The Winged Ox Bar and Kitchen

Argh. I so badly wanted to fall madly in love with this place, and I mostly did!
…but the food just wasn’t up to scratch, so it’s getting a 3.
The Winged Ox looks über-​cool, the décor is awesome and there are loads of interesting things dotted about the place which I always enjoy. The have a seriously decent selection of beer, including their own West beer (so that’s definitely me sold!) and it’s just a really nice space to sit and enjoy a drink in. Were I reviewing purely on sitting and having a drink here it would be a definite 4 with potential for a 5 — the music was great and everything, so I can say with some certainty that I’ll be back. (It’s also dog-​friendly, a bonus for dog owners and dogless-​dog-​lovers alike!)
But the food was… meh. I ordered the beef brisket dip sandwich and was very excited about it, but honestly it really wasn’t anything to write home about. The brisket itself was really tough, so tough in fact that I couldn’t actually bite through it and had to remove it from the sandwich, cut it up and put it back in so I could try and experience the sandwich as it had been intended. The cheese, peppers and mushrooms were really tasty and they definitely saved it. The bread (allegedly brioche) was really dry, but I figured since it comes with a dip — which was *delicious* — this wasn’t a huge deal. Mr Debs got some chicken wings and didn’t finish them, something I’ve never seen him do before, ever. He said they were ok but that was it. Just ok. We also got chips and sweet potato chips, and there was nothing to complain about there.
I’d probably be willing to give the food another shot, given the rave reviews from a few Unilocalers whose opinions I trust on here, plus the grilled cheese sandwiches look excellent. And as I said, as somewhere to go for a drink it’s absolutely great! Maybe there’ll be an update with good news in future, I certainly hope so :)

The Winged Ox Bar and Kitchen at Saint Lukes offers ‘food for the soul’ ranging from pizzas to the ‘last supper’ which comprises ribs, wings, brisket, pork shoulder, house slaw, fries and brioche buns (not for the faint hearted or those with a small appetite!).
For our late lunch we ordered the grilled cheese sandwich with Jack Daniels, mustard and onion chutney with fries and the beef dip which was smoked beef brisket, caramelised onions, mushrooms and peppers on a brioche style roll served with melted provolone and beef jus dip with sweet potato fries. Everything tasted great and was just the right portion size.
There was a slight mix up with my order and I was really impressed with the way it was dealt with. The staff are very friendly and attentive but in a laid back way.
It’s a short walk from the City Centre and you could even have a wander round the Barras on the way there.

So as the fashion is now there is of course distressed metal, brickwork and industrial looking finishing everywhere. Wooden benches are of course present and a bicycle hanging from the ceiling makes up the room centrepiece. The food menu options are «American» style and they have the bright White «8 mile» advertising boards. There is loads of places doing this style of food in Glasgow now, but is this one any good?
A lot of the food sounds great so it was hard to pick, there is everything from burgers to wings, to soup to pizza, sandwiches to well just about everything else. (There was also vegan options I noticed) I had a Mac and cheese toastie with brisket and fries on the side. I also shared in some poutine. The toastie with brisket inside was amazing. Great tasty mac and cheese. With lovely brisket. The fries were standard but nice. The poutine was pretty average, (not enough gravy) but the sandwich made up for it.
This place is good. It’s dug friendly. There is free parking. The staff were friendly and the food was good. The area is a bit rough round the edges, but that does not bother me. Good solid place for a tasty meal. Although not doing anything ground breaking-​ly new it is certainly worth a look.

I think this is an interesting addition to the East End and a great re-​use of an old building combined with the extension to form this bar. From afar the pub looked closed as the main doors to the church were closed, but you actually enter the pub from the side door to the extension.
The décor of the bar is quite industrial looking, but also has wooden floors and wooden benches with seating at various heights. Booths have sockets with plugs, but also USB sockets –great for recharging your phone. On one of the TV screens in the bar they had a time lapse film of the creation of the mural which is on the outside wall, a nice touch. There is also an old Coca Cola vending machine, and a tandem bike in the ceiling!
Drinks on tap include the local St Mungo and Drygate options, as well as a range of bottled options. They serve glass bottles of Irn Bru in cool chunky glass tumblers. We didn’t eat on this occasion, but were happy to note vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, fishy and meaty options– something for everyone it seems!

