‘Like father, like son,’ is what they say and Josh Barr, son of Colin, debuts his new bar, The Locale, this month in the former Black Sparrow on Glasgow’s North Street. Most recently it was Sualdo’s popup. He’s leasing from Fergus McVicar and has spent £100k on the renovation, which has been backed by Colin, and the bar’s very much part of his father’s Bier Halle family.
Josh told DRAM, “We’ve had the keys since February and have refurbished it from the ground up. The ground floor bar is a contemporary take on a traditional bar, with a blue and teal colour scheme dominating. We’ve stripped the wooden floor right back and applied a dark stain varnish. The bar top is Arocho hardwood, with concrete bar cladding along its front.
I’m trying to encourage ‘vertical drinking’ culture so there are high tables but we’ve also got booths.”
The basement has more of a dive-bar look and feel and will open at the weekend and be available for private hire.
But the “jewel in the crown”, according to Josh, is the outdoor ‘Beer Yard’. He explained, “It’s 120 capacity and we’ve poured concrete in to make a new floor as well as updating the terrace area, which is now enclosed, complete with heaters, German-style beer benches, BBQs, fire-pits and plants.”