Hootenanny

Appearances can be deceptive — I’d had this down as a bit of a rough, old mans pub and avoided it at all costs. Then I get an invite to a night out starting here.
As I approached, I could see that it was packed out, and not just by old men. There was people of all ages in here. There seemed to be a uni pub crawl/​subcrawl going about and they’d descended upon here. We had an area at the back reserved for us, so getting a seat wasn’t a problem.
They had TVs with Sky Sports playing (not sure if it was the actual channel or just the news channel, I wasn’t paying too much attention).
Drinks prices were reasonable, £6ish for a Jack Daniels and coke and a bottle of beer.
The entertainment was good too — a guy playing guitar singing cover versions in his own unique style. He was so bad he was good!
Overall, we had an enjoyable few hours in here, the view from the back of the pub goes right the way up Buchanan St and looks lovely at night all lit up. I doubt I’d become a regular, but it was nice to visit somewhere I’d never been before

Turn down the suck. — if I had known, I would’ve gone elsewhere. The music was so loud that we couldn’t hear one another. That and it was awful. The food was crap and the service was worse. Our server told us to our faces that she forgot us…

Hootenanny is a nice, decent sized pub in the city centre. For some reason I’ve never found it to be overly crowded, perhaps because its most obvious competitor would be something like a Wetherspoons and it’s just fractionally more expensive and doesn’t have quite such a range of ales available. However, that’s a small price to pay for being able to hear yourself think and for a guaranteed seat.
We dropped in for what was originally going to be one drink. The idea had been to try a few more bars before heading home. However, they were selling West’s Wheat Beer for a very reasonable price and, before we knew it, live music had got going. One guy, his guitar and everything from Preacher Man to Shake it Off.
So the bar is comfy and warm, the staff are great and get through the queue of customers are quickly as could be hoped for. The WiFi is free and they have offers occasionally through their Facebook page. The food looks very standard pub-​grub-​ish — nothing out of the ordinary but decent enough and they have a special offer dish that rotates daily. It makes this a good choice for quick pint after shopping or for a place to meet up before moving on, or a place to drink on a Friday or Saturday night when other options seem overwhelmingly full.
I don’t know exactly why it’s a little quieter, but sometimes somewhere a little quieter is exactly what I want. So I’m giving it a good review, but I kind of hope that it stays as at least a relatively well kept secret.

Best ever hand cut fries and huge onion rings! All washed down by a fantastic cold pint of West wheetie! Oh and huge Footy screens!

St Enoch’s Square isn’t exactly blessed with brilliant pubs, and to be honest the only reason I would drink there was if I fancied a cheaper pint in the city centre. Or, in our case, if you’re starting a Subcrawl.
If that’s the case, then this is the place to start. It’s definitely better than Times Square close by, and there is actually a lot going for it. It feels like it’s been decorated in recent memory for a start, and the smaller booths at the front give you a view out onto the square. The drinks on sale are half decent as well, and the prices were pretty reasonable for the city centre. Some folk got food, and while I can’t comment on the quality it looked like you got healthy portions. All told, it’s a pretty good traditional boozer: sport on the TV’s, pub grub, bands on at the weekends, etc…
Scoring this presents me with a bit of a dilemma. I can’t fault anything with the pub, and I’m sure if you were spending a bit of time there you would have fun (although this was at 11:30 on a Saturday — this may change at night depending on who turns up). My problem is that it’s just not my kind of pub. I wouldn’t rush back there, and only really see me going there at the start of the next sub crawl. If you can’t be bothered walking the extra 5 minutes to get to the 13^th Note or Mono (for example) then you’ll not be overly disappointed, but it wouldn’t be top of the list of pubs to recommend in Glasgow. It’s a solid 3.5 then, but do I score it down because it’s not for me and put off the folk that would like it, or do I round it up? I’ve gone with the latter: it may not be my first choice, but if you like an old-​school pub then it’s well worth a shot. You may love it, you may not, but don’t discount it until you’ve tried it.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this place on Saturday. It was the first stop on our subcrawl adventure and it was 11.30 am in the morning, but really it was not as bad as I expected it to be!
I would never normally drink on St Enoch square but I would not really have an objection to having a pint in here. There was Hefeweizen from West on tap and they seemed to have a decent variety of other beers on offer as well the place was clean and inoffensive.
Not somewhere I would rush to, but also not somewhere I would mind going back to. I can’t mark the food or evening clientele, but for a day time pint it was absolutely fine. 3 stars.

Hootenanny is a cracking wee pub. It’s so far removed from Fat Boab’s it’s unbelievable.
There’s usually live music on Friday and Saturdays and although the pub is quite small it makes for a great live venue, the atmosphere is great! The staff are really friendly and the clientele is pretty mature. The drinks prices are pretty standard for a city centre pub and the food is good too.
Oh and the Jukebox is hooked up via internet so you can find just about anything you fancy!

pleaseantly suprised after the fat boab experience, the night we went in it was packed to the rafters and the band playing were excellent. The atmosphere made the pub both from the clientelle and the staff — there was a good time being had. Would defo visit again — well done.

Formerly known as Fat Boabs, Hootenany is a bit of a small pub, exacerbated by the fact that a band was playing, despite the lack of stage. Consequently, they took up most of floor space, in a pub already tight on space.
The drinks prices were quite average. Most of the clientele looked at least in their thirties, respectably dressed in shirts and jeans Hootenany also serves food, the predictable pub fodder, although we never ate in here. The toilets are a bit of a trek, being down a steep flight of stairs. Not a bad place to start off your subcrawl!