Briony C.

I'd have bet my first-born child that I'd already written this review, but what do you know, I never did. Woops. Sorry, The Raven, you deserve better than that. I've actually been to The Raven loads of times, too. I have no recollection of what it was before, but it's been open for about a year and is in a great location on Renfield Street which means it's a good meeting spot before the cinema/movies, before dinner or even just for an afternoon pint. I like the look from the outside - a bit modern and funky without being wanky/hideous. Inside it's comfy and cosy, and generally has a chilled vibe. I still haven't properly explored the other half of the place - I seem to either hang out in the main bar area or upstairs, but it's pretty comfy where ever you are. The decor is well done without being OTT and I love the drinks selection - say the words Outaspace Apple Ale by Drygate and I'll be there in less than 10 minutes. They have Drygate beers here as well as an ever-changing list of interesting beers you don't get at too many other places. I can't say the food menu is really my kind of thing - it's mostly smoked meats and BBQ food which I like when the occasion calls, but that doesn't happen too often. On my most recent visit here we were just having drinks and then heading to dinner but I'd consider getting a starter if I was feeling pre-dinner-hanger-rage approaching. Staff are nice, the vibe tends to be pretty relaxed and this bar is classier than quite a lot of other city centre bars, so I definitely think it's worth a visit. The upstairs area is also worth a look if you're looking for a function/events space.

Clare S.

As I write this review, the morning after the night before, I'm still utterly *stuffed* from the dinner we had last night at The Raven. Looking for somewhere a bit different to go for a quick drink and food before the cinema, we decided to come here and get some nice smoked food in our bellies. And we over-ordered. MASSIVELY over-ordered. Starting with the nachos, which are made with flour rather than corn which gives an interesting pie-crust like texture. Sounds weird, but actually it's lovely and more-ish. I can't handle spicy food too well, so I had to scrape a lot of the little green balls of fire known as jalapenos off them, but they were really tasty (and came to the table in 2 mins after our order. No word of a lie!) Then came along the sharing platter, and 3 sliders (I know, I know...rookie error ordering that much between *two* of us)...the sliders were nice enough, we chose pulled pork, chicken and the normal burger but they were completely overshadowed by the slow cooked platter. Chicken which was dropping off the bone, pulled pork covered in the nicest seasoning, and ribs to top it off. The chicken was my favourite, and I could probably happily eat it all over again! The ribs were my least favourite, a bit fatty and on the dry side, but they had a top notch crowd to fight for attention over. If you're looking for generous portions of tasty food, then definitely come along here.

Stephanie B.

I've now been here a few times, for either food or drinks, and feel comfortable saying that I'm a fan. The Raven is a good place in city centre to get some craft beer and BBQ. I'll fully admit that the craft and cask beer selections aren't especially large for a place that brags about their range, but it's a flaw I'm willing to overlook for the BBQ. I've gone for lunch and I've gone for dinner, and both are pleasing. Lunch has some really good values and dinner has just some excellent options. The last time I went for food, it was with a group of around 8 for a newly formed dinner meetup. Despite not being clever enough to book ahead of time, we were able to get a table pretty quickly. Our server was attentive, asking for each of our drink orders as we arrived. And the food was all I promised the group. Some people got items off the winter sale going on at the time and others shared meat platters. Everything impressed the group beyond my already high sales points. There was pulled pork, chips with cheese, and too much for me to recall at this point. I do know it was delicious and that we were thinking about going again despite the reason for the group being to try new places.

Debs M.

This isn't an easy thing for me to do as I hate having to give bad reviews. I so badly wanted to love this place but I was left massively disappointed! Upon hearing of The Raven I was desperate to try it as it sounded like a Debs Haven (minus the whole sports thing, but we can ignore that) so I decided to go there for my birthday with the boyfriend. When we got there it all seemed good, nice decor, great atmosphere as the place was buzzing around 6pm on a Thursday night, and really excellent music! The staff were friendly and we were seated and attended to pretty quickly. I opted for the cask ale tasters on a plank, due to my wanting to try everything and also my love of smaller versions of things. That's definitely a great idea because it means you don't have to commit to an entire pint or half pint, and if (like me) you aren't too keen on one of them, you don't feel that bad about not finishing it! The menu sounded amazing - I'd already decided what I was having (as I always do when an online menu is available) and was really looking forward to my mac and cheese, pulled pork and beef burger sliders. With them being 3 for £10 I thought this was great value for money, but this unfortunately wasn't the case. I didn't eat much of the mac and cheese burger because it just wasn't nice, it felt greasy and gloopy (technical term) but I had another two sliders so I persevered. Have to say I couldn't fault the beef burger slider, that was pretty tasty but certainly nowhere near the standard of other Glasgow burger institutions. By this point I was pretty full (it was my birthday so I'd spent most of the day eating!) so I got my pulled pork slider wrapped up to take away with me - in fairness, they did ask me instead of the other way around which made a nice change! My boyfriend had the pulled pork burrito with chips and he seemed to enjoy that, I nibbled a bit of the pulled pork off my slider and it was tasty so I was looking forward to having it for lunch the next day or something. However. Within about an hour of returning home I was...er...revisited by said meal and the lovely bit of birthday cake I'd just eaten. I've got a bit of a stupid stomach at the best of times and considering I'd done nothing but eat rubbish all day I figured that was probably the cause. But when I received a text from my boyfriend early the next morning that simply read "DON'T EAT THE PULLED PORK SLIDER." I realised that it wasn't just me! Poor guy was rather unwell the entire day :( Not really sure if I'd go back here to be honest. I've seen good reviews on here and Yelpers tend to be pretty spot-on with places, so maybe it's worth returning at some point just for drinks or maybe to try their other dishes - but I think I'll definitely be staying away from the pulled pork!!

