Glasgow Food Stories: We hear how a former coaching inn became one of Glasgow's oldest and best restaurants

The Buttery can be found in the Anderston area of the city and has become well-known for its incredible upscale Scottish cuisine, with a strong focus on seafood. Celebrating luxury both on the plate and with its sophisticated decor, it has earned its reputation as one of the city’s finest.

According to Ryan James, current owner of the restaurant, its long history, dating back to the 1860s, is one filled with the twists and turns associated with many of Glasgow’s finest establishments.

“The ground floor, which is where the Buttery is housed, was a coaching inn at that point. Obviously, in 1869, there were no motorcars or buses. It was just horses, so this was like a bus stop, a very grand bus stop where you could have something to eat and something to drink while you're waiting for the coach. If you were coming to Glasgow, there would probably have been some form of accommodation somewhere in amongst it,” Ryan explained.

In the 1920s, following the First World War, the area became more built up, with tenement flats being built from Argyle Street at Central Station out to the West End of the city.

“This became a very big part of what was the Irish immigrant population, partially because the Broomielaw was where the Irish boats docked. So that's where people would first stop off, if you like, was to get there,” Ryan said. “What was the coach inn became a public house, because at that point, licences became more free. And also there was an appetite for alcohol, particularly after the First World War.”

The premises became a pub called the Shandon Bells and would last until 1967, when the tenement around the Shandon Bells were demolished - leaving the pub isolated and an island for 20 years.

“The building that the Buttery's in, and the building further up the road called Anderston Savings Bank, the owners of both properties thought they weren't getting enough compulsory purchase from Glasgow Council,” Ryan said. “So they decided to hold out. And when Glasgow City Council decided that they didn't really need the land anymore because Kingston Bridge was going across that way and the expressway was going that way, this whole parcel of land, really they didn't know what to do with it. So they just pulled out.

In stepped the Lamont family who transformed the pub into a restaurant, and the restaurant entered a new era - one that would see it become a Glasgow institution.

“They decided to take it from being a bar into a restaurant. They dropped the Bells part from the Shandon and put the Buttery at the end. The buttery being a Scottish word for larder, so it signalled the fact that they were now selling food much more than they were selling alcohol,” Ryan explained.

In 2007, Ryan and his team took the reins and transformed it into ‘Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery,’ breathing new life into a local historic gem, with a relaxed, old-school ambience. Their dishes are inspired by the best seasonal ingredients and traditions of Glasgow hospitality.

The Buttery, 652-654 Argyle St. Glasgow G3 8UF