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Blackfriars of Bell St, Glasgow

36 Bell Street
Glasgow
G1 1LG
Phone: 01415525924

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about Blackfriars of Bell St

Reopened after quite a period of closure during Covid ,the exterior is more impressive than the interior which has a modern stripped out feel.There are two raised sections at either end with the bar running along the lower section.A lot of undresses brick at the curved front section,a mix of furniture and large columns opposite the bar but it's very open plan .
Three real ales on our visit Cromarty Ghost Town,Stewart Jack Back and Spring Ale (well kept,an eldeerflower pale NBSS 4.5).The quality of the real ale made this trip so I would suggest making the effort if on a real ale crawl of the city centre.Very close to the Marchants City bar complex.

On 25th March 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about Blackfriars of Bell St

Blackfriars of Bell St has a raised seating area to the left of the entrance before a high banquette with high tables midway up the left wall and then another raised seating area is found at the rear. Tiger wallpaper is used throughout and large orange lightbulbs hand on long leads from the ceiling. The bar along the right wall supports standard, premium and craft keg along with three hand pumps. One was unused so the cask options were Stewart’s Tropical IPA Birthday Beer and Pentland IPA. Food is available, but only pizza is on the menu on Mondays and Tuesdays. This is a comfortable pub with friendly staff.

On 26th November 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]


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Aqualung . left this review about Blackfriars

This corner pub seemed smaller inside than it looked from the street. It's been modernised consisting of an open plan room with ceiling lights and raised areas at each end. Most of the seating is on these raised areas. It was fairly quiet on my early Thursday afternoon visit. I could see no TV screen here which is a big plus. There was some music playing at a reasonable level.
There are five hand pumps which had a full choice of Fallen Grapevine, Grey Trees Caradog's Bitter, Late Night Hype Strathclyde Session IPA, Tryst Double Chocolate Porter and Alechemy Bad Day At The Office Pale. I went for the Grapevine (£3.70) and Porter (£3.50) both of which were in excellent condition.
I liked this place, it had a good choice of interesting beers in good condition and at reasonable prices. I could happily have stayed to try some other beers.
It's GBG 2018 listed.

On 18th May 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about Blackfriars

This is a nice, lively traditional city centre pub which retains a good pubby feel, despite being quite food-led. The pub has a simple rectangular, single room layout with the servery running down the right-hand wall whilst ample seating fills out the rest of the space. The bar has a fairly grotty, scuffed dark wood counter with a really nice, intricately carved beam above and a pretty intense collection of pump clips which cover the majority of the bar back. A row of standard tables and chairs run opposite the bar and lots more tables are served by a long banquette that runs down the left-hand wall under a huge plain mirror. The front left area had been cleared out to create space for a swing band who were playing on my Sunday evening visit, whilst to the rear there is a raised dining space with some decent padded chairs under more plain mirrors. The highlight for me was a marvellous stained-glass pane above the main entrance which seemed to depict some sort of abstract image of a musician, which seemed appropriate given that the band were playing just to one side of it.
A good ale selection was available, comprising Kelburn Goldihops and Cart Blanche, Green Duck Heaven Sent Chocolate Milk Stout, Merchant City Unit 1 Red Ale and Tryst Carrondale. My pint of the Milk Stout was in very good shape and I also ended up eating here from the rather fancy menu. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and the food I tried was really good quality.
I enjoyed my time here as there was a good crowd in, a lively atmosphere aided by the band, some good food and top-quality ale. There were a few question marks as to whether the place would be as appealing on a quieter evening with no music or during busier food service periods, but I enjoyed myself and would definitely return to see what they have on the bar.

On 20th March 2018 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Blackfriars

Looks like a mix between an upmarket alehouse and a gastro-pub, with bare boards, limited but light decor and sparse but dark semi-modern furniture in several different seating areas (with the nicest spot, by the corner windows, set aside for lunchtime diners when I visited). Five real ales on handpump: two each from Kelburn and Swannay (including the Oat Stout, £3.40) and Dark Star Partridge from down south.

On 1st May 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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Roger Button left this review about Blackfriars

Gastro Pub? Student Den? Music Venue? It seems to be a combination of all 3 but at the same time didn’t really feel like any of them on my visit. Situated in the fashionable Merchants Quarter, the Blackfriars seems to fit into the agenda of a wide spread of people who will like some aspects but not others.

The main bar section is knocked through but is sectioned into 2 or 3 areas including one end that was more for the dining. It has a quite simplistic approach with bare floors and some battered looking furnishings, a few stools at the bar and some padded seating arranged train carriage style. Ephemeral music posters adorn walls and pillars and whilst it all sounds a bit tatty and disjointed, it does all seem to compliment each other. Downstairs is a basement bar that is used for gigs, comedy and club nights and is open until the small hours.

This is one of Glasgow’s better known pubs for ales, twice winning the Glasgow CAMRA Pub of the Year although things were a bit short for my visit with just 3 available - Broughton Bramling Cross, Inveralmond Thrappledouser and Cairngorm Black Cow. A fourth pump had Addlestones cider and 2 other pumps were not in use although to be fair I wasn’t there at anything like peak time. I also noted a good selection of global bottled beers. Unfortunately I didn’t note any details regarding food.

On my experience I wouldn’t call the place an essential stop but would certainly pop in again especially given that I probably didn’t do the place justice on my brief off peak visit. I do think that it is one of those places where you probably need to pick your time to get the best out of it to suit your requirements.

On 25th November 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]


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E TA left this review about Blackfriars

Another of my favourite pubs in Glasgow, the Blackfriars is a lively modern pub in the Merchant City area, not too far from the Babbity Bowster. It can be a bit "art-studenty" at times, verging on the Bohemian even, but the staff and clientele are always friendly and the beer is always very good quality. The pub regularly hosts live music, but none was on this visit. Four ales on, the Kelburn was excellent. There is also a very good selection of whiskies. Blackfriars continues to be one of the better real ale pubs in Glasgow and I can recommned it for inclusion in a crawl or a lively night out.

On 11th August 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3272 recommendations about 3237 pubs]


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Old Boots left this review about Blackfriars

Basic darkly lit drinking house styled bar with a beer mat finish to the servery ceiling, lots of music posters, sticky tables and not all the furniture matches so the atmosphere is decidedly studenty. It is in the Merchant City so it has pricing to match and the bare board floor is actually laminate. A five pull set of pumps on the bar dispense a mix of Scottish and English micro/small brewery beers and it appears to be a regular outlet for Brewdog although sadly not on my visit but the Inveralmond Lia Fail was quite superb. A mix of ordinary and interesting kegs both European and UK are also available. I liked the small, individual, blackboard beer names above the bar made for easy changes when a beer runs out. Not many students about but there was a mix of ages, classes and nationalities, the bar staff were mainly younger and enthusiastic.

On 9th November 2009 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 3209 recommendations about 2920 pubs]


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Soup Dragon left this review about Blackfriars

A corner bar, with a brick faced exterior and large windows.

The interior is open plan, with two central supporting columns plastered in music posters. The place has the now ubiquitous modern look, with plain walls, wood floor, arty pictures, formal tables and chair, sofas, then the odd piano and barrel thrown in. Service was fine and the place was rammed by the younger more than all ages.

Beerwise; Inveralmond Indie Pinke, Strathaven Old Mortality 80/-, Kelburn Red Smiddy, Brewdog IPA and Easy Rider - the OM and the Red Smiddy were very nice.

Definately worth a visit, best choice of beer i had in central Glasgow in the pubs i went in - interior is modern, but apart from Scotia Bar, they all seemed to be

On 27th August 2009 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]