Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

L1011

Redneck Culchie wrote: »

Do these pubs have anything going for them except cheap drink? Not really a fan of the layout or atmosphere in the English pubs. That said Dublin could do with some lower priced pubs.

They are generally quiet, due to no TV and no music however they appear to have dropped that in some of them here. People go out of their way to go to other Dublin pubs with no TV/no music, but they usually have another source of atmosphere!

The Forty Foot feels like drinking on a Irish Sea ferry - there's not enough hustle and bustle to feel like an airport bar; Blackrock is marginally better and Blanchardstown oddly enough felt like a normal pub despite being a converted nightclub!

edit: They also have beer that other pubs may not, particularly cask ales which are extremely uncommon elsewhere in Ireland

fjon

I don't dislike them as much as some people do. I have visited the Blanch one more than the others and it's really not bad. The layout is pretty good given the sheer size of it, and there are a few cozy corners.
I mainly go because I can get a different cheap (English) ale each time I visit, some of which are quite good.
Food is average to poor but at the price it's fine.

neris

Theres a very good parody twitter account for whats meant to be weatherspoons customer service.



https://twitter.com/Wetherspoon__UK?lang=en

odyssey06

L1011 wrote: »

The Forty Foot feels like drinking on a Irish Sea ferry - there's not enough hustle and bustle to feel like an airport bar; Blackrock is marginally better and Blanchardstown oddly enough felt like a normal pub despite being a converted nightclub!

The Forty Foot has a great view of Dublin Bay, and the balcony \ terrace areas on a summer's day are lovely.
I only go when the sun is shining... "fair weather fan" guilty as charged.

Subcomandante Marcos

Watched an Irish rugby game there (40 foot) last year sometime, early saturday kickoff.
Pints of Thronbridge Jaipur for €1.95 and fish and chips for €3 (Think they usually sell the specials from the previous day off for cheap).
Fed, watered and entertained for less than €15.

Absolutely no complaints from me.

Muahahaha

I like the 40 Foot, it is busy but operated very well. Id imagine it is the jewel in their crown here, at least until Camden St opens.

Thundercats Ho

Carlow moving apace. Team of 15 there currently, being increased to 70 after Christmas.

the_syco

fjon wrote: »

I have visited the Blanch one more than the others and it's really not bad
...
Food is average to poor but at the price it's fine.

Have avoided Blanch, as any of my friends who went there have said that the food there is the worse of the 5. Food in the Swords place is nice, but getting parking nearby is very annoying.

Have worked in Blackrock for a few weeks recently, and went into the Three Tun for lunch a couple of times (between noon and 2). Always at least 10-15 people there getting food by themselves, and at least one or two groups of 5 people as well. Have also went to a few other local eateries (there are a few in Blackrock village), and I'd say the Three Tun holds it own in terms of the amount of people regularly there.

Haven't been there in the evening lately (have been abroad for two years), but when I was, it was always fairly busy for food orders, esp for a restaurant with no car parking spaces of its own.

RasTa

It's all the same food cooked to the same spec. Maybe the microwaves are better in the other ones but they all use the same equipment and produce

BaZmO*

RasTa wrote: »

It's all the same food cooked to the same spec. Maybe the microwaves are better in the other ones but they all use the same equipment and produce

You could use the same argument about getting a bad Pint somewhere

Idbatterim

I can’t wait for the two spoons to open in town. I’m sick of being robbed blind for drink. I find the food in town good value, but drink is just laughable !

the beer revolu

RasTa wrote: »

It's all the same food cooked to the same spec. Maybe the microwaves are better in the other ones but they all use the same equipment and produce

There's much can be done to mess up a meal in the heating and presentation.

Bit like croissants.
Same, part baked stuff in all outlets that sell Complete Cuisine and, I'd imagine, the same instructions yet some shops consistently produce great croissants and others consistently produce rubbish.

Geuze

Was in Spoons Blanch over Xmas.

Read on pub magazine that three new pubs to open during 2019:

Lwr Abbey street, Dublin and Carlow = summer 2019
Camden street = autumn 2019

Geuze

Some whiskey prices in JD WS Blanch

Single / double, all prices include mixer

Jameson 3.25 / 5.25

Jameson 18yo 8.50 / 10.50 - this is very good value

Redbreast 12yo 8.50 / 10.50 - this is only good value for the double

L1011

They have not visibly started anything on Abbey Street; it isn't the heavy construction job required for Camden Street but I'd doubt summer '19 at this stage.

imme

L1011 wrote: »

They have not visibly started anything on Abbey Street; it isn't the heavy construction job required for Camden Street but I'd doubt summer '19 at this stage.

