This is a pub in the Wetherspoon chain that showed promise at first, only to then terribly disappoint.
My friends and I are big Wetherspoon fans; we totally support their incredible prices and love their food. We try to go to all the Wetherspoons we can find and scope out the differences which often are substantial.
Unfortunately this place was comically faulty in almost every way. First I'd like to say I'm reviewing this under the pretenses that it has standard Wetherspoon food, so I'm more analyzing the experience, prices, etc.
When we got there, it was very crowded and luckily found a table to support our group of four. We were very happy to find that the classic beer and burger deal Wetherspoon pubs tout was actually 3.99 instead of 4.99. That's an insane deal. Burger, fries, and a full pint for 3.99? Seriously it would be financially irresponsible not to eat at Wetherspoons that rock that discount.
That's about where the positives end.
We were sitting there, having ordered and waiting for our food while drinking our pints, when an employee slaps a laminated placard on the table that read "THIS TABLE WILL BE REMOVED AFTER 6 PM."
My first reaction was laughter as we all looked at the employees with shocked and confused faces. First of all, it was 6:30 already. Secondly, we were sitting and waiting for food we ordered, how the hell do they expect for us to get up and leave? Thirdly, we'd understand if that sign was on the table when we got there, but of course it wasn't.
After trying to stop laughing, I asked three different employees why we had to leave our table and where we were supposed to go, and each gave us comically roundabout answers that basically revealed they had no idea why or what the purpose was. Finally the manager told us they usually remove tables so that they can have more standing space, but after explaining we were mid-eating, he told us we can eat and then move. We decided even after eating we were going to stay at the table as long as we were comfortable.
After that mess, we ran into yet another weird problem. My friend ordered his burger/beer deal with a swipe credit card, the only cards Americans have (rather than pin chip cards). This was fine and the transaction took place smoothly with no question. But then when he went back to the bar to order another pint, they got confused about his card and after several complications they completed the transaction (took a very long time). When I went up to the bar to order a pint with my card, they told me I couldn't and that they got confused with my friend and shouldn't have let him use his card. I figured it was because I was only ordering one pint which was below a minimum of theirs or something. Well....no. My friend goes up to order a dessert and pint which is well over any minimum a place would have, and they didn't let him use his card. The weird thing is that they CAN process swipe cards but chose not to, especially after doing it without question for his first transaction. So weird.
Sheesh that was a long explanation, basically bring cash haha.
My burger had some legit fat or bone chunks in it which I've never experienced in Wetherspoon burgers before. I hurt my tooth on the first chunk I bit down on. It was really hard.
Another problem was that being a group of four, we ordered in pairs right after one another to watch the table, and the second pair who ordered their burgers had their order take about 20 minutes longer than ours. So we were done eating before they even started. I have no idea what caused this delay as we ordered RIGHT after one another.
This also wasn't a very clean place just compared to other Wetherspoons.
So the initially great prices turned into a bad experience at The Gate Clock. I suggest finding another one in this great chain!! This is the first bad 'spoons I've been to. Keep the faith!! read more