Victoria Bar

As rough as a badgers arse and just as welcoming… is what i would have said about this place before my inaugural visit on Saturday.
OK so the Victoria is so much of a ‘old man’ pub that it quite frankly re defines the ‘old man’ pub category and blows the other contenders to crown out the water.
–Cheap drink… check
–Old men… check
–Smaller lounge (for the old man clique)…check
–Sticky carpets, tables, barmaids… check
–Barmaid with scandalously low cut top… check…ing her out.
So aye… not the classiest joint in the world, but ideal for a drinkathon with the male chaps, that won’t end up breaking the bank!

Got to be honest here, my first and consequently only impression of this place wasn’t terrific.
It was a rainy Friday night in Parick and me and a few pals wanted a quick drink and to dry off before we went on to a party. Although this bar usually looks quite closed off and unwelcoming, the infamous karaōke night sounded like fun and we thought we’d have a laugh for a couple of hours before moving on. We were also going to ask if we could buy bottles over the bar since it was after 10 and we thought we’d chance our arm after the curfew.
We didn’t get much further than the bouncer, who curtly ID’ed us and proceeded to slag us off for five minutes about various things before letting us in. It was an instant turn-​off, and what I remember of this bar was the atmosphere being vaguely stuffy and feeling a bit out of place.
From my perspective The Victoria should really be awarded two stars. I like «old man bars» and enjoy the company in some of the good ones, but the guys working in here made me feel like a naïve student all over again. Since I’ve stayed in Glasgow all my life, I don’t need to be patronised when I’m just out for an intimate bevvy with my mates.
The reason I am giving it three stars is that for an older generation, it does the job. It has a traditional range of home brewed beers at cheap prices, comfy bar stools and cheap malts. It’s meant to be good during the quieter week days and is less hectic than some of the other trendier west end pub offerings. But I can imagine rowdy students pissing the clientele off in here, so if you’re pub crawling just remember some people reside in the Victoria for a bit of peace and quiet.

The Victoria, like much of the pubs on Dumbarton Road, has ‘old man’ written all over it. From the horse racing on the TV and the smaller ‘lounge bar’ in a separate room, to the drinks on offer and the customers themselves, it is just what you would expect of a Partick pub.
On a recent visit, it was surprisingly well-​patronaged for late on a Wednesday afternoon, busier than most pubs in the area at such a time. Unfortunately it wasn’t such a cheery atmosphere though, with the old Jack and Victor types next to me discussing the cold weather, the recession and what they thought should be done to paedophiles.
Drinks prices are okay, in keeping with most of the pubs round here. One good offer is the ‘Beer of the Week’, which on my recent visit was bottles of Carlsberg for only £1.50. You can’t argue with that!

It seemed appropriate to pop into this place on a Friday night given this is «Loopy Lori’s» karaōke night, as advertised outside in a colourful and vibrant way that is completely out of keeping with the rest of the fairly dour exterior.
As it turns out, Lori, herself, isn’t overwhelmingly loopy, certainly notcompared to much of the clientele. Victoria’s is a Partick bar alright, in good and bad senses. Traditional if a tad rough, I can’t say it’s a place I will be back to but equally, it has a certain good time vibe when Lori does her stuff and I suppose you could do worse in this area.
With a tendency to attract a raucous crowd at weekends, Victoria’s is a different place through the week, pigeonholed very much in the old man section, in terms of atmosphere and, sometimes, smell.