The Back of Beyond - JD Wetherspoon in Reading

Out of the 2 spoons in reading i would say this one is bigger and nicer. With its river side beer garden adding for a nice experience. It is just a bit out of the town centre.

Served 2 different pints of those in the Real Ale festival. Only ordered 2 half's via the app. One was ok but the other was very cloudy you could not see through it, but aroma did not indicate it was off. Was it from the slops tray,? Person pouring the pint should know it wasn't right, but was sent out. Better training of the staff and be honest that my order needed to be amended.

Where else can you get a good meal for under £12 and a drink 🍸 .

Without a doubt it's the best Wetherspoons pub in Reading!!

Great spacious pub, lovely outdoor area. Good choice of real ales. Bit disappointed with the staff earlier this week. A load of freshers (students) came in and were treated and shouted at like kids. Some of their staff are uni students so they should be more understanding. Other than that, no issues.

Your typical Wetherspoons. Fits the bill perfectly, nothing too posh but nice and clear, good service and reasonable prices

Your usual Wetherspoon. With a big back garden and plenty of tables. Customers below the average standard.

Good visit nice friendly staff and the staff haven't got an attitude.

Always good, I can recommend the Leffe.

Beer has been better in the past but wasn't too great on my last visit. Too warm and not a very good selection.

Went there last night order food and drink waited 40mins for the food and then we had to ask for the drinks ,food was terrible large mixed grill came without the fried egg mushroom was raw peas just thrown over the top most of the meat was cold peppercorn sauce was stone cold ansolid

Excellent Wetherspoons, spacious interior, outdoor seating and window tables at the rear of the pub offering views over the River Kennet. The service here was fast friendly and efficient when we visted and as always great prices across a huge selection of drinks & meals from the comprehensive menu. The pub has a good atmosphere to it, without being too crowded and like most Wetherspoons has a good interior layout and decor. Recommended to visit.

Great food and great beer I enjoy going to this pub

Good atmosphere, good selection of ales. A good Wetherspoon!

Had some drinks here out in the garden area

Had a long black coffee here before one of THOSE business meetings and spoke to Rory that worked there with his kind and friendly attitide Wetherspoons should try to find more people called Rory, and and hour later THAT meeting sealed the deal, which one may you ask? Well both I can reveal!

Typical 'Spoons but with a sunny garden in town😁 speedy table service and cheap grub, What's not to like!

Wonderful food and drinks, awesome friendly staff, just a shame about some of the older male patrons who wolf whistled and leered at my 16 year old daughter. Other than that, a great birthday lunch thank you so much!! ☺️

Cheap decent food and decent well priced drinks

Regular spoons prices, good service, the layout is slightly odd but not a big issue

Bar man / Manager Paul is an asset to the bar staff always happy and smiley 😁😁

I like it because it's cheap and now the burgers are a lot better. Service is normally quick and easy but last night I was ignored and ended up ordering on the app. Atmosphere, well, nobody knows your name...

Food awful had the lasagne with in an hour I had chronic diarrhoea the waiter pinched my glass before I finished felt rushed my partner had the stake swimming in grease definitely the worst meal we had out.

Very nice spoons. Good mixture of ages, I didn't feel too ancient in there. Some places are like youth clubs 🤭. We had some food and it was good. Not too noisy. Outside area.

Had the curry Thursday tasted good plenty of chicken in it great value for money

Myself & my husband have been regular customers for many many years of The Back of Beyond to eat & drink on Saturdays. We waited patiently at the bar to be served, lady behind bar said who was next & despite my husband saying it was him & putting his hand up she proceeded to serve someone else! We were clearly next as had been stood next to the lady she had just been serving. When we spoke up she said “don’t start anything” At this point we walked out. Needless to say we won’t ever return with that kind of treatment. Staff training in customer service is clearly required here!!

Bad customer service; we were waiting in the queue and “Beth” she just left the priority: customers; I know can be something more important but in any case you can pass nicely the customers to another colleague; improve your customer service; so, more training and more respect for each other!

One of those pub where you get good food to enjoy along with your favourite drink. Indian curries deal on Thursdays not to be missed.

A pretty run of the bill pub, this place isn't fancy but gets the job done.

Very enjoyable meal great value for money

Air con on full... got quite cold and uncomfortable.

Nice enough, but looking dated now compared to some other local pubs. .

Tristan was amazing & really nice, really welcoming and polite! Asset to the company!!

Enjoyed my evening at the back of beyond, lovely summer evening in the courtyard garden, staff very helpful and polite,toilets nice and clean, we didn't have a meal but hope to next time.

The pub is quite pleasant. The service is commendable, and there is a spacious outdoor area. The menu offers a wide variety of options, although the portion sizes have diminished compared to the past. It would be greatly appreciated if larger portions could be provided.

Lovely place to meet good all round .

Very empty on a monday but noisy because a bunch of foul mouthed irish swearing loudly. Awful staff with no skill at all.

spacious, friendly mates, nice food and drinks

Been in today madness staff run of their feet tables a mess but at least 45 mins for drink but the stood together and got the job done they should get a bouns for all the word today

Staff weren't great. Food was quick and tasty

We didn’t eat, they had problems in the kitchen! I understand equipment breaks down, but they just couldn’t communicate that to the customers waiting.

