The Bobbing John in Clackmannanshire

Hadn't been here for a while but oddly enough this is the second time in about four weeks and OMG the place has gone right downhill. VERY understaffed, one girl serving meals so she had no time to clear tables, which were piling high as it was busy. When we were in a few weeks ago the chef/kitchen assistant came out and his clothes were absolutely filthy. We forgot all about this until after we ate our food yesterday and the same thing happened, the chef/ kitchen assistant appeared and her (this time) clothes were filthy. Management need to keep an eye on the cleanliness of both their bar and kitchen staff.

Can be a hit or a miss here. Portion sizes of food are tiny these days and while cheap, it's not great value for money. Never had a bad pint here but the place is drastically understaffed and at busy times the tables can be left dirty for ages.

The Food is ok. When this place is busy expect your dish to be warm. not hot as. The staff are run off their feet!

Food has gone downhill. Visited twice in March. The venue is fine. The prices are okay. Have they changed Chef? Steak...I know rump can be tough but I could have beaten someone with that steak. Tough as old boots. One wee mushroom, waterlogged. Even the baked potato was awful. Powdery inside like had been frozen. Is that even a thing? Horrible. Pepper sauce watery and not peppery. Next visit baked potato. Surely can't go wrong with that can you. WRONG. Apart from the fact no coleslaw at 6pm. I know most stuff is bought in and last minute prep but baked potato was inedible. I never leave reviews but felt impelled to do so. Need to get someone else in the kitchen because whoever it is can NOT prepare meals.

Food is rubbish, service is rubbish, atmosphere rubbish. The seats are rubbish. They can't get an order right most times. When The food does arrive its awful. Better going to the old brewery for food. If its a long wait to buy a cheap pint on a sat night on wobbly seats with no atmosphere come here.

Dirty tables, disinterested staff, and the place wasn't even that busy. I know not to expect too much from Wetherspoons, but this place is awful... we left and went to the Old Brewery for a better selection and friendlier staff...

It looked promising & I have to say my vegan burger was nice & the prices seemed reasonable. But OMG the portion size was ridiculous & my husbands burger was "minging." Even if we stayed in the area, we definitely would not be back!

I'm a lifelong Alloa Athletic fan despite not even living in the country. Don't ask. Went to Scotland with my wife and we had to visit the town of my idols, the home of the brave, the mighty Alloa. The team Rangers and Celtic wish they could be. Anyway, lunch at the Bobbing John was our first port of call and we'd been looking forward to it all day. It was Alloa, it was food, what could go wrong? Everything. The tables were a health hazard on arrival and finding staff to wipe down was verging on impossible. I ordered a pizza. At least I was pretty sure I did. What arrived appeared to some sort of flame grilled Frisbee covered in cement like cheese and what had once been some sort of tomato sauce. The knife had little to no chance of carving it's way through the offering. To ask for a steak knife to cut pizza seemed a little extreme. And so I simply gnawed my way through it using a mixture of my bare hands and aching teeth. My wife had the chicken strips and I watched with jealousy as her knife sliced through them like, well, a knife through nicely cooked pizza. It was Saturday, it was packed, it was very, very busy, so I can cut the staff some slack, nut it really wasn't good. And Alloa got beaten by Queen Of The South. The day never really improved.

Manager with a attitude problem ........... This is the worst service I have had in The Bobbing John. We ordered our meal as normal and was told no chips and had to take mash with a burger as the fryer was broken. When it came it had chips, total miscommunication. Also ordered half chicken, no gravy came with it and after speaking to 3 different staff the manager brought to our table and I was just about finished my meal0, I said that this was the worst service I have had, he then told me I have an attitude and did not care what I have to say. This guy needs more training in customer relations. Totally put me off going back to this Wetherspoons after attending regularly.

Booked a table for six for a family meal on Saturday, but when we arrived learned that the booking had not been registered. Had to wait while staff moved tables and chairs to what was a draughty corner right outside baby changing toilet. When our meals were delivered we found the portions to be minuscule, more like children’s meals. Only good point was the young man who served the meals was pleasant. The place was busy but understaffed by young people who were either under pressure or just not interested. Have been there in the past and enjoyed meals but I don’t think we’ll back at any time in the near future. Spoiled what was supposed to be a happy celebration!

The stagger to the toilet isnt too far in this one..

