Was Glasgow on our must visit list before Michelin decided to hold the 2025 award ceremony there? No it was not, but we knew they must have had their reasons, so all the research began. What we found was a hopping food and drink scene, well priced, with the nicest staff and the warmest welcomes literally everywhere. After endless hours of research, and then putting that research to the test, here's where we think should be on your Glasgow hit list...
The Michelin-starred ones
Unalome
Unalome and its Chef-Patron Graeme Cheevers won their star just eight months after opening, and while it's the third Michelin-starred kitchen he's run, it's the first time winning it for his restaurant, in his home town. The evening tasting menu costs £135, but the three course lunch feels like a steal at £55, complete with canapés, bread and petit fours to finish. The food, inspired by Japanese cuisine and French technique, is above all else groan-eliciting, with the bold wine pairings another reason to visit.
The room is soft and unstuffy, and staff are full of interesting tidbits about what you're consuming - don't miss the spectacle of a cheese trolley, complete with creamy Scottish cow's milk cheese "Minger", named after the cheesemaker's wife (there's another called "Fat Cow" named after his mother-in-law).
Cail Bruich
Executive Chef Lorna McNee took up her first head chef role at Cail Bruich (which means "to eat well") in summer 2020, and was awarded a Michelin star just over five months later. Her focus is on elegant plates highlighting Scotland’s seasonal ingredients, and the restaurant has its own kitchen garden. This is contemporary Michelin-starred dining, with star ingredients like West Coast brown crab, Isle of Skye langoustines, and Creedy Carver duck.
The brilliant casual ones
Margo
You know when you're lucky enough to experience a restaurant at its zenith, when it's fully firing, when you think how can they possibly top this? That's Margo right now. Only open since October, Michelin awarded them a Bib Gourmand at last week's ceremony, and the UK and Ireland's top chefs were scrambling to get a table while they were in town.
This seven days a week, lunch and dinner operation, works on volume, with the team saying they can do up to 500 covers a day, and with food like this, there's no wondering why Glaswegians are queueing up. The beef tartare with grilled onions and crispy potato; the chipsticks and taramasalata; the half Creedy Carver duck with liver parfait and marmalade - and we haven't mentioned the very fair wine prices and very lovely staff who seem delighted to be a part of it. It would not be over the top to hop on a cheap flight to Glasgow just to eat there.
Crabshakk
Go to newly refurbished Crabshakk for a celebration of Scottish seafood. You'll always find the classics like baked crab (with peppery garam masala running through it), Langoustines the size of your forearm with garlic butter, and deep bowls of mussels, but specials could throw up anything from whole mackerel in a honey chilli crisp, to red mullet in a herby green goddess dressing. Sit at the bar for a piece of the action or upstairs for some respite from the grey Glasgow weather.
Gloriosa
Mediterranean small plates and indie wines are the vibe at Gloriosa, where chef/owner Rosie Healey and team are known for restraint, simplicity, and never over complicating a beautiful thing. Try the sweet and sour roast pumpkin agrodolce, homemade pasta with chicken liver ragu, or a rich roast pork tonnato, all paired with classic cocktails and small production wines. The high-ceilinged, minimalist room is softened by floor to ceiling blue velvet curtains and candlelight, and whether you want a quick snack or a multi-course feast, Gloriosa delivers.
Ga Ga
Malaysia-inspired diner Ga Ga is a subway ride from the centre of town, but deep-fried prawn bao, Malaysian-style curries, and Sichuan-fried chicken will make it worth the trip. Pair will stellar cocktails from an Asian-inspired list, and relax in the bamboo and plant-filled space. Not ordering the crispy potatoes with curry leaf mayo would be a Scottish sin.
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch
Tantrum Doughnuts
This independent doughnut shop has a constantly changing roster of flavours in their three locations - those on the quest to avoid glucose spikes should probably look away. With flavours from crème brûlée to blueberry pretzel cheesecake to maple apple old fashioned, there's always a new reason to stop at Tantrum Doughnuts, and even Phil Rosenthal has heard of them - look out for them in the next season of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix.
