Beer Café

These days, with so many places focussing on craft ales it’s easy to neglect old continental favourites, especially from macro breweries. I remember visiting here in 2009 and being seriously impressed with the range of beers on offer (I was 21 and I ordered a Desperados… a slippery slope indeed).
These days I tend to be more impressed by a place with a lot of real ales on draft than with a long list of bottles. However, there’s a time and a place for everything. In the height of summer, a bar with seats available outside and nicely chilled wheat beer at a reasonable price this is a great place to sit and lose a few hours. Bonus points for location because being on Merchant Square means you can always dash inside if the weather gets a bit too Glaswegian.
They have recently expanded their beer menu, adding a lot to the craft ale options in order to ride that particular popularity wave. They also have wine and so on, if beer isn’t your thing. As far as I can tell, 90% of the food menu is varieties of pie. I’ve not tried it, but anywhere that committed to pie has to be worth some investigation at some point, right?

My guy, my sister in law and I met some of our friends here for a few drinks before heading out to dinner.
I’d never heard of this place– as of lately I pretty much only drink ciders (or spirits, no beer), so it’s a wonder I’d never heard of it. We walked in, and it was quite empty, so we were able to get a table straight away.
I pointed out that Menabrea was a good beer, and without even blinking, one was ordered for me. Not what I wanted, but who was I to complain? My guy ordered the one cider they had on tap and my sister in law ordered a cointreau and lemonade. Our friends ordered a lot of random beers and that was that.
Not the coziest place ever, I couldn’t see myself hanging out in here for more than a few drinks, but it did the job for what we were after. The booth we sat at felt quite small, but then again there were 7 of us crammed in to it.
I’m sure we’ll be back here, but I’ll probably stick to cider next time.

Beer Café is one of those handy central places that we have known for a long time, that we go back to every now and then and meet friends before heading somewhere else. A while ago the beer menu seemed huge and interesting, now it seems a little more limited as so many places have much more choice. The pie menu is good, but now you can get these pies in many places it does not seem as exciting as it once was.
I enjoy the setting of Beer Café, especially if I get a seat in the ‘inside outside’ courtyard of Merchant Square as it is a good people watching spot. The main café area has some comfy seats for groups, and also an outside area for summer days. Good to visit every once in a while.

I can only give this place 3 stars for the moment, because in fairness I don’t drink beer — and we only came in for a couple of drinks after a burlesque show — I’d love to come back though and update my review.
The rose wine is nice — if a little sweet — but there seems to be an expected amount of good beers. When we came in it was a Saturday so a lot of the clientele were *very* far in on their drunken journeys so that was interesting, but it seems to have a nice little vibe to it and I’d be keen to come back.

Cool wee place serving a varied range of draught and bottled beers, in the heart of Merchant City. Like you’d expect from this location drinks can be on the pricey side, so I wouldn’t spend a night here. But as a start off point it’s a nice atmosphere, with friendly staff. Also, it has Timmerman’s Kriek on draught!!!

Pies are great and beer selection ok. The cask tasted quite as if they don’t clean their lines much. Lady behind the bar in the early evening seemed upset when we came in. She was surly and gave terrible service until she was replaced at shift change. And we were just a couple in for some pies. Not a group of yobs looking to cause trouble.

The name ‘Beer Café’ suggests to me that this should be somewhere with a specialised beer selection, and some great bar food.
Wrong on both counts. It’s kinda trying to be a trendy sports bar — but it’s also in denial that that’s what it’s doing.
The food is more restaurantish, than café inspired. I expected great burgers but, nope.
It has a fairly blah beer selection too. But, it does have a couple of good alcohol free beers if you fancy it.
I think it says a lot that I live really close by but the only time I’ve been in was a few weeks back. It’s not awful, just a bit lacking in soul and personality for me.

