CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

GLASGOW - Glasgow, City Centre, Steps Bar

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

62 Glassford Street, Glasgow, G1 1UP

Tel: 0141 552 3059

Draught Beer & Cider: No real ale

Public Transport: Underground: St Enoch; Railway Station: Argyll St / Queen St

Pub Food: Rolls all day

Listed Status: Grade B

View this pub on a local map

This spartan city centre bar is an amazing survivor; refitted in 1938, it has barely altered since. It is one of three impressive 1930s Art Deco survivors in Glasgow - the others being the Portland Arms, also in this guide, and Rogano's an upmarket seafood restaurant and bar. Situated in the ground floor of a late 18th-century four-storey building, the bar has been owned by the same family for 40 years; its name comes from the two steps into the pub. Has an Art Deco frontage of Vitrolite panelling and frosted glass window, one of which was replaced in 2006.

The interior is complete with sleek veneer-panelled walls, the original back gantry of Australian walnut, and the original bar counter. The hooped stall on the counter indicates an area for use only by bar staff offering waiter service to the customers in the splendid sitting room at the rear left. This small room has more sleek veneer panelled walls, original fixed seating and a stained glass window depicting the Cunard liner the Queen Mary with a spitfire flying above. Why not take a seat here and press the bell, as it is still possible to take advantage of this increasingly rare service. The only changes have been the replacement of floor coverings, the new gents' toilets at the rear and the adding of a ladies' for the first time in the 1950s.