St Enoch Square

I agree with other reviews in some ways. I sort of think it gets a raw deal, but it is what it is and the reputation of this square is bad. Over the years it’s always been the type of place to avoid late at night and it had a reputation for having the odd shady dive bar and you can usually spot a dodgy dude of some type wandering across it.
That said it does have a nics deli and it is the Unilocal Glasgow starting spot for the annual subcrawl. So it ain’t all bad. Also in the past it sometimes has markets and mini food festivals so it can be interesting at times, but… Being honest for me the slightly dodgier memories and aspects of the square are what stick in my mind, so all I can give is two stars.
Sad and should be better…

I’m old enough to remember the way St Enoch’s Square used to be — basically a bus station, subway, and the travel centre. And not much else.
Over the years it’s had a couple of refurbs. The result is that it’s moved from being a bustling hub of activity, to a desolate nothingness, to its current position of just being a nice wee place to watch the world go by.
Shopwise, you have Maplins, a couple of bars, delis, tattooists, banks, Greggs and Nandos. The travel centre is now a Café Nero, and the subway has just finished being refurbed.
A few times a year, the square is home to a continental /​Xmas market which is always worth a wander round.

I feel like St Enoch Square gets kind of a raw deal. It’s situated at the bottom of Buchanan Street (amazing for shopping) where it meets Argyle Street (great for shopping) and is next to the St Enoch Centre (pretty darn good for shopping) but it… it’s not so great for shopping. There’s a Maplin and a Tesco but the Tesco is kind of in the St Enoch Centre so that doesn’t really count. In terms of shops that’s pretty much it. St Enoch Square really didn’t benefit much from the refurbishment that the St Enoch Centre got in 2008 – 2010.
That’s kind of a shame but it doesn’t mean you should ignore this little square. As any dedicated shopper knows, every now and then you’re going to want a break. A break is something that St Enoch Square can manage. It has a Café Nero (which sits in the old subway ticket office) as well as a few other cafes accessible either from the square or the shopping centre. On the far side there’s a Halifax bank, the aforementioned Maplin, a couple of pubs and a Nic’s NY Deli (donuts, anyone?)
There’s also the entrance to the subway here and you’re a two minute walk from The Clyde River. A few benches are scattered about for seating and it’s not a bad spot on a warm day. It real comes into its own though, when the events arrive. St Enoch Square has long been used for smaller scale craft fairs, markets, fun fairs and similar such things. The Christmas market is probably the best but the others are worth wandering around too.
I think there’s still work to be done here and it’s not quite as exciting as other parts of the city centre, but it’s still worth a visit to see what’s going on.

This square is at times vey busy when it has a market stalls or a fun fun fair. Other than that the rest of the time its a little dreary with great access to the underground station, st enoch centre & what few shops that are in the square.

Situated where Buchanan Street meets Argyle Street (two of the busiest shopping streets), St Enoch Square is a big disappointment. Rundown and with a mis-​mash of buildings and shops, it isn’t an area to congregate in or even to make a point of walking through and the characters who do congregate here are not generally salubrious.
The square has changed many times throughout the years and, although the St Enoch Centre which looks onto the square is undergoing serious renovations, it still hasnt found it’s own identity or met the potential that is there.
The only times I tend to make a point of visiting this area is if I am getting the subway from St Enoch (which is located in the centre of the square) or at Christmas time when the Christmas Market pops up which goes some way in providing the atmosphere this place lacks during the rest of the year and is sadly missed when it leaves.

One of the shiftiest locations in central Glasgow, St Enoch square gets it’s sinister feel from the nearby St Enoch «Hotel». This isn’t a hotel in the traditional sense, but a place the council use as a hostel for skagheads and young offenders, right in the middle of a busy part of the city centre. Good to see the council’s town planning department earning their wages. You really couldn’t make it up.
As for the actual square itself, there’s not a great deal to excite here bar a few banks, a café nerro, a subway station and another café who’s name I forget but actually looks not bad. The Xmas market brightens the area up in December as well.
The huge and costly expansion of the St Enoch centre will hopefully improve this area, but night-​times here are still currently populated by what look like extras from Escape From New York. They create a seedy atmosphere, but in all fairness they’ve never given me any trrouble, so live and let live.

Walking through St Enoch Square is a bit like walking through an old shopping centre or deserted downtown. You know there must have been some kind of former glory or been a hub for business at some point, but now it’s just strewn with chain bakeries, some cafés, and litter. Although the shopping centre has been refurbished, the square has yet to be improved upon. Your only real reason to shuffle through here is to get to the St Enoch subway station.
Worth a visit, though, when the Christmas Market comes to town. Its power to transform the square into something completely different is inspiring. If only Glasgow could sustain something of that nature with all the chain competition in the area. One can only hope!