There's No Escaping Brexit, Even at the Pub
Of all the traditional pub chains to be found in the United Kingdom, perhaps none is more famous than, or as ubiquitous as, J. D. Wetherspoon. Its nearly 900 pubs can be found across Britain and Ireland, in repurposed movie theaters, post offices, banks, and churches. Some of them even double as hotels.
But what makes the chain so well known, paradoxically, is just how unremarkable it is. ’Spoons, as its regulars affectionately call it, is immediately recognizable for its plain, understated atmosphere. There is no music and only simple furniture—nothing with a whiff of added expense. It’s the sort of place where anyone can go for a decent pint and a quick meal at a reliably low price. A beer, for example, can cost as little as £3.50 ($4.50) at a ’Spoons in central London, compared with nearly twice as much elsewhere in town. In an era when pub closures have become the new normal in Britain— over the past decade—this level of affordability can’t be taken in recent years, in many ways it embodies much of what the ideal of the pub symbolizes in Britain: a place where people—irrespective of class, wealth, or political persuasion—can go to socialize, relax, and have a drink.
