Crystal Palace

Awful
Staff was not pleasant seemed they didnt want to serve us
For starters we had nachos and the sharing platter on the platter was prawns in batter chicken strips chicken wings chips and onion rings. Other than thr strips and wings the rest wasnt much to be desired.
For main we got chicken burrito and again was not up to much lacked flavour lacked effort if im honest the table and booth we where in was damaged staff didnt seem bothered again.
Save your money go else where

I realised yesterday when we viisted here that this is my ‘on the way home’ pub, we tend not to go there because of the great atmosphere, we go because it is in a convenient location!
The building itself is a beautiful thing, and being a Wetherspoons they have carefully incorporated a lot of the original warehouse features like an old lift between floors, and the style of signage on the building and also include pictures and framed images about Glasgow and the building. Wetherspoons only seem to use three of the floors (basement, ground and 1) but there are proposals for a new hotel next door so I wonder if they might open up the floors rather than just being for storage?
The selection of drinks is good, and clearly priced as drinks menus are on every table and on a peg board above the ground floor bar. This pub always seems quite busy, but somehow lacks in atmosphere, hence only 3 stars.

My opinion on Crystal Palace is always complicated. I spend a lot of time there because a Meetup I attend (the Glasgow Doctor Who Society) has their meetings there, and I’ve had had a good deal of cheap meals there when I’m outvoted on where to meet. And yet I don’t really like or or dislike it. If I could do half stars, I’d do 3.5 stars, but it’s certainly not worth only giving 3 because of a few features.
Crystal Palace has a two floor layout and serves food and drink on both floors (a third floor is nothing but toilets). The food is best described as meh, but that’s the fault of the Wetherspoon chain as a whole and not this specific location. The drink selection is the one thing that this location can claim is special. While Wetherspoon in general has expanded their beer selection in general, Crystal Palace seems to have managed to get even more impressive craft beer options. The beer selections make the 3.5 round up to a 4, because nothing is more sad to me than overpriced and bland beer in a pub.
It’s close to Central Station and tends to be easy to find a seat. They’re willing to work with groups, don’t mind if you camp out to work or otherwise just exist there for awhile, and they have some wall plugs.
It almost pains me to go as high as 4 stars but it’s above a 3 and I spend too much time here to say I’m only ok on it.

Lets be honest, on the whole the Wetherspoon’s chain of pubs aren’t especially exciting. That said, anywhere I can try a different ale every week and have a decent chance of it being under £3 a pint is ok by me, especially given how much certain other locations charge. Added bonuses include:
1. This is actually quite an impressive building in terms of both size and fixtures,
2. I’ve never struggled to get a seat
3. It’s incredibly handy for Glasgow Central Station
Suddenly the Crystal Palace starts to look like a pretty good option. Whether you’re after a cheap and cheerful night out or you just happen to be in town and in need of refreshment, this is a fair option on a budget. Just don’t expect anything dazzling from the food menu.

Ugh. I hate anywhere I have to try and appeal to bouncers, and as such rarely go out on a Friday or Saturday night in the city centre, and I don’t feel like my life suffers. One of my friends is leaving for Canada for two years and after a group dinner we headed to the Crystal Palace for a drink before the others were all heading to a nearby club. I hadn’t planned to go drinking after dinner so had not dressed accordingly — I was wearing a dressy top which I’d changed into before dinner, but still wearing my denim shorts and baseball boots. I’d actually commented at dinner my attire may be a problem in getting in to some place and one friend said the kind of place which wouldn’t let me in is the kind of place I wouldn’t want to be going to anyway. I think it was hearing me recount this to said friend which may have been why the bouncers relented and allowed me to come in, this and when I said goodbyes to my friend and made to go for the bus another friend told them we weren’t going to see each other for two years. When we got settled at a table I realised that two male members of our party were also dressed in shorts and t-​shirt. I can only assume there were other ‘policy’ decisions at play.
I decided to get a coffee but on ordering my friend was informed they stop doing coffee at 2pm, so I got an Irn Bru. Drink prices are really cheap, which is my only appeal for Wetherspoons. I wouldn’t boycott it if friends wanted to go there again but I won’t be in a hurry to go back.

