City Centre by Tallah Brash

City Centre

Nestled in the nook of the busy M8 motorway which connects this former City of Architecture and Design to Edinburgh, Glasgow’s bustling City Centre, just north of the River Clyde, can be confusing at fi rst. But get to grips with its grid system of streets and you’ll be parading around like a local in no time; pay close attention and you may even recognise certain parts of the city from major blockbusters like Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw or World War Z.

During the day, the City Centre is great for shopping and art, and by night it comes alive with restaurants, bars, gigs and clubs aplenty, meaning you can quite literally spend the whole day in central Glasgow without even a hint of boredom setting in. It’s also the ideal jumping off point for exploring other parts of the city, with transport links always within walking distance.

Image Courtesy of Singl-end

Singl-end

Shopping

While the phrase ‘shop ‘til you drop’ wasn’t invented in Glasgow, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was. With three pedestrianised shopping thoroughfares – Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street (pronounced Sucky-hall) and Argyle Street – and several shopping centres – St Enoch, Buchanan Galleries, Princes Square, Argyll Arcade and The Savoy Centre – you’ll be hard pressed to not fi nd exactly what you’re looking for.

There’s an abundance of independent shops to be found here too. The super cute basement gift shop Maia Gifts (21 Bath St) is perfect to pick up something kitsch while FireWorks Studio (35a Dalhousie St) is a must for ceramics fans. Book lovers will want to head to Aye Aye Books in the CCA (350 Sauchiehall St) or the Tell It Slant poetry bookshop (134 Renfrew St), while comic book and graphic novel fans should head to Forbidden Planet (122-126 Sauchiehall St). For another record to add to your music collection, be sure to stop by Love Music (34 Dundas St).

Drinks

During the day a hot cuppa is a must for most and you can’t go wrong with a trip to the Italian-inspired Laboratorio Espresso (93 W Nile St), serving up delicious cannoli and clean batch brews alongside the usual options. Near Central Station, small batch coffee roasters Gordon Street Coffee (79 Gordon St) serve up excellent pastries and coffees with their in-house roastery just upstairs. Across the street is Riverhill Coffee Bar (24 Gordon St) and artisan doughnut shop Tantrum Doughnuts (28 Gordon St). In the west of the city centre, Singl-end (263 Renfrew St) is a must for coffee and cake, with great light brunch options too. If you’re looking for something with a bit more punch, trendy bars and old fashioned boozers can be found on literally every street, basement, back alley and corner of the city centre. Near Central Station, Stereo (22-28 Renfi eld Ln) is a must. Housed in a building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, upstairs is a vegan bar and restaurant while you’ll fi nd all manner of touring and local bands gi ing in the basement. Across the lane, their cosy sister venue The Old Hairdresser’s is a popular bar and gallery space, while round the corner (also in the Stereo family) is The Flying Duck (142 Renfi eld St). Tabac

The Horseshoe Bar (17-19 Drury Ln) is one for Travis fans as it’s where the Why Does It Always Rain On Me? hitmakers formed. A few minutes away is Bier Halle (9 Gordon St), a subterranean German-style beer hall serving hotdogs and steins of beer. On Mitchell Lane, Tabac (no. 10) and Bar Soba (no. 11) are both great for

fusion plates and indulgent cocktails. More cocktails can be found nearby at Max’s Bar & Grill (73 Queen St), where you’ll also find the La Cheetah nightclub in the basement.

Basement gig venues and nightclubs can also be found in Nice N Sleazy and Broadcast on Sauchiehall Street (no. 421 and 427 respectively), while The Variety Bar (401 Sauchiehall St) and The State Bar (148-148a Holland St) are great for a nearby pre- or post-gig drink, the latter giving a true taste of old Glasgow with a great selection of cask ales. Rock fans should head to Rufus T Firefly (207 Hope St), while across the road The Pot Still (no. 154) is a must for whisky fans with their malt of the month offering and generous 35ml measures.

Image Courtesy of Sugo

Food

As well as good drinking spots, Sauchiehall Street is awash with great eateries too. Starting at the west end, you’d be hard pushed to find more authentic Vietnamese cuisine in the city centre than at Non Viet (no. 536), while great Japanese food can be found at Nanakusa (no. 441). For an excellent on-the-go option Falafel To Go (no. 116) offer up affordable, fresh and super tasty wraps. Veggies and vegans will love the light and spacious Saramago Cafe and Bar inside the CCA (no. 350), which has an especially good Sunday brunch menu.

Elsewhere, for Italian cuisine head to Sarti (121 Bath St; 133 Wellington St), Sugo (70 Mitchell St) or Pizza Punks (90 St Vincent St); for Japanese, Thai and Korean options try Maki & Ramen (21 Bath St), Ting Thai Caravan (19 W Nile St) and Bibimbap (3 W Nile St) respectively. If Mexican street food is more your bag, add Topolobamba (89 St Vincent St) to your hitlist, while burger fiends should try Bread Meats Bread – just be sure to order a side of poutine. Finally, in the former Arches venue near Central Station you’ll find street food market Platform (253 Argyle St) with rotational food trucks and an in-house microbrewery from Innis & Gunn.