Gordon M.

I've been seeing and hearing good things about The Raven but last night was the first time I've stepped inside. Is it just me, or does the exterior not really match the interior? I certainly wasn't expecting the light woods and exposed stone work featured inside but what a lovely space. We headed round to the 'restaurant' side and wow, it's very cleverly laid out indeed without feeling too crammed in. If I was to summarise what The Raven is all about I'd say they are aiming at quality beers and smoked meats. They have a great selection of lagers, ales, and craft beers, but it was a night for something familiar so a tall cool pint of Samuel Adams was soon plopped down in front of me, a Rosé wine spritzer for Clare. The food menu is, obviously, meat heavy but there is a pretty broad selection of options so it should cater for most tastes. In the end, keeping things simple, we opted for a combo sliders - chicken, pulled pork and mac cheese. Clare added some sweet potato fries too. It was pretty busy when we arrived and having been told they were also a little short staffed that evening - in case there were any delays - I'll praise the staff for some excellent service, delivered with a smile! Our food arrived and the first thing that was obvious was the smoking process, a nice subtle tang of smokiness the minute I picked up the pulled pork slider. One bite in and I'll happily confess that this is the best pulled pork I've had. Lovely BBQ sauce with just enough kick, tender juice pork... I could've eaten another 3 of those alone! The chicken was wonderfully moist and tender, with a nice chargrill, and the mac cheese was great although I did add some of their own Smokey Ketchup Sauce to beef up the flavour a little. The sweet potato fries were tasty, always a nice alternative, and the homemade ketchup and BBQ sauces complimented their sweetness well. All in it was hard to fault, good service, great food, nice surroundings, and price wise it was pretty on the mark too. Bravo! In fact the only thing I don't think they've gotten right is the exterior, it's not the most inviting looking place, very dark looking and very 'masculine'. That's not a bad thing but jars a little once you step inside. Regardless, I will definitely be back not only to try some of the craft beers but try sample some more of the menu, I'm a sucker for BBQ.

Donald M.

I was on Sauchiehall street just making my way to the bank when l was handed a flyer for the Raven, so in l went and chose my seat in the restaurant area. The menu's where simple to order from, I chose the chicken wings & the burger. On the table there was a selection on sauces in squeesey bottles that looked the part, I did order pint of soda water & black currant but the glass that came was a small one. The chicken wings arrived on a cold tray with a sour cream dressing & a small bucket for the bones, sadly they didn't look the part and where cold and lacked in any flavour, it didn't help that the food was served con cold trays. The burger was served in a pinto style basket, that made it look out of character and didn't work, with the basket being four times bigger than the burger, if there was two eating at the table you would be struggling to find space as the tables where to small & the trays and dishes where out of proportion to the table, I just don't think that was thought out properly. The burger was great full of flavour, well seasoned, would recommend that to anyone. The side order of French fries where nothing special, was expecting something more home made. Staff where very nice & polite and welcoming and attentive, some looked lost, probably just due to being a new place or lack of experience.

Rebecca D.

After the first time I visited The Raven I was a bit reluctant to return. I'd liked the atmosphere and the beer and I'd been impressed with the range of home made ketchups but my pulled pork bagette had been average and I'm not crazy about bars with sports on TV. So my judgement was that the place was "fine." Why go back to somewhere that's just "fine" when there are so many places in Glasgow that are "great"? Well, because my boyfriend disagreed and insisted that I had been unlucky with my mediocre meal and that The Raven was actually also "great." Eventually I relented and we gave it a second try. He was right (don't tell him I said that) and we've been back several times since. Sometimes just for beer, sometimes for food as well, but since then it has indeed always been "great." I think my early mistake was opting for one of the smaller meals they offer for a reduced price midweek. Since then I've always ordered from the main section of the menu and everything has been perfect. Sure, you pay a few extra pounds, but it's definitely worth it. A major selling point is the beer and how close to the city centre you can be to really great beer on draft. The staff really know their stuff too - tell them what you like and they'll recommend something perfect for you. They're very friendly and happy to chat away about the different beers and will offer samples if you aren't sure. They want you to get the best pint you can and they're usually right in their suggestions.

