We visit a hidden gem Glasgow neighbourhood filled with independent businesses to learn what makes it special

The streets below Trongate, including Glasgow’s Saltmarket, were originally associated with the wool production industry then became a fashionable residential area during the 18th century. The area's fortunes turned in the 19th century and this became an overcrowded and much-maligned neighbourhood before new construction work and a decrease in industry and commerce by the Clyde left a cluster of handsome tenements, old streets and closes to be reimagined. The fortunes of this small enclave, up from Clyde Street, taking in King Street and Parnie Street, has ebbed and flowed, settling into a quiet but resolutely independent pattern for much of the last 25 years, largely undisturbed by fashions elsewhere in the city.

No longer flying under the radar, the Saltmaket and the associated area - meeting The Briggait and Glasgow Cross - has become one of the most interesting parts of the city. This pattern is only set to continue with a new owner set to reimagine The 13th Note pub, new market and event space for hospitality and creative businesses at The Briggait and new businesses bringing more visitors to this charming pocket of the city centre.

There’s also a hidden gem artwork that makes this part of the city special - Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon's neon Empire sign is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. When lit up, the letter E flickers to mirror a sign glimpsed in the classic thriller movie. Previously on Brunswick Lane when installed in 1998, then Tontine Lane, the piece is now on New Wynd, near the corner with Parnie Street.

Here’s why the streets below and around Trongate should be on your radar right now:

Food and Drink is popping off in a big way…

Sister Midnight is the latest new spot to pop up in the Saltmarket. The trendy sandwich shop opened earlier this year and has already proven popular. For owner Laurie it was an easy decision to open her first sandwich shop in the area.

She said: “Stupidly I fall in love with shop units and this one had caught my eye and I tried to get the lease on it for a good few years. I've always really liked this part of the city.

“It seems to be where independent businesses start and thrive because the rent rates are a wee bit more affordable than a bit further into the city, and this unit really kind of caught my imagination.

“It's a beautiful corner unit, big windows and just a lot of natural beauty.”

On the other side of the Saltmarket at an often ignored part of London Road is Outlier. One of the city's most interesting hangouts. Coffee shop, bakery, gallery, community space and most recently high-end restaurant. Outlier has been a labour of love in an area he cares about for owner Steven Turner, with the staff at the forefront of Outlier’s innovation.

He said: “Outlier has just ended up becoming, I guess, a place that supports creativity even through the bakery. In the kitchen, I'm not a baker, I'm not a chef. I hire them for their time, and pretty much give them quite a big swing of freedom to just play about with what they want to or whatever kind of direction we want to take stuff in.”

Couple all that with the award winning Daddy Marmalade, one of the UK’s 50 Best Cocktail Bars, which you will find on Parnie Street. The bar, known for its outstanding cocktails and pizzas and is run by mixologists Mari Chierchia and Kim Toft, is described as a very cool little hideaway. The area is fast attracting attention for its indepenedent food and drink businesses.

After being displaced from Syria and leaving Lebanon, a young restaurant owner brought his family tradition of hospitality to Glasgow. Mohammad Bashar Al Haj Ali of Damasqino restaurant says the city has been so welcoming of him and his family in the eight years they have been here that he feels he now belongs to Glasgow: “We used to own restaurants in Syria. After the war happened in Syria we went to Lebanon and then we left Lebanon and came to Scotland. We had ambitions to open a restaurant here in Glasgow, we saw how nice the people are, how nice the country is, and we wanted to show the Scottish people our food and how can serve that food to the community.

“The Saltmarket means a lot to me. When we started, most of the shops were closed and it wasn’t as popular for business. It’s a historic street and everyone knew it so we knew we could create something very successful. I never doubted it. We did have hard times when it was quieter but after we became successful people started investing. They knew Damasqino had worked.”

Not far away, Shawarma King has become an international smash hit thanks to appearing on Netflix food travel series Somebody Feed Phil.

Then there is Bare Bones Chocolate, the factory shop and hot chocolate cafe, housed in two railway arches on Osborne Street where they handcraft single origin chocolate from bean to bar.

Independent shopping is thriving…

On Parnie Street, independent shopping is flourishing. From pet shops that have existed for over a century to newcomers like Sarah Gibbons and her shop Modern Love. Modern Love is a quirky, colourful and welcoming home and gift shop in the area, having first had a physical location in the Southside and then The Barras - it opened its current location in April, a street filled with character according to Sarah.

She explained: “I like this street. It's got a bit of character. It just looks nice with the railway line there. And the pet shop has been there for over 100 years. It's just got some old businesses. My nana used to always talk about Parnie Street in the 50s. It seemed like it was the place to be.”

Paninaro Magazine opened their first Glasgow store on King Street inside Social Recluse. A magazine where football, fashion and music overlap to create a subculture, Glaswegians can find independent clothing and design at the shop.

One of the area’s most interesting businesses is Good Press, on the other side of Saltmarket. To call it an independent bookshop would be to do it a disservice. It offers an open publication service, allowing local creatives and authors to sell their work there. Co-owner Nicky Lynch said: “We mainly stock art books and design and comics which are all over there. It’s all sort of art writing and poetry and fiction, and theory and non-fiction and some music.” It’s kind of a bit of everything, but it’s all either self-published or independently published. That’s the equalizer of everything.”

It’s one of Peter Capaldi’s favourite areas…

When we spoke to actor and musician Peter Capaldi, he said this very specific part of the city was his favourite and gave us quite a beautiful description of the neighbourhood.

He said: “When the Merchant City fades and it becomes the Tron Theatre and all of those red brick tenements around there, it's very Edward Hopper-esque. I'll often be found walking around there because, if you catch them in a certain light, I just find the look of those tenements to be quite beautiful and that whole below Trongate, I feel as if the wind comes up from the river there, and there's a kind of magical feeling, it's connected to the past as well as to the current Glasgow. I like it around there.”

These distinctive streets have also been used as a filming location for a number of big productions including The Batman, Indiana Jones and Apple TV series The Buccaneers.

Monorail Music has been long established in the area, acting as both a cafe and as one of the city’s best record shops. Founded by Stephen Pastel and Dep Downie, the record shop has been an important meeting place for Glasgow’s music scene. Nearby Vinyl bar is also popular with musicians.