Hi Andrew,
I've also avoided Little Chef's, McDonalds and the like but you are missing out if you haven't been to Wetherspoons. The beer is at least £1 a pint cheaper than anywhere else. And if you join CAMRA you get £20 worth of vouchers that give you another 50p a pint off.
Having said that most of the time I support my local pub ... but if I'm in town ... well I'm a Yorkshireman so I ain't going to throw money away on all those overpriced town centre bars!