Cory M.

We booked into The Raven as a pre cinema meal and headed along. I have been a couple of times before so had good feelings about another visit. The staff are friendly and quick enough to take drinks orders. The Samuel Adams is nice, though I still have issues about being charged £4.95 for a pint. Can only write about my burger, a bacon and cheese effort. To be honest there wasn't much effort in it. The patty seemed small, dry and pretty tasteless, the bun was not really too great, the bacon was fatty and undercooked, the cheese I could see but not really taste. The fries are nice though at £2.50 I would like to see a few more in the bucket they serve them in. A couple of friends had the special Mac and cheese and raved about it, another couple had the venison burger and enjoyed that. I just simply felt underwhelmed by mine. The place gets the three stars for the quality of the service and atmosphere but the burger was two really. I have had the same burger before there and it was a lot better so I think this might be a touch of kitchen complacency kicking in. Burgers are a cut throat product in Glasgow so I hope they up their game. It's a nice place, will go there again but I just left feeling a bit "meh" about my food.

Carolyn M.

Eleven friends and I (12 total) booked a table here for the start of our Easter Sunday shenanigans in the city centre. My boyfriend and I met 4 of our friends prior to lunch for drinks and happily started sampling the numerous beers (both bottled and draft) that they have on offer. They have everything from local brews like West and American brews like Sam Adams. They also have loads of massive TVs all over the place, so we were able to watch (or not watch- depending who you were asking) the Rangers v Hearts match that was on. By the time the rest of our friends showed up, we had already looked over the menu about a million times and were good and ready to order. The wait staff were very friendly and attentive which was good since there were so many of us. We were sat at a massive table near the kitchen, which fit us perfectly. the rest of the decor is that of a typical Texas style smoke house. I really love this place and always feel really at home when I walk in. There is loads of seating and availability to book out sections for any gathering you might have. One of the specials of the day was brisket on a baguette, which came with fries for £7. Most of us went for that, plus, I ordered a side of mac and cheese- because that's what I do. The brisket was a little underwhelming, although it reminded me big time of Texas. I've never had a shredded brisket sandwich, it's usually served in thick slices. It had a good taste, but I could have eaten about two of them. I opted for sweet potato fries which added 50p on to my total. The mac and cheese i quite liked. Not quite my homemade, but tasty none the less. I will definitely order it again! I swear, my boyfriend has this way of picking things off any menu that taste so much better than what I've ordered and i'm always wishing I'd gone for what he ordered. This time was no different. He went with the pulled pork baguette and spicy cheesy fries. The pulled pork had the right amount of BBQ sauce on it and was tender and just so delicious. I only had a small sampling of his fries because like they suggest, they were spicy with loads of diced jalapenos on top of mounds of cheese. One of our friends ordered the ribs and at first was boasting about how they were fall of the bone tender, but then added that they could use loads more sauce on them because they were a bit dry. We failed to realise that there was a huge carousel of sauces just off to the side of our table and by the time it was brought to our attention, he was already almost finished. One of our friends ordered the chicken caesar salad wrap, which we all scoffed at and judged tremendously. I jest, but who orders something like that when there's BBQ to be eaten?!?! Anyway, all in all it was a fantastic way to start off the booze fest of an Easter celebration that the 12 of us had. Sorry if anyone saw us out and were intimidated by our size (both in numbers and in height, haha!)

Helen M.

On a mini pub crawl post Christmas late lunch then some lovely Cherry Beer and wine in the Raven. The bar area was very busy so we went up to the loft to grab a seat at first there were only a couple of tables occupied but then a large party came in and lifted the atmosphere. We had a couple of bottles of the house Tinto at £7.99 it was very good value and was a light red but very palatable. The background music was a really good mix with just the occasional Christmas song still being played. We had already eaten but the smell of the delicious food almost tempted us to try it, next time I will go for food and the excellent range of craft beers. Just to mention you can have the loft area for free for a privet party.

Mera F.

I completely adore the Raven. I have been twice now and both times the food has been totally amazing. Their pulled pork is to due for, buns made fresh and a wide selection of sides. The sweet potatoe fries and Mac and cheese are by far my favourite. I always take my boyfriend and best mate there and then both being 6foot lads enjoy the vast amounts of meat available. Currently one of my favourite places to eat

Francesca P.

Came here with a friend on a Friday night and it was absolutely jumping! I really like this place because there is lots of space, plenty of tables and chairs and has a great bar area. I recently found out that they have an upstairs too! We came in for a quick drink and even though there weren't any tables, we managed to take two chairs and sit just at the first ridge and there was a little ledge we could sit our drinks on which was perfect. Service was great at the bar and the Raven always has a great atmosphere. Only thing with sitting at the front is that it can get a bit drafty from people coming in and out the front door, but it's not a biggie from where we were sitting. Would definitely recommend this place for a nice drink with some friends or a loved one.