First of all, for the sake of clarity, you should not be travelling geographically west if you want to find this bar, but rather it’s to the east of the city centre, on the far corner of Glasgow Green where you will find this little treat.
Nestled away, somewhat out of reach of the casual city centre drinker, WEST is a bit of a haven in an otherwise unimpressive (at least bar-wise) part of town. The bar and brewery, now occupying what was once Templeton Carpet Factory is certainly eye catching architecturally, and fortunately it continues to impress when you make your way inside.
The bar/restaurant is large and open plan, with solid wooden tables and pillars throughout. The layout is quite stylish and somewhat minimalistic, but there’s enough detail around the walls of the place to keep it from feeling cold. In fact, quite the opposite, for such a large space it feels really rather cosy.
But what’s a bar without beer? And this is where WEST truly comes into a league of its own. The brewery attached to the bar brews one of Glasgow’s better known small lagers, St. Mungo’s. This is definitely one of the more generic beers on offer here, but even at that it packs so much more flavour than even the freshest pint of Tennent’s. Also available are the likes of Hefeweizen, a hearty wheat beer, and Munich Red, a light bodied but flavourful ale. Throughout the summer in particular, you will find a variety of other beers on offer as they experiment with new techniques and flavours. The bar is well stocked with the usual supplies as well, but it would be a travesty to come out here and not try at least a couple of pints of their own. It’s all very reasonable too, at around £3.50 a pint across the board. For such a fresh, quality product this really does feel like a bargain.
In a city seemingly so obsessed with generic lagers, WEST is a breath of fresh air with its delicious, unique lagers and ales, served up in an unpretentious environment at extremely good prices. It’s the kind of bar you can go to any night and find a pleasant, friendly atmosphere to while away a few hours with friends.
Let us know in the comments if you have eaten or drank in WEST, or do you prefer any other establishments in the area which we might not know about?