I was pleasantly surprised by Crystal Palace. Though it’s a Wetherspoons, it has a classy, sparkly interior. My starving self ordered a veggie burger and shared an ice cream sundae with my friend. The veggie burger was meh and tasteless (basically as expected) but the chips that came with it were mindblowing — some of the best I’ve ever had. This confuses me, but I still think about them sometimes. Maybe I’m just weird. The ice cream sundae was also fantastic — we both raved about the amount of chocolate fudge. And all for a reasonable price! Yeah, I was happy with it.

So, I can get a ginger beer and lime here for 94p… I’m pretty sure it was draught ginger beer! It tasted perfectly fine but had nothing on my favourite Old Jamaica. I would be happy to pay a tad more for something familiar though. For a one-​drink-​stop with friends this is just about A-​OK but as a bar, it’s fairly uninspiring and there’s really nothing calling me back.
In terms of service, the barman was a little short and his manner was blunt with no room for pleasantries. Of course, he made his way through the queues with great speed, but with no smile.
I do like my bars with friendly staff and an inviting atmosphere and the Crystal Palace did fall flat with this and also with its dull interior. Unfortunately, it just felt a bit lifeless to me and, of course, Glasgow is a vibrant city. — There are far, far better places to seek out in Glasgow for food and drink.

Just a really horrible and soulless place. The staff are really rude and unfriendly. One of them laughing in front of other customers saying how he knocked back a family as the adult daughters had no ID. Really low behaviour so I finished my overpriced pint and left.

I have never been the worlds biggest Wetherspoons fan, but to be honest I really can’t put too much of a downer on them, The food is good for what you pay for as is the real ale. Now with their introduction of craft beers into the bars I might spend a little more time in their bars.
The Crystal Palace is one of the nicest buildings that wetherspoons runs; spread over 3 floors, family dining area on the 1^st floor, main bar and lounge area on the ground floor, the basement holds the toilet area.
The food is nothing special however very good value for money. Tuesday steak night is always a winner and even better when you consider you benefit from a drink as well as your meal.
The bar keeps a nice selection of cask ales and generally well kept. Craft beer in the fridges could be kept a little cooler. The usual selection of lager and spirits but always well priced.

This was a close one between 3 or 4 stars but slow service at the bar, they could have had at least one more person on, unfortunately demoted it.
I was in here for about 7 hours a few weeks ago. Not a heavy session just meeting old friends for a gab and grabbing a bite to eat before a messy night out. This is an unusual Wetherspoons as it actually shows live football downstairs but we weren’t interested in that. We secured a big half moon table and let the afternoon drift into a blurry evening.
I really rate any spoons bar if you want to go somewhere for a catch up. People often complain about the lack of music: but for big groups I think it’s great, it stops you from having to shout to the person next to you never mind at the other end of the table. The lack of music actually generates a nice buzz of atmosphere as you can almost hear a 100 conversations going at onece.
The big draw is the price, cheap booze and cheap food. Once upon a time I hated spoons food as it was cheap and nasty. It’s still cheap but the quality really has gone up. I’m not saying I’d pick here to come on food alone but if I’m here I’ve no hesitation to order food. Especially the onion rings they are a must, seriously next time you are at a Weatherspoons give them a go.
All in all a great place to start off a long day/​night of drinking with a fairly central location leaving the most areas of Glasgow pretty open to you.