Outlier
We didn't have time to get to Outlier but an ATF Insider told us they had the best sausage roll of their life there, and that's good enough for us! The most beautiful pastries, cakes, breakfast and brunch dishes, with housemade syrups for coffee and doughnut days, Outlier is known as one of Glasgow's best for good reason.
Sub 126
Another one we didn't get to, but the team at D'Olier Street did and said it was "unreal!!!!" Italian-American sandwich shop Sub 126 opened last year and immediately gained a loyal following for their icon-level subs, with fillings like short-rib, porchetta and salsa verde, and the classic meatball marinara. Sandwiches are priced from £6.50 - £8 so this goes in the bargain section.
Piece
You know what to do when you see a queue right? You join it. When we saw the one snaking through Piece and down the street at 12:30pm we were already on our way to Margo, otherwise we would have turned around and joined the crowd. Turns out this is Glasgow's fiercely independent sandwich shop, there since 2008, now with four locations. Combos like hot salt beef with gherkins and garlic mayo, and the vegan "Nottolenghi" with hummus, roasted cauliflower, pickled onions, chillies, and green sauce are what cause the daily frenzy, as are prices starting at £5.75.
Cocktails
Underneath Margo you'll find their even cooler, more casual sibling Sebb's, known for food cooked over fire and some of the most masterful cocktails to be found in Glasgow. You can come for food or drinks, and it's got diner vibes, with five-star smells. Try the chip shop martini with house pickle, or the miso and malt old fashioned, and sink happily into those leather seats.
Up for an unknown adventure? Book a table at The Absent Ear, whose location is only revealed after you book. This award-winning cocktail bar is inspired by Vincent Van Gogh - his artistic legacy and his madness. Another must visit for cocktail tourists is the Devil of Brooklyn, with its grand bar the setting for cocktails like 'The Gorgon' with coriander and chilli tequila, or 'Hermes' with mint-washed Macallan double cask 12 year and house acid.
Over in Glasgow's West End, dive bar-inspired Westside Tavern serves 'taptails', "compounded and carbonated in house", as well as a 'New York Icons' menu, while
Kelvingrove Café has become a hospitality hang out for brunch, lunch, cocktails and dinner, thanks to their 10:00 - 01:00 opening hours seven days a week.
On the other side of Kelvingrove Park, Rascal peg themselves as a neighbourhood cocktail bar serving specialty spirits, but their innovative creations have made this one of the most in demand places to drink in the city, whether they're in your neighbourhood or not.
Wine
While Glasgow is very much in it's cocktail era, the same cannot be said for wine. Ask anyone where there's a good wine bar and the same two names come up each time - Sylvan, a vegetarian restaurant specialising in natural wine which also has a bar and shop, and Malo Wine and Negroni Bar, which we tried to get into but it was shut despite Google telling us it would be open.
Coffee
Coffee will not be the same issue as wine, with every corner seeming to sport a specialty coffee shop. We loved the minimalist, narrow room home to Level 11, with their bubbly staff and iced cherry vanilla almond milk chai. Absolute Roasters was a reader tip which provided us with a couple of very fine flat whites for a walk to the West End, and another reader told us they had the best coffee of their life in Godshot Studio to the south of the centre. How's that for a testimonial?
Cheese
If you're the kind of person who can't visit any country that produces their own cheese without bringing a sackful home (*waves*), you'll have to take a decent walk or hop on public transport to find Glasgow's finest. George Mewes Cheese has all the award-winning Mingers, Bonnets and Isle of Mull cheddars you could want, as do I.J. Mellis Cheesemonger in Hillhead, and Starter Culture down in Shawlands.
The ones that got away...
The Gannet - Modern Scottish fine dining that sounds like it could be bringing home Glasgow's next star
Celentano's - Ex-Robin Gill chef Dean Parker's first solo opening is intimate and all kinds of Italian-ish
Fallachan Kitchen - A communal table in front of an open kitchen under a railway
Brett - From the same owners as Cail Bruich. Simple dishes cooked on open grills showcasing everything Scotland has to offer the world of food
Eighty Eight - Small plates and Mediterranean vibes at great prices
Ka Pao - Electric South East Asian cooking from the same owners as Margo
