Cocktail & Burger is a cool basement bar and restaurant on Sauchiehall Street, that makes a fine art of creating cocktails and, you've guessed it, burgers.
The Venue
An underground bar, with a distinctly urban feel; warehouse style exposed brick work and ventilation, brushed steel fixtures and high butcher bench style tables. From the bustling bar area at the front, the long, narrow restaurant stretches back, almost like a tunnel - though without making anyone feel stifled. Chalkboard menus are posted about (though charming staff are quick with the paper version too,) and the whole place feels very edgy, cool and contemporary without any air of pretension.
Cocktail & Burger is bustling almost every night of the week
Atmosphere & Clientele
The atmosphere here is buzzing, we hadn't thought to book as it was quiet elsewhere in town, but once we got down the stairs, the place was heaving. After making a booking and having a swift drink in Sleazy's nearby, (sure, why not?) we came back to a slightly quieter restaurant bar about 10pm. While this place is essentially a restaurant, cool tunes, a chatty, young professional crowd and an accomplished collection of cocktails makes this a great spot to linger on with drinks until midnight. While 2-4-1 burger deals make this a hit with cash-strapped undergrads, it doesn't feel like a budget bar, the whole vibe is cool and underground.
Cocktail & Burger is a popular spot with students and young professionals alike.
Food & Drinks
As the name suggests, food and drink play a big roll in Cocktail & Burger. The compact, but no-less tough-to-choose-from-because-it-all-sounds-good menu, offers a choice of eight burgers as well as a mouth-drenching selection of sliders, salads, hot dogs and sides (get the mussel popcorn, it's legendary). As a party of three, we choose the Poppin' Pork, Cheeky Cheese with gorgonzola and the Mediterranean for the veggie in the group, as we got a fourth free (score!) we went for a Lamb Slammer. All the burgers were great, if a little on the small side, though with fries on the side, we were well fed, so we're probably just being greedy. The Mediterranean had halloumi instead of a patty, which was a nice, if unexpected, twist on the usual bean patty, and the brioche buns made the perfect sweet accompaniment. For drinks, we sampled White Russians and Old Fashioneds, both of which were delicious and well made - the White Russians in particular went down well with the diner style fare.
Cocktail & Burger has the vibe of warehouse or loft, despite being an underground bar
Summary
Cocktail & Burger is a great spot on Sauchiehall Street if you're looking for casual eats with friends or an informal dinner date location. The burgers are awesome, the drinks, delicious, and the vibes, staff, prices and tunes are all exceptional too. Definitely worth venturing downstairs for, I'll certainly be back for seconds.
