Bulls like gates and Taurean Andy Gemmell has opened a new Glasgow bar at 251 Gallowgate called The Gate, directly across from the Barrowland Ballroom in the former Emerald Isle Bar. He’s retained original fireplaces, oak beams and the original tenement close through which you enter.
It’s been decked out in anaglypta, bamboo, and exposed stone, with caramel leather banquettes and dark blue upholstered stools. The wooden bar’s complimented by a caged back bar (the bar’s exterior neon sign is also in a cage). On the walls hang retro paintings of a stag, a panther, an old map of Scotland and some classic whisky advertising posters. Brass porthole lights are another stand-out feature.
Andy’s focused on Scottish brands on the gantry, with over 160 whiskies, alongside 30 gins as well as craft beers, rums and liqueurs and he told DRAM, “I am not trying to re-invent the wheel with The Gate, good hospitality is relatively simple – make people feel great. I have been lucky in my career to have worked in many different places from great boozers to award-winning cocktail bars. All I want to do is use my experience and give my guests a great time whenever they enter The Gate and have some great food and drink at the same time.”