Ghinda Café
161 Gallowgate
In the space of a few years, the Gallowgate has become Glasgow’s Little East Africa, home to a number of Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants and cafés. Most are social hubs, and it often feels like being welcomed into someone’s living room. One such spot serving injera (pancake-like flatbread) with veg and meat curries, alongside coffee, is the loveably ramshackle, Ghinda.

Greek Street Yeeros
Unit 1, 25 Kent Street
One of the few market stall food vendors to stay open through the evening. Lamb and chicken are satisfyingly crunchy on the outside and packed into thick wraps, overflowing with all the good stuff. It’s about as pure as street food gets.

Ho Lee Fook
1 McFarlane Street
Ho Lee Fook does a roaring trade in tonkatsu sandos and sesame noodles, thanks in no small part to its popularity on FoodTok. Lee and Johnny Chung have been running this postage stamp takeaway across from the Barras since 2023. They’ve also just opened a wee sit-down spot just round the corner, Fook Mei. Expect much of the same, with a few tweaks. 

Outlier
38 London Road
This immaculately designed, capacious space does it all. During the day, there’s delicious pastries and sourdough made in-house, excellent coffee and soft drinks. Brunch is stellar, and includes some of Glasgow’s best sandwiches, as well as elevated eggs on toast and other delicate dishes. It is gradually moving into dinner service too, with a local, seasonal approach and modern British sensibility.

Smokey Trotters Kitchen
233 London Road
Hip hop on the walls and on the stereo while an onslaught of all things loaded, topped and pimped comes from the kitchen. Patty melts, dirty fries and strong encouragement to dip burgers in filthy sauces. Guilty, beautiful stuff. No booze.

The Winged Ox
17 Bain Street
Heads up: everyone just calls it St Luke’s, which is the adjoining gig venue. Either way, this church-turned-rock’n’roll bar, all neons and leather, is also one of the few places in Glasgow to do a smokehouse menu, with things like Nashville-rub and pastrami flanking the very impressive burgers, nachos et al.

This TipList is taken from Eat & Drink 365 Glasgow, our sister mag recommending the best in restaurants, bars, cafés and more. Want a copy? It’s available online or across all good stockists in Glasgow.