Glasgow has always had a booming café culture, whether Glaswegians were working on the docks, languishing in the Thatcher years, or dancing the night away during the European City of Culture era of 1990 - these café’s survived through all of these different time periods.
There’s several cafés in Glasgow that are well over 100 years old and have seen the face of Glasgow change around them, but have survived through the sheer quality of their service, food, and ties to the communities they serve.
Whether they’re in the north, southside, east end, west end, or even the city centre - each part of the city has an ancient café that has been a fixture for generations of Glaswegians, wherever they hail from.
Here’s our list of eight of the oldest café’s in Glasgow - ranked in chronological order.
1. Kelvingrove Cafe (1896)
While far from its origins, now serving more as a swank cocktail bar and eatery in Finnieston, the original Kelvingrove Cafe was an ice cream parlour and lunch bar to serve the recently built Kelvingrove Park back in 1896.
2. Henry Healy’s (1912)
Founded in 1912, Henry Healy’s is a Glasgow institution which sadly fell in 2009 - it was revived by loyal customer and friend of the Healy’s, Lynn Mortimer, who took over the Queen Street branch - with another owner taking control of the Mitchell Street shop.
3. Langside Cafe (1920)
Langside Cafe is a treasured Southside ice cream parlour and cafe, Langside Café is an iconic café/ice cream parlour in the Southside of Glasgow, established 1n 1920, the café was run by the same family from 1948-2018.
4. The University Cafe (1918)
The University Cafe - beloved by Glaswegians and outsiders alike - so much so that Anthony Bourdain featured the cafe in his Glasgow edition of Parts Unknown. University Café was first opened by Pasquale Verrechia on September 1918, and the man’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are still serving up chips and ice cream to this day.