The Curlers Rest
The pub takes its name from the pond that used to freeze behind it, where the Partick curlers played, and the building is two 18th-century cottages knocked into one room over two floors.
Why go
It sits at the busiest corner of Byres Road, right beside Hillhead subway, which is why it works as a first or last stop rather than a destination. Nicholson's, the Mitchells & Butlers arm that runs it, keeps the beer honest: CAMRA's February 2024 survey found three changing cask ales alongside two regulars, running Scottish and English, plus a world beer list. Stewart 80/- is the regular to look for, a 4.4% strong mild out of Edinburgh. The ground floor is the open-plan room with the full range. Upstairs there is an open fire and a shorter beer list, and three function rooms behind it.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Stewart 80/-, or whatever is on the three rotating handpulls. Food runs until 10pm every night, which is later than most of the Byres Road kitchens.
- Avoid: settling in upstairs if you came for the beer. CAMRA's survey notes
a more limited range served in the upstairs bar with its open fire.
Take the fire on a cold night and the ground floor on a thirsty one.1
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA (surveyed February 2024):
Taking its name from a local curling pond, this west end Nicholson's pub was originally a conversion from two 18th-century cottages. The large open-plan pub space is spread over two floors.
1 - GlasgowWorld (March 2026): in its West End pub guide,
The Curlers Rest in Glasgow's West End has a history dating back to the 17th century, making it the oldest pub on Byres Road.
That claim is local reckoning rather than a documented record.2 - Local rec: Jeff's save, his note below.
Good to know
- Timing: noon to midnight Monday to Thursday and Sunday, noon to 1am Friday and Saturday. Food noon to 10pm daily, per CAMRA's 2024 survey.
- Booking: walk-in. Three function rooms are bookable for a group.
- Getting there: 256-260 Byres Road, at the Hillhead subway entrance, a few minutes from the university gates.
Craft signals (beer: a managed-house rotation)
Two signals put this at seasonal. CAMRA's record is three changing lines over two regulars, and one of the regulars is a St Austell beer rebadged as the pub's own Curlers Pale Ale, which is a managed-house house beer rather than a buying decision1. The second is the Nicholson's cask programme itself, which supplies the guest list nationally on a seasonal cycle. Jeff's own words, reasonable cask, are the right description of what that produces.
Jeff's take (his words)
- His review (Jeff, first-hand, 4 stars, 23 December 2017): "A solid local pub with a good selection of cask ales as well as modern craft beer usually including some IPAs. It has a very cozy traditional atmosphere. The food is OK, but not something I get excited for."
- Note: "Local pub near Uni. Great atmosphere, cheap drinks. Reasonable cask ale. Food is ok. Popular Sunday lunch, convenient but not noteworthy. A good haven from byres chaos."
- Google review, December 2017 (four stars): "A solid local pub with a good selection of cask ales as well as modern craft beer usually including some IPAs. It has a very cozy traditional atmosphere." The kitchen he rates plainly: "The food is OK, but not something I get excited for."
Verdict
listed — The Curlers Rest lands on the board as a useful one. It is a Nicholson's pub knocked together from two 18th-century cottages on the site of the curling pond that named it, and it stands beside Hillhead subway with three rotating casks, two regulars and food until 10 every night. Jeff calls the atmosphere and the price right and the cask reasonable, which is the correct ceiling: it is a well-run managed house on a student street, not a beer destination, and no award or critic argues otherwise.