A very good community pub however lacks management, supervision and control. Good atmosphere however either understaffed or lazy staff, hard to work out. Lots of glasses piled up on the bar, same on tables with plates piled up. No logical plan for the staff to work through. One minute staff clear the tables next they are all standing chatting in the corner ignoring clearing tables, washing glasses and serving customers who are queuing. Something not right. Also they have to watch under age drinking around the dart board area, two dodgy adults buying drinks and under age youths walking in the fire door and drinking the drinks. All under the eyes of the staff. Management needs to do something before Police Scotland and licensing officials step in and shut this good community pub down.

This place is always and I mean always drastically understaffed. I was in for a pint on a Friday evening and there were not enough staff to serve at the bar and serve meals etc. Some of the staff behind the bar can be a bit miserable at times but what do you expect when they are having to be in 4 places at once and have some customers mump and moan at them for something that isn't really their fault.

Wrong order given and didn't realise till home really disappointed

Place was not clean. The tea/coffee machine and accessories were filthy. There was no fish on the menu AGAIN. Food arrived almost cold served on cold plates. Never again.

The food is always, always cold. Complaining falls on deaf ears!!!!!!!! We have tried quite a few visits ordering through their App but the food was always ridiculously cold. We decided to order at the bar and put our complaint to bar staff but fell on deaf ears☹️ The food really is off poor quality and always served on a cold plate which obviously cools the food even quicker. We had to clear a table of used plates to sit at a table on our last visit. The menu food is cheap to buy but this company needs to up the quality and service to survive in Alloa. My complaint is similar to others on here, so hopefully the owners will heed these negative reviews and do something about these complaints immediately. We all can’t be wrong surely.

I have officially banned myself from here that's the last three times we've been for a lunch here there's been issues. I was 45mins wait for a baked potato with five beans chilli I only have a one hour

I agree with other reviews on this site. We ordered two breakfasts and both were cold. The tomato was actually icy inside! I got a response, of sorts, from customer services saying that they would look into the problem and have the area manager deal with the situation. I'm sorry, this apology is mot acceptable in the least! Money back and am apology from the pub manager would be suffice. Terrible experience!

Long wait for food which, when it came, an item was missing. Had to wait for that, too. Bread was stale.

Unfortunately my phone didn’t save all the pictures I took of this location, so a picture of the stairs it is. Wetherspoon never disappears, no matter the location.

My wife wasn't happy NO WINE not a drop and warm curry paid extra for extra chillies got one chopped into 6 not happy.I feel sorry for the staff they have to deal with this

Don't normally bother writing reviews. If I don't like somewhere I just stop going but I'm a huge wethersooons fan and I'm just gutted at how downhill Alloa spoons has gone over the past year, and even more so in the last few months. Any other Wetherspoons venue is well known for providing consistently quality meals and a nice clean toilet. We have travelled up and down the country a lot and if there's a spoons within reach of our location we've definitely visited it. This was our 5th meal in a row at Bobbing John's, where one or both of us have been served almost stone cold food. We'd originally gone to another pub for food but my husband really fancied a burger and the other pub had sold out. So reluctantly we returned to spoons to give them one last chance. Before the food came I visited the toilets. Not the first time they're not clean but this time it took me walking into 5 cubicles to find a clean enough toilet to sit on! These have not been cleaned for at least a week! I mentally noted dozens of Dirty Finger marks all over the glass panels in the doors on the way back downstairs. The carpets didn't look like they'd been cleaned in a long time either and the free tables were all covered in salt or wet from drinks, where the plates and glasses had been collected but the tables not wiped down. As I walked back to my table I witnessed an older gentleman pulling out a substantial sheet of plastic film from his lasagne (just like the ready meal film lids) i kept my eye on him and noted he was too polite to complain this had been served to him. If he's like me he'll just likely not return again. Already anxious I'd not enjoy my food there as per the previous cold breakfasts and lunches Id been served over the past few months, I thought I'd go safe with a pizza. Husband ordered a loaded burger and chips. Pizza was at least hot, but almost burnt on top with very crispy edges and sadly, the base dough was only just cooked, and was a little soggy. This time it was my husbands food that turned up stone cold. From the browned colour of the chips and onion rings we could tell they were clearly twice cooked and wrinkly looking, he ate one chip, felt the rest and they were stone cold on a cold plate. He didn't try the burger but it looked equally pathetic. Between us we ate the pizza (I'd decided after couple slices I didn't want anymore as it wasn't it's usual predictable standard so he ate the rest) He got a refund on his meal as the replacement didn't arrive by the time we'd finished the pizza and our drinks. The staff are nice enough, but no one cleans here anymore. The cooks are definitely not chefs, and need retraining how to serve a decent wethersooons meal. I get most of it is microwave meals for consistency but at least remove the wrapper before serving. Heat the plates so they are hot And learn how to cook fresh hot chips to order! The servers also need to bring the food to the table whilst it's still hot. There seems to be no system for this. I dread to think how dirty the kitchen might be if the rest of the place is as filthy as it is currently. I really want to be able to enjoy an occasional wetherspoons breakfast when I finish the gym, or a nice lunch when I visit town but I've now given up on Alloa spoons. This has been going on to long. I write this review as not many like to complain or make a fuss. Staff likely don't know how frustrated the regulars are with the lackluster service on offer and just how rubbish the food now is. A change of management is needed to bring this pub back. People like me generally don't complain, they just disappear. We've given Alloa spoons more chances than they deserved just because its a spoons but We're all just fed up. I hope one day we can return when the staff get proper management and training how to cook and clean.