The Winged Ox Bar and Kitchen is the bar and restaurant (funnily enough!) at the bold new venue, Saint Luke’s. It would have seemed absurd to open a stylish bar, restaurant and events venue in this location a few years ago, but Saint Lukes is testament that things are changing around the Barras!
I’ve visited a few times now, both for drinks as well as to eat — each time an excellent experience. The décor is hip but unpretentious, with booths, regular tables, and industrial-​style movable tall tables with stools. There’s table service, but you can order and pay for drinks at the bar too, they’re quite relaxed however you want to play it. Their own-​label lager is by award-​winning local brewery, West (rebadged St. Mungo’s I think) and an excellent pint. A wide selection of bottled craft beers available too.
I took the parentals here on a Friday night for food, probably not the ideal place to take one’s folks if you like a quiet traditional meal, but they love checking out new Glasgow venues and loved it. While waiting outside for them I got chatted with one of the owners who made sure they had a table for us which was nice. A friendly bunch, the service was warm and welcoming, but relaxed too. My kind of place. I had spicy chicken pizza, Mum had the meatloaf and Dad enjoyed the Jambalaya — all were really generous portions and super-​tasty. The menu is focused on Cajun southern soul food, and does it perfectly.
Only tiny gripe was that the DJ started while we were still eating, and it got pretty loud… I guess it was a Friday night though, but it might have been better to start quieter and build up gradually, especially as there were a good number of people still dining.
Don’t be put off that The Winged Ox is East End — It’s only a short walk from Merchant City. And the East End is the new West End, don’t you know!

We started badly. I set the satnav for St Luke’s and we got onto the M74 heading west before I realised we were clearly going to a different St Luke’s. Bum! So we had to head back through the city centre and past the Barras to our destination, St Luke’s church. I’d seen the church before and so was slightly disappointed to note that the restaurant/​bar bit was clearly in a new extension! Ah well.
It could be a bit of a boring, rectangular room, but they’ve broken it up a bit with booths, long tables made of trendy scaffolding and heavy, industrial bar stools. There are big tellies above the booths on one wall — good for today’s rugby — and angled mirrors on the other. The bar looks substantial and industrially trendy too. Unfortunately when we first walked in we were verbally accosted by our server. «What would you like to drink?», and instead of asking him what they had I cast a quick eye and noted with annoyance that my best tap option was Tennents. Not so, if I’d looked behind the bar at the wall, there are many more options including my favoured West Hefeweisen. Luckily I realised that by the end of my first pint.
So a simple menu of soul food then, a Louisiana mix of Cajun, Creole, and burgers. We both opted for chicken wings, mine with bbq sauce, hers with honey and garlic, and for mains a cheeseburger for her, and a smoked pulled chicken pizza for myself.
It took a while for our food to come, and when it did it all came at once, for which they apologised and gave us a discount. Good of them, especially as it turned out our chicken wings were so hot we couldn’t pick them up until we’d finished our mains anyway. My partner enjoyed her burger, that much was clear, and the fries were apparently good — I could tell, because for once I didn’t get to nick any. My pizza didn’t impress me at first. It was a bit dry round the edges, a good deal smaller that it’s 12″ tag, and had less topping on than I would like. As I got on with it though I liked it more, it actually had a good bit of bite and for the money was pretty good value. The size made me glad of my huge wings though. They were lovely and the sticky bbq sauce was supreme and sticky as hell. When I used my serviette my hands were covered in bits of torn paper!
The only thing that’s difficult to forgive about the whole experience really was the loudness of the manager’s bird of paradise flower jumper. I did think about taking a star off for that!