West Side Tavern

Two Glasgow operators name this bar and they name different things, one the tap Paloma and one the pizza slices, and the only critic who has scored it agrees with both of them.

Why go

Joshua Barr opened it in late December 2022 in the old Bauhaus unit, and he is the son of Colin Barr, who has run Glasgow venues for decades (Scotsman). The look comes from New York dive bars, Minetta Tavern and Fanelli Cafe, done in wood panelling, maroon vinyl and velvet, with a Trainspotting still on the wall showing Ewan McGregor outside Volcano, the nightclub his father owned. Two things in here are built rather than bought. The pizza runs to fourteen inches, thin and bubbly, cut across a stand tavern style, with Alex Brady out of Beirm in the kitchen. The tap cocktails were designed by Max Macaulay, which is the difference between a cocktail on tap and a shortcut. There is a large beer garden behind it.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the pizza, and a taptail with it. Steven Turner of OUTLIER comes here "for some slices" and Julie Lin of Ga Ga says "the Paloma on tap is top-notch" ref. Erskine's snack pick was the anchovies, "small piquant slivers... swimming in a deeply flavoured garlic oil", which she wanted several plates of ref.
• Avoid: the linguine vongole, and any expectation of chilli heat. Both the pasta and the spice boi read mild in the only scored review of the place.

What locals & experts say

• Julie Lin, chef and co-owner of Ga Ga Kitchen + Bar, in Glasgow's industry guide: "I also love West Side Tavern for their cocktails - the Paloma on tap is top-notch." ref
• Steven Turner, owner of OUTLIER, in the same guide, on his rare nights off: "when I can pry myself away from work I'm going to Errol's Hot Pizza or West Side Tavern for some slices." ref
• Rosalind Erskine, Scotsman Food and Drink, March 2023, ambience 8/10 and food 6.5/10. Her verdict: "West Side Tavern has a warm, welcoming atmosphere and I'd definitely return for drinks and a pizza in the future." Her criticism is just as specific. The charred hispi cabbage carried "not much hint of the promised charring"; on the pasta, "the clams, while fresh, didn't add much to this dish"; on the pizza, "there's not much kick from the chillies." ref
• The pattern across all three: every positive line is about the bar, the room, the snacks or the pizza. Nobody defends the pasta.

Good to know

• Where: 162 Dumbarton Road, a few minutes from Kelvinhall subway, on the Partick stretch.
• Timing: no source we can read publishes hours and the venue's own site returns almost nothing, so check the Maps pin before you set out. It trades into the evening seven days, Sundays included.
• Booking: walk in for a pair. Parties of ten or more go through the venue's own group route.
• Outside: there is a large beer garden, which is the reason to pick this over an indoor room on a good day.
• Hygiene: the Food Hygiene Information Scheme records a Pass, rating date 3 April 2025. Pass is the clean result in the Scottish scheme. The team's other bar, The Locale at Charing Cross, holds its own separate Pass. ref
• Provenance: added by curation on 30 July 2026 after the chef-vote pass found two independent industry votes and no row on the list.

Jeff's take (his words)

Nothing here is Jeff's. The bar is not on his saved list and he has written no note on it, so no opinion is attributed to him.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Worth the detour for the pizza and the tap cocktails, and order along those lines. Two Glasgow operators name it and they name different things: Julie Lin of Ga Ga says 'the Paloma on tap is top-notch', and OUTLIER's Steven Turner goes 'for some slices'. Rosalind Erskine's Scotsman review agrees with both and disagrees with the rest, giving the room 8 out of 10 and the food 6.5, with the anchovies worth several plates and the linguine vongole short of the sum of its parts. The pizza is the reason: fourteen inches, thin and bubbly, cut across a stand tavern style, with Beirm's Alex Brady in the kitchen. The tap-cocktail line was built by Max Macaulay, which is house work rather than a gun and a mixer. The room is a New York dive rebuilt in Partick, taken from Minetta Tavern and Fanelli Cafe, with a Trainspotting still on the wall from the nightclub the owner's father ran. It holds at should-visit because the only scored review puts the kitchen at 6.5 outside the pizza, and because the drinks programme has no documented cycle behind it.