Went in for lunch earlier. Place was freezing. Could have and should have probably had the fire on but it wasn't. Service at bar was great very pleasant and friendly. Place our order and took our seat. One of the waitresses brought over a different order and when we said that's not our order she questioned our table number....I heard her sigh then walk away almost in the huff. She then brought back the correct order but it was like she just couldn't be bothered.im not a customer service snob but a wee bit of "oh sorry folks, must have got mixed up somewhere" would have been nice. For tasted good but portion size was ridiculously small......

Nice wee pub, visit occasionally, as an ale drinker, depends on the ales

Good Wetherspoons pub with friendly and efficient staff. Usual cheap food and drink options available from early until late.

Popped in for a early dinner. Easy to find well positioned, only reason for a four star review and 3 star review is that the chef sent me a raw piece of pork. Otherwise was exactly what you expect. Prices are reasonable and bottomless coffee! And is Scottish style Haggis on the pizza.

I come here at least once a week with my Mum for lunch and try to come more and enjoy the coffee and work on my laptop.

I popped in at the end of the night on my way home. Service was fast and friendly but without music it lacks atmosphere.

Great atmosphere cheap and cheerful xx

Started off with being served by someone who shouldn’t be customer facing In any way whatsoever . No greeting or serving skills at all Breakfasts arrived , something cold that I take it was black pudding , burnt to a crisp bacon , cold beans , Luke warm sausage , hot eggs , wahay ,and toast with no butter , delivered to my minging table Carpet and all chairs look very dirty Meal quality seems chef dependant and most staff look like they don’t want to be there Crap experience , wish I’d stayed in and made my own breakfast

Me and my friend Elizabeth decided to go there on Friday as a change to where we usually go it was a good meal service was excellent.

Food was awful. When reported to waitress, couldn't have cared less. Burger burnt. No cheese ( when cheeseburger ordered). Half of chicken items on menu not available.

Situé dans la ville d Aloa en Ecosse Super endroit super déco super ambiance C'est simple c'est cosy c'est propre rapide et pas cher on aime La vidéo montre rien mais je vous fais resentir l'ambiance 😉

Wasted 10 mins deciding order, only to be told no burgers and no chicken. V poor service.

A very disappointing meal for the money they charge. Slow service and not very clean tables or floors. First and last visit.