Beer Café is a pretty a-​ok experience. My last visit here was when I hadn’t been in Glasgow for very long, about 6 years ago now. It’s taken me that long to go back which probably says I wasn’t all that enamoured with it on my first visit.
I met Graeme here for a drink before heading to a party nearby on a Saturday night. It’s a decent enough bar in Merchant Square and on a Saturday it was pretty full if you were looking for a table. They have Drygate’s Apple Ale which I was pretty excited about, its around £4.50 a bottle which I feel like might be a bit pricey but hey ho.
The crowd was generally a bit older — say between 40s and 60s as well as a few rowdy groups clearly out for a big big night. The décor in here isn’t all that appealing with a strange kind of retro 50s vibe and some football memorabilia around the place. The lighting was also pretty bright for 8pm on a Saturday so gave it much more of a café than bar vibe.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t go back because the staff are friendly, we managed to get a seat and it was a good place to have a drink. But I’m not going to rush there and I don’t know that it would come to mind if someone asked me where to go for a drink in Merchant City.

Well it definitely feels like a café down to the Formica tables and mixture of vinyl and hard chairs. Its bright and modern. It sells bottled beers from all over the world all around the £5 a pint mark. Still its a welcome differance to the Glasgow scene.

If I had written this ten years ago I would have given it five stars without a doubt. It used to be my favourite Merchant City bar and a regular meet up point for beers at the start of a night or after a day at the football.
I think it was the huge variety of beers on offer that initially got my attention and then I stayed cause I liked the atmosphere and set up of the place.
Sadly those days are gone. There are to many other bars now with a massive variety of beers on sale and that have a better atmosphere to offer. There ain’t nothing particularly bad about this place. It’s just a bit dated to be honest. It’s not moved with the times and has become an average bar instead of a great one.

I want to like the Beer Café more but there is something about it that just doesn’t quite work.
It’s not the range of beers, which is pretty good.
It’s not the staff, who are friendly and helpful.
Is it the location? The prices? or just that there is no atmosphere whatsoever? I’m not sure really but I always leave here thinking it could be better than it is.

Event: Sunday afternoon drink
Pros:
–Big place, lots of space, couple of booths
–Conveniently located in Merchant Square (so you can always move on!)
–Good beer selection plus coffee/​food
–Free wifi in Merchant Square
Cons:
–Very rude staff, make you feel quite unwelcome
–No atmosphere at all: always suspiciously empty with same CD on repeat
Sum: Awkward and unnecessary appendage to the buzzing square

I’d never considered Beer Café as a bar choice when out in town, based on ill-​conceived perceptions it was too «posh». But it’s a decent bar, boasting a wide range of bottled beer as you’d expect from the name!
Innes and Gunn are starting to make their presence felt in Glasgow after a succesful roll out across their hometown of Edinburgh — with Beer Café now having a draft tap.
The bar has seating inside Merchant Square which is pleasant and a great spot to people-​watch from
Not cheap, and I wouldn’t spend a whole evening here, but definitely worth a pit-​stop if you’re passing or if Bar 91 accross the street is too busy

Decent.
Nice décor with comfy booths in a good location. Prices are on the high side for me, unless the price of cranberry has quadrupled recently and no-​one thought to tell me.
When it’s busy, it’s a nightmare to navigate your way around. The toilets also inspire amused confusion (good luck, guessing which is which.).
A pleasant enough affair but beer is not my game so my appreciation of the range of ales is limited.
Again, location is a sell but there are other fine pubs and bars here which offer up up a bit more atmosphere. There was no music when I was in and the male to female ratio was 10:1.
I’m just saying.

I was sure I’d already reviewed this place — ah well!
Beer café is pretty good, usually a seat to be had and a cold beverage to be drank. Opens up on to Merchant Square so you can people watch to your hearts content, and pick where to go drink next.
The beer selection is pretty good, and they do have a cocktail list… but its called Beer Café so you really should partake of the ale. My beer of choice? Peach Timmermans — yes its girlie but its yummy and I dont care.

