The Art School

Brunch club is, in my humble opinion, one of the very best bits of Unilocal.An opportunity to brunch with a like minded gang of foodies with no limits placed on the acceptable number of coffees or the number of photos taken of your plate.
When I first saw the Art School menu I was excited, then they changed it the week before our brunch and not for the better. The new brunch menu is pretty uninspiring. But brunch club is brunch club so off puff and I trotted. Briony had e-​mailed ahead to let them know we would be needing a highchair so arriving to be told that they don’t have any highchairs when I had brought my extremely wriggly toddler did not go down well. With prior notice I could have arranged childcare, instead I spent brunch toddler wrangling and moving all the things out of puff’s considerable reach. Not conducive for a relaxing meal.
The wonderful Graeme ordered for me so that I didn’t have to balance puff on the bar to order and the food was quick to arrive and a decent breakfast. Service wasn’t great and I was horrified to witness the waiter trying to argue that he did have a vegan breakfast for a fellow Unilocaler, the two fried eggs quivering on the top of the plate suggested that it wasn’t really that vegan. Maybe a little training on the finer points of the meaning of vegetarian, vegan, etc wouldn’t go amiss.
All in all I was left distinctly underwhelmed by the Art School. The fact that brunch club only lasted an hour really hit this home. It really was an order, eat and leave event although that may have had quite a lot to do with my little darling causing havoc…

At the moment my review is based purely on The Art School as a venue — I’ve not had the chance to sample the food yet!
Came here on Friday for a Honeyblood gig with my sister. I’ve not been to The Vic since 2009 probably (and not in the most *ahem* sober state), so I was interested to see what the inside was like after the refurb! Entrance is now at the side of the building on Scott Street. Gigs are up on the first floor, but there’s a lift if you have difficulty with stairs. The first floor has the bar on the left hand side, just as you enter, with the stage on the left hand side. The sound booth is pretty big and awkwardly placed right as you come in. The space they’ve left on either side of the fairly elaborate sound booth is pretty small and it cause a bit of a bottleneck after the gig finished making it hard to get back out — not the best idea! I’m not entirely sure why they’ve had to make the sound booth so big, but I’m sure they’ve got their reasons!
I ordered a San Pellegrino (for my sister who was driving) and an Addlestone’s cloudy cider for me, which came to exactly £5. I thought this was pretty cheap — I don’t know if everyone would agree — but I was quite happy at that! I’ve never tried Addlestone’s before but the only other cider they had on tap was Magners, which I’m not a great fan of! Thankfully I ended up really liking it, would definitely have again! They had a fairly substantial selection of beers however, if that’s your thing!
Gig-​wise, I thought the Art School was a cracking wee venue! I really liked that the stage was quite high, meaning I got a great view even though I was standing near the back. The lighting show was really impressive for a £10 gig and I thought the sound was good too. The venue is fairly large and even though it was pretty full you didn’t feel like sardines in a tin! My favourite thing however was the air con! OH THE AIR CON! I hate standing in a horribly sweaty venue right next to sweaty strangers — yuck! The Art School however was nice and cool which made for an extremely pleasant gig experience! Because of the usual club nights that run here on the weekend, the gig finished around 10.30÷10.45 which I was thankful since I was super tired after a busy work week! I wouldn’t hesitate to come here again for a gig and hopefully I can try the food soon too!

This review update is for the lunch my boyfriend and I just had there.
I purchased an itison deal for two burgers and two pints. My boyfriend took the day off and so we decided to head to the art school for lunch.
When we arrived we had a nice choice of where to sit. I noticed right away, another couple had the same itison voucher. We chose our seats and I took the voucher up to the bar and ordered for us. My boyfriend had the char su pulled pork burger and I went for the hanger steak sandwich. Both came with fries and we also got a cider each with our deal. The pulled pork burger, the wee bite I had was fresh tasting with a nice Asian style slaw on top. My boyfriend quite enjoyed it, but the star of the show was that steak sandwich. The steak was tender and perfectly cooked, with sautéed mushrooms, onions and melted cheese all on a ciabatta roll. It also came with a wee pot of peppercorn sauce that was very moreish. The fries were perfectly cooked and seasoned.
We honestly couldn’t be happier with our meals and are very much looking forward to trying out more items off their menu, which has an Asian flare to it. Also, they have a breakfast/​brunch menu which also looks fab and their drinks are very affordable.

