Rab Ha’s

The large crowd that was in for Saturday night drinks and to catch the final rugby match of the day didn’t impact on the speed with which our food arrived so the place seems to be very well organised.
Our starters & mains (chicken parfait and tomato & bacon rissotto for me) were all very good and the bar has a good range of beers and spirits and the staff were particularly cheery. For a bar of its size, including a basement restaurant, it does though have surprisingly small toilets.

Rab Ha’s is a bit of an oasis in Merchant City in that it seems totally unconcerned with style and modernity, and is just happy being a good traditional boozer. If you fancy going somewhere unpretentious for a decent pint then this is somewhere to give a go.
The décor is traditional pub — lots of dark wood — and it’s dominated by a pretty big bar area. There is a good long row of tables that let you look out onto the street on one side, and with a slightly darker area on the other side with a few tables. There is a restaurant area downstairs, but I haven’t been able to eat anything here yet. The drinks are pretty reasonably priced, and there looks to be a good rotation of drinks to choose from.
In terms of atmosphere, it’s OK. For some reason they were showing Jeremy Kyle USA (mercifully without the sound) when I was there, and the music was pretty inoffensive. You get the feeling that this would be a place that you would really benefit from if you went there regularly — there definitely felt like a small group of regulars were in the bar at the time.
Overall, a 3.5 from me, rounded to 4. I like it, especially when I just want to kill time in a bar without airs and graces. It won’t always take my fancy, but I’m glad it’s there.

I am reviewing the upstairs bar area here, rather than the restaurant or food in the bar. As a bar Rab Ha’s is cosy and warm, but it is quite small; if you are lucky enough to get a seat you will have a warm welcome (we visited on a Sunday afternoon). The drinks selection at RabHa’s has local products like West Brewery beer and Scottish beers like Belhaven, with beer, lager, and cider on tap. They have a lot of bottled drinks from Scotland, Belgium and America, as well as lots of softs. The décor is Scottish and rustic themed, with wooden tables, exposed stone walls and even a fireplace.
There is a hotel upstairs (which I have not been to, but it must be a great central location for tourists who want to do the Merchant City of Glasgow). I have eaten dinner at Rab Ha’s before, and both times remember it being very pleasant with great service and tasty food (in the downstairs restaurant). Food in the bar seems more limited in choice from what I saw yesterday, but it was past the serving time for food there so I suspect we were only seeing the specials of the day (on their website they have lots of options).

Perfect! The dessert is beautiful and Haggis also wonderful. I also tried salmon and fish soap, everything is perfect I’ll come here again and again and again^^

We stopped in here for a Sunday afternoon pint — one of those places I’d always walked past but never ventured in. We only stayed the length of a drink but it was a really welcoming, friendly environment and quiet enough that we didn’t have trouble getting a seat.
This is pretty much the kind of pub I dreamt of visiting before I moved to Scotland — quaint, stone walls, cosy and clearly filled with locals. That might sound strange but I loved it! They were showing the football but it wasn’t a rowdy crowd, it was a very chilled atmosphere. I was just drinking water on this occasion (too many ciders too early in the day had made me a bit fuzzy) but I’d definitely head back for a drink so I can investigate the options a bit more closely. For research/​review purposes, of course.

I’ve only been in for a pint but it’s a really nice environment for a quiet pint either after work or beginning a night out. They offer a real ale (usually from a craft brewery) and a few bottled craft ales too. There are TVs with sport on but it doesn’t attract the typical sport TV crowd, which is great if you just want to appreciate the sport on TV and the quality of the beer on offer. This place is apparently a hotel too!

