If you've only been here when it was called "Faktory" then take a wee wander down again now that it's rebranded. First of all, get something to eat here, for the mighty MEATHAMMER inhabit the kitchen, and they have burgers of immense goodness and size. For my money, Meathammer consistently produce the best and most imaginative burgers that Glasgow has to offer, and at a decent price too. The staff in here are a lot more helpful and cheery and just downright nice than I remember from the last time I was in here. Not one person I spoke too seemed to be put out by any of my daft questions about the food, or the seating outside, or the football on the telly. The space itself is pretty amazing. It's a lot bigger than you would expect upon entering down the fairy light laden hallway - and there's a huge beer garden at the back with several big comfy leather couches - would be ideal for watching the football on, if it hadn't been raining earlier. The beers on tap are nice and cold; I had a pint (or 3) or Innis and Gunn and really enjoyed it. Side note that may be totally World Cup related - during the half time break in the football, they turned the sound of the TV off and put on music. A nice relief from having to listen to the "pundits" do their thing and bore you to tears. On the whole, The Record Factory seems to be a nice change to the other bars in this part of town, and I'd definitely return again. Especially for the food. Oh, the glorious food... read more

The Record Factory - Waiting for the food - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

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I paid a brief visit to Faktory one Saturday and left with a not-too-bad impression. We were there to see a band so spent most of the time in the band room which isn't a bad space - there's some seats and it's a pretty decent size room. It is hard to find though if they have the shutter down on the room (they apparently open up this shutter to the main room but if it's closed you need to walk through a pool room and past the toilets to find it). The main room didn't seem overly busy for a Saturday night but maybe it picks up later on. It really has a cheap student vibe to it which isn't necessarily a bad thing - it's just not my thing. I didn't visit the toilets or go to the bar so I can't comment on these aspects. I would return here in future if I had a reason - otherwise, I can't this being a place I'd visit for a drink when there are other places nearby that are much nicer. read more

The Record Factory - Precious Penny Pluckers on stage! - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

For me, Faktory was a little too rowdy. Come time for my band's gig, after spending a little time in the bar, we were anxious. The revellers were loud and raucous despite it being early in the evening. The room for gigs is tucked away in the back but there's a shutter which can be opened for larger gigs, joining the main bar and back room together. We were glad that the shutter remained down for our set because Faktory wasn't an ideal venue for our music based on the crowd, background music and the other bands playing. Whilst I've only seen one side of Faktory, I'm really not sure if it's somewhere I'd be back to. For bands looking for somewhere to start in Glasgow for gigs and don't mind being paid in pizza and beer, this is somewhere that doesn't require selling tickets and hosts free entry nights. The music is all in the vein of indie rock so if you're not playing that style you might feel a little out of your comfort zone, as we did. (We're an Americana Swing band and we played alongside indie rock bands!) Regardless, it is what you make it. And Dave who is the rep and deals with bands was lovely and a pleasure to deal with! With a room full of friends and family for our first Glasgow gig, we were pleased but that had little to do with the venue itself and the atmosphere whilst we played was so far away from that in the main bar. Just remember your earplugs, they like their bands loud. And then some! read more

So after a lovely early Monday evening of sitting out in another establishment's beer garden, my man and I were invited to a friend's quiz night down at Faktory. Aye, it has a 'k' in it. Why? I've no idea! We swaggered doon the Byres Road to where once was the Sports Bar. I had only been once for food and yup it was a sports bar. I think food was alright. So quiz night eh?! And there was rumours there was an awesome beer garden and more rooms than what you first see. Well it was all true. We scuttered around like kids exploring their new house. "Oooh have you seen this? This is huge! This is so cool!" Exciting times! The beer garden is pretty big and for an absolutely gorgeous day it was surprisingly empty. It's probably got a bit more popular now as this was a wee while ago since I went. They had couches and picnic tables, decking and yes folks, a beach. Nae salty sea, just a flow of beer. We also discovered more rooms as we went to the toilets. A poker game was happening in one as we went through. Then just outside the toilets was another room with a partition which looks like it opens up to make the main large room mega sized. The quiz was good, ok slighty biased as it's a friend, but he does do a round at the end if you get any of the questions wrong then you loose all your points. There's a name for it but cannae mind but it's fierce I tell thee. Good bar, filled with plenty of refreshments. Oooft I could go a right good refreshment just now. Anyhoo, not tried the food yet but sure I'll be back at some point. Our quiz master friend was telling us about one night of quizness the winners got free pizza from the chef. Bonus for the pizza loving winners! I had also heard a while back they were doing comedy nights there too. I hope the place develops and grows as it has potential to be a cracking West End bar that ain't West Endy. read more