Just off the go lf course, me 'The Moll' and Mr R junior decided to have a quick meal and save 'The Mrs' from having to cook(Readers of my other know reviews know that 'The Moll' is no 'Galloping Gourmet'(showing my age here). Anyway: Got to the afore mentioned Bobbing John and found a table. Which inevitably needed a good wipe down. Have you noticed lately that at Spoon the tables never seem to be wiped down(Lazy Basket's). I only wish the person who examines ' The Loos' in Spoons would also examine their bars and lounges in particular the tables. Bet the rating here wouldn't be so high as their Loos. Might consider eating off the floor in the loos next time(If I go back). Onto the food: C'mon it was so bad I'd consider eating 'Pigs Swill' which is probably more nutritious. We thought we would play safe and order 2 Fish & Chips and 1 Scampi & Chips which we thought Weatherspoon's couldn't muck-up. Boy were we wrong. Time to explain! To say we were disappointed is akin to saying Jesus considered 'The Last Supper a Success'. Anyway onto the food which duly arrived. To be fair and unbiased I would say 'The Drinks' were good and were reasonably priced. Back to the food. The 3 of us ordered no peas or beans as these are usually like rubber or cold. So when our meals arrived The Fish was edible(just). The biggest surprise was how bare the plates were. They were doing a credible example of a baby's backside. The Chef/Cook or as I prefer to call them 'The Heater-Upperer'. NB: Have you ever noticed that Spoons try to keep food warm by shining an Ultra-Violet light on it. Thi s is about as useful as an Ash-tray on a motorbike. Back to the food: Gotta hand it to the Heater-upperer he seemed to managed to divide about 1Kg bag of chip between about 40 of us. I know some manufacturing companies have reduced sizes of their products and put up prices. This seems to be happening in Spoons also, I counted 17 smallish chips on my plate ranging in size from 3/4inch 18mm to 1 and 1/4 inches 30mm. Mr R junior was spoiled as he got 20 chips. 'The Moll' got more than both of us although her Scampi was over done(Burnt). Ever notice when Spoons meals are terrible you never get anyone asking if your meal was okay? I complained once about quality of meal in The Auld Brigg in Irvine and was totally blanked by staff. I think this is a Spoons ploy. It's no wonder Tim Martin is offloading more Spoons than shops 'Wilco' want to get rid of. Will we go back anytime soon? Only if it's a last resort and every food outlet in proximity is closed including Greggs and Baynes. Bahookes to Spoons!!!

Food was great service was great staff we're great nice

What can I say it's a Wetherspoons

ordered 5 peoples breakfast 2 coffees and 3 cold drinks had been 3 weeks ago and had miners benedict which was grand soft yoked poached eggs was wonderfull. Large scottish breakfgast was minging back bacon that i could have soled my boots wth, dried up fried eggs , and crunchy black pudding. wont be back for a while.

Staff are lovely and great service

Good local spoons, staff always friendly with prompt service, very good space to take the kids for a little lunch!

Great Weatherspoons pub full with history on the walls. Friendly staff.

My kids love the place , it's economical and we always great service. Pints are always on point and the food always exceeds the price. This sounds like a 5 star review however Wetherspoons as a company have terrible ethics and I just want to make everyone this particular venue doesn't highlight of them.

This eas a nice one .tganks to tge staff

Not enough staff on and take too long to clear and clean tables

The food took thirty minutes to reach me there was a distinct lack of staff the food was great that's my second visit on a market day please arrange for more staff to be working that day as the place was not very clean and the staff were running around trying to do there bet

Awful service waited 40 minutes then asked how much longer will it be and was told 10 to 40 minutes when my Scottish breakfast did arrive it tasted burnt

This place is so understaffed. I went today and all the tables were dirty, I never seen one table being cleaned when guests were leaving. Ordering food took ages and the girl taking our order looked fed up! The condiment station was so empty, there were a lot of sauce bottles but nothing at all in any of them! You get what you pay for with the food but there is no excuse for a place to be so disgusting. Even the glasses with our drinks were dirty. I only ever complain if it's really bad, put it that way. I won't be back here, there are plenty of other great places in Alloa to eat.

Sat down ,,checked menu in the app Everything was out of stock. The place was untidy , the table was filthy. Got back up & left. Very angry for wasting our time.

Weatherspoons brekkie was decent only downside was my poached eggs were hard but was still a decent eggs benedict

Awful. The place is in desperate need of a deep clean... The tables were sticky, my son leant against the bar ans his shirt was stained. It was impossible to order through the app, as the wifi kept cutting out. We went to the bar.. And whilst only have 4 people in our party, ot took several 'goes' for the waitress (crumpled shirt, clearly didnt care) to remember and input the order. We waited 25 minutes for it to arrive, and when it did, the plates and food were cold, and a true disappointment. We were on a tight timescale, so whilst trying to get the attention of anyone, this seemed impossible, so we had to leave. The table next to us, also complained, and had part of their order refunded. The place has so much potential, but our visit was woeful. Travel to the Stirling Weatherspoons instead...

Stopped in for a scottish breakfast, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Four of us had cooked breakfast's, all of which arrived cold, my wife's scrambled eggs were rubbery. To add insult to injury the girl from the bar came to our table whist we were eating, said she had made a mistake and demanded a further £1.20

Great we breakfast rolls of bacon, and sausage. Free coffee refill what's not to like.

Lady behind bar, lovely. Service girl looked like she didn't want to be there. Cleanliness is terrible. Doesn't look like a cleaner has touched the place. Dusty, dirty tables, floor hasn't seen a mop in a while

Great place for breakfast or lunch. As a vegetarian its one of the few places that has an excellent range of options. Food and drink reasonably priced.

