- 141 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow
- 0141 337 3055
Style: Relaxed real ale pub
Cost: Pint of Biglamp Bitter £2.50; Pint of Rebellion Double Accent £2.50;
Pint of Broughton Old Jock £2.90; Shot of whisky £1.35; Can of coke £1.05
Best for: Chatting with random strangers
Not for: A cheeky pint before passing sentence
Wheelchair Access: No
A tremendous little boozer and the haunt of an eclectic crowd, The Three Judges looks like any unremarkable corner room from the exterior - but inside has plenty to recommend it.
Most obviously, this is a real ale pub, though, apart from the regularly updated blackboard of guest brews and CAMRA award certificates lining the walls, it's certainly not defined by this and serves a broad cross-section of students, professionals and voluble regulars, even in the dreich and dank armpit of a wet February evening.
Presumably christened after some bewigged trio of beaks who regularly enjoyed one over the eight, the pub acquired an appearance better suited to the dignity of legal office following a refurbishment in 2003, acquiescing to the ongoing gentrification of Partick Cross with understated panels of dark wood and pale blue walls. Collages of proud brewery advertising hearken back to the days of subtlety-free marketing, while discreet bunting of home nations' flags runs above the counter. Unlike some Glasgow pubs I've had a drink in, and at the time of imbibing, no rascally patriot has yet taken a lighter to the English ones.
Although it's peaceful enough on a weekday afternoon, the Judges is no place to escape into your private thoughts come the evening, as the tiny, circular tables ensure random conversations percolate all around you and the crushing of thighs under neighbouring tables precede apologies.
Rather amusingly, in this era when each and every bar seems to be after the pub-cuisine pound, the menu here begins and ends with a pork pie, and the mustard is optional. Leaving by the narrow back door virtually guarantees having to squeeze between a couple of refugee smokers.
I can boast almost total ignorance of the relative merits of the real ales poured here, usually preferring to sup from the most ludicrously named pint in lieu of one evoking an ancient warrior clan or sexual congress with Highland cattle. Specialist brewers really do seem to have too much time on their hands, along with narrow preoccupations.
What I do know is that all these pints are reasonably priced, usually around £2.50, while the regular drinks are comparatively cheap too.
The staff toil efficiently to ensure you're seldom kept waiting long and seem happy to chew the fat with inquisitive barflies.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article