When I first came to Uni, the old Art School club had just closed down, and it was a thing of legend until last year when the new and improved building opened! This place functions as a bar/​restaurant downstairs (Vic Bar) and a space for freshers fairs, jahrobics classes (yeah, reggae aerobics!) and more upstairs during the day.
The Vic bar serves lovely food for insanely cheap prices, and I’ve yet to try their brunch menu but OMG does it look good. Really interesting menu and plenty of options for vegans too! The crowd is very Art School, lots of impossibly trendy twentysomethings fill the tables during the day– it is their union after all!
At night however, it plays host to some of the best and most interesting music acts in Glasgow, with everything from underground techno to afrobeat nights and even huge names like Hot Chip. Entry fee is very variable, and sometimes a little steep, but with a maximum of three floors of amazing music, it’s usually worth it.
The crowds here at night are not the moody judgemental types some people might expect, but an accepting and inclusive crowd of people of all ages (albeit mostly 20 – 30). I’m probably biased because I usually go here with a big group of friends but I always have a great time.
Downstairs you can still get cocktails for £2.50 even on a club night (if I remember correctly) and daaaayuuummm are they delish! And ridiculously cheap for a cocktail in a club on a weekend. Like, waaaaht? You’re not charging me £7 for this cup of fruity paradise?
Another bonus is that the toilets are downstairs on a floor of their own, there are loads of them, they are clean, and they even flush! A miracle if you’re accustomed to Glasgow’s club scene and it’s boggin’ bogs (subclub, I’m looking at you).
If you’ve never been, give it a go! You won’t be disappointed.

My first time here — for the recent Hot Chip gig — and it’s a pretty good space for a gig.
No idea of capacity but a top tip would be NOT to stand at the back of the main area, we ended up there and spent most of the gig being pushed past by people trying to get to and fro from the bar. Not so much fun!
There is a lift so don’t worry about all the stairs if you’ve already struggled up the hill from Sauciehall Street, and prices at the, well stocked, bar are pretty good, the joys of being in a student venue!

I love that anyone can walk in off the street to eat here and it’s not strictly for students. It’s £3.10 for a pint of Heverlee, and if you’re feeling particularly cheap, £1.50 for cans of Tennents. £4 for a Drygate. Heverlee it was then!
They have a varied food menu of burgers, pizzas, salads, light bites, and a street food section, and apart from the options which include steak most dishes are less than £6. Vegetarian and vegan options are clearly marked, and some could be adapted on request. We had the 2 pizzas for £8 deal, and they will swap dairy cheese topping for a dairyfree ‘cheese’ at no extra cost. The pizza bases were a bit crispier than I would like, but otherwise were delicious. I could really taste the ‘cheese’!
There are some tables under the windows with chairs with backs, but most of the seating area is made up of long benches, meaning sitting with no chair back and the space is a bit tight — thankfully I had tights on under my skirt so I wasn’t flashing people as I swung my legs over the benches to sit upright with my legs under the table! This got more and more uncomfortable for me as time went by and I would definitely go for a table at the windows next time.
When I visited their — incredibly bland — toilets I spotted posters for their Saturday brunch, which sounds a great deal! They do 2 dishes for £6 or brunch and a cocktail for £5; I will be back for soon for brunching!