Always a pleasure popping in here. Used to be a regular lunch haunt of mine (the soup was/​is spectacular) and starting point for the Merchant City crawl. It’s tucked away just off the two main streets, but that just adds a little bit of «exclusiveness» to it, and you feel like you’re in uncharted territory.
The décor is dark and stylish, all solid wood and chrome taps with big windows and candles come night time, making it feel (to me) very Gothic and elegant. The toilets are down a big flight of stairs next to the restaurant, which I’ve been assured by visitors is excellent too.
I wouldn’t say it’s the cheapest in the area, but it definitely has a great selection. There were West Beer brews on tap, with a wide selection of Brewdog beers in bottles, for that local feel; there were beers from all across Europe on draft as well, so you wouldn’t be spoilt for choice.
There is usually outside seating, but I was escaping a thunder shower so didn’t use it! There’s a few seats with big tables for groups shoe horned in, but they’re hard to come by — if you get one, never ever leave. EVER!
There’s a couple of tellys showing either news or sport during the day, so I’d imagine this would be a cracking little spot to chill out with a cold beer and take in the coverage of the Commonwealth Games if you couldn’t get a ticket.
A lovely wee place that I really should visit more often.

For many years this was my local, even though I lived on the outskirts of the city.
They have a small but very good range of beers and the staff are always good for a laugh unless they are rushed off there feet, which is most Fridays, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays.
Don’t eat here very often but when I do the food has always been decent.
All in all I love this place, specially if I can get the booth by the fire.

Fantastic seafood chowder but the drinks are a little pricey However overall the food is good value and the service is great!

I love this place– it’s a busy little pub where you can put the world to rights. They often do a deal for 2 main courses & a bottle of wine for £20. It’s a steal! The steak pie is fab and the house red is to be recommended.
Finally, they have a good selection of beer on tap including the local West St Mungos!

It was absolutely tipping it down today so popped in to Rab Ha’s for a pint and a bite to eat. I’d had a very heavy night in here a week before and enjoyed a decent
pot of mussels into the bargain so felt confident about an early return. Had my dad with me who had perked up a bit after a wander round the Necropolis so a good afternoon beckoned.
The place was empty which meant a seat by the fire and we got the beers in and thought about food. The special on the board was a French sausage casserole so opted for that. Mmmm… the points awarded for a decent pint of Blue Moon couldn’t really make up for a medium-​sized portion with hottish potatoes on top and luke warm sausages beneath. I’m not sure how that happens? Micro semi-​waves? I’d be going lower with the stars but for my slightly better experience a week before. Staff were nice though.

It’s a cosy little pub in a very central location. We sought shelter in there from an awful day.
Poor draught selection and quite a small bottled beer section too. They have their own house wine with their sticker on the front, the group ordered Cabernet Sauvignon, honestly it smelled and tasted awful but that did not deter the group from ordering several bottles. I stuck to my beer.
Very clean toilets downstairs.
Staff were a mixed bag, some were friendly, one guy was very gruff. Maybe he had a bad day but I was having a bad day too. Drenched from a rainy walk and surrounded by young wineos prattling on about philosophy etc but I still managed to be polite and I gave him money too. Some people eh?

Post event pints were had in here the other day and the location/​beer could not have suited better. Despite it’s small size, our wee group was able to snaffle a big table at the front and settle in for a couple of pints and a pretty hefty portion of crazy talk.
I know nothing else about what this place offers in terms of grub or accommodation, but from my couple of hours in the bar, I’ll tell you this. Rab Ha’s is a easy going wee pub with West on tap and a comfortable air.
I will return!

Hurrah!
Big windows, big tables, nice interior, good location, hot barmen, West on tap! :-D

Went on a Monday night and found that the restaurant is only open on the weekends however the pub is open all week and they serve food from the same menu. We were looking for a traditional Scottish meal and they didn’t disappoint. I had the haggis, neeps and tatties while my wife had the braised pork belly. I had always wanted to try haggis and it was good, the pork belly was just great.

