The Gary Cooper in Central Bedfordshire - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Lovely summers evening out with our daughter and grandson

I went with family and I had fish and chips , it was excellent , Everyone had something different and all enjoyed their meals . Great value , highly enjoyable , staff friendly and helpful . Highly recommend .

Very nice weatherspoons large and airy with seating to the side

With spoons what you see is what you get, no frills! The food was cooked nice and it was comfy and clean.

The slowest service possible. 10 people in a question and one bartender.

They do not answer the phone useless place

Great pub. Interesting local history inside if you read the walls. Great venue, nice garden.

Good pleasant atmosphere with happy staff. Meals served without delay, relaxed calm environment, ate during day

Love the food and it's a nice place to eat and unwind. Will definitely be back.

Many thanks to Charlotte for sorting out my food when it was delayed. Such a delightful young lady, makes the trip worthwhile x Thank u x

Typical wetherspoons. Nothing fancy but coffee very good price and free fill up. Breakfast OK ish.

Great value , attentive staff . Considering it’s a Wetherspoon and considering it’s location , it’s friendly and well stocked . Food is cheap , and for the price adequate. Perfect for pre-drink if going to the grove theatre (next door).

First time in this establishment for a long while and l know why l don't use this sort of pub. Long wait at the bar for orders Staff standing around chatting Customers left waiting why do they do this to people.

Called in for a soft drink, 2 lime and sodas which cost 78p for two drinks. Staff were really friendly and well presented, will be going again for lunch as it is really good value and the food looks great, well done Sir Tim.

Third time we have been here . Each time the place has been a mess . Tables aren’t cleared , plates and glasses everywhere.

The Gary Cooper Wetherspoons offers a solid dining and drinking experience with several notable positives. The food and service are above average, making it a reliable choice for a meal or a drink. The menu offers the usual range of options, and the staff are efficient and courteous, ensuring a pleasant visit. However, be prepared for a bustling atmosphere, especially on a Friday afternoon. The pub can get quite busy, which might affect wait times slightly, but the lively environment adds to the overall charm for those who enjoy a vibrant social setting. The building itself is modern and inviting, with a striking glass frontage that gives the pub a contemporary feel. While most of the pub is clean and well-maintained, the toilets could use some attention as they had a noticeable smell during my visit. Despite this minor issue, the overall cleanliness of the pub is good. In summary, the Gary Cooper is a good spot for food and drinks, particularly if you appreciate good service and a lively atmosphere. Just be prepared for a bit of a crowd on busy afternoons.

Went with friend and her son. We found it overall good. When they brought the food out, they accidentally forgot to add an extra item, however it was easily resolved.

Being using Witherspoon's for many years always competitively priced, cheap and cheerful. Don't expect top nosh. But I have noticed less and less staff to help so they can maximise profits.

We come here quite often, food is always reliable and tasty includes a drink too.

I had a standard easy breakfast , how hard is that, hard eggs burnt bacon, dry bread no butter, cold beans. Very poor standard for a restaurant. Asked to be sorted, to be told all they can do is microwave it . So asked for money back. My sons pasta Alfredo looks dried up and old from yesterday. Obviously put on cold plate .sent it back and asked for fresh one to be told they can only re microwave it again lmao .

food came really fast (breakfast) and was very nice indeed! strange area, never seen a spoons in such a fancy building before.

Perfect Miner’s breakfast, less sticky tables!

Well..... my friend and I both ate although not at the same time. It was edible is as much as I can say of mine. We we both ordering drinks on the app. Service was quick considering how busy the pub was. My friends drink was wrong at one point. We ignored it. My drink was wrong next time. I went to the bar to b met by staff who tried explaining my southern Comfort tasted of whisky as its whisky based. Well on their own menu it's not sold with whisky. It is my drink. Short version I was told to buy another one and if it smelt the same that was it. Well whilst a member of staff walked away I spoke to my friend as I wasn't happy. My comment was overheard an I was asked to leave. The security were professional.

