Glasgow’s 100 Best Restaurants book brings together the culinary highlights of the local hospitality scene. You’ll find recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner and chips on the way home. A comprehensive snapshot of Glasgow food, consider it your restaurant tick-list for 2020.
BUY THE BOOK: GLASGOW’S 100 BEST RESTAURANTS
As restaurant inspiration for the weekend, here’s five of the best food places in Glasgow for all the family.
For the full story, buy the book here.
5 CAFE GANDOLFI
64 Albion St, G1 1NY, 0141 552 6813, cafegandolfi.com
Seumas MacInnes’ family connections to the Isle of Barra has informed his approach to food and helped create one of our favourite places in the city. Cafe Gandolfi boasts a bar upstairs and a separate city centre restaurant, Gandolfi Fish.
They take their cooking seriously and offer a relaxed haven for long lunches or fun evenings with friends. A great place to introduce wee ones to some Scottish flavours.
We love the pictures of old Glasgow cafes that hang on the wall. Gandolfi is part of a long tradition. The furniture, created by artist Tim Stead, has been a fixture here since they opened in 1979.
Best Dish: Stornoway Black Pudding and Pancakes (£8.90)
4 PHILLIES OF SHAWLANDS
1179 Pollokshaws Rd, G41 3YH, 0141 616 6555, philliesbar.co.uk
Brothers Conor and Luke Miskimmin created a community hub with soul on Duke Street with Redmond’s. For their next trick, they founded another welcoming neighbourhood venue, this time in Shawlands, where they both live.
At weekends, locals bring records to play on the bar turntables or enjoy the venue’s own extensive vinyl collection, whilst sipping pints from Magic Rock, Cromarty or Fallen Brewing.
Order impressive sourdough stone baked pizzas with toppings like parma ham, chorizo, aubergine or artichokes. There’s always bao buns on the menu, our favourite filling is spiced halloumi with avocado and pickled cabbage. “A great place to be social” says Conor.
Best Dish: Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad (£9.50)
3 COIA’S
473-477 Duke St, G31 1RD, 0141 554 3822, coiascafe.co.uk
Known across the city, generations of the same family have built a business that’s become emblematic of the Dennistoun area and has moved with the times. Italian and American influences in the food are infused with a powerful sense of local identity.
A lively gathering place where you will be looked after. You’ll always find something you like on the menu. If you are lucky, you’ll find something you love. On our last visit we ordered tagliatelle with Italian sausage and porcini mushrooms. This is a real Glasgow place. A landmark cafe on Duke Street since 1928.
Best Dish: Linguine Alla Pescatora (£17.95)
2 THE WINGED OX
17 Bain St, G40 2JZ, 0141 552 8378, stlukesglasgow.com
The Winged Ox is the food and drink side of the operation at ultra-hip East End venue St Luke’s. The stage in the converted church is regularly graced by some of the biggest names on the music scene for gigs. Meanwhile, the kitchen is cooking up its own headliners on a daily basis.
Expect lots of American-tinged soul food with a bit of Glaswegian swagger. There will be the occasional singer with a guitar as entertainment while you eat. You’ll see all the family here for dinner or weekend lunches. They are a dog-friendly bar too, with a dedicated food menu for pets to enjoy.
Best Dish: Souvlaki Pork Wrap (£7)
1 PAESANO
94 Miller St, G1 1DT, 0141 258 5565, paesanopizza.co.uk
A legend in its own lunchtime. Glasgow’s most popular pizza. Their hip city centre restaurant and Great Western Road joint has helped the city realise pizza doesn’t have to be a plate of disappointing round stodge. Nothing against our local deep fried version, but it turns out that the Italians in Naples got it right first time round.
Paesano has nailed the cool, casual, family-friendly dining aesthetic. Then there’s the pizza itself. Straight out of wood-fired ovens that provide an intense heat of 500 degrees Celsius to convert a doughy base into a pliable, light and tasty platform for all kinds of fresh toppings, while transforming the cheese into a creamy delight. Kids love it.
Best Dish: Spianata Spicy Salami, Mozzarella Pizza (£8)