Re abbey street.
They had workers in before Christmas I thought.
I think summer is eminently do'able .
Wetherspoons lash into stuff.

vicwatson

imme wrote: »

Re abbey street.
They had workers in before Christmas I thought.
I think summer is eminently do'able .
Wetherspoons lash into stuff.

They do. Def wrk going on there.

MrGee

vicwatson wrote: »

They do. Def wrk going on there.

Abbey street is due to open in May according to a sign on the bar in Dun laoghaire. A few months later camden st will follow.

Blut2

Is Camden St expanding the row of houses into the big empty lot behind them? Its going to be a massive property if so. Have they listed the number of planned hotel rooms yet?

Subcomandante Marcos

98 rooms in Camden Street.

BeerNut

Blut2 wrote: »

Is Camden St expanding the row of houses into the big empty lot behind them? Its going to be a massive property if so.

6,164 square metres. The original planning permission for a hotel on that site had 165 bedrooms.

You can see some of the architect's designs for the interior here.

Muahahaha

Any guesses of what price range a double room might be in the Camden hotel? And is it going to be 3 or 4 star?

L1011

They'll price similar to the other hotels on Camden Street, they'd be insane not to

If they are actually doing work internally on Abbey Street they may make the opening date; from passing on the Luas it looks like nothing but I haven't gone past on foot in a fair while.

BeerNut

L1011 wrote: »

They'll price similar to the other hotels on Camden Street, they'd be insane not to

People said the same about their drinks pricing

Idbatterim

will be interesting to see what effect this has on nearby pubs, during the day when there is no atmosphere anyway, they may well lose out, I think even early to mid evening they might lose out. But late evening, people might venture out to them from spoons. People that might have not ventured out in the first place, if it werent for spoons...

Zaytoons and the local takeaways will certainly benefit!

Blut2

BeerNut wrote: »

6,164 square metres. The original planning permission for a hotel on that site had 165 bedrooms.

You can see some of the architect's designs for the interior here.

Thanks. If it ends up looking anything like that PDF it'll be nicer than most of the bars in the area, nevermind the better drink selection and (presumably) much cheaper drink.

Hopefully it opens ahead of schedule, the sooner the better.

L1011

BeerNut wrote: »

People said the same about their drinks pricing

Rooms are a bit more finite than pints.

Muahahaha

Just had a look on Booking.com for a double room on a Saturday night in Febuary in Spoons hotel in Swords and it is €99 a night. Close by the Premier Inn 3* is €92 and Travelodge €90 (also 3*). They will probably have a price range of about €110-€160 for the Camden St hotel

Subcomandante Marcos

Spoon's hotels don't tend to be cheaper than comparable standard hotels around them from my experience in London anyway.

imme

Scaffolding up around the abbey st pub to be.

n97 mini

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just had a look on Booking.com for a double room on a Saturday night in Febuary in Spoons hotel in Swords and it is €99 a night. Close by the Premier Inn 3* is €92 and Travelodge €90 (also 3*

No comparison in location. Spoons is in Swords proper, the other two are at either ends of an out-of-town a retail park.

formernyer

imme wrote: »

Scaffolding up around the abbey st pub to be.

And signs saying opening on Tuesday 14th May.

BeerNut

formernyer wrote: »

And signs saying opening on Tuesday 14th May.

That looks to have wobbled a bit on the latest website update: "end of May/early–mid June". Carlow confirmed for 1st May.

Geuze

So by mid-late 2019 the situation will be:

5 open already: 4x Dublin suburbs, 1 x Cork
2 to open in mid 2019: Abbey street, Dublin and Carlow
1 under construction: Camden street
1 going ahead but no construction yet: Waterford

That makes 9.

Idbatterim

Cannot wait for the city centre ones! If even just for a few before going to the other spots. A full night of six euro plus pints in most places or cheap pints in kips ended for me a long time ago!

Idbatterim

Geuze wrote: »

So by mid-late 2019 the situation will be:

5 open already: 4x Dublin suburbs, 1 x Cork
2 to open in mid 2019: Abbey street, Dublin and Carlow
1 under construction: Camden street
1 going ahead but no construction yet: Waterford

That makes 9.

Galway would be a prime spot. Tiny “ city “ centre ... also no plans for one in Limerick?

