The White Swan

Should be no stars. We have been regular visitors to the white swan for a number of months but today’s visit has completely ruined the place for us. We ordered food and after about forty five minutes the plates arrived cold and over cooked. The food was awful, burned and cold. If I had cooked his for visitors to my house I would have been embarrassed and ordered a pizza. When we complained I was brought an extra egg. The staff although very polite and helpful didn’t do much to alleviate the problems. When we showed the waiter my wife’s burger which was burnt we were offered a free desert or beer. As I have said we have used this place very often over the past couple of years and always loved the place but we shan’t be eating here again.
Really can’t fault the bar staff as they are really very good and always chatty but the food is awful.

A typical warm and friendly weatherspoon pub with affordable drinks and great food at great value. Quite spacious with a small smoking garden in the back. Benches out front. Located on the main High Street in Solihull it is a very popular stop off for many grabbing a bite to eat or socializing. Friendly staff and excellent service — the food always arrives within good time and is always very nice. Cheap and cheerful and always a winner

I have just reviewed the newer Wetherspoon pub in Solihull which opened earlier this year. I said in that review that I find the staff here more friendly. The staff are always polite and seem to be enjoying themselves. The prices in the pub are cheap and in line with other Wetherspoon pubs. The meals are nice and they do lovely hot drinks which I often enjoy whilst others enjoy the cheap beer!

It is cheap and cheerful. The beer selection is good and food generally average and quick to arrive. Tables are always sticky and often serviettes and condiments have run out.

The White Swan is actually a branch of J D Wetherspoon, located in a row of shops close to Solihull town centre.
I’m generally a fan of J D Wetherpoon, because of its commitment to real-​ale and the availability of reasonable bar food at reasonable prices. But there’s always an exception to prove the rule, I suppose. We went to this branch for lunch, and were sorely disappointed.
On the plus side, the range of beers was good — although not those advertised at the bar for the current ‘beer festival’. And the food, when it arrived, was perfectly OK.
But — and it is a very big but — the venue needs a serious makeover, with worn and grubby-​looking carpets and that faint (and rather unpleasant) smell of vinegar you sometimes get in greasy spoon cafes. When we arrived, there were about a dozen tables laden with dirty crockery, and we had to clear our own table to sit down. The table itself was filthy, and we had to ask for someone to clean it. Even the menus were sticky. Ugh. Had we not been pressed for time, I’d have voted to go somewhere else.
Ordering at the bar proved interesting: having taken the food order, we were informed — mid order — that the soup wasn’t available, so the whole order had to be re-​entered. Then we wanted to pay by credit card. This seemed to be a major problem, and our order had to be re-​entered again. Except this time they got it wrong — so it had to be re-​entered again. I expect you are getting the picture, by now.
By this time a queue was building up at the bar. I left my friend to it — the whole process took nearly ten minutes, when it should have taken one. When the food arrived — thankfully with the right order — they had to be asked to provide a spoon, for the soup. This took another few minutes…
The staff seemed remarkably cheerful throughout this whole process — and perhaps therein lies the problem, that they are not aware of what poor service they are delivering.
I was thinking of giving them two stars to reflect the food and real-​ale availability, but on reflection I think there’s no excuse for dirty crockery lying on dirty tables.
So, one star it is.