Wetherspoons - A spot I associate with buckets of booze, cheap meals, and rowdy sports hooligans.
In my opinion you simply cannot go wrong with a visit to one of the branches. When I have been in, or my friends or family have, we always say 'shall we go to Spoons tonight?' or pop in on a weekend afternoon - but the cheap deals actually start from 9am.
And while I rate the chain bar and eatery for Leeds Live, I couldn't think of anything worse than those sticky carpets and intense scent of beer and man sweat first thing in the morning. But clearly the opening time is in place for a reason - some must love a cheeky morning Wetherspoons.
I think one of the most lively chains in Leeds is the Beckett's Bank spot. You'll always find a Leeds United lover or a group of hens out for the weekend on a Saturday in there.
So as the rest of the world went to work on Thursday morning, I went to see if the beloved spot is just as lively when the doors burst open.
I walked into a peaceful bar where calming music was being played, and Sky News was bringing us all the headlines on the telly. Builders gathered in their high vis uniforms to enjoy a full English, and an old gentleman was sitting in the corner reading his newspaper oh so quietly.
It was honestly quite a shock. I have to admit I thought I would be turning my nose up at the horrendous 9am drunken behaviour, but I was beyond wrong.
I sat down at table 22 and ordered a traditional full English breakfast, apple juice, and refillable coffee, all via the app. While I waited I was watching the TV screen and having a little nosey around.
In the corner of my left eye I could see a man who had just finished some food and was reading a book. He had a bald head, an impressive beard, and he began to look a little too familiar.
Do you ever do that thing where you recognise someone, but cringe trying to figure out how you know them? I hate when someone says hi and you have to act like you're their best pal despite having no recollection of who they could be. Anyway I didn't know him personally but I thought 'that's Bill Bailey'.
I hate to be a name dropper but I have interviewed the comedian so I thought for definite it was him. He smiled at me and I thought 'bingo he recognises me', but I didn't want to stare too much and look insane. So it could have been him but I still wasn't 100 percent.
After all the celebrity guessing, my food swiftly arrived. As usual I really enjoyed the breakfast - I always have in the chain restaurant. It does what it says on the tin, it filled me up, and the staff were ever-so polite.
Half way through my munching I realised I hadn't got myself a coffee just yet so headed over to the machine which was a few metres away. There are two machines side by side - I was using the right one, he was using the left.
Again, the establishment remained very quiet and everything was calm. The gentleman to my left then moved to the side station and was putting some sugar in his drink.
In comes a complete tornado of a man, jittering about. He startled the man already using the machine, shoved his way in and was pressing the machine frantically. I don't judge, but let's just say he wasn't sober...and it wasn't from alcohol.
Seconds later he shoves the poor gent out the way and grabs (not even joking) six brown sugar pulls the top of the wrappers and throws it to the side. He kept looking at me but I was ignoring him.
He then said hi so I of course politely said hi back, he then added: "You shouldn't leave your phone on your table like that." I said: "Why not?" He said: "Someone could nick it" - and laughed like an evil genius. I said: "Was that your plan then?", and he said "can't say".
I hadn't even seen him in there before the whole coffee saga so I was a bit weirded out he had been watching me then threatened to take my phone. Bizarre.
So I wanted to report back that Wetherspoons at 9am is great and should not be snubbed. I would definitely recommend it for a breakfast, or meeting someone for coffee. It's great for cheap morning deals.
While it is marginally quieter, there's no denying you might still see some unusual sightings along the way not dissimilar from its busiest hours.
