Vietnamese cafe to open in former Glasgow clothing store

A Vietnamese cafe chain is planning to open in a former clothing store in Glasgow city centre.
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Street food firm Pho has secured a licence to sell alcohol from 25 Renfield Street, which was previously home to menswear specialist Moss Bros.

Planning permission, for the conversion of the site from a retail unit, had already been secured from Glasgow City Council.

The former Moss Bros store.The former Moss Bros store.
The former Moss Bros store.
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The restaurant will become Pho’s second Scottish venue after the first opened in Edinburgh’s St James Quarter.

Niall Hassard, representing Pho, said: “It’s a Vietnamese street food restaurant, founded by a husband and wife team in 2005 [Stephen and Juliette Wall], which has expanded steadily across the UK.

“It now has some 34 sites but at present there is only one site in Scotland, that’s the recently opened Pho restaurant at the St James Quarter in Edinburgh.”

He described the restaurant’s offering as “fresh, healthy, comforting food” which “very much ties into the Vietnamese national dish [Pho] which is a rice noodle soup”.

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“Alcohol is only ancillary to the restaurant offer,” he said, explaining that beers, including some from Vietnam, and wines would be available. “It’s not somewhere that people go to for just a drink,” he told the city’s Licensing Board.

Councillors granted a provisional premises licence to Pho, which will be a three-floor restaurant on the corner of Renfield Street and St Vincent Street.

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