Why do all Wethersoons have sticky tables? Even this modern one. They must coat them with glue.

Vegan breakfast was lovely and good price. Pleasant atmosphere and friendly helpful and polite staff.

Absolutely AMAZING service, staff are both professionally and polite. We had a walk in group of 8. We had advise on seating food and drink. Our server James was excellent 👌 extremely patient and went over and beyond for us, absolute legend.

It's a 'Spoons. Service was slow to start with, drinks ordered on the App taking nearly 30 mins to arrive, and staff just wandering aimlessly asking about table numbers. But the issue was soon resolved by some very competent management, and further orders arrived promptly.

Had breakfast beans were only warm as always. Everything else kind of warm we like it there especially for breakfadt but we are going to find somewhere else I'm afraid. I mean how hard it is to keep beans hot. Never been hot. Just the food seems mediocre. Never good standatd

Sloppy service. I ordered two meals on the wetherspoon app and only one arrived. When we checked with staff they found that it had been standing under hot lights in a counter, but the food was cold. When a replacement dish was brought the food was also cold. Furthermore the app offers the option of a straw with the drink but that didn't come. I think I will avoid this place now. In the end I had to demand a refund. You have been warned

Modern decor, good atmosphere and good value food and drink, make this a great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Always good, whether just a coffee or food..

Me and my mate came here a few days ago to get a few drinks and she was denied because of her ID being from her home country, we then came again yesterday to get food and the moment we walked through that door all the staff were at the bar and stopped in their tracks and stared at us as if we just murdered someone and made us well uncomfortable to the point where we don’t wanna go back. Absolutely rude

Busy, airy space indoors, outdoor tables, good atmosphere, very good value.

It just lacks that something, but will go back.

A quick lunch, we'll cooked and reasonably priced.

A large pub next to a park and playground in the center of Dunstable... modern interior but a bit lacking in atmosphere. The advantage is cheapness...

Good modern Wetherspoon in a new building . Lots of glass and nice and airy. Food is good and has excellent value. Recent visit in April '24 confirms the above review and was an enjoyable experience again😀 .

We had to move people's leftover plates etc to another uncleaned table to be able to sit down. My Mum's dinner had to be sent back twice due to hard dried up mashed potatoes which were obviously being reheated in a microwave too hot and too long, we had to tell them to just give her chips instead and gave up on the mash after the second try. My daughter's meal arrived without the chips that were listed on the menu as part of the meal, we had to ask for them too. I asked for a SIDE order of halloumi (which isn't the real stuff) and that came shoved in the top of my burger meaning it was all falling apart by the time I got it. So the meal out I was very much looking forward to ended up being rubbish. The only reason I gave 3 stars is because the warm cooking dough is better than any other I've had including Kaspa's!

The food quality is becoming very poor every time I visit. For example the ten chicken wings portion is Full of flat wings only and some pieces are unbelievably small. Very oily and no flavour. Service is becoming very poor too. Very angry looking waiters.

One of the worst Guinness I have had in my life. Fully watered, no texture, no taste. When complained to the head office, declined to help stating should have complained to the manager on the day. Absolutely ridiculous.

Great place for a feed and drink. And family friendly. Food and drinks are well priced.

The management leaves much to be desired, to put it politely. The establishment is severely understaffed, exacerbating existing issues. Furthermore, some employees exhibit unfavorable attitudes towards customers, raising concerns about compliance with discrimination laws, particularly regarding dress code policies, "CCTV" which I found rather amusing. Consistency in policy implementation appears lacking, as ''evidenced by selective enforcement affecting certain individuals while overlooking others. ''A review of the management's practices may shed light on these discrepancies.

