The Mechanical Elephant - J D Wetherspoon in Thanet

This used to be our favourite wetherspoons and we was here all the time, but sadly has gone down hill in 2024. It has got very dirty, the place is just not tidied up and toilets contantly flooded with piss. It never used to be like this but most of the staff have changed and they just dont seem to care and stand around on their phones. The WiFi stopped working in April and despite me contacting wetherspoons numerous times they have unfortunately ignored it. You can connect but no internet. Collectively we have tried 11 devices all with same issue. Every other spoons I have no problem. They now only use plastic cups every day even when no events are on at dreamland. They do not wash them before use and they make your drink taste funny because you are ingesting microplastics. The street out front is littered with hundreds of these platic cups. The manager told me the council put a restriction on them using glasses and nke they have to onpy use plastic, however after noticing no other pubs in Margate do it I contacted the council, who have said they are lying, there are no special restrictions related to mandating plastic cups at any venue in Margate. They also said they will investigate the use of single use plastics as these are restricted under local licensing in Thanet. I have written to the manager of the wetherspoons direct and he refused to comment. What has annoyed me is why does he feel thr need to lie? Just tell the truth. They wont let you drink out a bottle any more or let you pour your own. They glug it into a glass and spill half of it on the side or throw throw the last drop away. How is it so hard to pour a beer? Additionally it is hard to get a full pint now. They rush so much you have 2cm of head on every pint so you never get a full pint. I have reported the short measures to wetherspoons and trading standards with photos and videos. We got lots of apologies from wetherspoons when we complained and a few free drinks but sadly they are still getting worse so we just dont come any more. Most weeks they also kick everyone out before 10pm on a Friday or Saturday because they dont want to work late.

The food was generally good, the portion sizes however leave a lot to be desired. We ordered American cheese burgers, plus a kids hamburger meal. The full size meals were as big as the kids portion, and not in the positive manner! A very small burger and at best 15 or so chips! Not recommended for those with hunger. I know the meals are not so expensive, but can't be considered value for money, with a half empty plate! Service was friendly and prompt. We won't be rushing back to a Weatherspoons anytime soon.

Serial Spoons go'er this one is okay, considering it's not long been refurbished it's a bit dated.

It was nice food but the space was limited.

Excellent fish and chips take away, in a box. Prompt and decent.

Ace.mint. People watching. Play the game of count the teeth..proppa laugh

Spent almost 6 hours here reminiscing with an old friend and so appreciated the comfy seats near the front of the pub. Being a Sunday, the place was quite quiet but service via the app was very slow. They managed to mess our food order up by bringing just the side we'd ordered ahead of the mains. When they arrived the beans were cold and the food looked like it had just been thrown onto the plate. I'm scared to think what it would be like when it's busy. On the plus side there's a nice first floor bar with views of the harbour and beach. The toilets were down only one flight of stairs and were clean. This could be a nice Spoons with more/better staff.

This Wetherspoons is a little tired but have to say the food and service was brilliant. I had chicken bites, spicy rice which was really good and hubby had ham and mushroom pizza with extra mozzarella ( trust me the extra cheese takes it to a much better level). Everyone knows it's cheap so you never expect much but honestly this was very good for the money. Only let down is the usual fight your way through the smoke from fags just outside the doorway.

I had the mixed grill, it came out in 5 minutes and was overcooked and dry, it must have been under a heat lamp for a while. I'd avoid this place for a meal.

Visited here 27.09.24, around 10:30 in the morning. A lot of tables had plates, cups, glasses etc that had been used and not cleared by staff. Ordered a breakfast, which while it was served promptly, was tepid in temperature. Then the final insult was the fact that to stir your hot drink, there are only 2 teaspoons which are kept in a filthy glass of water to stir your hot beverage with. When one of my party enquired with the only staff member who seemed to be working, they were told to use the teaspoons in the filthy glass as there aren’t any others available! Overall a very poor experience in my opinion

Good everything exactly what you'd want from a wetherspoons, extra points on service speed and always polite and nice staff too tbf!

Great Weatherspoons. Ideal location situated right on the front of Margate beach. Quick service.

Beautiful view of the seafront, but other than that, a very average Spoons! What do you expect from a ‘spoons? Well, better than this. A couple of empty tables on the ground floor needed clearing and that didn’t look likely to happen anytime soon so we headed upstairs. Ordered fish and chips on the app. Every table upstairs was waiting for food. Bad sign! Drinks arrived eventually, short measures as expected. Food took an eternity. Fish, chips and peas (without the peas, for some reason). Other tables around us sliding had items missing or incorrect. Average taste and small portions, but again as expected. Look, it’s cheap. But it’s not cheerful. Usual story of not enough staff. The place is not kept clean, the tables are not cleared quickly and the food takes forever to arrive and when it does it’s not all there. Potentially a great.place, but need work on service, in my opinion.

