Three Judges

Three judges is probably the main pub in the Partick area for big ale lovers, doing a wide range of craft beers, ales and standard lagers which all change frequently. The rotation between ales is very good, I’ve rarely seen the same ones on offer twice.
The bar itself is quite on the small side and has that classic pub look about it, which I’m a huge fan of. Have always had a good drink through the week, though at weekends it can get very busy and crowded.
The service on the whole is efficient and quick, though I have to say I’ve never found it overly warm and friendly compared to others. May just be an age thing, most the regular customers are a lot older than me!

There’s just something about the Three Judges that keeps me coming back for more and I think it’s a mix of the friendly clientele and the range of beers on offer. Of course the fact that I have to walk past it on the way home from the Subway station probably has something to do with it too!
This pub is not super trendy or super cool or super hip or anything like that… it’s just a normal pub with a friendly unpretentious atmosphere and best of all it doesn’t charge super prices!
There’s a good range of beers on tap and a decent stock of bottles too but they always seem to have an appealing range of guest ales.
And there’s something else… when you the pub is about to close but you feel like you’ve not quite had enough… they do a 2 pint carry out box that you take home with you! Awesome!

Cracking pub this.
It’s a traditional sort of pub, with plenty of real ales on offer, which change regularly. I was very pleased to get a ‘Stout and About’, which I’d never even heard of. As well as being a good stout for the brilliant name alone, it was also delicious, with dark coffee flavours. I may have had more than one.
I also unintentionally drank a Guinness. I say unintentionally, as it was bought for me, and I thought I didn’t like Guinness, having had it just once before, in a pub in London, but this one was MUCH nicer than the one I had previously. I might be tempted to try another one sometime.
It was a Friday night, so it was busy, with a good jovial atmosphere. We got talking to the people at the table next to us, and ended up having a right good laugh with them for the rest of the night — it seems to be that sort of pub, where you can wind down, and have a tasty drink and a laugh with some new-​found temporary pals.

Thee Judges is primarily a real ale pub, on Dumbarton road at the bottom of Byres road. A wide range of frequently changing beers are stocked — however recent ownership change has seen the taps dispensing more mainstream ales at the expense of more interesting and tastier beers.
The bar is usually always busy, and attracts a mixed crowd. Older daytime drinkers, shift workers, students, tourists. And the odd dog too.
Professional and friendly bar staff will serve you quickly. The bar gets very warm on a busy weekend, and a bit pongy too! Despite this, it’s worth a stop if you’re in the area. Jazz music features on a Sunday if that takes your fancy.

The Three Judges is the kind of pub which can feel like your local even though it technically isn’t local geographically, always welcoming and friendly, with a superb selection of drinks.
‘The Judges’ is famed for its real ales and cider, which has won it the title of pub of the year many times. Tasters of the special ales are available and there are up to 10 handpumps which is excellent for such a small tenement pub. Bottled drinks from all over the world are available, such as wheat beers and fruit beers.
They have musical sessions (which are spectacular, if crazy busy) and also people often use the pub for meetings — it is possible to reserve seats.
It’s only a small pub, but it is chock full of character, and characters.

I love The Judges. What’s not to love? It’s a pub with great character, the kind of «old man’s pub» that doesn’t only have old men in it. They always have a great selection of real ale on tap and they have a fantastic live jazz night on Sundays. Apparently they also have an open mic night on Wednesdays.
Even if you’re not a real ale lover I think there’s something here to please everyone. Last time I went in I wasn’t in an ale mood (a rare occurance but it does happen), but they’ve got great bottles of inexpensive wine on offer. A friend was very cheerfully enjoying their cider selection and their bar is fully stocked of everything else you’d hope for as well — although if you’re after whisky you might be a bit better off heading for the Lios Mor nearby.

