Tramway

So this place is new to me. What a fabulous use of space and great homage to what it was before. This place is wheel chair accessible. Has plenty toilets. Has disabled toilets. Has a cafe with ok ish coffee. Vibrant open space with good use of eye catching colour. The chimney in the hidden garden is just a glorious view of industry gone but not forgotten. Please pay a visit to this place. It's pure ded brilliant. Photos attached.

Great venue for music but the bar was very disappointing. Closed the cafe bar as the main band came on and the bar in the hall couldn't cope with the volume of punters. Bar staff had a lack of knowledge of stock and were under pressure due to a daft management decision

As an art venue it's amazing, great concerts really interesting shows. Well worth a visit. Loss of star is mostly down to the cafe. The cafe is rubbish. Looks like it has been subcontracted out. Staff are nice, but it used to be good. Interesting menu and somewhere you would go to meet friends socially. These days it's a sad shadow of it's former self. Soggy prepacked sandwichs, dull soup. Okayish coffee and cakes. There are far more interesting and better value places to go eat close by .. or take a packed lunch

Amazing service from Kyle! Such a great asset to your team, five star service! Great food also.. always love the nachos from here! :)

Cracking venue. However, to charge over £20 for 2 drinks is an absolute disgrace. Should be locked up for that daylight robbery. As a result, I couldn't care less who plays there in future, I will never attend again. This would have been 5 stars otherwise.

Bar in the main venue was a utter shambles. 5 deep at the bar and 3 people serving....they closed the cafe bar in the reception and the staff from there were sitting having coffees 😁...nice place but run by amateurs...definitely won't go back

The Tramway is a great space, woefully under utilised and poorly managed. It has an ideal location in the southside & could be the go to venue for the whole neighbourhood. Unfortunately, Glasgow Life don’t seem to realise what an asset they’ve got. There are rarely any performances on and those which do run are poorly advertised and tend to be very niche. When used for festivals eg Celtic Connections, it draws big audiences, which should show the management its potential. However, the mismanagement is obvious at every turn. Last night, there was a crowd of over 1000 for Ibidio Sound System. The bar ran out of gin by 8.30pm. It then shut at 9.50pm despite the gig running past 10.30pm. Seriously, do they not want to make money or provide a service? I am a big fan of publicly run, non profit orgs & want Tramway to do well but something here really needs to change. Hope they read their reviews 🤞

Great venue with friendly and helpful staff

Tramway has had a very chequered history as a venue, and in many ways it still struggles to find an identity. Is it a funky theatrical space, or a gallery for art projects? Ever since it was saved from demolition by dint of being chosen by Peter Brook to host his epic 'Mahabharata', It continues to vacillate between the two whilst maintaining an uneasy balance. The main space, T1, is a great space for performances and is very adaptable as it's basically a big empty box with a retractable seating bank so you can configure it as you wish. It's not as well-equipped as a normal theatre as there is no fly tower so it takes a certain style of show to fit in the space, and that in part is why it struggles to run purely as a theatre venue - the other being its location in the wilds of the South Side with few amenities nearby - although this is improving these days - and access-wise it is right next to Pollokshields East train station. There is a smaller studio space T4, seating 84 maximum, which is also unconventional as it is longer than it is wide, giving performances an unusual perspective. But it does well for more intimate performances and has a sprung floor so it is good for dance works. The main gallery space is T2, and this retains most of the character of the original building, with skylights in the roof and tram tracks set into the concrete floor. It's very high, allowing some great installation works to be displayed. For more intimate works, a smaller gallery adjacent to the main entrance offers the possibility of full blackout for video works. Originally (as the name suggests) it was the main depot for Glasgow's trams, and you can still see evidence of this as the tracks have been preserved in T2. The upstairs was divided into a series of stables where the horses that pulled the trams were kept (yes, the building really is that old); these had ramp access for the horses leading up from the rear of the building, and you can still see a part of a ramp that runs up from the mezzanine level in the cafe/bar. Now the old stables have been redeveloped into art workshops and independent dance studios, plus access to the new studios for Scottish Ballet that replaced the very end of the old building on Pollokshaws Road after it conveniently collapsed on Christmas Day just as planning permission was being sought. The cafe/bar area can be a nice place to chill with a coffee, but the standard of food is hugely variable - as is the service at times. It does provide nice views out to the wonderful Hidden Gardens at the rear, and on a sunny day it's a great refuge. It also frequently turns into an unofficial crèche at lunchtimes as local mums and offspring descend en masse, so I've taken to avoiding it at those times whenever possible.

What a BEAUTIFUL space! I absolutely love Tramway! So my understanding of this place is that is legitimately use to be a tramway station or something, right? Gotta look this up! But there are old tracks in the building so I pieced 2 puzzled together. Ohoho. This place is massive and has many great gallery spaces, a cafe, outdoor gardens, theatre space, offices and etc. It's wonderful! I recently visited for the Glasgow International Festival, to see some artwork from interesting peeps. The huge gallery is amazing! Exposed industrial roofs, bright and white walls, makes for a very large space to fill! Perfect for huge installations or films. This place gives you a very upcycled and industrial vibe, which is my fav type of environment. I'm all up for re-purposing buildings for the greater good! I had a walk around with Gian and we wandered into the Hidden Gardens which is equally as beautiful. Would definitely go on a sunny day! Definitely will be here more often, especially when there are more exhibits and events!

I was apprehensive to venture this far down into the Soutside if I am honest. However, I had two of my Amigos with me plus an Irishman, so I knew it was going to be okay. The Turner Prize is being held here until the 17th of January (woo, so I might still be able to see it) because this is not the reason we came here. We came here to see "Little Red" by the Barrowland Ballet (GO, readers, GO! It's on until Christmas and it's great!). The Tramway is a fantastic venue and it's huge and the seats (at least in Tramway 1) are comfortable and it's a huge studio (although medium stage, according to the dancers). It's big and has so incredibly much to offer. Be aware that it is very warm inside throughout the performances. The bathrooms are also incredibly narrow. It's all very artsy. But it is a fantastic venue for the arts in Glasgow. There is also a small cafe located inside that I have heard good things about, but I haven't tried. I also didn't get a chance to check out the Hidden Gardens. The final thing that I will say about this place is that they have an awesome outreach attitude (they call it participation) to involve the communities and more generally, people. I cannot wait to come back.

I've been to the tramway many times to see art exhibitions, shows, catch up with friends and even a one year olds birthday party.. So it really does meet all needs.. As a venue it is big and airy, perfect for exhibitions and shows.. I went a couple of months ago when the menu was all vegan, I was disappointed with the food then, but not as much as I was yesterday.. They have now changed their cafe so that you can only buy pre packed sandwiches, soup or 3 different pies and when I say pie I mean a bog standard pie no salad no chips etc. I went for the broccoli soup which was not very good, it had been blended but in the middle of my soup was a big bit of stalk. Safe to say I left feeling hungry. They also offer cakes but I passed on that.. If I was giving stars for the food alone they wouldn't have got any.. After lunch we went to see the Turner prize it was a nice way to spend my lunch break from work and they have a lovely gift shop to.. All in I would say go see shows and exhibitions.. Eat cake and drink coffee but avoid going for food..

Tramway is a great cultural hub in Glasgow, offering groups and classes on the weekends for music, dance and drama. It also plays host to some of the best in contemporary art exhibitions, with previous installations including an impressive one by conceptual artist, Barbara Krueger. The Hidden Gardens outside are lovely and a tourist attraction all of its own. There's a nice little cafe inside too, which serves up tasty soup and afternoon tea to end your day in this lovely big building.

I have at least one warm memory of this place. An all day shot at the Triptych Festival in 2008 with loads of amazing bands playing including Mogwai, Errors and Malcolm Middleton. A great venue for music and with a funky garden outside. Not in the best location, but you can't really hold that against the place. There's alot more stuff going on in here now it's back up and running and I hope to catch as much of it as possible.

Atmosphere-wise the cafe here is nothing out of the ordinary. Counter service was pleasant and the price : cake size probably just right and no more. The "hidden gardens" at the rear of the building looked worth visiting when the weather's a bit better. I hope the gents are in the process of being renovated though as otherwise the state of them leaves a bit to be desired. Replacing the badly wobbling table (and I'd presume there to be more than just the one I used) would be a good idea.

Why haven't more people have more to say about Tramway?! Colour me baffled. Tramway was refurbished and reopened a while back, and while it has lost some of the rickety charm I remember fondly, it's still a wonderful space. The seating area is very chic, lots of wood and little stools, it has a comfortable feel to it. There is also an outdoor garden, and an art space for small exhibitions. The auditorium is used as a music venue, as well as hosting some amateur theatre productions. There is stadium seating and an open area in front of the stage. The acoustics and sound are very good, though if you sit up high you might feel a little estranged from the action. Tramway is definitely an under-appreciated Glasgow institution, and is well worth checking out if you've never paid it a visit.

Ah the Tramway. What a beautiful building and setting and a great venue for gigs and exhibitions. This place is great on a brisk Sunday morning. Grab a (seriously good) coffee from the cafe and sit outside with your favourate broadsheet and pretend to read it. Exhibitions change frequently so stay up to date on the website to be sure you don't miss any! The garden out the back is by far my favourite part with some cool wee finds if you go trawling through the trees at the bottom!

Popped out here for a recent wee presentation event called Pecha Kucha... 'tis lucky I ain't reviewing the event... And off we go. The place itself is pretty cool: stark and almost industrial in it's feel, the Tramway is an excellent building that hosts some great events... and some 'meh' ones. As a space, it's pretty good. I've only been in the one auditorium and whilst it ain't nothing spectacular, it at least allows for a blank canvas for the performers to ruin... sorry, work with. My one major gripe though is the booze on offer. Can's of John Smiths.. yes, can's, as well as a couple of generic bottled beers, is not where this bar/cafe should be aiming. Ok so they sell all the usual spirits and wine etc, but c'mon guys, with a venue like that, people may actually stick around afterwards for a wee drinky poo, if anything decent was on offer... Ever heard of West Brewery? Aye, I thought so.

As the name suggest this used to be a Tram depot, then for a while it was the transport museum and now an Arts venue. The history of the building adds to its functional/industrial character. There is a Café Bar at the back that's open during the day and overlooks a landscaped space called The Hidden Garden, it's a very peaceful place to sit in or walk round and worth a visit alone. The Tramway is next to Pollokshields East train station and very handy for various bus routes.

Always good exhibitions here and the hidden gardens are always a pleasure.

The Tramway is awesome! The cafe is lovely, not too expensive and always does nice food - check the specials out. The gardens are beautiful and very family friendly, there are always kids there running about (not sure whether this is a good thing!). The exhibitions are interesting and it's just a gorgeous space. Very cool place to hang out especially if you're a creative person. I'm an art student - I go all the time! Oh yeah and I agree with that other guy - the juice rules! Everyone should have a berry blast smoothie too!

My visit at the Tramway started rather bad as there was no exhibition that day I should have checked their program online so it's my fault. Anyway, I just stayed for a wee walk in the hidden gardens and had a fantastic fresh fruit juice, which was an extremely enjoyable experience on a sunny day. I left happy and I'll come back to see more art an another time.

Alas the food in Tramway's cafe is now pre-packed. What a disappointment! It used to be good.

A handy place to hang out for wifi. Their venue hosts some varied and interesting exhibitions. The cafe serves nice enough food but it can be a little grating having to put up with the amount of screaming kids that seem to appear everytime I visit. At the times it is peaceful it is easy place to spend your time.

i love the tramway cafe so much that i almost dont want to review it, i dont want it to get too busy. the theatre space is fantastic and puts on excellent plays. the cafe is a great place to spend a day, the soups are always excellent and they do a great cream tea for a few pounds. i had the lamb burger the last time i was there and it was delicious. and then you have the secret gardens, a lovely wee place to have a walk round and enjoy the scenery.

Love the tramway as a theatre venue and as an art gallery. Best of all the exhibitions are free.