Abandoned here by my wife and daughter, enjoying a few real ales and selection of delightful food offerings. Interesting crowd of youngsters pre drinking before a night out and old guys looking for inspiration at the bottom of a pint of real ale. Set along the side of the Kennet canal, a good place to watch a few hire barges float by before they reach the Thames. Sit back enjoy the food and beer 🍻

Was there today. Staff were ridiculous. There was a little Asian guy who for no reason decided he was not going to serve us. It was for no reason. Said he was the manager and then proceeded to be unreasonable for a while. Refuses to give me his name. Then another person decided he was the manager and decided to uphold a the bad decision. I recorded everything. If someone from Wetherspoons head office would please like to review video. Please get in contact with me. I am the manager of a business in Reading town centre.

Lovely place for everyone. Their service is excellent as always.

Bad staff always in corner of bar laughing and talking food is very bad.no right managers glasses left on tables don't even wipe tables down worst weather spoons I've been in. Won't be going back

Good pub, quick service. Food pretty good

Like any wetherspoons bar it is quite dark and dingy. The interiors arent impressive but the food and drinks are always our favorite and it has been our fav for the last 15 yrs.

Generally good, food very good.

Cheapest beers, fast service unless they are too crowded. There is more than enough space available to sit outdoor in summer.

It's a spoons, has a big area and large outside patio, easy to find seating space.

Great breakfast! I wish I'd been there at beer-o-clock because they had some great sounding beers on tap.

Mediocre Spoons full of noisy brats when I went

Very busy Wetherspoons, really loud but decent food and good pint

Never thought I’d have to leave a review like this, been coming here years. This is the worst service I have ever received: drinks, food and cutlery thrown at us onto our table. Extremely unwelcoming, rude service from staff. Sad to say I won’t be returning.

I was banned from this bar for no good reason. As I approached the bar to order our second round, I was told that I would not be served due to some fictitious arguments I had during my last visit, from my recollection, it was a perfectly peaceful one. I complied as there was little point in arguing, but it was quite awkward to explain to my guest from Spain. In all honesty, as a British-Indian man, I think there may be a race-issue involved here.....#playingtheracecard 😂

Nice Indian restaurant near the reading station.

If I could rate customer service from 1-10 it would have to be 1 because on more than 10 visits I’m treated like an inconvenience rather than a valued customer. No verbal interaction just pours drink and points to payment machine. Ok it’s cheap but if it wasn’t open til 12 and I live close I would never come here. I’ve been polite at all times using verbs like please and thank you but clearly not shared or valued. If you want cheap ok but if you want any measure of service forget it

This is a good bar staff are mostly good, my problem is they keep putting on the air conditioning on. It is 6 degrees outside and warmer than inside. The manager wants to get his head out of the clouds and look at his customers, who are sat with coats and scarfs on because of the cold. You do not get this at the hope tap, people need feel comfortable when out not freezing.

Good beer... nice food.. friendly 👍🤠

Pretty divey, poor service but the drinks were cheap.

It’s a great place to have a budget meal I’d say, but the atmosphere is really true if you more into pubs and traditional sort of things.

Far superior to Reading's other wetherspoons but could improve, particularly in clearing the tables, and for gawds sake wipe them down! The ale selection is not great. I'm not sure if the manager doesn't care for beer or what. I've been there a hundred times but am never acknowledged as a regular customer.

Food was nice, great breakfast and cheap. But very dirty, sticky tables and dirty stained seats. Service was fast and friendly.

Staff not friendly. Barely an acknowledgement of your existence.

The Irish worker got pushed out and it will never be the same. Should have promoted him :(

Great breakfast and not over priced, hot food nicely presented, coffee machine needs to be a bit hotter apart from that 100% recommended. Beats any breakfast in reading on quality and price

Less than £9 for a vegan BBQ stack burger & chips including a pint of local Windsor & Eton Brewery beer trumps my namby pamby woke principles. Rapid service (without a smile, but that’s absolutely fine) using the app, high on calories but lower on carbon emissions. Plenty of space here, definitely one of the better ‘Spoons.

Recommend great food and drinks at reasonable prices. Good lunchtime drinks offers when you have food.

Food was a little under par. It otherwise everything else ok

Good value for money. Plenty of space.

Got told off by the quiz lord for singing happy birthday

I’ve never felt so unwelcome by some of the staff here. My friends were celebrating my birthday and they called us out over a microphone for singing happy birthday. Im really disappointed in the service here

Got told off by the Quiz Master for singing happy birthday

My favourite pub in Reading. Period. Beautiful place and some of the most amazing hardworking staff ever! You guys are awesome!

