The Alexander Graham Bell

Truth be told, when you go into a Spoons, you aren’t expecting excellent food. It’s cheap pub grub, and not much more.
This particular branch on George Street is pretty fancy, and always seems to be busy. We visited on a Thursday night at 5 and struggled to find a seat for dinner.
The menu pretty much covers all bases, ranging from classic burgers to scampi and chips. There are special offers on too — themed nights run throughout the week (Thursday was curry night, for example) and there are deals where you get a meal and a drink for a certain price.
I settled for a classic cheeseburger and chips (£5.99 including a drink). The food was okay, with a nice pot of relish on the side for the burger. Could have done with a bit of salad or coleslaw but can’t really complain at that price.
What was particularly good about this visit was the service. The staff were all very friendly, efficient and quick to deliver and clean up our food. Compared to my last shambolic visit to the Standing Order branch down the road, this was a much better experience.

The AGB was a regular spot for me and my fiancée when I still lived in Glasgow as it was cheap, quick and close to the bus stop for me to catch my bus which obviously allowed us to spend an extra half hour or so chatting.
Walking in to the AGB, you realise how big the building is, yet everywhere you step you seem to be about 4ft away from a table apart from the main door area which seems to have been kept clear for when everyone is leaving a little shaky, giving room for stumbles etc. Rather overcrowded if you ask me.
Between the bar area and the first table there must be no more than 4ft which can get a bit cramped if you’re trying to eat your freshly prepared microwaved burger and chips and someone’s backside is looking at you.
There isn’t much to say on any Wetherspoons pubs as the majority of them are very similar. Grand buildings with very basic but cramped interiors with the usual beers on at discount prices and half a dozen real ales and a cider on pump if you’re lucky.
As Andrew C. said, these pubs are very much the McDonalds of the pub world. Little character but if all you’re after is cheap beer and you aren’t interested in quality and don’t really care how your pub looks then you’ll be well suited.

My view on Wetherspoons is well documented.
My review of the Standing Order up the road outlines how I believe that these establishments serve as the McDonalds of the pub world.
This one is a little farther down George Street than the more centrally located Standing Order and as such, it is a small outpost that provides comforting respite from the fringe crowds.
A bit dated and not a great building to start. It look like a retail outlet conversion, rather than the Old Bank retrofits that define the Counting House and the Standing Order. So, the interior is slightly less lovely, but the drinks are stupidly cheap and very reasonable. The meals are as expected. Meal deals on most days and exceptionally good value.
Stunning culinary expressions on a plate? Nope.
Cheap and won’t kill you. Definitely.
Take comfort in that. Sometimes you just want a burger that is well cooked in a clean kitchen and reasonably priced. This (and almost every other Wetherspoons) fits that bill.

i think ‘meh, i’ve experienced better’ pretty much sums up my experience at the alexander graham bell. we went for some drinks before dinner on a work night out and at 4:30pm the place was absolutely packed and just getting more crowded. we luckily sourced a table as i basically threw myself and my belongings on before anyone else could claim it but then i had to ask the bar staff to wipe it down as there was spilled beer covering it. the girl did her best, but she had a tiny cloth and there was loads of beer and the table didn’t exactly get cleaned…
drinks were average, it’s hard to mess up a G&T and the girls said the white wine was nice. but the clientele was rather unsavoury with random guys trying to talk to us claiming they wanted advice about good places to go to on a friday night. i feel like they were trying to chat us up while most of them were well around the age of my father… so awkward.
maybe this just isn’t my type of place… i mean i see the appeal, fairly large space and cheap drinks but to be honest i rather pay an extra quid or two to be in a more pleasant environment when men the age of my father don’t try to hit on me. it’s unlikely i’ll be back unless forced to go…

On Saturday 8 January 2013 I went to Alexander Graham Bell with a friend, however I was approached by a very rude and aggressive door who denied me entrance. I had nothing to drink that day. Distressing experience. I will not visit this venue again.

