The Lister Arms (JD Wetherspoon), Ilkley

Not a huge Spoons, although it does extend back to a couple of rooms that are quite pleasant. A good low-octane sort of place, prettily decorated and lit. There were 5 guest ales on; the West Coast IPA was fine. On the whole, better than average.

Decent enough Spoons with an L-shaped bar with a fair selection of ales. Am in Ilkley again today with friends so will likely revisit. One point of definite interest is that the toilets are on the ground floor!!

A fairly decent Spoons, ten hand pulls split across two banks of five. Bogs are on the ground floor near the entrance. Real ales £1.99 a pint / £1 a half. There is high seating to the front, low tables for dining to the rear. There is a separate small raised area near the toilets with four tables in. I had my eye on the May Fly by Phoenix, but unfortunately it was not available (despite being clipped) so I went for Black Cat by Moorhouse's which was a nice enough mild. A decent enough line up on the pumps, assuming most of the other stuff was actually on.

Part of the Moors Shopping Centre in the centre of Ilkley the Lister Arms is a new build which opened in 2011. Externally it’s a pleasant building using local stone to be in keeping with other buildings. Internally, well it’s a ‘spoons with one biggish room with an L shaped serving area to the far side. Eight of the Real ale pumps were in operation for my visit and alongside the usual house Abbott and Ruddles there was a decent choice of beers from Yorkshire Breweries including a couple from the local Ilkley brewery and my pint of Ilkley Summer was perfectly fine. Would agree with others, one of the better ‘Spoons.

This is a modern Spoons that consists of a roughly L shaped room with some other areas tacked on. The furnishings are fairly typical. I was here before midday on a Wednesday so it wasn't that busy but there seemed to be just the two women serving and delivering breakfasts. They were doing a great job of keeping on top of it all. There are ten hand pumps but there were no available soon, no spurious ciders and just Ruddles doubled. This meant there was a decent choice of Doom Bore, Ilkley Pale & Mary Jane Mild, Ossett Sorachi Sunset, Lees Moonraker, Leeds Pale, Daleside Old Legover and Goose Eye Over and Stout. I went for the Over and Stout which was first class. People seem to have had mixed fortunes with this Spoons. I thought it was a very good one.

Official site of The Lister Arms (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Lister Arms (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

A return here on a recent Sunday afternoon with the wife for some food. The pub was fairly busy mainly with diners, a lot of the empty tables that still had plates of left over food on them, this is a pet hate of mine! We eventually found an empty (clean) table and sat down, decided what to have, so I went to the bar to order, I selected my pint and was then told that it was at least 90 minutes wait for food. The wife and I promptly left! My last visit in July 2016 were much better but it wasn’t on a Sunday so maybe that’s the day to avoid if you want to eat.

Another review from July 2016. Spacious 'spoons on the site of an old motor factory. Single floor with the L shaped bar area that then leads into a very large open plan dining area. Pretty busy at 6.30 on a Tuesday night with most people eating. 6 ales on the 10 hand pumps, I went for a pint of Elland Breweries Nettle Thrasher @ 4.4%. The wife and I ate here, 2 meals for £9.39 bargain! This is a nicely kept and clean 'spoons, might be a little different at the weekend.