The Bon Accord.

The Bon Accord

The Bon Accord opened on North Street in 1971, when a pint of real ale was hard to find anywhere in Glasgow, and its gantry now runs to 380 malts priced from roughly £3 to £900 a measure.

Why go

CAMRA has it in the Good Beer Guide and says the pub has been at the forefront of the Glasgow real ale scene for over half a century, with eight handpumps that lean on small Scottish breweries and cask cider when it lands (CAMRA). It has taken CAMRA's Glasgow Bar of the Year seven times and runs three beer festivals a year, in February, June and October (Scotland's Pubs and Bars). The pub changed hands at the end of May 2026, when the McDonagh family gave the keys back to Star Pubs and Ken Stott and Euan McMillan took the lease (SLTN). They also run The Ben Nevis in Finnieston, so the trad sessions and the whisky knowledge come with them.

Order this / avoid

• Order: start on the handpumps and ask what came in this week, then work the gantry. The spread from £3 to £900 a measure means you can taste sideways through Speyside for the price of a round, or spend a mortgage payment on one pour, and the staff will tell you which is which3.
• Avoid: relying on the food. The kitchen is being reworked under the new lease, with the stated plan to run seven days and add modern Scottish dishes, and CAMRA warns that meal service may vary1.

What locals & experts say

• CAMRA Good Beer Guide entry: the pub has been at the forefront of the Glasgow real ale scene for over half a century, with eight changing beers on.1
• CAMRA beer record (updated 22 June 2026), read for cadence: eight changing beers and zero regular beers, so no handpump is committed to a house brand, with only Timothy Taylor Golden Best showing repeat sightings. Seven CAMRA Glasgow Bar of the Year wins are a judgment on cellar work, not on the room.1
• Untappd (public check-in feed, 30 July 2026): the last logged pours run Fyne Ales Jarl, Otherworld Czech Dark Lager and Sandford Orchards Devon Scrumpy, three unrelated producers plus cask cider, which is the second signal that the lines actually turn.7
• SLTN (2026), new lessee Ken Stott: We love the Bon Accord's history and its unique atmosphere. We are keen to preserve its cosy, lived-in feel and features like its lovely worn leather armchairs, as well as maintain its authentic, down-to-earth character, which Paul McDonagh created over so many years.2
• Awards: CAMRA Bar of the Year for Glasgow seven times, which is a verdict on cellar work3. A 2014 UK best whisky bar title is also reported, though no source found this pass names the awarding body.
• Best Bar None Scotland, 2015 national winner, and the citation is worth reading because it is about the operation rather than the drink. Chief Inspector Brian Gibson of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, one of the scheme's sponsors, told the trade: Bon Accord won the award for best independent bar. What they're doing is amazing, it's more like a community hub than a bar, they're training young people, donating to charities and much more.5
• Local rec: Jeff's save, his note below.

Good to know

• Timing: shuts around 11pm, earlier than the Finnieston pubs, so make it the middle of a night rather than the end. Check the Maps pin, since hours are unsettled after the handover.
• Booking: walk in. Groups of 10 to 20 can book a cellar tour with food and samples.
• Getting there: North Street at Charing Cross, a short walk from Sauchiehall Street and the M8 footbridge.

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Another iconic pub famous for whisky. Tied with SMWS behind the pot still."

Verdict

should-visit — The Bon Accord is worth the detour for cask and for the whisky gantry. This is a real-ale pub, and Jeff is explicit that it is not a craft beer bar and does not turn over the 900 beers a year its own listing copy claims, so that figure is out. What holds up is how the beer is kept and how deep the spirits go: CAMRA's June 2026 record shows eight changing handpumps with no regular beer on any of them, the pub has taken CAMRA Glasgow Bar of the Year seven times, which is a verdict on cellar work rather than a heritage listing, and the gantry runs to 380 malts. Depth is the axis here, not weekly rotation. The May 2026 handover to the Ben Nevis operators is a watch item, and they are adding whisky events rather than trimming the list.