This place is a joke. The service is so slow and the bar staff are incapable of identifying the next in queue. The ordering system in general is ludicrous. They ask you what table number you are sitting at (as each of them are marked) rather than hand you a marker which you could place anywhere. What does this mean? Well if you’re fortunate enough to find a table during a busy period and you’re alone with no one to mind your spot, chances are that by the time you order from the aforementioned slow as all hell staff it will have been taken. I had to constantly turn to keep an eye on whether or not someone else had taken my table. Christ what an unnecessary pain in the behind!
Moving onto the food now. They had signs up advertising an all day breakfast deal for New Year’s Day. Great. But upon ordering the vegetarian breakfast at 12pm the bar girl says there are only poached eggs left. What the hell? They don’t even cook on demand? They pre-​prepare everything including their eggs and then heat them up? And then just when I think that was it (and right now as I’m literally typing this review) the bar girl comes over and advises that there are no poached eggs left. What?! I asked her if they poach them beforehand and she says yes they are partially poached. I ask her if they have any eggs and she replies no, none left. Christ!
So the food comes out. The sausages are hot, the beans are cold and the hash browns taste like packaged supermarket stuff. Worst of all it tastes like the whole dish was cooked from start to finish in the microwave. Are they trying to make people sick?
I have no idea how on earth places like this run a successful business or even keep afloat at all. The only reason I came here was because every other place is shut as it’s New Year’s Day. And the only reason I ate most of what was on my plate is because I was famished and had a lot of walking to do that day. I regretted it afterwards. I prefer to go hungry next time.
This place needs to be shut down. One star is generous.

I had fond memoried of this Wetherspoons chain as i went on my 1^st date with my partner here, however since returning on a few occasions through a few various friend invites, i found it to be very disspointing. The service at the bar was terrible, I had to wait for what felt like ages and saw other being serviced before myself, (i think the staff must work a their own certain section of the bar). I ordered a Rioja (red wine) of which the girl who served didnt seem to know what that was and it was on whole very impersonal. I have had food i here previously and is was okay, nothing special. Agb is cheap by Edinburgh standards and you simply get what you pay for.

After a long breakfast-​less morning we arrived here looking for a well deserved «all day brunch».
Appreciating that it was very busy, we took a table near the door which wasn’t yet cleared… and it wasn’t cleared for so long that we ended up clearing it ourselves.
We got our orders in and I had a nice Latte which was impressive for only 99p. Unfortunately when the brunch came, the eggs were over done, my mate’s veggie sausages could have been taken out of the oven a bit earlier and I had to ask for fresh bacon as the strips on my plate were a grey-​greenish colour.
We had also paid an extra £1 for hash browns only to be told they had none when the food arrived.
The only redeeming factor to this trip was that the staff serving us were all quite nice.
I got my fresh bacon pretty quickly from the duty manager and we were able to substitute the hash browns for a plate of toast with no hassle.
To me, it seemed as though whoever was in the kitchen just needed a kick up the you know what as they are seriously letting the side down!

This place has changed hands so many times I can’t keep up. I came here (remembering the decent place which used to be here) on Saturday with The Man. We were bar hopping our way to a taxi rank and this was the nearest place which didn’t have a cover.
The first thing I noticed was the sign advertising real ales and ciders. I tried an apple and ginger cider which, even in my reasonably intoxicated state, was disgusting. It was the kind of disgusting where people around you want to try it because surely it can’t be as bad as you’re describing it. But oh, it was. To be fair, the bartender did take it back and pour me a new drink but why on earth would they serve something so horrific?
Beyond the drink, the place was packed with a bizarre mix of drunken students and middle aged people. Those of us in the 25 – 35 age range were definitely in the minority.
It was loud, bright, unfriendly, and is absoltely not a place I would return, ever. I would rather go to the Standing Order, and that’s saying a LOT.