Kind of awkward at first… the only other females in there were the two workers behind the bar.. . oh well.
the place was pretty cool. they had different beers and drinks from a BUNCH OF DIFFERENT countries. from asian to european to american beers. got the strawberry beer and the peach beer. FLAVORED beer, i never even heard of flavored beer.
i dont think scotland does food right but they sure do drinks right.

I’m gonna reserve full judgement on this place until I hit it in full swing as methinks that a Monday night visit does not justify a good time to get the vibe of a joint.
For now, here be the cow patty:
Huge selection of beers (they have a fudgen menu) from Scotland (what nae Brewdog or West?) to Germany, the states, south American and beyond.
Cheap? About as inexpensive as a royal wedding.
Service…eh, pretty not bad really… the best thing about this place, so far says i, is the location. OK so the merchant city is trendier than a trendy thing that’s just been dipped in trendy sauce and sightly roasted over a trend burner and served on a bed of fresh trend, but credit where credit is due, the merchant square is truly a highlight in Glasgow.
Where else can you buy a beer and sit outside/​inside in the middle of winter?!
Hit it if your in the area… fight the urge to say ‘screw it’ and fire into Blackfriars, it’ll always be there folks, and try sumfink new… if only to have somewhere new to Unilocal

Do NOT let the look or the name of the Beer Café put you off. I did, for a long time, and then was sorry for it.
Inside the Beer Café is a little bit more bohemian than you’d expect of a Merchant City Bar; and the prices are more reasonable as well.
I don’t know why this place gets overlooked so often, but I’ve found it’s the perfect haven if you can’t be bothered with the pretentious.
Don’t overlook it. And don’t judge it by its rough looking exterior (or its name). It’s definitely worth the visit.

I often forget that The Merchant City is there and I have no idea why as there are some great bars and restaurants in the area, The Beer Café is one of them. Although it’s nothing fancy, it’s chilled, there’s a great mix of people and somewhere you can go for after work drinks or catch up drinks with friends.
I’m not a big beer drinker but after spending a year in Germany I really couldn’t escape the stuff and even though I’ll never be a girl who sinks pint after pint, it’s grown on me. The Beer Café have a huge selection of different beers to choose from so if you want to try something different give this place a try. They also have a good cocktail menu at reasonable prices.

Beer Café is one of my favourite places in Glasgow’s Merchant City, for the simple reason that they serve delicious cherry beer. It’s quite rare to find cherry beer, or indeed any other of the exotic beers sold here, in any other pub in Glasgow.
A trip here feels like being on holiday, not only due to the wide selection of European beers available on tap, but also as a result of the lovely little seating area in the courtyard of Merchant Square.
Beer Café is ideal for savouring some specialist beers with friends and the perfect place to spend a summer’s day on one of the seats outside. It’s easy to forget that you are in fact in the east end of Glasgow with such lovely surroundings and delicious drinks on offer.

You’d assume that in a place with a name as pretentious as «Beer Café», that everyone inside would be a twat, but on my visit here I found it to be actually quite a bustling and vibrant little place, with a decent crowd, good selection of drinks, (though surprisingly less beers than you’d imagine) friendly enough staff and nice décor. Whereas a lot of Merchant City venues try far too hard to be upmarket, this one feels quite relaxed, and has some nice seating that looks out onto the square.
A pleasant surprise. I just wish they’d change the name!

The Beer Café is one in a long line of bars and restaurants along Candleriggs near the heart of the Merchant City.
We ended up here after a very good evening of eating and drinking across Glasgow. The Jazz band had started inside and so we chose the slightly muted accommodation outside. The two pints came to 8 quid which is a bit pricey in this area.
It is a reasonable pub in a crowd of very good pubs.
For an establishment with the name of Beer Café, I would have expected a wider selection of lagers and ales. Their name set them up for a fall.
Service was fine but some at the bar thought they were slow. I only stayed for two rounds and left when my twenty quid was gone