The Hugand Pint

The Hug and Pint opened in June 2015 at 171 Great Western Road, on the Woodlands side of the road near St George's Cross, combining a vegan bar and kitchen upstairs with a basement music venue below. The stage has hosted touring acts and local bands within a capacity small enough to keep ticket prices low, and the venue takes part in the Celtic Connections festival programme each January. Food is entirely plant-based, running from small plates to full dinners served before doors open on gig nights. Run independently rather than as part of a promoter chain, it has become a reference point for the city's grassroots live music, with the bar trading through the day even when no show is booked downstairs.