Stick or Twist (JD Wetherspoon), Leeds

Knocked down to make way for new student accommodation - but as the pub chain has a 90-year lease on the site, it will re-open in a new unit built as part of the development.

As noted below this is a very wide room with a large patio area outside. It was fairly quiet on my early Thursday evening visit, probably the calm before the storm. The twelve hand pumps had one unused, the IPA version of the JDW Trio Of Doom, Ilkley Ruby Jane, Elland 1872 Porter and Chinook IPA, Geeves Rococo Mild, Naylor's Brew 1641 & Freshers, Caledonian Thunder Trail and the International Adnam's Ar Reet. I went for the 1872 Porter (£3.25) which was almost a pound dearer than in their Bramley outlet earlier in the day. It's not that bad a Spoons but the high prices mean I wouldn't return.

This Wetherspoons pub, located in a particularly unglamorous post-war building, takes its name from the casino which once occupied the premises (the Grosvenor Casino is still operating next door). The pub has a wide, shallow interior with the servery located midway along the back wall. Decor and furnishings are ‘Spoons standards with high tables and stools in the area opposite the bar and raised seating areas at either end of the room offering regular tables and chairs. Various TV screens throughout the room were showing either muted BBC Parliament or promotional material, neither of which seemed to be doing much for the, predominantly elderly, early morning clientele. The staff are perhaps this pub’s greatest asset, busy arranging the obligatory Halloween decorations when I arrived and having a good laugh with their regular customers in the process. The pub has been listed in the latest Good Beer Guide and proudly displays the fact in the front window. Twelve handpulls were offering a favourable ratio of ten guest ales and just the two ‘Spoons regulars. Most of the guests were from Yorkshire breweries such as Ossett, Acorn, Leeds and Saltaire. Given that I had only awaken an hour or so previously, I decided not to try any of them, opting instead for the usual good value breakfast and mug of tea. It’s difficult to make a case for visiting a Wetherspoons in a city like Leeds where there are so many other excellent pubs to visit, but I thought this place had cracked a lot of the fundamentals which help it make up for the fairly drab interior and location. With this in mind, I’d happily return and would look forward to working through some of those handpulls.

the best wetherspoons in leeds by far the beers very good a few rough diamonds in the place but always do in these pubs cheers