We ordered three steak two with jacket potato, one with chips Potatoes were stone cold, sent them back we had finished rest of the meal before a replacement arrived. Although apologetic no refund or compensation was offered. We only went to the pub ax we wanted a variety of choice. Most of the sea front eateries were snacks or fish and chips. Very disappointed as it spilt a birthday treat day out

Out of stock of fish and chips sadly so we didn't eat there this time

Only allowed plastic cups for health and safety...

Only visited once, on this occasion its the dirtiest spoons Ive ever been to.Didn't stay. No staff I expect. Maybe better another time.

The staffs are trained to be best and friendly, which they are and did.

Place was dirty. Tables were not cleared up very quickly. It was freezing cold and they refused to turn off the air conditioning.

Family visit. Food good and reasonable prices

Had something to eat before venue . Service quick good value for money lovely and tasty . Would go back again

It was amazing. Food came really fast and I enjoyed it.

What you would expect from a weatherspoons decent price service and atmosphere Would recommend

So very busy but food was good. Ordered on app, drinks arrived quickly. Took longer for food but was expected due to it being so busy.

Great pub on sea front. Families are welcome, the service was quick and wetherspoons offer good standard prices. So after a visit to Dreamland this is a good stop, before the journey home.

Ordered rare steak which turned up cremated. Otherwise food was ok.

I can honestly say out of all the Wetherspoons myself and my family have been to. This is by far the worst of them! I was stood at the bar for over 35minutes. I get that it was busy, however people were pushing in, but what’s not acceptable is just drinkers/regulars being served before other customers who have been stood at the bar waiting like an numpty to be served! There was a girl whose name I think way kaylie? Or something with “lie” on the end who blatantly ignored me and went across to serve the drinkers, she said I’ll serve you in a moment. Then George who was serving the drinkers eventually came across to where I was standing right in front of the till point and decided to serve me. I had in my hand a receipt, however on the back of that receipt was my families food orders they wanted. I think I was being ignored as they thought I’d maybe previously ordered and was maybe complaining. I started reading the orders out and George said is that your food orders if so I’ll just take it as it’ll be easier. Which was fine however, some drink flavours were not on their and meal alterations were also not on there so I still had to explain, so it wasn’t really saving any time trying to be a clever Alec! We then waited a further 35 minutes for our food. This should have been advised at the till point. We then had a little one fall asleep as she was overtired and over hungry. This was not a pleasant visit, and quite frankly my 3 year old niece could run the bar area better. As for the toilets, they were a right state and absolutely stunk like stale urine all out by the toilets up the stairs. I’m glad I don’t live locally to give it another chance as I just think it’s a sinking ship. Worse Wetherspoons by far! Will not return even if I was in the area again.

Taking into account the cheap prices and general expected Wetherspoons offerings, we were really happy with our evening visit. Food and drinks were served very quickly with friendly service. The portion sizes and food quality were decent and there was the option of a lovely seaside view from the balcony tables. The kids were brought their snacks very quickly with the drinks before mains were served which was great. Not a fancy place for dinner but perfectly good for a cheap meal with lots of tasty options.

Typical wetherspoons ,struggled to find a table without dirty plates on them.food was ok had to ask for two items missed off kids menu .

I love a wetherspoons, but this one in Margate is poor, maybe because it is so well used, it felt dirty, with flies buzzing around the coffee machines, and grubby tables.

just well priced in a expensive world

A typical wetherspoon pub food drinks reasonable prices .margate site dog owners not welcome no fosters lager and floors filthy and sticky . Better at ramsgate "still no fosters " for a better experience but local drinkers like it and the atmosphere is ok . Near arcades and opposite seafront .

Distinctly average wetherspoons with above average friendly staff

Great food, very busy so a bit of a wait for the food.

I fell over because someone spilled a jug of water on the floor and the workers didn't bother cleaning it up will not be coming back to this place again disgraceeeeeee

They people went to The Maechanical Elephan pub. they people buy beer, wine and food. The children's family went to the Maechanical Elephan pub and bought food before going home or at a hotel .that pub was nice food yeah to many people go to the Maechanical Elephan pub, buy beer, no food

Me and my boys enjoyed our time here!

rundown pub a bit, but great location at the street connecting to the sea coast and sandy beaches alongside. cheap and cheerful as it's wetherspoon. staff a bit moody, but it's summer and they have to work in this heat, so i do understand them, a bit as well

NO WIFI!!! Hasn't worked for weeks. Hard to order with app without wifi. Have to join confused mob at counter..pushy people get served first.