*This a review of The Art School as a concert venue*
You have to wonder who decides how many tickets to sell for a gig, because I get the impression that whoever set the limit for the Courtney Barnett gig I was at here definitely overfilled it. With about 5% less people this venue would be fantastic, as it has a hell of a lot going for it.
You’ll be knackered once you get there though. It’s up a pretty steep hill off Sauchiehall Street for a start, and the venue is up a couple of flights of stairs. Need to go to the loo while you’re there and you’re going to have to go down those stairs again to the basement level. You can cool off at a pretty big bar at the back, and it looks like they sell Drygate if you’re looking for something half decent to drink.
In terms of the important things, the view and the sound are pretty great. It’s in line with SWG3 in size, but long and thin as opposed to short and wide (actually, it’s probably more like Oran Mor in terms of size and dimensions). It’s a relatively tall space, so there is a good sized stage, which means that you can see the band pretty well from anywhere you stand. While my tinnitus ravaged/​earplug stuffed ears aren’t the best to judge sound quality things did sound had decent, and I was able to pick things up pretty well without it descending into sludge.
But my god it was tightly packed though. I got there early and managed to get a space next to the sound desk, and for the first couple of bands this was great, as I had a little bit of space while still feeling part of the crowd. As things progressed however the venue got fuller and fuller, and by the time the main event was on it definitely felt like sardines in a tin. While this could be me getting old and grumpy it definitely felt tighter than sold out shows at other venues (SWG3, ABC for example) and was more like the Academy at it’s worst in terms of feeling cramped. Even the bar area, where you can usually get some space, was pretty mobbed (although it didn’t look like the wait to get served was that bad — good on the staff!), and to be honest it took a bit of the shine off the gig.
It wouldn’t put me off going again, and I think with the right band and perhaps a few less people this would be a great little venue. It’s just reached 4 star status for now, but I’m sure a few more visits will cement this scoreline.

I’d never visited the Art School until last night when we went along for the Courtney Barnett gig. It’s the Glasgow School of Art student union, and seems to be a venue worth returning to for a proper visit — for now, this is just about the venue as a gig space.
I was pretty late and arrived after the main set had already started, so there was no queue to get in and just a solitary bouncer on the door. I headed up quite a few stairs into the venue and took a spot near the bar as it was absolutely packed. I’d say it compares to Stereo for size and there was pretty much no free space anywhere. I got a drink at the bar and loitered in the back corner which was actually a pretty good spot to see the stage, even though there’s a weird metal structure in the middle.
The Art School also does food which looks pretty damn tasty from the menu online so I’m planning a return visit very soon.

I really liked The Art School when it was on Sauchiehall Street, as it was cheap, quirky and cosy, so I went along to their new Scott Street site expecting more of the same.
Unfortunately I was deeply disappointed, as their new home is big, bright and bare, the food was rubbish and the staff made it seem like our custom was an inconvenience.
I had the falafel burger, which was £4.75 and sounded like a safe bet, but it was greasy and stodgy (and didn’t resemble falafel even slightly) and came with the cheapest of chips (a tiny portion of greasy ‘skinny’ fries).
Although it’s open to the public, this is the School of Art’s student union and the food couldn’t have been more stereotypically studenty if it tried — think cheap and nasty freezer food.
To be fair, they’ve only just moved in a couple of months go, so maybe these are just teething problems. I just hope the food improves and it returns to being the un-​studenty union it once was.

I like the art school! Laid back and fun and total hipster central. But hey, when’s that ever a bad thing?
This was the first time I’d been here to eat and we were really pleased with our meal. It’s really good value for money. I would say that the menu isn’t exactly huge but there are a few less pub-​like items to choose from like halloumi and falafel burgers and chorizo mayo (nomnom). The hand cut chips are awesome too.
Portions are pretty small, but you get a glass or wine or beer with your meal and we felt pretty full when we were done!
As for drinks of an evening, I really like this place! It’s not pricey and you’re ears are not assaulted by the usual cheesy chart tunes that some of the other bars in the town bombard their patrons with (thank God.) There’s space to dance and there’s outside seating too as well as a pool table and cosy wee booths to relax in.
Will definitely be visiting again!

On a prowl down Sauchiehall Street on Sunday there, we thought we would jump into this place, the former address of Capitol.
First off, you need to go in a side entrance with an inviting arrow. Once inside. it’s really nice. Nowhere near as shiny as Capitol, but it retains the same booths which is a bonus.
Good selection at the bar, with reasonable prices for Sauchiehall Street. Decent live DJ as well, but not loud enough that you couldn’t speak which was what we were after.
Quite laidback overall, which suited us just fine.
Would go back.