I love this bar, there’s so much character provided by the mix of folk that you’ll find here. It’s an old man’s pub, but still pulls in a mix of suits, students & working men & women. It’s unapologetically old fashioned, with a digital TV the only real update in god knows how long.
There’s a great list of revolving guest cask ales to compliment the decent range of bottles in stock. On Sundays the bar can be packed for the jazz, but it’s worth hanging around for the talent on stage. They have open mic & swing nights on as well, so I’d you’re not a jazz person, then you can still pop in for a pint & a shoogle!
The price of drinks belie the fact that it’s in the heart of the Partick. A pint of cask Ale or Weihenstephaner is no more than £3.80, which puts many lesser bars to shame.
I love having this bar so close to home. Like the Lios Mor it acts as a real reminder of Glasgow & is a great change to the pretensions of Ashton Lane. The only reason that I don’t give this place 5* is that there’s no beer garden & the smell of smoke wafting in can be off putting.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place yet. The Judges, as its affectionately known, is an irregular haunt of mine, situated in the convenient locale at Byres Rd and Dumbarton Rd cross. Serving an assortment of cask and craft ales, at very reasonable prices, it’s hard not to love this dog friendly local. Sundays feature a regular performance by a lovely little Jazz band, as well as other live music, and if you’re lucky one of the mature gentlemen regulars might give you a twirl!

Excellent range of beer as always.

Best beer in Glasgow, awesome range of real ale/​craft beer, good value, why waste your time at brew dog, walk a few hundreds meters down the road and get to a pub which actually sells good beer.

Sleepy by Day, but Come 5 O’Clock…
A really decent pub in a classic corner tenement and the name, I’ve heard, comes from the fact that this place used to be popular with locals watching the boxing? They usually have nine or ten microbrews on at cellar temp, all guest beers and the occasional cider that rotate as soon as they’re done. However, from my experience Scottish micros have been under-​represented. They also have the usual Tennents etc… behind the bar if you don’t want to think about what you’re drinking.
Service? This is Glasgow. They won’t spit in your beer, but they won’t smile unless absolutely necessary. Ronnie (The greying balding man) is perfectly amiable though. He’s knowledgeable and will happily answer the question «so what’s good?» One the whole the atmosphere’s decent and as it’s a local pub, older men tend to make up the majority of the clientele. Not always though, as it’s popluar with students, subcrawls and it tends to be a Rangers fans’ meeting point pre and post games.
During the day they usually have Smooth F. M playing through the T.V. which tends to put you to sleep, but this suits the 3 men and a dug propping up the bar. So IMHO later afternoon, into evening, is the best time to go when it livens up. So it does get busy (very busy) and even busier when sport’s beaming through the telly. You’ll probably have to stand, or at the very least, share a 3ft x 1ft table. And don’t expect much in the way of food! There’s maybe the odd pork pie with mustard or pickle on offer, but generally you’ll have to put up with a bag of ready salted.

The Subcrawl on Saturday gave me the opportunity for yet another first ever visit to another seemingly Glasgow institution that thus far I have avoided.
The Three Judges on Dumbarton road is a place that I have always been interested in going to but have never actually made it through the front door. On Saturday over ½ way through the crawl I finally entered and was very pleasantly surprised. It is a large place with loads of tables and a long bar. It looks very traditional in terms of style, but I would not call it an «old mans» pub in the normal sense. It is actually is pretty modern in some ways in terms of the various beers it has on offer. I went with one that I have had many times before (Sierra Nevada — bottle) and as always it was excellent. I think in the future I will venture back to try some of the many draught options that they have in stock.
Interesting pub, great variety of beers options and well worth a look.
4 stars.

Ale selection is awesome as always! :) I just wish they’d update their ladies bathroom, there’s 1 cubicle and if you yank the door you could probably break it open!
I do love their chalkboard, it’s a great way to advertise their ales + ciders as well as making it easier to order :)

Pop in Sunday at 3pm for some cracking jazz and maybe even a wee dance with one of the Partick gents who frequently give you some of the Glasgow banter.
Great selection of cask ales on tap and you can even buy a two pint carton to take your favourite home.

The Three Judges is a West End institution, especially for discerning beer drinkers after a very well-​kept pint or two of selectively chosen Real Ale.
As the other reviewers have alluded to, it does get very busy and a large group of you may well have trouble being anywhere near each other… but it’s definitely worth it. If you’re planning a Byres Road beer crawl this has to be on the list.