As an art historian, I have to get the arty facts out of the way before I begin: this bar is situated in a building designed and built by John Baird in 1855 – 6, inspired by Joseph Baxton’s Crystal Palace building for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
There we go! Two and a bit lines of architechtural knowledge and we’ve already learned something, including the reason why this bar is called the Crystal Palace. Aren’t you glad you clicked on to Unilocal for a bit of procrastination now?
Anyway. Despite its interesting building, this establishment is a Wetherspoon’s bar, and with the idea of a Wetherspoon’s bar comes images of blue potent drinks, frozen chips, men in Ben Sherman shirts, sticky tables and hen nights.
But it’s also synonymous with ‘cheap’ and sometimes cheap is good. The food isn’t that bad at all — the burgers are a tad basic, but they do their job and fill you up, and Thursday night is curry night — any curry plus popadoms and chutney, plus a drink (alcoholic or non-​alcoholic) for £6.95 — very fairly priced! The bonus for me is that the curries are tasty. Not Mother India’s Café tasty, but very tasty considering you’re paying a pittance (or should that be a ‘pita-ance’…OK, OK, terrible pun, but come on! It had to be said). You really can’t argue with that.
The drinks are cheap (you can get whisky and coke for £1.75! — Bell’s whisky, admittedly, but once you’ve had a few you’ll forget all about that!), and the wine on tap (yes, wine on tap) is surprisingly tasty, and thankfully freezing cold. Blossom Hill wine is sold by the bottle only, but for less than a tenner, which is a nice price for a bottle of wine in a bar!
The only annoying thing is that the bar staff are all about 18 and yet they insist on (or are forced to) ID’ing me, a 25 year old with a penchant for elbow patches and tutting: I’m clearly not a wean, please just take my order and stop eating up precious drinking/​eating time! It also makes you feel old when they look at your driving license and exclaim, ‘God! Sorry! You’re older than even ME, hahaha!’ like the last time I was there. I’ve only just been talked out of getting premature botox.
This bar gets quite busy, but it’s never been impossible to find seats when I’ve been in, thanks to the sheer size of the place. You’re not forced to stare into the eyes of the stranger beside you and feel compelled to make conversation, you can spread out a bit. I quite like anonymity in bars sometimes; I hate the small talk strangers insist on hitting you with, as I can’t really do ‘banter’ about the weather/​queuing times/​etc, but I have one of those faces that has seen me listen to tales of divorce/​cheating spouses/​dead mothers/​depression from strangers. In the Crystal Palace, no one bothers you, and you don’t get to practice your ‘concerned’ face.
I only really come here after Nando’s, for a ‘quick drink’ before going home, and it’s the ideal bar for that. It’s close to Central Station and several bus stops so you can get up the road quickly, and if your chips come to you frozen, there’s always McDonald’s next door…

This lovely building was designed by John Baird in iron and glass, inspired by the Crystal Palace in London which was the main attraction of the Great Exhibition in 1851.
It was recently restored in the summer (2011) and is beautiful inside, with wood panelling, gorgeous crystal chandeliers and new carpets. Very spacious too and, with no irritating background music, a nice quiet place to have lunch and a chat. We had a delicious meal there today and found the staff extremely helpful.

We’ve been there for breakfast twice. They got a pretty decent and low priced Scottish breakfast. The place was roomy and clean and they had very nice staff.
I bet you get a better breakfast somewhere but I am not sure if you get it for that price.

This is a Wetherspoons, plain and simple. Nothing more and nothing less, although this particular Wetherspoons is within spitting distance to Central Station so is more often than not filled with post-​shoppers and people having a cheeky wee pint before they catch a train home after work.
I found myself in here on a night out recently and felt decidedly out of place dressed to the nines but that was nothing a £6 bottle of wine couldn’t sort out. And this, my friends, is where we discover the real attraction of the place. Where else in city centre can you get a bottle of Blossom Hill vino for that price in a pub? The other drinks are cheap all of the time too, which makes this place a perfectly acceptable place to have some pre-​party drinks.
I wouldn’t choose it as a venue for anything special, and I have to be honest and say the downstairs loos are a bit of an inconvenience for me and my wine filled head and stiletto clad feet, but other than that, it’ll do for me.

