Restaurants, Cafés within 5 miles of Glasgow

A genuinely inspired eatery. From the delicately displayed cupcakes to the well-lit, nicely designed interior, it projects a contemporary, taste-driven approach. Its ethical stance is no less impressive, with locally sourced veg, ethically fished tuna…

Not just for art lovers and ladies who lunch, this is fine dining at reasonable prices in a unique and aesthetically appealing setting. The house may be a 1990s baby itself but the original Mackintosh design is from the first year of the last century.

A visit to the Brooklyn Café, the 83-year-old godfather of the Shawlands all-day café scene is a real Glasgow treat. There's a steady production of breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner dishes including creamy risottos or the recently introduced grill…

Bookshelves crammed with classics, a full complement of tasty cakes and a chilled-out lounge space upstairs make this family-run café a great spot to grab a quiet moment to yourself. A relaxed nook with more print than pretensions, it has a wider appeal…

A good local eatery can be hard to find but not in Partick. Cafezique is attached to a delicatessen. Inside, simple décor and a mezzanine level is enjoyed by elegant young ladies chattering over wine with nibbles (olives and cheese fondue). And…

This stylish off-shoot of the Byres Road tea room makes great play of its ethical and waste-reduction efforts, aiming to combine elegant snacking and drinking with a clearer conscience. Set in a lovely Victorian building, they've kept the décor…

A bright eaterie (with floor-to-ceiling windows) located inside Europe’s largest public reference library would always hold some appeal and the Herald Café has the added novelty of bearing the name of Glasgow’s oldest newspaper (thanks to the funding it…

This bright and spacious establishment is now into its thirteenth year as a place to go for meals, coffee, sandwiches and cakes in Pollokshields. The menus and specials have expanded over the years so much so that for reliability and availability it is…

With its no-nonsense décor and various-shades-of-beige colour scheme, Laurie's may at first sight seem a functional place for busy office workers to grab a routine filled roll. Closer inspection reveals its creative side, however: the sandwiches…

It’s beginning to test the meaning of careworn slightly these days, but there’s still no café in Glasgow homelier than Offshore, nor even as homely. Hugging the corner of Gibson Street where it crosses the River Kelvin, with leafy views to the park…

This unique newcomer to the Shawlands café scene is well worth searching out. It has all sorts of idiosyncracies including a range of savoury Scottish breakfast puddings, wonderfully filling sourdough sandwiches such as bacon, brie and house-made onion…

Housed in the CCA, this spacious café-bar attracts a predictably bohemian clientele in evenings, with workers and young families hanging out during the day, especially on Saturdays. Despite the cavernous space and clean, modern lines, there’s a sense of…

Well, yes, this café does make its customers smile for many reasons, not least the fact that one sip of its Kimbo coffee coupled with the Italianate ambience transports them to a typical south Italian Salumeria. On offer are sandwiches, antipasti…

From the street Bella Napoli looks like a run-of-the-mill Italian deli, but discerning food lovers know that through the back, past the racks of wine and tins of olives, is a reliable restaurant of some worth. While the front cafe offers casual…

This spacious café with its particularly well-trained staff is run with such care and attention to the customer experience that it is easy to while away a couple of hours. Friends relax over coffees, pots of tea and irresistible in-house baking, such as…

Catering mainly for the large local office population, Bocadillo efficiently offers decent, affordable café food covering a wide range including a choice of soups; pre-prepared sandwiches and salads from the chiller, such as parma ham, mozzarella and…

Café Cherubini is a sort of hybrid of trattoria and café – it offers all the standard café items such as fry-ups and filled rolls, soup and baked potatoes, along with a range of straightforward Italian influenced dishes such as focaccia, antipasti…

Bare white walls and quirky 1960s chairs give this café a relaxed feel, but it’s the pop art screen-prints and kitsch lampshades that hint at the bold flavour hidden in the menu’s simple-sounding dishes. Slow-cooked coconut dhal, warm and rich with a…

With its cute, stylish décor, including Le Creuset pots adorning the walls, a tempting range of cakes (the red velvet is so distractingly melting it banishes all thought of its beetroot origins) and champagne afternoon teas, Fifi and Ally is aimed right…

Six years of taking it easy at Go Slow Café (to paraphrase the blurb), but the place is thriving and popular, so it’s no mean feat that during the busiest times owner/factotum Rose manages to keep the happy, calm vibe alive. Like most places run with…