On Tuesday night, the 5pm Dining blog sashayed along to the Hilton Glasgow for The Scottish Bar and Pub Awards organised by the ever informative Dram magazine.

The ballroom was filled with the cream of Scotland’s licensed trade and a jolly time was had by all.

As ever, publisher Susan Young was the hostess with the mostest. This is the twentieth time she has organised the awards and, as she noted, many of Scotland’s bars and pubs have changed radically over the course of the last two decades.

For good or bad, the smoking ban, new minimum wage, VAT changes and the move towards food-led outlets means that licensed trade would be unrecognisable to a publican who suddenly found themselves transported to the present day from 1995.

It will be fascinating to see what the typical Scottish bar looks like in 2035.

The Winners

Before you get to them, we’ll have a special shout-out for Mario Gizzi and Tony Conetta whose Di Maggio Restaurant Group took the Benromach Award for Success.

Employing over 850 people and with a turnover of more than £30m, Di Maggio is indeed quite some success story.

Also, we mean no slight on the other contenders when we say that we were not surprised when The Butchershop Bar and Grill was given the Customer Service Award.

The owners James and Louise Rusk are fanatical about making sure that every detail of their businesses are as good as they can be and service is a big part of that.

Lifetime Achievement Maroulla Nicholas, The Glynhill Hotel, Renfrew

Benromach Award for Success  – Mario Gizzi and Tony Conetta of the Di Maggio Restaurant Group

BII Customer Service Award – The Butchershop Bar and Grill, Glasgow

Diageo Award for Social Responsibility – Maggie Mays, Glasgow

DRAM Entrepreneur of the Year  – Steve Graham of Manorview

Glencairn Crystal Cocktail Bar of the Year – Blue Dog, Glasgow

Kopparberg Independent Bar of the Year  – 56 North, Edinburgh

Whisky Bar of the Year sponsored by Made Brave – Ballygrant Inn, Islay

Mixxit Bar Apprentice of the Year  – Gareth McKeown, The Pot Still, Glasgow

Molson Coors Craft Beer Bar of the Year – Montpeliers, Edinburgh

The Social Media Award sponsored by Open Ear – Cheers, Fraserburgh

Parlez Gastro Pub of the Year – The Cross Keys, Kippen

_Repertoire New Bar of the Yea_r  – The Jolly Botanist, Edinburgh

Tennent’s Quality Award – Clarks on Lindsay Street, Dundee

A Wee DRAM Dog Friendly Pub of the Year  – The Ship Inn, Irvine

Sunday Mail Pub of the Year  – Jinty McGuinty’s, Glasgow

Hall of Fame inductees: Stuart Ross, Alistair Don, Elaine Scott, Harry Hood, Billy Lowe.