Amphora - Sauchiehall Street, Sauchiehall Street Options

[GG]

Closed Glasgow pub starter topic for:

Amphora, Sauchiehall Street

Please discuss or tell us your memories of this former Glasgow bar here....

GG.

[BigArturo1]

I remember my first office night out in the 1970's when we worked in the Caley Railway works in Springburn. The Amphora had these big half moon shaped seats that could accommodate a dozen at a time and we had booked one. I remember one young guy started on bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale which we warned him about as it was the Stella of its day. With the bravado of an 18 year old, he then supplemented the Nuclear Brown with vodka shots and went downhill rapidly. My last memory of him was when he "put the head" on his vodka glass sitting on the table in front of him, shattering glass everywhere and causing screams from the girls. Remarkably apart from a slight bruising on his forehead, he was unhurt and denied all knowledge of the incident when he came into work on the Monday. I was never much of a Newcastle Brown Ale man anyway but that incident put me off it for life !
From memory (admittedly failing), The Amphora was owned by the Eadie Cairns family and always did a roaring trade at weekends. We used to watch the Bobby Deans Jazz Band on a Saturday afternoon in the big lounge to the back of the pub. There was also a great local band - Below the Belt who played on a Tuesday night.
I think the pub was renamed Pythagoras and is probably called something else nowadays if still standing.

[Dexter St. Clair]

It's still standing. It was owned by Eadie Cairns whom i think also owned the The Blythswood and others. Jazz funk oufit Chico were regulars in the lounge

This is my guess as to where it was. And I think it has changed its name again.

[*Carina*]

Found this on a quick search....I tended bar there from 1975-1979 when Mr Curry was the manager. Oh my the stories I can tell about that place....I loved working Saturdays with Bobby Dean's jazz band.
Live in the states now but was last there in 2003...can't recall what it was called then but it was a completely different, sort of yuppified place.
I have many, many fond memories of Glasgow!

[*TomK*]

Late 70s/early 80s Saturday lunchtime in the Amphora was the best session of the week. I was never really a fan of big band music but it was different hearing it live in the Amphora. Couldn't believe how powerful it was. Most times we sat in the lounge bar and it was still unbelievably loud even in there.

We had our usual session the first Saturday pubs opened all afternoon and couldn't believe our luck. We were buying a round every ten minutes because we were convinced it must have been a mistake. Needless to say we were all fleein by teatime. Girlfriends were not at all amused

Happy memories of Andy, Lez, Neil, Arthur from those days.

[bigarthur]

TomK - I remember when the all day drinking came in. A crowd of my pals had taken a half day's leave one afternoon to go to the Odeon to watch Raging Bull which had just came out. We all met in The Horse Shoe Bar at midday for a spot of "lunch" before the 2.30 film showing and just got too comfy as the rounds were flowing. We had a vote around 2.15 whether to leave and head up to the Odeon or get another round in and the movie went by the board. To this day nearly 40 years later when we meet for an afternoon session in some pub, we refer to it as a "Raging Bull Day". When one of my pals got home later that day a bit the worse for wear and explained to his wife that we didn't make the cinema and had a few beers with the guys, she responded "Ned".
Yes it took a while to acclimatise to the all day drinking and pace ourselves otherwise you would be under the table by 5 o'clock ! Now it's just taken for granted.