What is the difference between a bar and a pub? The atmosphere? Table service? A kitchen? Bars can be more consciously on-trend, driven by décor, concept or product, while a good pub feels both above and beyond such concerns. After all, if you’re never in fashion then you can never fall out of fashion.

Sometimes these spheres seem particularly aligned, and that’s very much the case in Glasgow at the moment where several openings are punting their old-fashioned pubby ways. Two brand-new spots in particular, take the ‘great British pub’ as a starting point. 

The Noble recently arrived in the centre of the financial district, aiming to combine the ‘warmth of a traditional pub with the refinement of a wine bar.’ The Clarence in Hyndland, latterly doing boutique seafood as Shucks, has seen its owners deciding it might fare better as a classic pub while still offering sole on-the-bone and a fancy chicken kyiv.

Is this gastropub 2.0? That term implied seasonality and a market menu, an elevated approach to food in a pub context. While none of this is news to any foodie, it’s interesting to consider if the notion of relaxed dining would land the same if the term was ‘gastro bar’, which sounds strangely experimental and cold. ‘People just want to be comfortable,’ suggests Courtney Flynn, head of sales, PR & comms for The Superlative Restaurant Group that owns The Noble, where the hotdogs are made of venison and the Guinness is front-and-centre. 

The influence of London’s much-lauded The Devonshire is evident and that’s no bad thing. ‘We went to lots of venues in cities in England and realised the centre of Glasgow was missing that sort of elevated pub, one where you feel you can just drop in, no booking, and check it out.’ The Noble calls itself a ‘public house’, which seems like another canny piece of phrasing evoking both ‘pub’ and something a little bit more.

Less performance, less booking, more relaxing. It’s a shift from the last few years where there’s been an obsession with requiring a reservation, and where city centres have struggled to draw punters. Yet, as Flynn observes, many businesses in the financial district have now gone back to core office working Tuesday through Thursday, so the demand has presented itself.

‘The people that live or work nearby are everything,’ says Lynsey Cameron, manager of The Gate, a spot near the Barras that’s one of the city’s finest cocktail and whisky bars. Yet it calls itself ‘a modern Scottish pub.’ Traders come in from the Barras market at the weekend, while a proximity to gig venues maintains a flow of occasional customers. ‘A five-star pub experience’ is what Cameron calls it. ‘You can get a great cocktail or a great pint or all sorts of whisky, and if you want to sit at the bar and have some chat that’s also cool. People like being in a pub because it feels as though it belongs to someone.’

No more reconditioned scaffolding and raw minimalism. Even Drygate’s taproom, one of the best examples of that industrial beer-hall aesthetic, recently added a pool table and a dartboard. Pubs feel less fussy and, as Cameron points out, are typically less expensive.

In Southside, think of the immense popularity with the young crowd of unequivocally old-style boozers like The Rose Reilly, The Allison Arms and The Laurieston. What makes a great pub is a sort of alchemy. Watching these places rediscover and reclaim the traits is fascinating. What’s more, you can sit at the bar to watch it unfold, and you won’t even need a booking.