Restaurants, Italian, "Glasgow"

A smart, light, bright dining room with a stylish champagne bar attached, the place has an open kitchen where the chefs can be seen preparing dishes from the large menu. Deep-fried calamari are tasty and tender as are the prawns in the same…

Italian tapas is the order of the day in this large airy restaurant. Given it’s part of a chain, it doesn’t feel like the cooking is terribly bespoke. It’s a busy place, though, with many in for a drink and just a couple of dishes rather than a full…

Serving irresistible Italian cuisine in casual, friendly surroundings, Prezzo uses only the finest seasonal ingredients to create their award-winning pizzas, as well as other dishes prepared with produce sourced directly from Italy, all at prices that…

Operetta is a smart, large restaurant and café, which by day bustles with office workers grabbing soups, sandwiches or a quick pasta. In the evening the restaurant suffers a little atmospherically from its daytime existence – the large self-service…

Verona is very much the new boy in town finding his feet having opened in January 2012. Set aside the gaudy neon lighting outside and an interior which is about as authentically Italian as a fake Gucci handbag and there is a not bad menu on offer. With…

Pulcinella radiates tradition – checked table cloths, walls crammed with souvenirs – which you’ll either find charming or a bit tired, but the friendly staff chattering away in Italian certainly add to the ambience. The menu offers a range of familiar…

Although the menu is a touch conservative, classics are well executed with the kitchen showing care and keen attention to detail. Air-cured bresaola is taken to room temperature before serving and sharpened by generous shavings of parmesan. A special of…

With over 100 restaurants in the UK, Zizzi is a growing chain, but changing specials and quirky touches such as the staff photograph on the menu make for a distinct dining experience. Situated on the top terrace in Princes Square, Zizzi takes full…

The newest member of the Tony Macaroni family, Assaggini follows the trend of Italian food as tapas, but it is no mere bandwagon jumper. Each small plate leaves the diner wanting more, from veal meatballs in a velvet basil sauce, to focaccia with sticky…

Barbarossa comes in two parts – a wine bar downstairs and a chic restaurant upstairs – and thanks to a very committed chef, a host of regulars have been dining here for more than 10 years. The wine bar has a reasonably priced selection of pasta, pizza…

Massimo's popularity seems as much to do with its location, opposite King's Theatre, as the typically Italian fare served up in this basement venue. Modern stylings such as wooden floors and glass partitions give the space a surprisingly light and airy…

Scallops wrapped in pancetta is a good way to start in this large, airy and stylish basement dining room. The portion is generous and the scallops not overcooked. The antipasto misto is described as a signature dish, but is a little disappointing. It…

Walking through the porch entrance to Gambrino transports you from the bustle of Great Western Road to a Tuscan trattoria. From the terracotta floors to exposed brickwork walls, worn table-tops and dried flowers, there's a warm, traditional feeling that…

In Glasgow’s trendy Merchant City the competition among restaurants to attract discerning diners is high. Artà stands out architecturally. Once the location of a medieval cheese market this listed building was developed Baroque style in 2000 into a…

While the origin of the name may have been lost in the mists of time, the team at Firebird are certainly taking the ‘fire’ part seriously. A wood-fired oven bakes the signature sourdough pizzas to a pleasing crunch, while a blazing stove keeps the…

While all that is new and shiny and steel springs up around it, the North Rotunda, for long a restaurant complex but once the entrance to the tunnel under the Clyde, is looking distinctly old-fashioned in its brick and cast iron exterior – a rather…