Glasgow has become a city where coffee culture thrives. Wander through its neighbourhoods and you’ll find that each corner of the city has its own café to represent the area’s personality, from laid-back brunch spots to wee espresso bars and takeaway cafes beside local parks.
A new generation of Glasgow cafes have become creative hubs and local living rooms for the community. In the West End, you might sip your cortado surrounded by students and writers, notebooks open beside laptops. In the Southside, family-run cafés spill out onto pavements with dogs snoozing under tables. In the East End, pared-back roasteries now showcase single-origin beans while playing music at weekends. Glasgow’s standards are high when it comes to coffee, alongside the cakes, matcha, hot chocolate, pastries and brunch dishes that comes with it.
Take a tour of 12 neighbourhood cafes that represent the local coffee scene.
1. Hinba
Hinba started on the west coast of Scotland, selecting and roasting all their coffee on the Isle of Seil. As well as their flagship shop in Oban, they have a specialty coffee shop in Glasgow. Look for their distinctive forest green shopfront on Dumbarton Road for Hebridean-roasted coffee, brunch dishes and pastries. 86 Dumbarton Rd, G11 6NX | Hinba
2. Showa Coffee House
After closing their popular business in Lerwick, Terence Tsao and Emilu Hasegawa brought Showa Coffee House to the southside of Glasgow with cakes, onigiri croissants, coffee and matcha. Find them at 34 Minard Road, G41 2HW. | Showa
3. Dandelion Cafe
Two locals, Mairi Darroch and Suzanne Stevenson, took on an abandoned tennis pavilion and set about restoring it as a 1920s arts and crafts revival cafe. They’ve succeeded, creating a cosy cafe for brunch, cake and coffee. Newlands Park Pavilion, 26 Lubnaig Road, G43 2RY | Dandelion Cafe
4. Spitfire Espresso
After a decade on Candleriggs, Spitfire Espresso has opened a bigger premises on the corner of Bell Street and High Street. They are a friendly bunch and serve up an excellent cup of coffee. Go visit at 55 High Street, G1 1LX. | Spitfire