Well, well, well.. Hit up this joint on the grounds they were the only place in town showing Finland vs. Sweden at Ice Hockey and ended up enjoying this place so much I can't wait to come back for their Monday quiz. Student affair, which doesn't put me off at all, with a funky interior with lots of room and seating with live sport showing on big screens. Decent bar, which wasn't exactly student prices (where I'm from anyhow), though the promise of free pizza with a drink during the week should make up for that. The food looked great for the price, where my sole food purchase was chips (in a mug!). Down the bottom of Byres Road, round the corner from Kelvinhall Tube, it's a decent location. Looking forward to a new Monday quiz. read more

The Record Factory - From official website - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

For those of you who don't know where The Record Factory...it is literally a doorway located next to Remax, don't blink or you would walk past it. The vibe in The Record Factory is very much that of a cool understated Dive Bar, which believe me is said with love - there is absolutely nothing wrong with this style of bar. There was mismatched leather sofas, gig posters on the walls, graffiti tables (I won't repeat on here what Andy is according to the writing on our table:-) ). It has a very young, student, serious music fan kind of feel, I am not going to lie I think if I was about 3 or 4 years older or the bar was busy I would probably feel quite uncomfortable and out of place....but I amn't exactly their target market so that it cool. The waitress who served us was lovely, she came over and took our order really quickly - we were the only people in the bar for the entire hour we were in so not that surprising. She very helpfully pointed us in the direction of the specials and award-winning burger options. We never really saw much of her but she was friendly and chatty when we did. Slight gripe before I start gushing about the food, they had no mineral water which I HATE! I don't like tap water and amn't a fan of fizzy juice and it seemed a bit early for a glass of wine. A minor niggle but it annoys me where there is no mineral water....absolutely not the lovely waitresses fault tho. Right food! After much oohing and aahing over the menu I decided to try their award-winning 'best burger in Glasgow' - the LoveBite. I can't remember everything that was on it, but I do remember it has peanut butter, onions, chilli jam and crispy parma ham, I think? Which comes served with a bowl of triple cooked chips, along with a side of their beef dripping roasted potatoes. The menu does say that burgers are made to order so we could expect to wait 15 minutes...perfectly fine with that. The food arrived and it looked mouthwateringly good. The patty can only be described as juicy and lush, the param ham was inspired and tasted amazing, the chilli jam gave it a little heat. The only thing I wasn't completely crazy about was the peanut butter, I didn't hate it I just found it was slightly too clawy in my mouth - this is a purely personal thing tho so for me this food was still a comfortable 10 stars. This gorgeous burger sits quite easily as my second favourite in the city, the patty and flavour combo was amazing, next time I would just ask them to go slightly easier on the PB. The chips were chunky, light and crunchy...pretty much as good as chips get and the roasted potatoes were insanely, amazingly good. I could very easily just eat a giant bowl of these little nuggets of golden deliciousness myself. I was SO full after eating all this that I had to come home for a lay down to recover. I would 100% go back here for a burger as long as it was quite. Brilliant burger! read more

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With Hettie Puppy in tow and rugby to be watched, our first trip to The Record Factory a few weeks ago (new management had only just stepped in) was chalked up as a win: reserved table bang in front of the screen for "The Pup" and water and dog treats for Little Miss before we even had menus (a good thing, trust me). With the Glasgow sun brightly shining this week (I was starting to worry those words would never again pass my lips), tummies groaning from a skipped a lunch + general sunny afternoon pint pining, we hightailed it back down to the newly re-opened beer garden. It's the sun - without doubt - that makes this place. With festive festoon lighting overhead (heaters are on the way) and elevated picnic tables at the rear of the garden, we milked every last second of the glorious Glasgow spring sunshine and then some. Burgers and pints were well in order and devoured in mere moments. Lisa and I and our pal Pat#1 all opted for beef burgers with various toppings/extras - in some kind of hypoglycaemic state I asked for a friend egg, jalapeños and chilli slaw (actually bloody delicious) though Lisa much more cleverly went for onion rings (a whopping great stack skewered inside the burger). Our friend Pat#2 opted for the chicken burger with bacon and, by the look on her face, made one hell of a decision indeed. Being a fat+squishy chips lover, I'd have seen them cooked just 5mins less (no one else seemed phased) and the side salad was good too. Hettie was fussed over from beginning to end - water bowls, visits from the staff and dog treats aplenty. Once the sun was tucked away, we filed inside for another pint where the venue was filling ahead of an evening gig. Yes, it's quite student-ish and generally windowless-ish but not a bad space really. If the sun ever shines again - we'll be back! read more