Great atmosphere friendly people

The food, the pricing and the ambiance was amazing for a family lunch after some fun at the beach. Most importantly, the staff were outstanding and dealt with various conundrums in such a professional manner that we felt safe and welcomed. Would highly recommend.

Ridiculously bad servers, workers seem to deliberately ignore people waiting in line when someone pushes in, workers seem more interested in chatting to each other than serving customers. Absolutely appalling

Had lunch here before good value for money food was ok but breakfast was luke warm egg was cold shame coz it was tasty just not hot enough

Very good Ales and great staff.

Well positioned and clean. Otherwise a generic Weatherspoon. For the love of everything that you hold dear, never come here when it's busy, it gets really disgusting and loud.

As Spoons go, this one is pretty good. Inside, it's pretty standard, but there is an upstairs with additional seating and a small terrace with a few tables and great views of Margate seafront. It's ideally located right near the beach, arcades and Dreamland. All the food and drinks were brought to us quick enough and the staff were polite.

Lovely food staff were friendly

Went for a weekend away in Margate. This was the first stop we went to for food and drink after we arrived. Suffice to say drinks can't be slated as it is a wetherspoons & generally cheaper than anywhere else that you go. Food itself wasn't great. We ate quite late, around 10 pm on a Friday. Chips tasted like they had been re fried a few times, and the steak had a very unappealing taste to it, which I haven't come across at any other Wetherspoons before. Staff were friendly, and the service was quick, especially for a Friday night. Went back again Monday for drinks, but I did not have food this time. Definitely recommend to anyone wanting a drink and a sit down.

35min wait for 3 small plates, no word of an apology, seems other people are having similar waits, very poor

Great food with a familiar environment. Strongly recommend.!!!

Most beautiful Wetherspoons in the country. Friendly helpful staff - good service.

We should have known this pub would be heaving on a sunny day in August. It's right opposite a sandy beach where a Soul festival was in full swing. Bar was packed. Even the upstairs seating area was full. Small outside seating available on the street as you walk in. Alcohol prices were average for Wetherspoons. If you like your pubs loud and full of families with crying babies & children running around your table & rolling on the floor this is the place for you.

Food was very good and reasonably priced Came quite quick Not easy finding a table depending on time you visit

The staff were acting quite off. As I was ordering a jacket potato, the short woman serving me from behind the counter just moved me to be served by a different woman, as I was eating on the same table as the group of people the other woman was serving. However, we were clearly paying separately so this only made things awkward. I think that other woman was super lazy. You are paid to do your job aren't you? I also didn't like that whenever I asked for a receipt, they seemed to be annoyed by it. It's just a shame because the food was really nice (which prevented me from giving this place 1 star only). However, the customer service was not great. I would go to a different Weatherspoons if I were you.

Good typical Wetherspoons town pub

Plenty of cheap quality beers available. Lots of tables and chairs good food good service when very busy.

On a very hot day had a pint of iced cold Guinness.

it a Whiterspoon; Pint for a pound

It's okay. It was a busy day in that England's Euro match was going to be on later in the day. I stopped for a light breakfast which was ok but I think I'd try somewhere else next time. Came back later for a drink to kill time until my coach was ready for my reign journey.ayer it was much busier very crowded and the waiting staff took forever to clean up tables abd tables were in demand this evening (Euro match). For a cheap drink it's great and it is the only well known street branded pub on the waterfront at Margate. There are nicer pubs further into the old town which I discovered much later on so I would try one of those if you're looking for somewhere with a more chilled atmosphere

Weatherspoons is always a place to go for a great pint of whatever and a welcoming atmosphere. I never feel rushed or felt I need to vacate. The food is ok, not great, but great value. The real ale is simply amazing in quality and price. The coffee is pretty good too with a variety of choice and all at an amazing price. The best food is always the fish and chips always hot and freshly cooked. I just wish they would provide the tartar sauce in a squeeze bottle instead of endless sachets!

The windows need a good clean, they were black and dead flies. The food was of poor quality. The bar tender got my order wrong and then dropped ice on the floor. He picked up the ice and put it back in the same container ! The worst Wetherspoons we have been to.

Been there a couple of times. Staff ok, food ok.

Took grandkids here for something to eat which was OK but certainly nothing special. Would I go again probably not as Rsgate wetherspoons far more friendly

Food arrived ages before the drinks and only after chasing it up. Very few staff available and the one's that were, were extremely busy. The quality of the food does not vary much between different wetherspoons, it is cheap and edible. You get what you expect and what you pay for.

good around, staff were very good, and the beer prices.....well worth a visit

Not the best tbh , dirty and tired

Was really busy due to a festival nearby but drinks were good, and delivered quickly to our table via the app

OK for a spoons but as with most of them, they need to wipe tables down before serving food

Nice spoons, was very busy when I arrived but service was good and would come back for sure

Didn't eat here place was dirty ,unpleasant place to go ,couldn't wait to leave after just one drink ,beer was very unpleasant

Bar service was shocking. Around midday so not too busy on a Saturday but had plenty of staff working including 8 stood behind the bar… I was stood at the bar for 15 minutes for some reason before anyone served me. We also tried ordering through the app and our drinks were just sat on a tray on the bar, again for about 15 minutes. We went and got them ourselves because it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to bring them.

