The Social says:

Social Glasgow is a Royal Exchange Square institution, and is proud to sit nestled amongst a selection of great shops, cafes, bars & restaurants. Its name lends itself to exactly what we love to do here, meet friends old and new, and socialise! At night, the square is transformed into a bustling location for clubbers and people out to have a good time. We are right there in the middle of it all, under the thousands of glittering fairy lights. The lights dim, the music fills the space with everything from soulful house to funk and chart, and the cocktails begin to stack on the bar.

Social And Cocktail says:

“This looks… cheaper than I was expecting.”

Affordability isn’t always the thing that you want in a cocktail, frankly. And the most expensive drink I can find on the menu is £5.50, with many coming in at the £4 / £4.50 mark. So it’s with a little suspicion that I order a Bloody Mary, straight-up Daiquiri, French Martini & non-alcoholic Bloody Shame (£3.50) in The Social, Royal Exchange Square on a slightly hungover Sunday afternoon. The presence of children in the front half of the premises was also unexpected, but noted for future afternoons with ‘friends-with-little-people’.

I’m pleasantly surprised, but perhaps I shouldn’t be as I’ve heard before from friends that it’s deceptive like this. My French Martini is well made and the raspberry garnish isn’t forgotten; the Bloody Mary, although lacking a little in presentation tastes very good; the Daiquiri is perhaps a little sweet but good nonetheless; and the Bloody Shame for our non-drinker is also well-received.

I’m told by the barman that they get a lot of requests for their “Nominated Driver” non-alcoholic cocktail range, and he makes a point of checking what level of spice my drinking partners want in their tomato-based recovery beverages. This makes for a notably better Bloody Mary than you might get elsewhere.

We snag a mirrored booth toward the back of the bar, which becomes more comfortable once the lights go down. The Social feels like it’s more of an evening than daytime drinking haunt, but with a decent £4 French Martini I’m happy enough to ignore a little lack of polish. It’s not a cocktail bar so much as a bar that also does cocktails (and pretty well, at that) – the menu includes shooters and jugs of Woo Woo as well as the classics – but if you’d rather have dance beats than piano keys with your Mojito then it’s a good choice.

Bonus Points

• Good Bloody Mary, attention to detail
• Interesting non-alcoholic selection, good value for money

Minus Points

• Slightly too-sweet Daquiri, but we’re splitting hairs here…

Review by Sara from www.drunchblog.com