Good food fast service polite waiter

We arrived tonight at 5.30pm and ordered a pizza and two drinks at the bar. Unfortunately we had to chase our pizza at 6.30 approx. When it arrived it was not cooked properly and we sent it back. So it was about 6.40 approx when we got our same pizza back obviously cooked for longer. The dough still felt under cooked and the topping was crisp. We had no cutlery and the attendant went to get it but never came back. I don’t mind eating pizza with my fingers but when you’re sharing you do need to cut it into segments with a knife. Very disappointing. Also we order a drink via the app, that took over 30 mins to come yet the bars had few customers but we were told that the online service was behind so we couldn’t get a drink at the bar without paying for it. We are going to the theatre and we always pop in for a drink and meal. It’s been the least busy we have ever seen it. This has been our 3rd visit for the theatre this year and we have two more booked but we will take our business elsewhere as there are restaurants in the town centre which will want our business. I do not see the reason for this poor service.

Don’t go there, they can’t serve their excuse, is they have been to busy and give 20 mins to clean up really? absolutely I can’t be asked a corporate company managing this ? Seriously

Wow never going here again you are trying to promote the app and you've got SLOW, CLUELESS AND RUDE STAFF. Took nearly 30mins to get a drink. Very bad from wetherspoons.

Great venue for meeting up with friends, food are reasonably good, drink are cheap and cheerful 😊

terrible and rude staff, my cocktail was taken away from me because the waitress decided without any evidence that my driving license MIGHT BE fake even though i had many ways of proving that its not, she did not listen and look at the evidences i provided and also refused to give me a refund for the cocktail as i already paid for it. its ridiculous to make such assumptions without having any valid points and proof, because my driving license is in fact 100% real and valid and i could prove it on government website. the staff members were very unpleasant with the attitude of a brat. i also overheard the waitresses talking bad about college students that were spending their lunch break inside. do not recommend this place, matter of fact, stay away from there. just awful

Christine Ali 1 review Visited this pub after leaving the grove with 4 other people last night only to be told after purchasing 1 round of drinks that were not being served with any more drinks. One member of our group was talking to a patron at the bar she was told by one of the staff that she wasn’t going to be served a drink, she hadn’t ordered a drink at this point and told the bar staff this. I think it was obvious for some reason that the manager had made a judgment about my group without reason Our group was not loud, acting in a way that disturbed others or offensive to staff. We asked the manager why only to be told she thought we had enough to drink in her opinion but could not give a specific reason why she thought this. Absolutely speechless to say the least that you can’t order a drink because the manager clearly didn’t understand the difference between a group of people having fun and being sociable compared to a group of people drunk and disruptive. I won’t be going into this pub again and suggest the manager has some re training.

The American burger was the worst meal he had ever had .it was very overcooked , dried up. It had a smear of sauce one slice of gerkin and a few chips on the plate it was looking most unappetising. Thrown On a big plate. We ordered by app .later that evening after going to theatre,went back ,ordered by app,waited ages for drink the waiter that come over didn't know which beer was which ,as we had ordered two different ones. And on husbands 2nd pint which he went up to get from the bar,and ordered a doom bar which was poured from that labeled pump ,but it was not doom bar.

Visited this pub after leaving the grove with 4 other people last night only to be told after purchasing 1 round of drinks that were not being served with any more drinks. One member of our group was talking to a patron at the bar she was told by one of the staff that she wasn’t going to be served a drink, she hadn’t ordered a drink at this point and told the bar staff this. I think it was obvious for some reason that the manager had made a judgment about my group without reason Our group was not loud, acting in a way that disturbed others or offensive to staff. We asked the manager why only to be told she thought we had enough to drink in her opinion but could not give a specific reason why she thought this. Absolutely speechless to say the least that you can’t order a drink because the manager clearly didn’t understand the difference between a group of people having fun and being sociable compared to a group of people drunk and disruptive. I won’t be going into this pub again and suggest the manager has some re training.

Cheap drinks but lacks Atmosphere, service seems a bit chaotic with no real order

Can't be beaten for prices. Busy Friday night the staff could have done with another member of staff to help clear up and serving. Not much of an atmosphere. Looked like a large number of patrons at 7pm were pre theatre drinkers like my little group. Staff member who served us was very polite and helpful.

