There's really good coffee to be found in Glasgow, but it's not always the easiest to track down.
How am I defining "good" coffee? I'm talking about specialty coffee places with good equipment, good beans and, perhaps most importantly, people working there who actually know how to get the best out of these ingredients. The bar that all of the cafes on this list have cleared is simply having delicious, distinctive espresso drinks where you can easily taste something other than generic, dark, toasty, muddy coffee. This might sound like a low bar to clear, and for a specialty coffee place it absolutely is, but the vast majority of cafes do not try to do this.
The following list might seem surprisingly short for a fairly big city, but that's just the way it is. There are lots of very nice cafes serving great food and a perfectly acceptable cup of coffee, but perfectly acceptable isn't good enough for us here. 🙂
With all of that said I'm very much open to recommendations - I'm one guy, there are some places I simply haven't tried! Or they might be amazing and I just caught them on an a bad day, or a bad shot. If you feel strongly about anywhere in particular please do send me recommendations (email at the bottom of the page) and I'll check them out. I'd love to keep this list up to date as I come across more gems.
City Centre
Laboratorio Espresso
93 West Nile Street - Takeaway or Sit In
A long time staple in the city's specialty coffee scene. It's a small space - maybe seating for around 12 people inside and the same again outside. The only reliable place I know of for excellent coffee in the heart of the city centre.
Outlier
38 London Road - Takeaway or Sit In
Fairly new on the scene. A spacious, shabby-but-stylish brunch/lunch cafe on the edge of the city centre. Loads of seats but good luck getting one, especially at the weekend.
West End
Hinba
86 Dumbarton Road - Takeaway or Sit In
Hinba seems to be taking over the city, with cafes and collaborations popping up literally all over. This one on Dumbarton Road though is the one I've been to the most often, and the coffee has always impressed. Decent number of seats, and doesn't seem to get too busy.
Level 11
99 Byres Road - Takeaway or Sit In
One of my personal favourites. Tiny little cafe (bench seating for 10 maybe at a push? same again outside) perfectly located for Glasgow Uni. Lots of coffee preparations offered, including pourover if that's your thing. I could be totally wrong, but this has proper "very small independent business" vibes so I'm happy to support it.
Kaf
5 Hyndland Street - Takeaway only
Cute little deli and provisions store in Partick. No seating to speak of. Personal and completely unrelated rant - years ago they used to do some of the best to-go food in the city (incredible hot sandwiches etc) but have massively pared that back in more recent years. Bring back the Bodega. 🙏
Space
540 Dumbarton Road - Takeaway or Sit In
Really beautiful little cafe in the farthest reaches of Partick (Thornwood technically). Seating for 16 or so. You're probably not going here unless you have a reason to be in the area, but great to have such good coffee in this part of town.
South Side
Frankie
22 Skirving Street - Takeaway or Sit In
Bright, spacious cafe. Decent amount of seating. I've only been here a handful of times so I have less to say about this place than the others... 🤷♂️
Godshot Studio
1143 Pollokshaws Road - Takeaway only
I almost didn't feel I could include this because the last couple of times I went the coffee cup and lid smelled so strongly of incense I could barely taste the coffee (they sell a lot of incense, perfumes etc in the attached shop). But ignoring that it's been one of my favourite shops in the city for a long time, and does consistently serve excellent coffee. There are a couple of seats inside but it's always extremely cramped, and they've converted the little alleyway next to the shop into some outdoor seating.