The Ark

Student bar? Not anymore it seems. I was not looking forward to visiting the Ark for a colleagues leaving night, but it seems I should not have worried. The ark has changed since I was last there over a decade ago. No longer just for students it’s now an exceptionally mixed crowd of all ages.
Massive inside there is plenty of room and on top of that it has a big beer garden and even an outdoor pool table. The music is mixed and decent and they have pints of punk on draft at reasonable pricing. Really what’s not to like.
Have to say I’m pretty surprised to be writing this fairly decent review for a pub I would have avoided in the past. Not somewhere to rush to, but certainly worth a look if your in the area and fancy a pint or ten.

Pretty good place close to the uni but food is good and reasonably priced. It has lots of seating and an outdoor bier garden. There was a decent crowd but it was mixed — ie, not all students. Central location but far enough away to not be filled with tourists.

The Ark has a serious reputation for being a student pub — but I’m not convinced this is really warranted these days. Sure, it’s right beside the college /​uni strip and will be heaving with students at the weekend — but most parts of the city will be too. We’ve been in a few times this year — and even when busy, it’s had a really wide mix of customers.
My most recent visit was a stop on this week’s date night. It was pretty quiet, but still managed to have a nice and relaxed atmosphere. The staff were really friendly, the beer (punk ipa) was cheap, and the music was awesome (playing a 90/00’s mix).
The Ark is huge, split leveled and has a great beer garden (which shuts at 10pm). It’s somewhere I’d avoid on football nights (huge screens for matches), but otherwise I’m quite happy to spend a few hours there.

Essentially a student hangout, the Ark is pretty much all you need for a catch up with friends, a few beers and a bite to eat. The food and prices are average for this type of studenty bar but they have a pretty good selection or beers and ciders. Great spaces inside and out… and they have a punchbag game so I was pretty content! Overall a nice wee bar to hang with friends!
My only complaint is lack of loo roll in the ladies.
Top tip… keep some in your bag for later!

It’s been a good two years since my last visit and not much has changed — big football screens, cheap drinks and a basic food menu. We visited yesterday for a friend’s going away, he’d booked the mezzanine. I really like this part of the pub as it is private and if there’s a whole squad of you, you can mix and mingle and take up as much space as you like without having to worry about regular Ark punters.
Service at the bar was slow but that’s because everyone seemed to arrive at the same time, and the barman made apologies which was nice (and rare). For a half pint of Strongbow you can expect to pay £1.40 and a bag of crisps a mere 70p. Crazy prices for a city centre pub.
I didn’t order food as the stuff coming out didn’t really look like much, although the nachos were the meal that looked pretty good. It is hard to go wrong with nachos though.
The toilets were also a lot nicer than I was expecting and they even had fancy decorative mirrors on the walls. Very nice. I’ve only awarded three stars though as it’s just not my kind of pub — it’s not likely that I’d venture here for a drink in town, especially when the football is on.

In addition to all of the below… I can now happily confirm that The Ark offer up to three real ales, well kept and of the very tasty variety, for just £1.99 a pint. For those who prefer something colder and fizzier, BrewDog Punk IPA is on offer.
The main selling point remains the extensive outside beer garden which has substantial cover and outdoor heating which makes it a great place to visit come rain or shine.

Quite close to strath, so worth a visit here and there. We usually go there for rugby or football games. Nice pub with lots of students. At one point I would like to try the burger challenge…

A great pub. A great beer garden. 2 great ales on tap. 1 great offer on Maker’s Mark. Several great burgers on the menu. Great bar staff.
All in all a very good night!