Well, thank goodness for the odd sunny day here in wintery England. The Gary Cooper spoons may only be on a single floor (well, OK, toilets are upstairs!), but it is two floors of glass wall that covers two side of this pub and shows off it's light wooden décor to its best. There is substantial seating out the front bordering a large grassed area which was just begging to be used when I was there on this sunny afternoon - this also provides a step free access point to the pub. There is an interesting sculpture to Mr Cooper on a horse at the bottom of the stairs to the loos. As usual the staff were lovely and the Guinness was excellent.

Came for some lunch after travelling to see family. The food was ok. It's standard Wetherspoons offering. What let it down was the moody staff and the lack of cleanliness. I've been here before over the years for many different reasons and usually had a good time, but it really hit me on this visit how tired and miserable it looks. It could do with a revamp to be honest

Lovely place to eat out and drink just not good for a big range of food

It was absolutely packed but food and service excellent. Well done to all the staff 👍🏼

Busy which means to be a great place to be

Very rude staff but will say the server was pleasant, food was awful, atmosphere was almost like a funeral and one large girl serving was very rude

Fast and easy pub, good meeting point. Cheap food, service got a bit better too.

Yes, this place needs some TLC and they need more staff. This didn’t bother us as we found a clean table and ordered via the app. The service was incredibly fast. The drinks arrived promptly, much to our amazement. The food arrived shortly after. The food was served hot. It definitely filled us up. Great value for money!

we were extremely disappointed with the quality of food and the service provided by the staff. Secondly, the service provided by your staff was unacceptable. The manager was rude and unprofessional. She did not seem to care about our concerns and was dismissive of our complaints she believes that it's okay to leave a child to receive their food last and when they did get the food it was frozen to which the manager took the food and didn't return until an hour later to say she's refunded the child's meal and that was it meaning we then had to leave as she didn't want to service us anymore and left the child hungry so disappointed.

Exactly what you’d expect from a Wetherspoons. Sadly for us we had the only table free which was next to the door which led to the smoking area, on one of the coldest days of the year, so that made us quite uncomfortable. Lots of people sitting solo at a table of 4! Otherwise, good value for money.

I am writing on behalf of my Dad who visited the Gary Coopers today 18/01/24 My Dad is 82 years old and used to work in the hospitality sector it is fair to say he knows his stuff. A founder member of the BII an innovator in the industry and once a Master Celler Man himself he knows a good pint . After visiting today he told me he’d had a nice ham egg and chips but what got me and why I’m writing this review is that he said the Abbott ale he had was the best pint he’d had in a long long time which impressed me enough to do this. Thank you Gary Cooper keep it up Yours Sincerely Chris Edgar

There is hardly any vegetarian gf options. There were no pizzas available of any kind for my husband and we'd come especially for those. It's cheap as chips here but be aware you get what you pay for which is small portions. Staff were friendly enough but it is such a large open plan area that with few people becomes cold so all we wanted to do was eat quickly and go home to warm up!!

Service lacks here a lot. Only person at the bar. The barmaid was too busy having a natter even though she noticed me standing at the bar. Tables were not clean. Empty plates everywhere even though quite a few staff were available. Not sure why the coffee machines here are never maintained. Always missing something in either machine.

This is the perfect place to warm your bones if your homeless £1.50 for as much coffee as you want.., makes this place the go to place for the down and outs and homeless , as for the meals and service it's shockingly awful , it would be a great final meal if you were contemplating suicide, as you wouldn't have to endure the after effects of food poisoning , as for the atmosphere if you imagine table service soup kitchen your on point .

Food inexpensive good meal served quickly delicious burger and chips, friends had a double cheese burger chips And drinks. Nice and relaxed meal, surprised as it was on a Sunday at 1 pm approx.

good football fans pub in Dunstable for fans going to Luton

It's a spoons innit, stairs to the toilet are not accessible tho

Good simple pub grub at great prices. No frills but great value.