I only really use Wetherspoon’s pubs as a functional device (get drunk on the cheap, classy tactics) but this one is convenient merely through location.
I still quite like the Crystal Palace as the building is spacious, but it is usually packed to capacity with a motley assortment of drinkers — and I’m being diplomatic. I’ve also been irked when barmaids have refused to believe I’m over 18, despite showing them a passport on one occasion.
People flock in their droves to watch the football in here, so a Saturday mid season may not be the best time to pick for a lunch date. Wetherspoons are notorious for using microwavable food as well, so it’s better to go here for a cheap last minute option as opposed to high society dining.
Their bar is extensive and the staff are generally friendly but it can get a bit claustrophobic since it’s popular. It attracts such a high level of human traffic through its location, and I would only ever drink in here because it’s right beside my favourite clubs, Classic Grand, Arches and the Sub Club. Thus you are unlikely to soak up a buzzing atmosphere in the Palace (since is to be found wanting) but rather concentrate on downing your cheap drinks before heading on somewhere else.
Handy, but not the kind of place I’d stay a while unless it was deserted. Shame, since it’s set (as most Spoons are) in a lovely old building.

When I think of this place I automatically think of tatty carpets, the lingering smell of smoke, chewing gum stuck to the seats, ladettes downing pints and the resident drunk propped up against the side of the bar — the truth isn’t too far off that.
This place isn’t glamorous as the name suggests and reminds me more of a prison than a palace. Whenever I walk passed there’s always some form of confrontation at the door whether it’s a bunch of 15 year olds getting knocked back or a group of 50 year old mutton dressed as lamb women fighting over who is taking the bouncer home.
Just awful, you couldn’t actually pay me to go here.

A pretty good Wetherspoons outlet, having SkySports makes this a 4 star and not a 3 star… my most recent curry club outing was here and it was pretty nice for £5.99 for a curry and a drink!
Has Real Ales, lots of seating/​stading areas and is just generally a decent place to drink (if Wetherspoons is your thing at least!).

I used to come here often enough, going upstairs out the road for some cheap food and a cocktail or two before heading out somewhere.
I have since went off the food in all Wetherspoons and the cocktails aren’t as cheap as they used to be. Maybe the price of ice has went up? Guffaw.
It’s a decent enough Wetherspoons, with quiz machines, a good bar and the usual menu.
It can get a bit rowdy though, and if that’s something you would like to avoid whilst still chomping on a JD Wetherspoon menu, I recommend The Sir John Moore which is only a few minutes walk away.

With such a grandiose name like the Crystal Palace comes a great expectation level, so it would surpise many people to learn that this place is not quite as posh as its name would suggest, merely just another Wetherspoons. But it differs slighty from the other Glasgow ‘Spoons in that it is the only one in the city with two floors and two separate rooms for that matter.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out why its called the Crystal Palace, with its huge glass façade, which looks out on to the busy Jamaica St. A seat on the upper floor next to the window gives you a nice view to watch the city go by while you’re having a drink — certainly a better view than any other city centre pub has to offer.
I’ll not beat around the bush about the food menu or the drink prices (inexpensive, the same as any other Wetherspoons) except for that my friend felt that his fish was a bit too crispy. The place is also pretty huge, with plenty of tables to choose from, particularly upstairs. During the day when its quieter, this can sometimes give it a somewhat eerie, empty feel to it, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. The clientele is also the typical Wetherspoons mix of young and middle-​aged.
Not quite a ‘Palace’, but nice enough.

Another decent Wetherspoons in Glasgow. Big picture windows and a decent interior make this a pleasant central Glasgow drinking establishment.
This a treasured find for people arriving into Central Station. The beer prices are much lower than the surrounding pubs. Do not consider spending your money at the two pubs in the station when this place is very close. It is located under Central Station’s Platform 1 and once you find it, it will be your regular when passing through.
It has all of the Wetherspoons characteristics. No music, cheap booze and food etc, though CP has television screens.. It can become very crowded on the busy days like all of the city centre pubs.
It was built in 1855 – 1856 to the designs of John Baird, who had used an exposed iron frame as early as 1827 in the hammerbeam roof of the nearby Argyle Arcade. The Jamaica Street Warehouse was one of the very first commercial buildings to copy Paxton’s design.