I haven’t been to the Ark in a while as unfortunately my student days are behind me. However, I ventured in here with a few friends recently. As with all the decent weather of late we were chasing the sun and recalled that this place had a beer garden.
The term used to have a beer garden is a bit rich. All I remembered was concrete slabs and a few benches. WOW is all I can say about how the outside looks now. The inside looks unchanged but I was only in there making my way in and out.
Outside now has a groovy variety of seats including plenty of the standard benches seats etc. It also including a soft couch, which it turned out was a bit wet from rain earlier that day, and some wird suspended pods and a hammock or two. In addition to this the outside they had a pool table, a bar for bottled drinks kept in a giant chest fridge and a BBQ.
We got the slightly soggy comfortable couch but there were other seats available for mr sensible people than ourselves.
On a sunny day with a beer a BBQ is irresistible. So could I resist? Well no that’s why it irresistible. Anyway although the patty that went on the bbq looked a bit funky it came out well cooked and delicious. £3.50 for a cheeseburger isn’t cheap but it was a big burger and the only thing I needed to eat that nigh (I only had a small lunch) until I got the midnight munchies. Beer prices were average, three beers and there was change from a £10. Beers also served in a glass no plastic cups in sight.
All in all this will probably be the first place I try next time I’m in town and there is a spot of sunshine.

For a student pub it’s quite good. Decent pub quiz, great multimedia system, well equipped beer garden in the back, great choice of game machines and good music. Most staff are friendly and helpful, good selection of drinks and food all at decent prices. Then there are the patrons; apart of the weird characters on football nights the place is usually full of student’s and business people from the surrounding offices.

Popped in here last week. I hadn’t been here in years, and I’m aware how old that makes me sound.
After this visit, I don’t think I’ll be back for a similar amount of time.
More on the expensive side that a «studenty» bar should be — and PLASTIC glasses? PLASTIC? No. Dear lord, no.
Staff were inattentive, more concerned with making sure they had the latest gossip from each other than paying attention to people needing served, the woman that served me especially seemed to lack a basic grasp of the words «please» and «thanks» which is never a good sign.
Possibly the rudest pub I’ve been into for some time, and I’ve drank in Edinburgh.

The Ark is a student pub it is based on one of the quiet side streets about 1min away from George Square it has a university and a college nearby so is perfect for people to go after studies
overall the bar is great
I am not a student but love to go there as the staff are friendly and the food is great and not that expensive
the pub plays music via a juke box and serves all types of drink a student would want.
it has a beer garden and upstairs seating.
2 full size pool tables are ready to play at £1 per game
(coming soon so they said on facebook a football table)
the pub has facebook for you to keep up to date
A quiz every 2^nd Thursday
a yellow card scheme for students to get discounts on booze (a way for the bar to make money)
I would say go if your a Student or someone that wants cheap booze or food.

The Ark, «the home of the yellow card» and not to be confused with the Ark Café round the corner and part of Strathclyde University’s Chaplaincy Centre (which offers excellent freshly made Fairtrade coffee), is another student watering hole centrally positioned for potential customers and offering food and drink bargains.

It’s big, it’s yellow, «it’s a scream».
You know what to expect from the Ark — cheap drink, cheap burgers, cheesy jukebox and drunk students. To colour this city centre incarnation in slightly more it actually offers pool and probably the best beer garden in the area.
Having now left university I will never be back here. That is a fact. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t have a few good, unashamedly daft nights in here while I was a student. It’s easy to turn your nose up at this place but it’s absolutely fine for what it is.

The Ark is one of the Scream franchise pubs that predominantly attracts a young student population, and specifically those from Strathclyde University.
It rests just up the hill from George Square, round the corner from Strathclyde Universities Student Union.
It is always busy. Service at the bar can take a while and even once a food order has been placed don’t count on getting it in 15 or 20 minutes. I have waited up to 1 hour at peak times before. Basically, if you’re a student with a day off or one class in the afternoon, it is ideal. If you only have an hour on your lunch break, it isn’t well suited for your needs.
The pool table is always busy, and the jukebox always has a backlog of a billion ‘student anthems’ to sift through before you can listen to a song. There’s also a pool table outside and tables in the outdoor smoking patio which is ace for those rare blistering summer days.
The food is average, but you get what you pay for. It is reasonably priced with good promotions that help keep the place packed with students everyday of the week. The beer and burger combo is a constant source of delight.
There’s a good quiz on Sunday evenings where entrants get a free voucher for a meal. You can also sign up a for a Yellow Card to get discounts throughout the year. It only costs £1 and so pays for itself really. These guys know how to keep the punters coming back.
UPDATE: The Sunday Quiz has now moved to the Sauchiehall Street Scream Pub, The Hall.