My extreme dislike of Wetherspoons pubs does not mean that I am able to avoid them altogether, seeing as every man and his dog thinks the ‘Spoons is a good place to meet, booze, eat and generally make merry. Why?! I have to go to these kinds of places occasionally; it is rarely an enjoyable experience and this place is no exception.
This chain clone has everything you’d expect from a Wetherspoons; tables full of sauce packets, cheap booze on tap, puggies in the corner and no music (thankfully) so you can actually have some kind of conversation without screaming down each others ear holes (the only bonus).
On my visit to the Graham Bell (Alexander would turn in his grave!) it was steak night. A bargainous £7.50 odd for an eight oz steak, sides and a beer. I figured this was probably the safest bet and opted for the sirloin with jacket potato, peas, mushrooms and tomato. My mates ordered separately from me but also went the steak route.
Of course, because we ordered 30 seconds apart from each other, my meal was served half an hour earlier than theirs. I was finished before the rest of the grub arrived. When the rest of the food did make an appearance the orders were wrong, ranging from steak preferences to incorrect additional orders.
The meal was not very good. Though, for less than £8 I didn’t expect much. Lots of gristle, dry jacket potato and cold peas.
Service was very poor. The extremely rude girl on the counter was in the worst mood known to mankind (don’t work there if you don’t like busy places — it’s a Wetherspoons!). She refused to split change and pulled the wrong drinks. I couldn’t hear a word she was saying because she was talking a script at a million miles an hour; when I asked her to repeat her spiel I was treated to an eye-​roll. Classic.
At least there is cheap beer, cleanish loos and no music. Contrary to my moan, I am not a full-​time grump; I just hate crappy places like this. I know I will need to keep frequenting ‘Spoons occasionally and would really like a good experience. If only to show me that all Wetherspoons are not miniature pockets of hell on earth.

Ate here with friends on Friday — this was very much right we know we are going to drink alot so lets get some ground work in before we really get into it.
I thought right Jurgen accept the fact this is going to be crap and move on.
I ordered the char-​grilled butterflied chicken burger — it came with chips and salad and it was actually ok.
The chicken burger came with a side of bbq sauce that was good as well and the bun it was on was nice in its own right too. Chicken was still succulent and for what it was it was the ideal start to a loooong night: o)

By far the nicest Wetherspoons I have ever been in. And as a student, I have been in plenty!
It just seems much cleaner and the clientèle seem, well, much less alcoholic. The drinks, the food, the music-​less atmosphere remains the constant that lets you know you are indeed in a Wetherspoons. The beer and burger offer for a fiver is always an option, not a great option, but a cheap lunch all the same.
Don’t go expecting much and you won’t get much!

Some people genuinely seem to think that George Street is up there with Rodeo Drive as a glittering hotbed of luxury, where fast cars speed by and the rich and famous gather to wine and dine. I think the opening of a second Wetherspoon’s on the street more or less confirms how much truth there is in that fallacy.
Smaller than it’s sister venue but not as noisy or chaotic, it’s currently an acceptable place to sit outside and have a few cheap drinks. It probably won’t be in three months.

Just what the world needs… another Wetherspoons! I agree with Matthew, I love some Wetherspoons places and I’ll happily admit it, but only some.
This one does have a lot of the plus points associated with any member of this ever-​expanding chain; it’s cheap, the toilets are surprisingly clean and upmarket and it’s in a central location. But unfortunately that’s where it ends.
It’s full of old people, for starters. Not that I have anything against old people, just let me clarify (!), but when I go to a bar for drinks with my friends before heading to a club I’d prefer somewhere that has a bit more of an upbeat vibe to it than a bar full of couples blowing their pensions on pints of ale.
For the moment, the bar itself is quite nice on the inside. But then it has only been open for about a month. Give it time, I’m quite sure, and it will be just as shabby as it’s sister venue down the street, The Standing Order.

Now, I have a secret to tell, a secret which most people also share with me. I am a fan of Wetherspoon pubs. Yes, I know I shouldn’t, but this chain of pubs has become one of the main features of our towns and cities! Even though I prefer going to small independent pubs, Wetherspoon pubs are so convenient.
And this convenience has led to another Wetherspoon pub opening in George Street. The Alexander Graham Bell, which has just opened in June, is the second Wetherspoon pub which sits along with the designer shops and high class restaurants on this street.
Located at the far end of George Street the pub has been dressed up as any other Wetherspoon pub but, this one still has that smell and that quality of décor which shouts out to you that it has just newly opened! The food menu and drinks selection is the same standard menu across all establishments.
So if you want cheap drink and cheery cheap food then this and the Standing Order in George Street provide in abundance! Who would have thought it! Two Wetherspoon pubs in George Street, Wetherspoons are really spoiling us now!