The Record Factory - My beef burger with - randomly - friend egg + jalapeños + chilli slaw on the side. Evening sunshine included. - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

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I've always found The Record Factory to be a bit hit and miss. I've now visited three times relatively recently, here's how each visit went. Visit 1: Weekday lunchtime. Two of us bundled in to order burgers which we paired with a pint. The place was empty, service was friendly and pretty quick and they were running some kind of deal (I forget exactly what) so our order was pretty inexpensive. The food was ok for a lunch deal but nothing extraordinary. Some of the items that weren't in the deal sounded really good, but would have been too much for lunch. Visit 2: Friday night drinks. I booked a space for 10 people to enjoy drinks here after work. It was really great and a lot of fun, most of us ordered food which took a little longer to arrive this time, but not too long. Most people reported that they were really happy with their food. However, at ~9pm, a shutter came down to reveal a DJ booth and the music went up to above the point where we could comfortably chat. Weird because there was almost no one else in the place. We all left. Visit 3: Early evening on Saturday during a subcrawl. My partner and I elected to break off from the main subcrawl group to sit in the sunshine in the beer garden, which is really more of a yard. The atmosphere was great and I could easily have stayed there all afternoon if the weather had stayed good. We ordered burgers from the BBQ they had set up, which were £5 each and came with free salad and potato salad (weirdly, fries would have cost an extra £2). The food was fine for the price and I'd order it again if I were back in the beer garden. So, A-OK just about sums it up for this place for me. It usually seems to be fine but occasionally some odd choices are made about how to run the place. Beer garden space is sadly lacking in the West End, so I'll probably be back just for that. read more

The Record Factory - Outdoor chalk board - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

I strolled in off the street, a little to get out of the rain but mostly that was an excuse to drink a pint of Innis and Gunn. The barman immediate struck up a rapport, easy going environment, exceptionally crisp pint these guys care about the cleanliness of their pumps and lines. Very chilled out during the day, I literally cannot understand why this place is not just mobbed. The cliche of hidden gem comes to mind but that's what this place is. Do yourself a favour, get a group of mates and come and enjoy one of the many sofas that adorn the place. A great, great bar! read more

The Record Factory - Nice chilled bar, can't understand why this place isn't mobbed! - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

Headed to the Faktory on Friday night as it was hosting the after party for the Secret Walls event that I'd been at round the corner at the Siempre Bicycle Café and I'm very glad we were all given free entry as I'd have been well miffed if I'd paid a cover charge. The bar is trying for some kind of industrial chic but failed to provide anything other than a lack of atmosphere and some very sticky floors and tables. The music was OK but at that irritating level of being too loud to talk but not really providing a club atmosphere either. The choice at the bar was decent, with something to please both my beer-lover tastes and a friend who was happy to relive her youth with a bottle of Hooch. There seemed to be a decent selection of spirits available too and prices while not cheap were still within the bounds of what I would call reasonable. Service was slow though and the bar understaffed for a night when they knew they were expecting a crowd. I was also not impressed with their gender-aligned drinks promotions aimed at 'Faktory Boys' (beer) and 'Faktory Girls' (frothy cocktails or wine). My biggest annoyance of the night was the condition of the ladies toilets. There was no toilet paper in any of the cubicles or soap at the sinks and when I pointed this out to a member of staff while ordering a drink she was incredibly rude and made it clear she had no intention of doing anything about it. The Faktory is not a place I'll be rushing back to any time soon..... read more

I've been here twice and both times my friends and I have had the whole pub to ourselves. My most recent stop here was for a catch up with Sophie K before she headed for the great state of Texas! We popped in for a drink and the whole place was empty. I've never been in here when it's had more people, so I'm not even sure how this place manages to stay open. I'm definitely missing something, I'm sure. Anyhoo, we went up to the bar and ordered cider per usual and had a chat with the nice bar guy. He asked us if we minded that he was playing old time country music. It just so happened that Sophie K was going to Texas and I had just been to the Johnny Cash Road Show with my guy, so it was perfect that he was playing country music. We were really impressed that he asked, as many places play what they want and who cares if you like it or not. There was one other person who kept popping in and out of the pub and he came up to us to chat about Johnny Cash. For the rest of our stay, Johnny Cash was playing overhead. There seems to be some pool tables through the back and there are loads of cushy couches and big tables to fill should you be with a group of people. There's loads on offer as far as drinks and I even saw a tap that was labled pims and lemonade. Could be tasty! Just before we left, the bar guy changed the music but made sure we were ok with it. Ha! Nice guy! We'll maybe have to come back when there are more people, but really, it's a great place for a chat and some drinks during the day if you're ever looking for a private place to yourself. read more

