The Spread Eagle (JD Wetherspoon), Birmingham

Fairly standard shop conversion spoons which was very busy on my lunch time visit. Mixed clientèle of locals, families with children. I had Gold from Wold Top brewery which was fine.

This is more of an Old School JDW having opened in late 1999. It's a rectangular shop conversion with the bar at the back. It's fairly unremarkable but not hopelessly so. The bar has sets of five and four hand pumps where the two GK beers, Caledonian Ithaca Nut Brown and Bath Wild Hare were doubled up. This left Springhead Wild Willy's Wheat Beer (£2.50) which was excellent. I thought this was only a very slightly above average Spoons.

This is a terraced Spoon's chain pub/eatery, located within a 50's shop unit. It is named after a former pub located just down the Warwick Road. The frontage is in blue, with large windows. The interior has a couple of rooms that together form an L-shape. The decor has red, blue and coffee colours, with a patterned carpet. Info boards are on the walls (about the Speard Eagle and former footballer Gil Merrick for example), as well as a few mirrors and bits of arty art. It is of course populated by the usual Spoon's foody tables. There were silent TVs (one showing horse racing) and the usual silence was broken by the semi-harmonious singing of Irish songs by the generally more mature clientele than most Spoons. The service was very friendly. Beer; usual range of tap drinks with Abbot, Ruddles, Adnam's Ghost Ship, Spitfire and a slightly too cold Gt Newsome's Pricky Back Otchan. Not the usual type of Spoons, but i have been to worse.

Official page of The Spread Eagle - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Official page of The Spread Eagle - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk