What do you get whe you take a great big handful of excellent independent businesses in the West End, whck them into a wee book with, each with an amazing one off deal lasting from the 9th to the 16th of September and sprinkle a little Yelp magic… the answer? Yelp's Passport To The West End! That's what!
Epic just about covers it…. We're making a check list. On it are the following. Kick ass people. Check. Amazing alcohol sponsors. Check. Scrumptous Grub. Aye. Splendid independant businesses. Yipper. Oh and a great wee venue to boot. All present and correct. Ok, let's launch this bad boy!
70 plus guests arrived on the night of Thursday the 8th to pick up a passport, meet up with some of the biz owners, grab a drink, some grub and a gab whilst having their ears serenaded by some soulful, sweet music.
Climbing the stairs to the Lansdowne Church, members of the Yelp community mingled with regular Glasgow civillians (not popped that Yelp cherry yet) and helped themselves to a welcome beer from the uber punky Brewdog, with Scottish sales manager Jonny whipping out tasting of the epic Punk IPA, 5am Saint and 77 Lager. Many tasted, all loved!
If mutt was too much for some folk, the fine folks from The Finnieston brought along some of the amazing blended scots whisky and whipped up some truly stunning and game changing concoctions. Peely Wally (Whisky White Russian with peppermint bitters) anyone? Or are you more of a Sweet FA kinda guy (apple juice and peppermint bitters )? Whatever your poison (both?) it's safe to say that Colin from The Finnieston had you covered on the night!
Whisky AND beer?! Geez, just as well we had some fantastic nibbles available on the night thanks to the lovely folks from Gambrino, who in the spirit of this great community evening, answered a last minute grub grab with a whack of pizzas that had the room swooning. Add to that, a cheese board spread fit to topple of the table from I.J Mellis, served up by manager James to the 'ooh' and 'ahh' of the gathering crowd. With main and starter covered, the fine folks from Flamingo Bakery flew to the flocks rescue with an outstanding array of cupcakery the likes of which has never been seen! (Find these guy and try 'The Elvis'… do it!).
With the belly filled and the dutch courage fuelled, t'was time to mingle and chat to some of the participating passport businesses, with the likes of Mind The Gap, Macs Glasgow, Damselfy And The Queen Bee, Alice Rocks and Miss Lottie Lou all in attendance, chatting and mingling with the newly 'passported' punters!
And hey, if that wasn't enough, the ears of those in attendance were treated to some suberd sounds from Glasgow band The Meatmen, who pounced upon the chruch piano and provied the crowd with some great tunes.
Big thanks on the evening go again to Jamie K who put in a shift and a half to get the venue set up. Jessie D for help on the night and Kevin L for applying his 'Just do it!'attitude to the end of the night!
Ra photies? Awesome aint they! Once again our good friend Alasdair Watson snapped and papped his way through the event. Many thanks to him!
Go forth and Passport good people. Don't forget, if you didn't manage to pick one up at the event, then you can always download one here, use the Yelp app to access the offers in the 'Deals' section, or simply pop into any of the participating businesses and pick up a copy!
Once again folks, if you attended the event and want to share your views on how awesome it was, then jump over here to the event listing and let the rest of the community know you thoughts.
Got something else to chat about? Jump onto Talk and share the word.
Chris D out!
