some rather arrogant. However, if you have an issue with your food, they often just replace it, or give you extra, without checking the issue or resolving it.

The cleanliness of the dining area varies too. All the tables are cleaned and the floors are spotless, but the staff can often be very slow on clearing plates and glasses. The cleanliness of the bathrooms however, is always awful.

The establishment has a beer garden, which is also a No Smoking area, however, the staff do not enforce this, and thus, the garden is often filled with smokers.

The pub quiz is always fun, with money and vouchers to he won. The questions are always a good mix of easy and hard, and therefore no one leaves with 0 points. However there is an issue with cheating as Dave, the quizmaster, never really does anything about people on their phones, even after saying it in the initial rules.

The tables are good quality, and the chairs are quite comfortable. The dim CTO lights cast a really homely relaxing atmosphere through the pub, however the visibility in some areas towards the back of the pub is limited, as the lighting is very dim here.

Overall, this place isnt the best, but it's a good for a cheap...

Don't be put off too much by the location. Yes, Shields Road can be a bit fruity at times, but the punters in the High Main are generally very pleasant. There tends to be a wider selection of real ales on here than in city centre Wetherspoon venues, and it is far less crammed at peak times. The staff are mostly very pleasant and helpful, especially Jess and Charles, but it's not all good news.

The chairs are a very mixed bag. The booths are fine, but the free-standing chairs around tables are either passable or incredibly saggy. I'm only a little chap and some which are the verge of collapsing altogether render the table too high to be usable.

Speaking of tables, it's a regular occurrence during busier times to find yourself wandering about the place looking for a clean table. This is not because of the work ethic of the staff, it's a shortage of staff whose focus has been pointed at serving and getting the cash in rather than making it more pleasant for those who have just arrived. Being a food venue means that some of the tables can be nothing short of horrendous, covered in chips and ketchup. This must be an issue with management.

All of that said, I spend a significant amount of time here and would prefer to pass 2 other 'spoons pubs to come here. It would take very little effort and cost to raise this to 4, maybe...

UPDATE 24.03.24. This joint is still the epitomé of Shields Road sophistication. My eons old review below stands 100%. You might not like it's owner for political issues, but the beer quality (I haven't eaten in a 'spoons for ages) is consistently 99% I feel. The beer choice and availability for the ale heads is questionable I hear, however.

I have sampled both beers and food countless times here. Typical Wetherspoons offerings, but that's not to knock some great drinks at an even better price, steady grub plus I've never been poured a duff pint yet. Sure, it's on Shields Road and there are occasional 'characters' in, but I've witnessed said characters thrown out without hesitation when their craic hasn't been appropriate, so there is a level of respect within the place still. A big screen for sports would be awesome here in my opinion, but that's probably not what this pub group is about. Plenty of seating is available plus there is a reasonably sheltered outdoor seating area in which to smoke, or catch the limited UV rays in what summer...