Glasgow Restaurants

Glasgow’s vibrant restaurant culture is constantly renewing itself. Some of Britain’s best-known chefs have opened kitchens here, including Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi. More recently, the city has responded enthusiastically to the small-plate and sharing-platter trends, but there are still plenty of fine-dining options on the one hand, and steak houses and burger places on the other. The city continues to present the best that Scotland has to offer: grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, wild seafood, venison, duck, and goose, not to mention superb fruits and vegetables. The growing emphasis on organic food is reflected on menus that increasingly provide detailed information about the source of their ingredients. Around the city, an explosion of coffee shops offer artisanal macchiatos and mochas.

You can eat your way around the world in Glasgow. A new generation of Italian restaurants serves updated versions of classic Italian dishes. Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani foods, longtime favorites, are now more varied and sophisticated, and Thai and Japanese restaurants have become popular. Spanish-style tapas are now quite common, and the small-plate trend has extended to every kind of restaurant. Seafood restaurants have moved well beyond the fish-and-chips wrapped in newspaper that were always a Glasgow staple, as langoustines, scallops, and monkfish appear on menus with ever more unusual accompaniments. And Glasgow has an especially good reputation for its vegan and vegetarian restaurants.

Smoking isn't allowed in any enclosed space in Scotland, but more restaurants have placed tables outside under awnings during the warmer summer months, some of which permit smoking.

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  • 1. Cail Bruich

    $$$$

    A Gaelic phrase that means "to eat well", the restaurant known as Cail Bruich certainly lives up to its name as evidenced by its many awards, including a coveted Michelin star (currently the only eatery in Glasgow with one). Run by two brothers, the ambitious and innovative menu makes use of local, high-quality Scottish ingredients, but it's really the delicate and clever cooking style that takes the menu to higher heights. Tasting menus of 5 or 7 courses are available (with vegetarian alternatives also available on request). 

    725 Great Western Rd., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G12 8QX, Scotland
    0141-334–6265

    Known For

    • Glasgow's only Michelin star
    • Multicourse chef's table experience
    • Elevated Scottish cuisine

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. No lunch Tues.–Thurs.
  • 2. Mackintosh at the Willow

    $

    Miss Cranston's Willow Tea Rooms were the ultimate place to be seen in Glasgow in 1903, not only for the tasty tea but for the beautiful art nouveau decor and furniture designed by a young architect by the name of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The original tearooms have now been fully restored here, and you can lunch on traditional Scottish cuisine or take an elegant high tea in the exquisite surroundings of the Salon de Luxe.

    215–217 Sauchiehall St., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G2 3EX, Scotland
    0141-204–1903

    Known For

    • Traditional high tea in a stunning location
    • Historic Mackintosh furniture
    • Great steak pie and haggis

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: No dinner
  • 3. Brig o' Doon House

    $$

    Originally built in 1827, this attractive hotel restaurant often has a piper by the door to greet hungry travelers ready for a Scottish setting and some Scottish fare. Tartan carpets, dark-wood paneling, and buck heads mounted on the walls set the mood, and the bar is a shrine to Robert Burns. The surrounding gardens overlook the Brig o' Doon as well as a small, rushing river. The food keeps to the Scottish theme: try panfried scallops with citrus butter to start, and venison casserole with juniper berries and creamed potatoes or the haggis with neeps and tatties (served with a dram) as a main course. There are several rooms for rent upstairs.

    High Maybole Rd., Glasgow, Glasgow City, KA7 4PQ, Scotland
    01292-442466

    Known For

    • Riverside location
    • Scottish food and decor
    • Great venison casserole
  • 4. Number Sixteen

    $$

    This tiny, intimate restaurant serves only the freshest ingredients, superbly prepared, on a constantly changing menu. Halibut is served with choucroute and a passion-fruit dressing—a typically unpredictable meeting of flavors. The pork belly with hispi cabbage is tantalizing as is the red mullet with mussel broth. Desserts are equally seductive. Set-price lunch menus are both excellent and a good value. There's room just for 40 diners so the result is cozy, but curiously it doesn't feel too cramped. It's best to book ahead, especially on weekends.

    16 Byres Rd., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G11 5JY, Scotland
    0141-339–2544

    Known For

    • Excellent set menus
    • Surprising flavor combinations
    • Cozy interior, so reservations are a good idea

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 5. Six by Nico

    $$$

    In a street of adventurous eateries, Six by Nico adds a new dimension of fun and wit. The concept at this intimate, modern restaurant with black tile, wood floors and tables, and black chairs is a six-course tasting menu linked to a theme that changes every six weeks, whether it's fish-and-chips or Route 66, with dishes that deconstruct and reconstruct the familiar. Five dishes are savory, one is sweet, and the staff lovingly introduces each course. Reservations are essential. The cost of the tasting menu is £25; there is a wine-pairing list for the same price.

    1132 Argyle St., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G3 8TD, Scotland
    0141-334--5661

    Known For

    • Highly original approach to a tasting menu
    • Imaginative dishes (with wine-pairing option)
    • Reservations essential
  • Recommended Fodor’s Video

  • 6. The Butterfly and the Pig

    $

    Down an innocuous-looking flight of stairs, this intimate restaurant is the type of place young locals love: flickering candles, mix-and-match crockery, and inventive, inexpensive food that offers new twists on the familiar. The menu reads like a comedic narrative, with descriptions like "traditional fish-and-chips, battered to death" or "Supreme Commander chicken." Vegetarians are not as well catered to, but they can at least can try the popular portobello-mushroom burgers with extra-thick potato chips. The chef uses only local ingredients, so the menu changes daily. A tea shop upstairs serves wonderful cakes and old-fashioned high tea.

    153 Bath St., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G2 4SQ, Scotland
    0141-221–7711

    Known For

    • Shabby-chic atmosphere
    • Quirky takes on familiar dishes
    • Tea shop upstairs
  • 7. Zique's

    $$

    This small but inviting café has a vibrant, bustling atmosphere while remaining unhurried. Its changing breakfast and lunch menus of British fare are always fresh and exciting. The excellent breakfasts are available all day until 4 pm; you'll have to battle for a table on Sunday, so book ahead if you can. The dinner menu (served Thursday through Saturday) comprises small plates; try the dressed Orkney crab and the lamb with salsa verde.

    66 Hyndland St., Glasgow, Glasgow City, G11 5PT, Scotland
    0141-339–7180

    Known For

    • Wonderful breakfasts
    • Tasty sobrasada (a chorizo spread)
    • Vibrant atmosphere

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.–Wed., Reservations essential

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