Plaza Bar.
317-19 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow.
Plaza Bar, Dalmarnock Road 1978.
This old East End pub was once called Matthew Burnside. Many generations of the Burnside family owned this pub and the history of the family can be traced back to around 1856, but not always a wine and spirit merchants.
In 1856 J & M Burnside was trading as Fleshers (butchers) at 165 Main Street, Bridgeton, living at 195 Main Street further along the thoroughfare. The following year the initials J disappeared and Matthew was the sole proprietor.
Matthew continued trading in Main Street for a few years before moving premises to 100 New Dalmarnock Road. In 1870 Matthew was trading at 77 New Dalmarnock Road, living at 71 Oswald Street in the East End.
Matthew changed his occupation as a Portioner and by 1875 was trading at 340 Nuneaton Street he also changed his home address and was now living at Margaret Villa, Uddingston.
In 1880 he was trading at 68 New Dalmarnock Road which was probably near the corner of Nuneaton Street, Matthew was now living at 4 Anderson Place just off New Dalmarnock Road.
In 1888 Matthew had two homes one at 315 Dalmarnock Road and the other at The Lindons, Helensburgh. Matthew continued as a Portioner until 1898.
The following year Matthew was trading as a Wine & Spirit Merchant at 117-19 Dalmarnock Road at the corner of Nuneaton Street also 174 Dalmarnock Street at the corner of Dale Street, 323 Baltic Street at the corner of Mordaunt Street, 463 London Road corner of Maulslie Street and 18 London Street at Glasgow Cross.
In 1901 Samuel Mitchell Burnside was now the new owner of the premises at the corner of Dalmarnock Road and Nuneaton, also trading as a wholesale whisky merchants at 320 Nuneaton Street, he continued to serve the locals until the 1940s. Matthew W. M. Burnside was the licensee in the 1950s.
Stanley Taylor Edwards became the licensee of the Plaza Bar from the late 1950s until the pub was finaly demolished in the late 1970s.
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In the middle of nowhere an oasis for the wine connoisseur...
Pie and Peas... and a Glass of Riesling Please...
Glasgow's Dalmarnock Road would seem the last place that the wine connoisseur would include on his list of stopping-off places.
But that is just where he would be wrong, for amid the desolation stands an oasis for the wine lover.
The unlikely spot for this oasis is the corner of Nuneaton Street and Dalmarnock Road where stands the Plaza Bar. And there among the haufs and hauf pints is a staggering wine list, all the very best of wine at around 20p a glass.
GIMMICK
The selection of wines began when owner Stan Edwards had a restaurant as part of his premises and had a large business clientele. Said Stan (53) "After the lunch business fell away I kept the wine list as a gimmick. There is not a great deal of demand for Sauternes to go with the pie and beans, but if I crack a bottle and sell only a couple of glasses then I enjoy finishing it in my quieter moments.
Interior view of the Plaza Bar 1978. Andy Sinclair looks slightly apprehensive as he awaits a glass of wine to accompany his pie and peas.
But one thing worries the pub owner, who lives ever bothered to change the price list and it is years out of date. "So I'll have to watch out in case I got a flood of customers from the wine bars of the West End."
One customer who wasn't too sure was 50-year-old Andy Sinclair, of Millerfield Place. "I don't know if the dinner wine really goes with my pie. But it's a nice change."
Plaza Bar, advert from Stan and Marjory wishing their customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 1974.
End.
