Glasgow pub Sloans is a top wedding venue with 'legendary' mac cheese

It was situated in a small courtyard once popular for cockfights, and the three-storey tenement was probably built some years later alongside the construction of the Argyll Arcade in the 1820s.

The name we recognise today came along when prominent city publican David Sloan purchased the café at the beginning of the 20th century with a view to completely transforming it into a more opulent space.

He changed the name to Sloans Café Bar and commissioned Charles Robinson to remodel it into a stunning venue with a lounge, dining rooms, cocktail bar, a gentleman’s smoking room, a grand ballroom and even an aquarium.

Often described by periodicals of the time as the jewel in the crown of Sloans, the grand ballroom features a vaulted ceiling, parquet floor, a period marble fireplace and intricate Art Nouveau-style stained-glass windows.

Its listed category was changed from B to A in November 1996 on account of it being “a rare example of a bar, dining room and coffee house complex with an exceptional opulent Art Nouveau interior”, with “an impressive ballroom”.

Since then, Sloans has only continued to evolve while maintaining its reputation as a bar with a breathtaking aesthetic. In 2007, when it was taken over by Oli Norman, the man behind popular spots Brel and Maggie May’s, it underwent a huge restoration to protect and enhance its original features.

A £10,000 investment included introducing the city’s first-ever year-round Sunday market in the lane, with a range of bespoke food, jewellery, clothing and gifts on offer.

Nine years later, the market was upgraded to include more choices as well as a dedicated "mac shack" to showcase Sloans’s famed macaroni and cheese.

While you can enjoy a variety of pub classics, mac ‘n’ cheese is a must at Sloans. The bar has a special menu dedicated to a macaroni cheese "feast" that is regularly consumed by the Scottish Macaroni Appreciation Society (SMAC) during their monthly meetings at the bar.

When a group of youths allegedly torched their beer garden in 2013, the team came up with a unique way of appealing for witnesses – offering a reward of £1000 worth of the golden goodness.

General manager Nicola Wilkinson said: “We're famous across the city for our gourmet macaroni cheese and regularly sell thousands of plates to our customers every week.

"We couldn't think of a better way to tempt folk to pick up the phone than with the reward of £1000 worth of mac and cheese."

Being so close to the jewellery quarter Argyll Arcade, Sloans has become a traditionally romantic pub. Couples would choose engagement rings in the arcade before heading along to to the bar to celebrate, and then return to celebrate their wedding reception in the ballroom.

This affiliation with romance has hardly faltered. In 2017, an elderly couple warmed hearts by getting engaged at Sloans. The future Mr and Mrs McClusker brought a ray of sunshine to fellow punters when they showed it’s never too late to find a special someone.

Mr and Mrs McClusker (Image: Facebook)

The following year, Shawlands couple Caroline and Adam Kearney had their wedding reception at Sloans’s grand ballroom after extreme snow thwarted their plans to marry in Fintry.

The couple had been planning their wedding for almost two years and when the roads were blocked, the team at the city centre bar stepped in to help just 24 hours before the big event.

Caroline said: "None of these people knew us, yet they went out of their way to help and we are completely humbled by their kindness.”

While it was a last-minute plan for the couple, Sloans is a popular choice for weddings. The ballroom hosts receptions, a weekly Friday ceilidh and proved to be as versatile as ever in 2018 when it showed a special screening of the Love Island final.

Visitors can enjoy the bar and beer garden and explore the history of the building in more detail with tours of the venue available on request.