I almost want to hate the Arc but I just keep coming back. As a young student it’s a good, neutral place for all my friends to go.
Inside is spacious with plenty of seats and has an excellent outdoor area. The best thing about it is that they play music outside.
Because I’m a student which also means I’m ultra smart. I have devised the following formula:
Music outdoors + drinks + pool = a great summer drinking session.
The portions of food are big and hearty but I don’t think it’s as cheap as people like to make out. Still, it’s all good value, friendly and, well, studenty.
Your siblings will love it, your parents will hate it. It’s better that way.

Looking at the Ark from the outside for the first time, this modern-​looking building looks like more of a nightclub than a bar. It may not quite live up to expectations but it at least makes good use of the space inside.
Being situated a stone’s throw from Strathclyde University, the Ark attracts a good bit of student activity similar to sister pub Curlers in the west end (also owned by the Scream chain), while attracting less of the older age groups than the latter. It is definitely a pub for the younger crowd on the whole, though often it is more football-​daft young lads than anything else, due to the regular live Sky Sports games shown on the televisions inside.
If you enjoy live sport, this is a great place. There is a huge projected screen in the middle of the bar, while there are a few smaller TVs dotted about. When the ‘fitbaw’ is not on, the screens give way to music videos, which are selected via a jukebox, with plenty of genres and artists to choose from. This is something that always attracts me to Scream pubs, as this facility is not available in a lot of places. And one pound for three songs is pretty reasonable.
There is a good bit of space in this large pub, with a nice upstairs balcony in addition to the main bar. There is also a large beer garden out the back, which is very nice to sit in on a long summer evening with an ice cold Magners (aah!). There is some nice and comfy sofa seats, though seating can be hard to get at weekends. There are also three pool tables, though they are unfortunately so tightly crammed in that you cannot avoid having to hit the wall, or another person for that matter, as you take aim. One pool table with space would surely be better than three without.
The Ark is also a good place to go if you’re after cheap drinks or food, like all the Scream places; especially the beer and burger deal. The pints are good, though watch out because there is an ever so common situation of certain pumps being out of order.
The Ark was always a regular haunt for me as a student with its tasty and cheap food and drink, where you could always catch the football. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the younger age groups.

I first discovered The Ark as I embarked upon my adventures as a student, overjoyed at the prospect of purse friendly pints and bargainous burgers. I was not disappointed. True to the student pub stereotype, The Ark (part of the Scream pub chain) offers great deals on food and drinks, for your enjoyment between hijacking the jukebox, playing your pals at pool, or taking part in the Sunday quiz.
Serving up a beer and a burger for a thrifty three pounds fifty, this is a great place for a not so healthy, cheap and cheerful lunch (or boozy breakfast, if you really want to live up to the stereotype).

The service in here is not the fastest, so I wouldn’t recommend it for lunch if you only have an hour between lectures.
We chose to sit on the mezzanine level for lunch. The seats are covered by large, soft, slightly boggin couches. There is a very student vibe in here, emphasised by the fact you’re not allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms — you actually get asked to leave when wearing them.
The décor is a bit bashed up, possibly deliberately, possibly not, but it all adds to the atmosphere.
The cheeseburgers are alright for a quick lunch, served in a crispy bun. Watch the drink prices, though, they aren’t as cheap as you may expect.

This student bar can be summed up by the picture printed on every table — a fat thumb, excitedly texting «Hiya! I’m in The Ark!»
I can’t recall whether that opening gambit is followed up by a few compulsory uses of «lol lol lol», but I wouldn’t bet against it.
Although the staff are a little too laid-​back for my liking, and it’s impossible to watch the projectors without getting a stiff neck, The Ark does have one thing going for it, and that’s the beer garden, round the back of the premises.
Why there are occasionally bouncers on the door I do not know. This place only ever attracts freshers, thrilled to be let off the leash, or those in the midst of a mid-​life crisis.