What is there not to like? food cheap and ok for what you pay. quick service in a busy pub prior to Simple Minds concert at Dreamland. Under £15 for large bottle of ice cold Prosecco. Nothing to be disappointed with, only the dark gloomy ladies toilets in the basement, but I didn't go to the pub to spend time in the WC. The staff were working flat out as the English Footie crowds were around and the pub was very busy.

Nice spoons on the seafront at margate,plenty of space and all the usual food and drinks expected. Free coffee fill ups all day too

Food and prices were great, staff were friendly and efficient, early in the morning so was quiet.

It's a Wetherspoons so you know exactly what you're getting. it's got cheap food and cheap drinks, it's perfect for after the beach.

Incompetent staff, dirty tables. Cheap though.

It's the little things that matter in life. Had the traditional breakfast today and it was faultless. Well cooked bacon and creamy scrambled egg. So many restaurants serve scrambled egg too dry. The staff at the Elephant deserve special mention. They are friendly and keep their cool even when completely over-run by football fans, Mods and Rockers, Dreamland racers and even bolshy underage drinkers whom they have politely refused. Working shifts and dealing with the public is challenging even in quieter times but their style shows when under pressure.

This is the most unattractive weatherspoons I have ever been in. Located in a really good position. Come on spoons you can do better than that. Service was quick and staff friendly. Cheap as chips as you expect from a spoons but could do more with decor.

Not one of the best, poor service

Not sure what we would have done of a night in Margate as the pubs in the old town are over priced and dull as far as I could see. This is the only pub on the front in the main area of Margate. Had dinner and breakfast here - the breakfast could have been warmer but was good quality and the usual very good value for money choice of meals that you get at a spoons. The usual excellent choice of beers , wines and spirits at very affordable prices.

Nice fun and cheap food and drinks

Good food and drink Staff are friendly and helpful

I had classic burger hubby had boneless chicken basket. Food was pretty good and excellent value. We also had sticky toffee puddings with ice cream which were good too.

Had to clean our own table and waited for an hour for food say they are understaffed well then they should employ more staff or tell you before hand how long you have to wait they take your money which quick enough when food finally turned up I had fish and chips..that is what I ordered I got chips and peas with a plate full over over cooked batter the hardly any fish I think they must have cooked a gold fish instead of cod not worth the money my local chippy would put these to shame

Very cheap, nice atmosphere, food is ok. 2pukd definitely visit if in the area again. They looked like they needed more staff.

Great pub on the seafront, ordered through the bathroom the food was mega quick and cooked nicely. Bar staff were mega busy but pleasant looked after us well all weekend for scooter rally

Came in at 11 o clock in the morning and ordered on the app. Waited 16 minutes to get 1 drink. Lady bought over my drink and literally slammed it down on the table, no customer service at all. Not the first time I’ve had a bad experience with this person. Never seems enough staff for the footfall. And when there is, they all stand at the end of the bar talking. The manager is very good, but when he is not around, the standards properly drop!

45 minute wait for food, very under staffed

Popped in for a quick meal and a pint before Bryan Adams at Dreamland. As always, very good value, chicken meal with a pint for £10.50 Not a bad Spoons at all.

Always good stop of for bight to eat and cheap drinks b4 a concert

We did go at a very busy time and waited for over 40 mins for the pint I ordered on the app went and got another from bar in between. Asked about pint and a lovely lady sorted it for me.

S#it Need to work on the people skills

Cheesy chips had mold on top, pointed it out to a staff member and they said "It shouldn't be" and refunded me £5. Not disappointed by the refund but definitely by the response.

The balcony here by the sea is an absolutely lovely way to enjoy a cheap pint! However unfortunately when we came there was lots of items out of stock on the menu. For breakfast you could only order porridge and eggs Benedict. However -the staff were fab.

This review is only about this visit, on other occasions it has been acceptable. 45 minute wait for food only for it to arrive stone cold; they did refund the bill though. The upstairs areas was plagued by flies.

Excellent venue for a family meal. Very well priced and both children and adults liked the things they had.

Excellent service. Good atmosphere by the sea.refill heaven. My mate had half a Guinness. Highly recommend.cant wait to return.

Good food and lovely atmosphere.

Bog standard spoons. Ideally situated for Margate

Great staff especially jake who made sure we was happy very polite waiter