Nice little bar in the Merchant City, with the emphasis on little… and nice… and bar.
Dimly lit for an intimate atmosphere and an open fire for those cold winter months. It’s not really a place you should think about going if your group is 5 or more as space is sparse.
Food is good in the bar, and there is a restaurant downstairs which is supposedly better, although I haven’t been down there in a few years.
It’s also a hotel which caters for some big name famous clients, tho’ the manager wouldn’t kiss an tell.
As for bar stock, good beers including two from the West Brewery and a fine selection of whiskies.
Top tip to beat the rush and ensure a table on Friday evening in the bar. Nominate one person to leave the office early, say Wednesday or Thursday and have that person stay in the bar until Friday evening and you’ll be guaranteed a table. Or get in touch with someone who just happens to stay not but 2 minutes away and pay them in St. Mungo lager to look after a table until you arrive. That’s St. Mungo lager, from the West Brewery…2 minutes away… just round the corner… happy to help.

This is the first pub I went to in Glasgow.
Well, when you set a standard like this, on your first time out, nothing and nowhere else seems to compare.
Old rickety wooden tables, and the VERY intimate atmosphere, makes Rab’s one of my favourite places to visit.
There are melty candles on each table, and that’s all the light you really need. It makes for a very intimate atmosphere, and it’s a great place to go on a date. There aren’t very many distrations there, and you find that the rest of the place sort of melts away and you’re in your own little bubble of happiness.
The food is awesome. A higher class restaurant is downstairs, but I’ve never felt the need to visit it. This is because, even though it has a more limited menu upstairs than down, you can get the same quality. definitely try the risotto, or the thai curry. The aroma alone will be as comforting as wrapping up in a downy blanket.
The bar staff have the memory of an Irish barman; remembering your order every time you get to the bar. And if you’re after a little chat, they’ve got some of that, too.
It’s a bit of a pain if you can’t get a seat, as there isn’t a lot of room to stand; and once you have a seat, you’re not likely to leave it very soon.
Rab’s has the sort of atmosphere that other pubs try to imitate, and if I could bottle it and sell it, I could make a fortune.

Like nearby Bacchus, Rab Ha’s is a famous part of ‘BAJO history’ (BAJO was our uni Journalism course’s programme code and colloquial name). Dissertation deadline day finally arrives — 23 April 2009 at 12pm. After almost a year of blood, sweat and tears, there was only one word on everyone’s lips by the time 12 o’clock arrived: «PUB!!»
Even though Rab Ha’s was such a godsend for us all on this monumental day, things wouldn’t have been quite so good were it not a very good pub. Thankfully it is good. Traditional, Scottish, intimate and quite atmospheric too. On the day I mentioned, apart from the dozen or so tired young Journalism students drinking the place dry, there was nobody else there (the barman must have got a hell of a surprise when he noticed us arriving through the door). But on a couple of visits since, I’ve seen it fairly busy in the afternoon, with a mixture of both younger and older age groups.
Unfortunately drinks are quite expensive (not that it mattered to me and my uni mates), with an average round for two normally reaching over the £6 mark. There is a good selection of food; the steak pie is very good — a large portion, even if the pie is a bit crumbly.
I like this place. I’m probably being a bit biased because of its association with dissertation day. But trust me, on such a day, you would feel the same!

Somewhat optimistically referring to itself as a «Boutique Hotel», Rab Ha’s operates as more of a pub and bistro with a traditional Scottish feel. It’s quite upmarket and caters to an older crowd in the main, but it’s usually got enough hustle and bustle about it to keep a good atmosphere going, and the gastropub style food is always a safe bet.
I have heard that the rooms are a bit shoddy, but in all honesty I’d never be using them anyway.

If your near the merchant city then head into Rab-​ha, it’s a cosy old style pub, plenty of wood surroundings and seating even with not much space. Ample amount of choice of whiskies and spirits as well as your draught and bottled beers. Welcoming staff who will give guidance tif you cant decide what drink to have and need a little help.
Furthermore they have some pub snacks if you feel like a nibble. Merchant city isn’t a cheap place to drink but drinks in rab-ha’s are competitively priced.
Music is played but not too loud that you cant hear your fellow drinkers.
Clientelle are mixed but generally not a pub for the younger crowd.