Popped in here to check it out before heading for food at The Two Figs one sunny evening. I shall keep this short as we didn't spend too long here...but I don't really feel like this place is my cuppa ~ It has potential, don't get me wrong, especially with their beer garden (if you can call some benches on some shingle a 'garden' which during the Summer weeks {Ha,ha!} is cool but the rest of the year will just be known as the 'Smokers Bit') Also I quite liked the industrial feel of the 'Factory' themed decor and I noticed they had a couple of different beers on tap...however I couldn't shake the FEEL of the place...it was all a bit 'laddy' and appeared to be a place aimed at the male laddy student type. Which is certainly not myself (or my partner). Ooft. However we thought 'give it a chance' ordered a couple of drinks & sat down on what seemed like one of the few tables (it seemed to be a bit lacking in tables but maybe that's due to some of them being outside in their beer garden??) and took in our surroundings. There was a musician just finishing as we walked in and when we realised they had just finished we were quite glad as we came here for a quick drink/chat before our meal & didn't expect there to be live music playing, not that this is a bad thing but we weren't expecting it to be that kind of pub. The lights in this place seemed to constantly be going up & down in brightness which was a tad annoying; we couldn't work out whether it was for the folk eating or what?? Odd. We didn't stay long...drank our drinks & left for our meal but it really wasn't the type of place I felt I could sit for hours comfortably in ~ I actually felt as though myself & my boyfriend stuck out a bit in this place & were getting stared at by incoming patrons...like I said, not really my cuppa...I just didn't feel comfortable. Having said all this I have since seen they do a pub quiz on a Monday whereby all team members receive a FREE PIZZA!!! Eh?! So, err....I might be back! Ha ha! Give it another chance... read more

Putting the sticky tables issue to one side, 4 of us had an early dinner here recently. The fajitas are not good. Cheap jarred pasta sauce does not a fajita sauce make. If you aren't going to do it right, don't do it. I didn't like that my curly fries came in a mug. It wasn't trendy or cool, it was silly and looked odd. The burger was more of a success and gets top marks. Drinkwise we were unimpressed with the ciders available. For a west end local, this place was a let down. read more

Faktory is decent if you're not looking for anything special or out of the ordinary. It's a bar/club down at the bottom of Byres Road, and is therefore busy from all the foot traffic it gets, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here. It's very student orientated, and that's obvious from both their customers and their bar prices, hence the 3rd star for cheapness. It's pretty substantial in size, with the main bar with loads of booths and tables, a dance floor which for some reason doesn't open on Saturday nights, and a smaller side room that had an acoustic guitar player/singer in the night I was here. All in all not a terrible place, just not one that I'd jump at the opportunity to go to! read more

The beer garden was the big seller to me here today on one of our few days of summer - there is a blackboard just at the edge of the turn off from Byres Road to direct passersby to the beer garden at the back of the bar/restaurant. We'd just timed it well (around 5.20pm) to get a free and unreserved table in the sun before it got even busier than it already was. Had a look at the food menu - everything by Meathammer, and not being a meat eater wasn't really that impressive to me, but I'm sure is to a lot of customers. A helpful dietary food guide at the bottom of the menu which included mentioning vegetarian options could be made vegan. Next time I'll probably give the veggie burger a go (minus the ever-popular-with-restaurants non-vegan breaded roll) but today opted just for the falafel nuggets (£3.95) and shared some triple fried chips with my other half. Chips were nice, quite crunchy, and I really enjoyed the falafel. With their perfect round shape I wondered if they were freshly made or bought in, but I could see whole chickpeas when I took a bite so that made me think they were made on the premises. We did have a bit of a wait for these (maybe around half an hour) but it was really, really busy. The Drygate apple ale wasn't pouring well so I opted for a pint of Innis & Gunn. On our second round I asked about the Innis & Gunn with rum finish listed on the drinks menu but was told they didn't have Innis & Gunn in bottles, and they hadn't had any of that particular drink in for a while. As he went to pour my drinks order I did spot Innis & Gunn bottles in the fridge but I couldn't be bothered asking any further questions. Would have been so much easier if I could just have had the basic customer scenario of picking something off the menu and there it appeared.... The venue itself is quite big inside with sofas and booths which look quite comfy and I reckon would provide a good atmosphere at an event or private function. The toilets: sign on the door with cleaning check times, last time written was 9.50 (not sure if am or pm) and it was then around 7.00 (pm) so not sure how often this is updated or carried out, but was pleased to actually see a sign as so many places don't bother. Handdrier was a bit rubbish. read more

