Pubs & bars

There’s a laidback, Australian vibe to the Esplanade – the ‘Espy’ – bar and bistro on Portobello’s beachfront, with its cheery service, beer, burgers, live music and comedy, and tables overlooking, okay, not the Indian Ocean, but the Firth of Forth to…

Patrons here live it up while the bar’s inspiration Charles Bukowski looks disdainfully down from a portrait on the wall. Mind you, even the hedonistic Buk would have struggled to work his way through the extensive range of quality rums and bourbons.

With Boswell and Johnston supposedly meeting here, The White Horse has pedigree and 250 years on it remains popular with a diverse clientele. The stone walls provide some historic character but friendly bar staff and comfy seats contribute more to the…

Closed in 2012, the Captain's Rest is much missed, as a bar and especially as a gig venue. But its effective successor Broadcast – situated much more centrally, practically eyeball-to-eyeball with nearest rival Nice 'n' Sleazy – promises to be just as…

Pivo Pivo is a cutting edge live music venue in the heart of Glasgow, home to both emerging and established home-grown talent as well as touring acts from further afield. Live music shakes the walls seven nights a week, all genres catered for and…

Hyde Out is somewhat less demure than its name suggests. Located by the canal terminus at Edinburgh Quay, it took over from the old Embark with a splash of publicity and a blizzard of blingin’ style in the autumn of 2010, providing a reinvigorating if…

Floor-shaking stamping, plaintive strains of Spanish guitar and passionate cries of ‘ole!’ might well accompany your meal at La Sal, thanks to regular performances from Alba Flamenca, the dance school next door to the restaurant. Formerly known as El…

Tucked down an alleyway opposite the Lighthouse, this 1990s café-style bar is a befitting sanctuary to escape the hustle and bustle of Buchanan Street. This converted warehouse is as much an arts space as it is a watering hole. It has the feel of an…

Meaning ‘home’ in Swedish, Hemma is the latest addition to Mike and Anna Christopherson’s string of Scandinavian style bars. And with its soft furnishings and quirky interiors, it does indeed have a laidback, homely atmosphere, despite the modern feel…

From its location to its choice of pizza toppings, Kilderkin is slightly odd but pretty great. Initial impressions are of a slightly dodgy boozer, with its dim lighting, basic decor and unprepossessing exterior. Inside, however, you’ll find one of…

Sleazy’s, as the city’s hipsters so fondly call it, is a Glasgow institution as far as music/arts venues go, and among those rarities with a 3am licence all week. The interior may feel like a well-worn leather jacket, dragged through the bowels of…

Located in an old tobacco merchant’s house on the periphery of the Merchant City, Babbity Bowster is a pleasantly secluded place for a drink and some good food, particularly in the beer garden if the sun is shining on this evocative street. Babbity…

Hosting live music five nights a week, predominantly acoustic and folky, but with a smattering of rock'n'roll, the Clutha Vaults is a dark, low-ceilinged, traditional Clydeside boozer that's relaxing of an afternoon but gets densely packed on weekend…

{hb} has all the atmosphere of a club, yet bizarrely lacks books. But don’t feel short-changed – the menus have clever wordplay a-plenty to get literary tongues wagging. Enjoy a brunch, things involving eggs, connoisseur sandwiches, meaty stews and…

Independent is a relatively new arrival to the City Centre. In a playfully literal extension of its name, the (slightly shabby) black interior is covered by front pages from a certain liberal broadsheet (clue: it’s not The Guardian). Standing out from…