A decent enough Wetherspoons. Really nice in the summer due to huge garden, nice seating and part of garden overlooking the river. A comfortable place to go with the kids in the day. At night time, gets very busy and a lot of locals who are in the main, friendly, however, bar staff customer service sometimes goes out tge window at these times.

the food was good like it all ways is the staff are fantastic and very friendly and kind

Wouldn't go back, alright if your in the area and want lunch

Enjoyed sitting in the windw seats watching the river Kennet with my breakfast and tea

It's a wetherspoon so does what it says on the tin

Good value town pub. Best Wetherspoons in Reading.

Came in here on New Years Day as I was craving a fry up before driving home. It was the only breakfast bar/ café which was open and the place was completely full with other people with the same idea. I managed to get my order in just before the cut off for breakfast and was told it would be a 30-40 minute wait for food. I could tell that they were understaffed and it didn't affect the level of service. I ordered the large English breakfast which was fantastic and hit the spot as I was starving at this point. Unfortunately my girlfriends breakfast came out cold which is why I've deducted a star. Otherwise, it's a large place with plenty of seating and I can imagine it would be nice to have a drink there during the summer. The beer garden is really nice and over looks the river.

Updated review 29/12/2023. Popped in for a 'Fiesta' meat free burger and a pint of Leffe Blonde. Since when has the equivalent of a 3oz burger patty been a premium 'Gourmet' burger, which I've always assumed to be the equivalent of 6oz - especially for £11.11! (Images 4-6 highlight this) If you have downsized the meat free burgers, then please ensure that two of them are present in a 'Gourmet' burger. If I had the meat equivalent, then two 3oz burgers would have been present! I know times are tough, however please don't take the mickey! Sorely disappointed at paying another £2+ for what I thought was a premium burger, only to be presented with a basic wafer thin burger with topping. Check your order upon arrival to ensure it is right! Original Review... This is my local Wetherspoons branch and have been here MANY times over the years. Popped in on Xmas Eve for a beer (a pint of Bradfield Farmer's Belgian Blue) and ended up having a Beef Madras Curry meal with it. No issues with either the meal (that was on offer for £8- something for Xmas) or the beer. That said, the main issue I have with this branch in general is the customer service and attitudes of certain staff members. Although I had no issues on this visit (due to a friendly Duty Manager and Team Leader being on), there have been times when the service provided has been downright rude by certain staff members - and management. I've been in well over 100 different Wetherspoons branches over the years (a good number have been reviewed on here) and the Back of Beyond has to rate amongst one of the worst for staff attitude that I've been in. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple of good staff members and Management here, however they are let down by some other staff who couldn't care less and certain Management who have let 'power' and their ego go to their heads. With a fair number of Wetherspoons branches across the country going to the wall, you would have thought looking after their no1 asset - the customer- would have been of some importance...

Probably the better out of the two central Reading Wetherspoons, though the Hope Tap is much more convenient for the station. This branch feels more spacious and in a slightly nicer part of town.

Very good every time good beer good food always clean great day, thank you to all the staff 😀

It's exactly what you'd expect Spoons to be! Staff working hard, but making silly mistakes.

Turned up for a gathering of old colleagues, staff were grumpy from the outset. In the end they refused to serve us basically because they didn’t have enough staff. We weren’t causing a problem, we were patient about service. 40 people took their custom to Greene King 100yds up the road who were happy to see us. 6 years we’ve been doing this, we won’t ever be back - tough luck Wetherspoons. Appalling customer service

Took it to a new low today .Will never spend a penny in any spoons pub again.Threw out a load of old age pensioner s for no reason.Really unnecessary rude bar staff bearing g in mind I was buying a large round putting money over the bar. Ridiculous attitude. Hadn't out with the guy but don't need this when not doing anything wrong and bar staff just are rude for no reason.

Great food and service, you will enjoy the atmosphere

Meet up here for my husband's Christmas work's do, very busy, but till got a stall to sit down, good prices too.

Decent 'spoons , better than the Hope Tap which closely resembles a DHSS waiting room .

Always great in a spoons, food is always consistently spot on

What a horrible place..food is desperate, staff look like they don't care...waited at the bar for ages to be served and then the person who served me was very rude and didn't seem interested in doing their job. The only plus was the price of a drink..cheap but lacking in quality. Basically the staff would need a lesson in politeness before I would consider entering the premises again

A quiet Tuesday morning, 1 egg yolk broken other quite hard please stop hiding the food with the toast so we don't notice something is wrong until staff are gone .

Classic 'spoons' good clean pint, fast service good food. You know what to expect from 'spoons' and this one did not fail to deliver.

Food well priced for what it is.

Great food and excellent service. Food And drinks brought out quickly. Really good value and quality for the price.

We like most Wetherspoons but this was very nice. Clean,friendly efficient staff,great food,great selection of ale’s and in a great location.

One of the best weather spoons I've been to nothing is to much, service is 2nd to none

Lovely pub with very friendly helpful staff , especially Kimberley Sumner, love coming here

Nothing beats sitting by the riverside while enjoying a drink. I tend to visit on the less busy days and chill for an hour or two while playing on my phone as the fresh air in the non-smoking beer garden is clear. It can take a while for your order to arrive, but it's nothing substantial.