Pubs & Clubs
Beers & Breweries
Pubs & Clubs
Beers & Breweries
Join Us

Steps Bar, Glasgow


Directions

You want to visit - You have this in
REAL ALE not available
62 Glassford Street, Merchant City, Glasgow, G1 1UP (View on Google Map)
No website available

This 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. 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.

Information for this venue is provided by the Glasgow & West of Scotland Branch of CAMRA
Previous Names
Local Authority
Glasgow City
Last updated
03/04/2025
Last surveyed
03/04/2025
Leasehold owner
unknown
Freehold owner
unknown
Pub ID
GLA/968
Asset of Community Value

Three star - A pub interior of outstanding national historic importance

Listed status: B

An extremely well-preserved late-Art Deco delight, refitted by new owners, the Taylor family, in 1949.  The interior is gloriously complete with veneer-panelled walls, and original gantry and counter.

The frontage is clad in Vitrolite panelling and has frosted glass windows (one replaced in 2006). Left of the entrance is a small sitting room with more panelling, fixed seating and bell-pushes; a stained glass panel window depicts the Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary, launched on the Clyde in 1936, and a Spitfire flies above, no doubt the choice of Thomas Taylor who had flown with Coastal Command and Transport Command in the war. It is said that much of the woodwork was a mock-up of part of the Queen Mary displayed at the huge 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow and stored during the war by a firm of builders known to the Taylors, although the official programme for the exhibition makes no mention of, or advertisement for, such an exhibit. The only changes have been the replacement of floor coverings, the new gents’ at the rear and the addition of a 1950s ladies’ for the first time (hence the Formica-panelled walls, as also found at the Laurieston Bar).

General information about historic pub interiors

This 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 R.M.S. Queen Mary, built at Clydebank and launched in 1936: an aeroplane flies above. The bell-pushes worked until recently and table service was provided (a shame this rare institution has been discontinued). The only major physical 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 (the toilets have Formica panelling on the walls as at the Laurieston Bar on Bridge Street).

Other surviving Art Deco interiors can be found at these Heritage Pubs Three Pigeons, Halifax, West Yorkshire; Vale Hotel, Arnold, Nottinghamshire; Test Match, West Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire; Duke (of York), Bloomsbury, London WC1; Portland Arms, Glasgow; and Frews Bar, Dundee; in the Sporting Memories Lounge.

General information about historic pub interiors
Opening Times Unavailable

Current beers

There are no beers listed. Add a beer or submit a beer score.

Your scores

Join CAMRA to access beer scoring and view scores for other pubs. Become a member.
Retrieving scores
You have no beer scores submitted.

Facilities
Sports TV Sports TV
Features
Real Heritage Pub Real Heritage Pub
Transport
Close to bus routes (40m)
Close to metro (650m)
St Enoch
Nearby Station (250m)
Argyle Street

Help keep our information accurate!

Notice an error or missing details? Help us keep our pub & club information accurate by sharing any corrections or updates you spot.

Suggest an edit

Nearby

View All
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 23-06-2021
Blane Valley
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.0 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 30-10-2024
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Bacchus
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.0 miles from you
(Pub, Key). Published on 30-10-2014
Closed • Opens at 11:00am
Rab Ha's
Pub, in Glasgow
2 Changing Beers
0.0 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 15-11-2024
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Poco Loco
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.0 miles from you
(Pub, Bar). Published on 08-11-2016
Closed • Opens at 11:00am
BrewDog Merchant City
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.0 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 15-08-2021
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Gallery
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.1 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 15-08-2021
Closed • Opens at 9:00am
Brunswick Hotel - Amsterdam Bar
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.1 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 15-08-2021
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Katie's Bar
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.1 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 11-08-2021
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Thundercat
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.1 miles from you
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 11-08-2021
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Spiritualist
Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
0.1 miles from you

Need accommodation?

 

 

Grab a copy of the Heritage Pub Guide for Scotland

Introduction This guide describes the 116 pubs identified by CAMRA as having interiors of national or regional historic or architectural importance, plus a further 24 whose interiors are of some regional interest. Scotland has over 4000 pubs so why do...

Historic pub interiors

Recently Viewed

Ox, South Oxhey. (Pub, External, Key). Published on 06-02-2013
Ox
Pub, in South Oxhey
Permanently Closed
(Key). Published on 01-01-1970
Smugglers
Pub, in Robin Hood's Bay
3 Changing Beers
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 28-06-2021
Closed • Opens at 9:00am
Wallace Well Farm
Farmhouse Inns (Greene King) Pub, in Glasgow
REAL ALE not available
Published on 28-03-2013
Closed • Opens at 11:00am
Tilted Barrel
Pub, in Waltham
3 Regular, 1 Changing Beers
(External, Key). Published on 10-03-2025
Craft Inn
Pub, in Rugby
Permanently Closed
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 28-04-2025
Bear
Pub, in Tattenhall
2 Changing Beers
(External). Published on 15-07-2019
Closed • Opens at 1:30pm
Duke Of Wellington
Pub, in Llanelli
REAL ALE not available
(External). Published on 15-01-2014
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Bulls Head
Pub, in Clipston
3 Regular, 1 Changing Beers
(External). Published on 10-04-2013
Closed • Opens at 12:00pm
Drax Arms
Pub, in Bere Regis
2 Regular Beers
© Campaign for Real Ale 2023 - 2025 (ce-10)
Home