The Common Rooms

I’ve been in here twice — and both occasions I’ve got nothing really positive to say about it, other than compliment the staff.
On both occasions I’ve been in it’s been during the day so it was pretty quiet. My first experience started off badly — I was waiting on a friend finishing work in nearby Dumbarton Road, so had half an hour to kill, it was raining so I popped in here. I was the only person in the entire place, yet the girl on the bar decided to turn up the music to an ear-​bludgeoning level. I drank up and left pretty quickly.
My second trip here was in very similar circumstances. There were maybe five or six people in and the volume level was a lot more suitable for 2pm on a Tuesday. I was starving, so decided to opt for a burger and chips. The burger itself was nothing of note, but the service was prompt, efficient and friendly.
The service on my second trip allowed me to forgive the service on my previous trip.
This place could be so much more — the potential it has isn’t being met. It’s a good sized pub, it’s in an excellent location and it could do well given the footfall in that part of town. But it falls short in every area — other than the service.
The real lack of atmosphere is a major problem for me.

The Common Rooms is a decidedly lacklustre establishment — it has no atmosphere (partly through a lack of other clientele!) but does do what it says on the tin «Good food, average service». Through proximity to uni, it was Tuesday’s payday lunch location as it serves up a decent burger — nice sized burger with a herby flavour, no mayo on the bun (my favourite feature!), chunky chips and a lunchtime meal deal with the burger and a soft drink for £5 — job done.

The food is probably the best for value and quality in West End. Staff are very friendly and helpfull. It has a pub quiz on a tuesday with lots of the locals and can be very funny and nice way to relax for few hrs. Friday\Saturday are Dj night cool music and good vibe.

I didn’t know what to expect from The Common Rooms. It looked a bit too student trendy for my tastes, and as the other guys have said it seems pretty quiet.
However, that can work to its advantage. Usually on a Saturday night, bars up Ashton Lane and nearer the top end of Byres Road will be rammed, thus making it harder to get a seat and a drink. The Common Rooms are busy enough on a Saturday night to generate a buzz, but not so busy that you will feel like a sardine while waiting at the bar or in a queue for the toilet.
It has a big enough booze selection, has fairly neutral, contemporary décor and some bigger booths and tables for groups to settle themselves in. Like Gordon, I like the unusual layout of this place, with the partition between the two sides of the bar meaning that you feel like you’re drinking in two different places in one night!
It’s cheap enough to be affordable, but not so cheap that it’s offputting. The bar staff seem nice and put up with the riot that was my friend’s birthday, wherein he made about ten rowdy speeches in five minutes while his mates poured vodka and Irn Bru into his pint of Fosters. It may have been funny for us to watch, but perhaps not so much for the bar staff or other customers as it was quite a mellow night. And I for one hate people who are noisy in bars, so I always get that element of shame when I’m within a riotous bunch. Nevertheless it was a pleasant evening and we didn’t seem to ruin anyone else’s, so good job!
Nowt else to say about this place other than it does the job if you’re looking for a few affordable drinks in a low key setting.

Not the rock bar i was expecting but still really enjoyed it! The dj on Saturday night plays a wide variety of music (staying away from the top 40).
The menu looks like a typical ar menu but it was far superior to normal pub grub! Magners now on tap which is also a plus!

Nice pub with friendly staff, good food and comfy seating. Good place to watch football without fearing for your life.

The last time I was in this pub was a while ago when it was called Russells and it was absolutely dead. Reincarnated as the Common Rooms (a better name anyway), I walked in on a Saturday evening recently to see that it still looked really quiet. About to turn straight back out again, cursing myself for even thinking about going here, I suddenly noticed that there was actually another separate room, which was absolutely buzzing. Duh!
This is interesting, how there are two separate equally large rooms, with the same bar extending into both of them at opposite sides. An interesting layout that you don’t see in a lot of pubs. However, many people might, like me, only see the first room (especially just looking through the window) and think that it is the whole bar and be put off by how quiet it is.
There was a relaxing, happy Saturday night atmosphere when I was in recently, with a good few people both up at the bar and sitting in the nice booth-​style tables — an atmosphere that was not very evident when I visited it as Russells. Drinks are relatively inexpensive — two pints of Fosters were £5.40. There is also quite inexpensive food available, with a good £6 beer and burger deal on weekdays.
The indie music in the background — not too loud — and the live Spanish football game added to the atmosphere. There was a quite mixed clientele, though mainly young on the whole. I also quite liked the murals of famous musicians and actors that were on the wall — a nice touch.
The bottom half of Byres Road is always much less vibrant, though the Common Rooms is one of the few pubs that lie here, providing a decent alternative to places like Tennents and Curlers.

I think they might have their slogan in reverse; the bar staff were young, casual and friendly. The food is… not so great. Okay, maybe I’m being a little harsh; it is only a pub after all, but if I wanted oven chips, I’d just go to Iceland.
I agree with the previous reviewer; it was very very quiet — you could almost cut the lack of ambience with a knife…
Yes, it is only a pub, and in that sense you should cut it some slack. But when there’s so many better, buzzing pubs nearby, why bother?

For a pub on Byres road, even with decent food, Common Rooms is quiet. Even on the Quiz night, it’s quite quiet, which means more chance of winning (waaay!) but… you know. Winning isn’t everything…
I like the boothes, and the fact that the sport on the tv is barely audible (thank you!), and it’s not overly pricey. The food is nice too — usual pub grubesq food types, and nothing to note that’s overly amazing.
So to sum up? It’s just quiet. Very quiet.

it’s always been pretty quiet in here any time i’ve been inand that’s no bad thing. i like quiet pubs — i really do. just somewhere you can sit and be… in peace, no less.
if you’ve been out romancing it’s definately a good shout for that apres-​dinner drink — nice little booths to hide away in.
there appears to usually be some sort of sport on the televisions, but the volume is always minimal (so you won’t get bothered by it).

Can’t remember what this was called previously but in its current incarnation its a pretty bog standard boozer. On the evidence of my visit last Sunday it’s a better place to start a crawl on Byers Road than to end one.

Now called the Common Room.
Service at the table was friendly and helpful without being pushy or invasive.
I had the Malaysian Lamb Curry, my Friend had the Irish Stew and both were tasty, filling and warming for a cold night. The Garlic bread was really nice.
The football was on, bit was not too loud the preclude chatting with friends and the environment was friendly.

Good service, friendly staff — an all round good bar