Things to do

Despite being housed in the former townhouse of William Cunnhinghame, an 18th century Tobacco Lord(!!), the Gallery of Modern Art (111 Queen St) is Scotland’s most visited modern art gallery with free exhibitions from local and international artists. The award-winning Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) (350 Sauchiehall St) is an arts hub with diverse year-round programming, while the nearby Glasgow School of Art’s Reid Building hosts regular exhibitions. The Lighthouse (11 Mitchell Ln), Scotland’s Centre for Design and Architecture, is mandatory for Mackintosh fans as he designed the original building in the late 19th century; be sure to check out the views from the Mackintosh Tower. For a full Gallery guide head to p63. Originally opened in 1903, and

Sugo

also designed by Mackintosh, fans of tea will want to visit the iconic Mackintosh at the Willow tea rooms (215-217 Sauchiehall St), while for a unique slice of history The Tenement House (145 Buccleuch St) in Garnethill offers a rare glimpse into Glasgow life in the early 20th century. Garnethill also boasts one of the city centre’s only green spaces in Garnethill Park, while on its periphery you’ll also find The Art Launderette (39 Dalhousie St), a fully functioning launderette with regular exhibitions.

Home to the Scottish Opera, The Theatre Royal (282 Hope St) is the oldest theatre in Glasgow, and the longest running in Scotland having opened in 1867. The Pavilion Theatre (121 Renfield St) and King’s Theatre (297 Bath St) have no shortage of offerings too, with plenty of big name stand-up comedians stopping by and an abundance of panto over the festive season. Cinephiles should head for the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT), the UK’s first purpose-built arthouse theatre outside of London. Built in 1939, just before WW2, it originally opened as the Cosmo, changing its name to the GFT in 1974, and almost five decades on is still going strong with regular film screenings and the annual Glasgow Film Festival.

Image Courtesy of Mackintosh at the Willow

Mackintosh at the Willow

There’s also no shortage of live music venues and nightclubs to be found here too, with several venues on Sauchiehall Street alone; the famous King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (272A St Vincent St) and world renowned Sub Club (22 Jamaica St) are also in the city centre. For more on Glasgow’s music and clubbing scene head to p59 and p68 respectively.

Travel

Image Courtesy of Glasgow Film Theatre Glasgow’s city centre is a great starting off point for exploring other parts of the city, with low level trains from Glasgow Central Station (Gordon St) to Exhibition Centre speedily taking you to the OVO Hydro on the banks of the River Clyde. Similarly, low level trains from Queen Street Station (N Hanover St) are a great option for a quick jaunt to Partick and Finnieston where you’ll find the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and SWG3. In the city centre you can also hop on the 10.5k circular Glasgow Subway from Buchanan Street making for easy connections to other parts of the city both north and south of the river.

Stephen McRobbie

As frontman of The Pastels, Stephen McRobbie has been an integral part of Glasgow’s musical DNA for decades. But an equally vital contribution to the scene is his record store Monorail Music, which he opened with Dep Downie in Kings Court in 2002

How did you come to set up Monorail in Kings Court? It happened quite naturally. We’d been looking for a while and hadn’t been able to find anything inspiring – lack of budget and other factors. Maybe we weren’t quite sure what we were looking for. Craig Tannock from The 13th Note was also looking for a new place to expand his ventures and invited us to come and have a look at this corner space under a railway line. It had the most potential of anything we’d seen and it was appealing to be in the same place as Craig. I wrote down a bunch of potential names for us and Monorail Music seemed the most apt. Craig then said he’d like to use Mono if we were ok with it and we said yes, of course.

What was the ambition for the shop in the beginning and how has that changed over the years? I suppose survival was a big part of the initial ambition. Both Dep and I (and others too) had committed to it heavily in different ways and we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan. We wanted it to be a brilliant, world-class record shop but also wanted it to be part of something else too – part of what was going on in Glasgow, providing a platform for the music we loved and respected. Taking things more seriously in a way but also trying to be friendly and inclusive – community focused.

What do you think drew so many arts spaces and creative businesses – Transmission, 13th Note, the Tron etc – to this part of town? Cheap rent and a feeling that you could be part of something creative with good neighbours. Glasgow Council invested in Trongate 103 and then the Modern Institute moved down here and then Good Press took on their own place. It just feels like a vibrant little scene. I’m sure everyone came here for their own reasons but it’s been very symbiotic. We feel very proud to be next door to really nice people who are doing brilliant things – Strung Out Guitars, Mr Ben, Shawarma King.

Apart from Monorail and Mono, do you have any favourite places to hang out in the area? Project Ability is just always coming up with so much exciting work. I love being able to go across and look at their work if I need to feel inspired. And it’s great to have South Block and the Modern Institute close by. I usually try to go for a walk on my lunch – along the river or Glasgow Green or maybe GOMA.

Find Monorail Music, Glasgow’s best record shop, at 12 Kings Court, King Street

Photo: Katrina Mitchell

Monorail Music staff with Jarvis Cocker Glasgow City Guide