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Although the bar was opened less than a year ago it's tired and tattered and no, it's not the industrial look they try to achieve. Toilets are in a bad shape as are most tables, chairs and light fittings. The best thing about this place used to be the cocktail selection. Well, I'm writing this on a busy Saturday night before 10 PM, they're low on most ingredients!!! So no preparation there...Not really worth the detour or the entrance fee. read more

The Record Factory - Faktory's entrance. - Dive Bars Near Me - Glasgow, GLG

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A dog with another name is still a dog. This pub has been through more changes than Jive Bunny. It's never been great even when it was P.J. Champs back in the day. It's had a troubled past especially notorious when it was Faktory. Now as the Record Factory it has tried to up its game. However it just doesn't deliver. Visited with another bunch of Yelpers on the UYE subclawl. Well all ordered food which was extremely slow to arrive so much so that I couldn't wait much longer and enquired as to where it was. However all this got me was a complete mouthful followed by a heavy set guy trying to eject me for asking a simple question. Luckily the manager stepped in and finally refunded me and another guest for there food. To be honest I shouldn't have been surprised this dog has not learned new tricks. Plenty of better places to go nearby. read more

Great atmosphere for a drink - always got good songs playing, and the beer is good. Not had food here, but love the understated but colourful vibe, and come often. read more

I'm trying hard to be more positive in this review, since the overall experience wasn't horrendous, however there's not much to be positive about. It was a Monday afternoon, so the place was dead. We had my friends dog with us so opted to sit in their "beer garden", which is a 5 minute trek over a stone pathway right round the side of the building to the rear of the bar. The dog didn't like the loose stone path and neither did I. Heaven help anyone carrying a round of pints that way! Anyway, we took our seats and discovered there were no menus. Another expedition back to the bar. I got a glass of water for the dog's bowl then trekked back through the beer labyrinth to choose our food. We opted for the reasonably priced £5 lunchtime deal, which included a cheeseburger (Meathammer style), soup and sandwich/chips, among others. My friend took the cheeseburger and I the soup/sannga combo. When I went to order and pay I honestly almost dropped when I was charged £2 for a pint of soda and lime. Two pounds for some carbonated tap water out a gun! My liver may not have thanked me but my wallet would've been healthier buying a beer! It was 50p less for a can (a CAN no less!) of coke. We waited almost 30 minutes for out food, and, let me put this in perspective; the couple sharing the beer garden with us ordered about 5/10 minutes prior, the bar was virtually empty, and yet they had cleared their plates, had a smoke, finished their pints and left, all before our food arrived. We got an uplifting clue our meals were nearly ready when the slightly roofied looking waitress silently deposited the cutlery and condiments. No word of acknowledgment. When it finally did arrive it was pleasantly tasty. My tomato and herb soup was a healthy portion and had a nice spice to it. The beef brisket sandwich was also pleasing, toasted in large slices of bloomer loaf. The burger and chips looked amazing, if a little sauce heavy, and the chunky, crispy chips didn't disappoint. However, despite a nice, rare cooked patty, the brioche bun was just far too sweet. It was like having a burger in between a Victoria Sponge. All in all, I wouldn't rush back there. Especially not to sit in the beer jungle! read more

Give this dingy student pub a miss. The food is average and no longer by Meathammer, and querying the wait time for food orders results in being told to leave the premises by a burly bouncer! The manager had a more sensible attitude and refunded hungry diners still waiting on their food. read more

to say I'd been looking forward to checking out meathammer burgers here would be an understatement. I ordered one of their regular beef burgers which came with triple cooked chips. after a not-too-long wait, I was face to face with probably the most cumbersome and impractical looking burger I'd seen, and even compared to my jaunts around some of the recent crop of burger joints, this took the biscuit. height isn't everything, let's think about how this is going to fit in yer gub! the chips were distinctly average, I'll be honest, I've had better chips at hospital canteens. but the burger? 2mm of carbon on the underside, and to be honest, tasteless. I'm hoping I caught the place on an off day, so I will be trying again soon, but in the meantime : meathammer? meh-hammer more like. read more

I'd give this place ZERO stars if I could ! The barstaff were not exactly welcoming and the service was not what you could call efficient. After loitering around for a while at the bar I finally got served. To be charged 4.50 for a pint of Joker IPA is taking the ****! I frequent quality establishments that don't even charge this extortionate price for the same. The bar was manky and had not been cleaned for what looked like weeks and there was an abundance of seemingly under-age drinkers in the place. When I noticed the pool table I was told there was a 'group' in and it was not available either ! The name may have changed but it is still the run-down dive it always ever was ! I'll never be returning to this manky dive, (just for the record....) read more