My husband and I were visiting Glasgow from Chicago and we stopped in at Three Judges for a quick drink before our dinner at Number 16 on a Sunday night. For us it felt like a true Scottish pub with a laid-​back crowd, friendly bartenders, ice cold Magner’s and a great selection of real ales. They had live music that night and I really wish we could’ve stayed, I’m sure we would’ve loved it even more!

The Judges, as I call it, because dropping one word is cool and saves time, is always a «must stop» destination when I’m in the West End. I even admit to cheating on Sub Crawls to head here instead of the closer Dolphin.
It’s one of the best, if not THE best real ale pubs in the city — it has an ever revolving array of guest ales, as well as a damn fine selection of regular ones.
They offer 2 pint takeaway cartons, which may be the single greatest thing in a pub anywhere!
The décor is best described as traditional and authentic, and it’s always, ALWAYS busy. Here’s a wee list:
You Won’t:
— Be able to get served in less than 5 minutes from enterting
— Find a table at first glance
— Be able to swing a cat
On the plus side, You Will:
— Have a great pint, expertly pulled or poured.
— Be able to ask the staff for advice on each ale on tap
— Soak up the amazing atmosphere
— Be able to look at the magic wee Glasgow tenement decoration on the wall with proper lights in it and everything
— want to come back again and again and again.
If you haven’t been, why not? Go! Jump the subway to Kelvin Hall and knock yourself out. Not literally, that would hurt…

Ah, The Three Judges — I first visited this place the same day I moved back to Glasgow in early 2012. And I’ve been back countless times since!
It’s right up there with Bön Accord for the sheer range and quality of real ale on offer. An absolute must for any real ale fan! As well as all the cracking ales on tap, they have West Beer’s St. Mungo (big thumbs up from me) and a fantastic range of bottled beers and ciders.
It’s friendly, big enough not to feel vacuous, and small enough to feel cosy. A traditional pub with everything you’d want and expect — a wee gem!
Try going on a Sunday afternoon — there is live jazz. It’s quite an experience.
Bön Accord just edges it for me, but this comes really close to the crown of best real ale pub in Glasgow.

Right so what the hell am I all about? I’ve lived in sunny Glasgow for the best part of a decade now and it’s taken me until now to visit this bastion of beer in the west end.
Essentially it’s an old man pub. But it’s a proper old man’s pub that’s fit to burst with bombastic real ales and a good selection of spirits etc.
Is it a classy joint or a gastro pub? Nah. Is it a purveyor of locally sourced food, with free wifi, internet jukebox blah blah blah. Nah. Is it somewhere that you’d be more than comfy by yourself watching ra fitba, or with a group downing some cracking proper ales? Tis indeed.
I will be back and I’ve a feeling the 4 star may well become a 5 in time.

Subcrawls are legendary in Glasgow — even if you’ve never done one, you know the basic rules (and a few of their adaptations): no sitting down on the tube, no two drinks are to be the same, etc, etc. Being situated opposite the Kelvinhall sub stop, the Three Judges are used to this banter, and what it entails — hordes of drunken people laughing about how whilst on the subway, ‘Jeff’ fell into/​onto a couple sitting/​standing by the doors/​the train tracks at the last station., ‘Classic Jeff’, (apparently). From the outside, the Three Judges doesn’t look like a welcoming place — it’s definitely got that ‘local’ feel about it — but don’t be put off! It’s a nice place, really.
The staff at the Three Judges take in everyone with fine fettle, and don’t moan, even when ‘Jeff’ props up the bar and demands a ‘vodkacokepleeesh” — he might even have a wee squabble with them, demanding that he’s «noa hayd tha much tae drink… just a few, ken like?». Most creatures like our friend Jeff here end up being shown the door, but only if they are aggrievated or too roudy, otherwise they’re left alone, to possibly sleep it off at one of the corner tables.
Enjoyed by students, locals and travellers alike, the Three Judges is a nice place for a nice pint, or 5. There’s only one question left unanswered though: who is ‘Jeff’ anyway, and what did he do to deserve this run of bad luck?!