Devil of Brooklyn
The same room sells espresso at 8am and espresso martinis at midnight: since 5 August 2024 the speakeasy has traded as The Devil's Roast on weekday days, then switched back to a cocktail bar until 1am (GlasgowWorld).
Why go
The bar opened in 2022 behind a discreet door on Renfield Street. The coffee identity is the newer half and the better documented one, and the sourcing is worth reading: house espresso and decaf come from The Good Coffee Cartel, specifically their Bronco blend of Brazilian and Colombian beans, described as "giving you that character with hazelnut and chocolate notes," with guest espresso from Thomson's, a Glasgow roaster since 1841. Mochas and hot chocolate are built on Bare Bones Chocolate, the tea is organic loose leaf from Tea Lab, they make the syrups in house, and the pastry comes from Wheatberry Bakery and Yolk and Pod. Every one of those suppliers is a Glasgow business. What no citable source describes is the cocktail list, which is the bar's actual business, so this entry knows the daytime better than the night.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the house espresso, then whatever cake is in from Wheatberry or Yolk and Pod. The iced matcha is the drink one reviewer singled out, and the craft sodas are built on their own syrups: a strawberry and basil one was
refreshing and fruity
2. - Avoid: turning up for pizza. The name is Brooklyn, the food is cake. And do not plan a weekday afternoon coffee, because at 4pm the counter closes and the room goes back to being a bar.
What locals & experts say
- Emma Mykytyn, Foodie Explorers (9 August 2024, updated February 2025), on the matcha:
It was so good to get matcha that tastes like matcha. I love that bitterness, it was sweetened naturally instead of just a green coloured sweet milk which is normally served.
Her verdict:Thumbs up from both of us. Peaceful surroundings, tasty coffee and fresh drinks, plus cakes that will numb your brain trying to choose one.
2 - Liam Smillie, GlasgowWorld (12 September 2024):
The speakeasy style cocktail bar opened back in 2022 and still is open for service in the evenings - now during the day the bar just swaps espresso martinis for regular espressos.
The same report notes thatover a dozen food and drink influencers in Glasgow have visited the space, garnering engagement in the thousands
on Reels and TikTok.1 - Nothing citable covers the cocktails. Listing platforms name a signature serve and describe the room, and Tripadvisor is full of praise, but none of that is usable here, so the bar's night-time reputation is left unasserted.
- Food hygiene: Pass, inspected 20 December 2024, on a single register record carrying both trading names3.
Good to know
- Timing: coffee Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Cocktail bar in the evenings until 1am, and a bar all day at weekends, so there is no weekend coffee service.
- Booking: walk in. No venue website exists to book through: one domain is parked, the other does not resolve, and the accounts are on Instagram.
- Getting there: 42 Renfield Street, at West George Street, five minutes from both Queen Street and Central stations.
Verdict
could-visit — A speakeasy-style cocktail bar on Renfield Street since 2022 that in August 2024 started opening at 8am as The Devil's Roast, so the same room pours espresso on weekday mornings and espresso martinis at night. The daytime sourcing is all Glasgow and all named: Good Coffee Cartel's Bronco as the house espresso, Thomson's as guest, Bare Bones chocolate, Tea Lab tea, pastry from Wheatberry and Yolk and Pod. The cocktails, which are the main event, have never been covered by a source this DB can cite, so the evidence stops at one blogger's thumbs-up on the coffee. Worth a stop either side of the clock if you are in the city centre; not yet worth a detour.