If you are popping in for a quick drink then I wouldn't bother. We ordered on the app & waited 24 minutes for them to come. A vodka/lemonade & a beer. Absolutely ridiculous time to wait for 2 drinks.

Only place in the area that does normal vegan options and always has an IPA on tap.

Went in for a curry no rice!! Offered chips instead. Second time we've walked out and no intention of going back. The place has gone down hill also very dirty !!

Amazing prices excellent food and the staff can't do enough for you

As a family we have been for breakfast a couple of times and ordered lunch from the extensive menu. All the staff have been very friendly and nothing is a problem to them The food is good and is priced reasonably. I would definitely recommend this eatery and we will certainly return.

This is great spoons, food always done well. Staff are friendly. Recommended it to anyone.

Easy, relaxed and cost-effective

Good prices for the food a large menu but not really much choice.

Can't really fault the Bobbing John, staff friendly and cask ales are usually in good condition. At busier times, tables sometimes don't get cleared frequently. Gents toilets are usually clean etc.

Had a very nice meal here. Inexpensive meal deals and food was fresh and tasty

Nice place, friendly staff, good value for money

I was at this weatherspoons on 19th March for a meal for mothers day. When choosing our menu there was lots of items not available to order, what we did order portions were small compared to other weatherspoons we have been to. Ladies toilets were not clean my 4 year old granddaughter commented about there being marks on the toilets and refused to use them. They looked like they had not been cleaned from the night before

Ordered food about 5 minutes later all of the food arrived hot and very tasty then for desert they did not have 4 pancakes only 2 so they asked me if I could take more ice cream in return good negotiations and brilliant food appreciate it alot I would recommend coming here food brilliant all quick and cheap! w Well done Bobbing John

Nice place, usual 'Spoons, although Alloa has a steak night on Tuesday but the don't actually have any steak left by 5:45pm

Didn't have to wait long for our food to arrive. The staff were very friendly, atmosphere was good always love a visit the Bobbing John, can't wait for our next trip up!

Would be ten times better if there was music...

Popped in for some lunch Great meal Very good service Excellent value Extensive menu Our meal was tasty promptly served ny friendly staff. Good value What more could you want

It's a Wetherspoon...not much else to say

Friendly 'spoons' in Alloa. It was my first visit before visiting Alloa Athletic FC. I ate and had a real ale, both were of good quality. Worth a visit if you're in the area.

Good meal good price would recommend

Cheap , cheerful , quick service

Popped in for a quick hot chocolate and a biscuit. Looked friendly and tidy.

To the manger of this pub needs to check your power trip when asked to clear a table then tell an eldery lady and a child to leave DISGUSTING from an employee Of this company . Wont put foot in back in this place again

We had the chicken pasta and chicken bites which were piping hot and do tasty!

Best prices for food and drink. Can get busy but the staff work hard to keep us all fed and watered.

Went for a meal today and the place was absolutely freezing , staff not approachable it as if they couldn't be bothered food was cold definitely won't be back

Ordered via the app and everything arrived promptly

Enjoyed the meal, food came on time and all was excellent.

Filthy table as usual. Food is adequate and filled a hole

Cheap drink, cheap food, value for money, no frills good place to meet and catch up with family and kids. Something on rhe menu for all tastes. Staff were very helpful when one of the kids was poorly and sick. Staff were very attentive and hard pushed at times.

Good place Good prices nice atmosphere

Great food, great prices and friendly staff and atmosphere. 👍👍,

Nice spoon, but would be better if they updated REAL Ale Finder.

Normal weatherspoons friendly efficient staff

Good friendly atmosphere,nice selection of beers,and a good breakfast

Great beer great staff nice fire

Nice pub in a perfect location. Prices can't be beaten. May differ within the chain. Price paid for this pint £1.99.

Good food, celebrated daughter's birthday. Very busy. You can call and reserve table, which is what we did. Good atmosphere even though no music

Cheap food & drink, it's a Wetherspoons 😂 Quick service for food, order led via the app. Plenty of choice.

A few drinks with my pal. Great value for money

Friendly staff. Food ok. Good value. Would visit again.

Had a couple of drinks great service and good value for money x

Well run great staff. Very comfy compared to dunfermline which is not nice

Good food, but was just lukewarm when it reached our table. Staff were helpful and happy. The bobbing John is looking old and unkempt in its decor.