Empire Bar, Glasgow

I made a point of visiting this pub years ago because it features in a Glasgow trivia quiz question put to me by one of my elderly uncles. The question was: “how is it possible to walk from George Square to Glasgow Green without passing over or under a bridge?” Obviously you would need to be familiar with the city, to some extent, to have any hope of answering this. The answer is that you enter the lounge of the Empire Bar, walk along the connecting corridor, which passes through the arches of the railway, then depart via the bar door, thus avoiding walking under the bridge across Saltmarket. Although both lounge and bar have been modernised, it is still possible to do so, with the extremely narrow bar leading to the considerably more commodious lounge. While retaining its vaguely British colonial name, this has now become something of a “Celtic Pub,” if the pictures on the walls and the green wallpaper are anything to go by. The customary draught beers and ciders are on sale at very reasonable prices. If you’re looking for a genuine Glasgow East End pub, you could do a lot worse than spend some time in the Empire Bar.

Located under the railway arches.Standard draught selection. Celtic football club memorabilia on the walls and advertising live music.