Didn't have food, over last few months real ale as improved 👍

Never tried the food, so I can't comment. It's a lively place with plenty of atmosphere. There is plenty of cheap real ales which were kept well although several had run out. However, they could do with clearing the tables more frequently, and it took ages to get served at the bar

Too busy 4 of us went could not find Free table and had to wait for some time

The whole fast food element isn't very good as it's not that nice but the vibe is great the staff are ace and the beer is good.

On the 25th September I was taken ill with a subdural haematoma and the staff were amazing they were very quick to call an ambulance and probably saved my life, the pub is very friendly and look after their customers. Thank you so very much love you all.

On the 25th September I was taken ill with a subdural haematoma and the staff were amazing they were very quick to call an ambulance and probably saved my life, the pub is very friendly and look after their customers. Thank you so very much love you all.

I went there for drinks 🍸 with colleagues. It was quite pleasant.

Good staff try to serve pretty quick just not enough staff

This place is good meeting up. But on a Saturday night could do with some music playing though. Other than that not a bad place m.

Great staff and a great selection of beers at a sensible price, what's not to like?

Most disgusting food I’ve ever had! Went in just after 12 lunchtime only to be told they’re shutting at 1pm due to unforeseen circumstances!!!!!!!!!!! Rushed service! Could only get one drink! Just had plain jacket potato as all I could eat on the menu! Potato was cold, hard and not much good, salad if you can call it that was just lettuce, 3 bits of cucumber and seemed like a whole onion!!!!! Made me ill through having to rush so AIN’T NEVER GOING BACK THATS FOR CERTAIN

It lacks music, otherwise very good

A very atmospheric pub with lots of memorabilia. Staff great and food very good. Value for money was excellent allowing me to eat out more . Parking was not free near by and a little walk.

Wetherspoons cheap and cheerful. Had a good night out here with the work team.

Not a place I'd recommend at all. Service was dreadful, food not worth the money, only plus side was the refills.

Very busy on a Sunday. Standard Spoons fare, service quick particularly if you use their app

Cant beat Wetherspoons. Good selection of alcohol at good prices and local to town centre

Can be busy especially early evening g prior to local theatre show more emptied at 7 30 due to this no eating tables may not be available or wait on food 25 mins

The good cheap food you can expect in a spoons, with a fancier-than-average look to it :)) Got some food while waiting for a go karting race and it was lovely. I recommend their baby Guinness shots as well Did you know each Whetherspoons has a unique carpet? Yep, no two are the same. Didn't know this until a lovely Scottish fella told me last week :D

Nice Wetherspoons. Handy for the busway and town centre

Nice friendly staff A good Atmosphere

Good range of ales updated on a regular basis for you try something different. Had a English Breakfast which was very good and reasonably priced.

Very nice place with reasonable prices.

Disappointing Visit and Poor Service at a Favored Restaurant As a regular client, I was deeply disappointed with my latest visit to this restaurant. The usually delightful halloumi cheese was burnt, leaving a horrible taste. Expecting a basic standard of food quality, I returned the dish to the bar. However, the response from the bar staff was far from professional. Instead of understanding and empathy, I was met with an unwelcoming attitude, almost as if it was my fault that the dish was poorly prepared. Additionally, the cleanliness standards seem to have plummeted. The sirop pot for my porringer I was served had visible dirt at the bottom and sides, clearly not washed properly. This lack of hygiene extended to the cutlery as well, which was not polished. This experience was a stark contrast to my previous visits. It's disheartening to see such a decline in both food quality and customer service. I hope this incident is not indicative of a new norm but a one-off lapse in standards.

Great value for money and helpful staff too

It's a Wetherspoons, reasonably priced good food and drink and comfortable surroundings What more do you want.

Food wasn't great ,garlic pizza bread was like a rock

It's a big warehouse of a 'Spoons. The staff were massively overworked in the afternoon/early evening and were absolute Trojans. Food was 'okay', prices as always, were excellent.

Went for pre-theatre lunch with friends...food was ok...could have been a bit hotter and a bigger portion of rice would have been nice. Table had not been wiped from previous users...very good value for money though