BaZmO*

What's gonna happen to them if/when Brexit happens? Surely that'll make a mess of their business plan? Tim ain't a big fan of remaining either.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

Tim ain't a big fan of remaining either.

Tim likes to talk big but I get the impression that the people running the business just get on with it. I doubt much will change.

Muahahaha

Geuze wrote: »

So by mid-late 2019 the situation will be:

5 open already: 4x Dublin suburbs, 1 x Cork
2 to open in mid 2019: Abbey street, Dublin and Carlow
1 under construction: Camden street
1 going ahead but no construction yet: Waterford

That makes 9.

9 not bad but far off the 15-20 they had initially planned. They didn't move fast enough when property was cheap, like most people they didn't foresee property prices recovering so quickly. I also think the Blackrock one was a mistake, I've never seen it anywhere near full, more like 40% at best from anytime I've been in. Dun Laoighire is hopping in comparison.

Anyway Im looking forward to Abbey St and Camden St opening up. It'll be nice to know that there is somewhere you can get a pint on both sides of the river without getting screwed all the time.

Dellboy54

Have drank in the Wetherspoon's in Blackrock a good few times and reckon its been well over 40% capacity. Forget about getting any seats in the place at weekends....It does thin out later in the night as people go to later venues.
Funny that Tim is a big supporter of brexit yet there's a push on to open wetherspoons in Ireland...He's even begun removing European wine and beer from UK spoons.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2019/01/wetherspoon-boss-removes-european-wines-and-beers-from-pubs/

kingtut

Anytime I've been in the Blackrock one it's at 80% capacity (that's evening times). I'm guessing during the day it's a lot quieter.

Blut2

My experience having been about once a month in the Blackrock Spoons since it opened is at the weekends in the evenings its usually 80-100% capacity of the tables. No people standing around though, but most suburban pubs wouldn't have many people standing around either to be fair. I'd say its doing well enough financially.

Hotblack Desiato

Tim Martin's a farking idiot* if he thinks the EU have anything to do with excise rates.


* other reasons for him being a farking idiot are available

bennyineire

Idbatterim wrote: »

Galway would be a prime spot. Tiny “ city “ centre ... also no plans for one in Limerick?

There are strong rumors locally in Galway that Spoons bought a building in Shop St. last week

Idbatterim

BeerNut wrote: »

6,164 square metres. The original planning permission for a hotel on that site had 165 bedrooms.

You can see some of the architect's designs for the interior here.

Is the room count being reduced because of the pub ?

L1011

Idbatterim wrote: »

Is the room count being reduced because of the pub ?

Its a completely different design to before so its not possible to do direct attribution really. The pub is going to be quite large, though.

Muahahaha

Blut2 wrote: »

My experience having been about once a month in the Blackrock Spoons since it opened is at the weekends in the evenings its usually 80-100% capacity of the tables. No people standing around though, but most suburban pubs wouldn't have many people standing around either to be fair. I'd say its doing well enough financially.

Fair enough, I've been in the Blackrock one a few times on a Saturday/Sunday around 4-6pm and its been relatively dead. Good to hear it does better later in the evenings

bennyineire wrote: »

There are strong rumors locally in Galway that Spoons bought a building in Shop St. last week

That'll be interesting. Is the building currently a pub? If not then Id expect a lot of objections from the Galway pub mafia. They wll not be happy about a Spoons opening up, especially not on Shop St.

L1011

The old days of effectively requiring consent from other licence holders are gone and planning authorities are getting better at just ignoring Oh Noes The Competition! complaints. Thankfully.

Blut2

Muahahaha wrote: »

Fair enough, I've been in the Blackrock one a few times on a Saturday/Sunday around 4-6pm and its been relatively dead. Good to hear it does better later in the evenings

A large part of the clientele whenever I'm there seems to be younger people having their predrinks before heading into town, or locally to the Wicked Wolf or Flash Harrys when it has/had a late license. Late teens through to mid 20s. They wouldn't be there at 5pm though I'd guess - more like 8/9pm on-wards.

Its interesting I think because I know when I was in that demographic we would never predrink in pubs due to the cost, we were always in houses. But my father's generation did back when it was much cheaper to do so. So Wetherspoons really is changing the pub market with its much lower prices.

Stephen15

I quite like the upstairs in the 40 Foot due to the view and the balcony but I don't really understand why smoking is prohibited there considering it's an over 18s only area so it's not like people would be enjoying a family meal there especially in the evening. The downstairs is a bit crappy though. The bar staff are pretty slow mind you could be waiting ages for a pint on a busy night.