Panevino

This place had delicious food and the service was top notch! This was THE BEST Caprese salad I have ever had. The pasta was also incredible –perfect taste and texture. We paired our dinner with a superb Malbec. The staff was friendly, funny and attentive.

Had a lovely spaghetti carbonara here — heavy on the egg yolk rather than lots of cream also made with cured pigs cheek, v impressed — their cured meats are exceptional and reasonably priced I had salami tartufo (salami with truffles) for £3.
They also have a bambini menu for kids which my 17 month old daughter loved — she ate the lot!

I returned to Panevino as part of a large group for a surprise birthday party. They were extremely accommodating in letting us monopolise most of the upstairs area on a Friday night, when normally they restrict reservations on Fridays and Saturdays to 6 people or less.
My first time upstairs, and I was surprised to find that it’s not any roomier than the downstairs. It’s basically a long narrow mezzanine that could only take 4 or 5 tables comfortably, and you have to share the area with the doors to the toilets and staff storeroom. The general lack of space in this restaurant is the only thing preventing me from giving it the full 5 stars, as I can’t fault the food or the service at all. I’d give it 4 and ¾ stars if I could.
For starters, I had mussels from the specials menu, which were marinated in a slightly piquant sauce and came with a wee bit of garlic bread. Just yummy. I was very intrigued by what appeared to be a large mint in a wee eggcup that came with the ‘empties’ bowl, until a water arrived and poured a small jug of hot water into it, whereupon it expanded into a hot towel to wash your hands with afterwards. How cool is that?
For mains, I again chose from the specials menu, with squid ink tortellini stuffed with lobster, topped with more mussels, king prawns and garlic (you can tell there’s a bit of a seafood theme here). I liked the way that the prawns had been half-​peeled in advance, so you could easily extract the meat without having to dig in with your fingers, and the tortellini was perfectly cooked. It was the most expensive thing on the specials menu, but it did justify the price as it was really tasty. Plus I got another wee expanding towel thingy to be impressed by.
As this was an organised birthday bash, the waiters had been previously consulted about wine choices so that was all laid on when we arrived, including some lovely proscecco to start us off and get everyone in the mood. We had 2 or 3 wine aficionados in the group and everyone was very complimentary about the wine choices, so that’s a good tip if you’re in a similar situation in future.
Dessert was skipped as there was a birthday cake (of course), presented with great panache by the owner, complete with candles and ‘happy birthday’ playing on the sound system. A nice touch and a fitting conclusion to the evening.
I have to say I really like this place, and I would like it even more if it was just a teensy bit less cosy.

I popped in here for lunch with some colleagues recently and I wasn’t very impressed. It was a Wednesday afternoon and we were looking forward to some good grub, having already scoped out the menu beforehand. It was busy when we arrived and we were directed towards our table in an urgent fashion.
When the waiter came to take our order, he simply said «OK» with an impatient look on his face. I ordered a few small plates: the red onion and tomato salad, which was laughably literal and consisted of a couple of tomato slices and some small slivers of red onion; grilled aubergines, which were cold and drowning in oil, with huge chunks of garlic; and chips, which were nice enough, but chips are chips.
My colleagues had salads, chips and one had risotto. They seemed content enough, but there were no exclamations of enjoyment or declarations of adoration towards the food on their plates. It seemed fine. Middle of the road. Mediocre.
The staff were quite short with us and there weren’t any pleasantries or niceties. I know it was busy, but a little goes a long way in terms of service and friendliness. A smile or warm welcome would have been lovely, but instead I felt rushed and like our presence was an inconvenience.
I wouldn’t rush back to Panevino and, with the stiff competition in the area, they could do with upping their game and being a little friendlier to those who choose to grace them with their presence and pennies.

Service good. The dish itself was not as expected. The side salad of Rocket and Parmesan; was a joke. Will not be back; sorry guys.

Panevino is a fantastic modern café style Italian restaurant, inside the ground floor is dominated by the huge bar/​service area surrounded by New York dinner ‘eat at the counter’ style seating. There was a few other tables on the ground floor — I presume there was quite a bit of seating upstairs because lots of people as they came in were disappearing up to the mezzanine level. For me the ambiance and surroundings were much more of a casual lunch or mid-​week eating out restaurant rather than a weekend night out.
The staff were great — friendly, efficient, polite… all the things you expect from a good restaurant service. They weren’t your standard trendy west end students and seemed to genuinely care that you enjoyed your food.
The menu in one word was cracking! I could have happily eaten absolutely anything from the menu — there was 3 soups to choose from, an abundance of specials and a whole brunch menu which included freshly made blueberry pancakes… yes Blueberry Pancakes, YUM! However I avoided all of these options and choose from the normal menu.
To start with I went for the Fillet of beef Carpaccio, a 28 day matured fillet of Scottish beef, seared & thinly carved rare served on a rocket, lemon & parmesan salad. It was soft and incredibly flavoursome, the salad was the perfect accompaniment with the lemon really adding something to the beef. It was the best Carpaccio I have ever had… in fact it may be one of the best starters I have ever had. It always surprises me when I enjoy Carpaccio so much because I really shy away from steaks done anything under a medium/​well.
As always in any Italian I order a foccacia with my starter — Panevinos version is delicious, it was doughy with just the right about of greasyness without too much rock salt and rosemary.
For my main I choose the Gnocchi cooked with pancetta & peas in a sage, white wine and butter sauce. The portion when it arrives looks a little small in comparison to say a pasta dish but I actually didn’t manage to finish the whole plate. It was buttery and slippery which I always think is the way a Gnocchi should be eaten. They were light and fluffy and very well cooked overall the whole dish was extremely tasty.
For me Panevino was an absolute winner and I will definitely be back here again soon for a lunch and week night dinner, I fully intend to eat my way through this menu.

Good fillet steak, reasonable pricing.
We booked it as a pre-​theatre before visiting the hydro.
We both enjoyed the meal enormously and will be back.

We were here on a busy wet Saturday, and managed to get a table without a booking, but only just. We were seated downstairs in a wee corner table, and while it felt chaotic around us I didn’t feel like we were cramped or overpowered by everyone else. Service was friendly but a little ruffled — the timings were a little off throughout, and it was little things like us having to get our own jackets that you remember. I’m sure if things were a little less manic the service would be a lot better.
Food and drink was good without being great. I had a couple bottles of Gradisca (?) beer which I hadn’t tried before — it was good, but not £5.50 a bottle good. I had an Italian sausage and bean stew starter and cannelloni main. Both tasted nice, the starter especially so, but as they were served in wee metal skillets they were volcanically hot, and definitely needed a bit of resting time before you ate them. Again, this probably took the edge off what was a pretty good meal, and all in all I remembered the burnt tongue, the price of the beer and the rush and hustle-​bustle instead of the pretty good food.
On the whole, no major criticisms, but on the other hand nothing to heap praise on. You won’t have a bad meal, and the groups who were having nibbles with a liquid lunch seemed to have a great time — this may be the way to go here.

Visiting Panevino on a Saturday night we were lucky to get a table as Finnieston was heaving with people out for the night &/​or on their way to see QOTSA. I’d never been in here before and thought it was really nice inside although a bit smaller than I expected. There’s a seating area downstairs as well as a large bar, and then a mezzanine upstairs.
I ordered a cocktail and Graeme a beer and then we had quite a wait before someone took our order. This place has lots of staff but they all seemed otherwise occupied and I wasn’t sure who was looking after our table. I went for scallops as a starter (£8.95) and gnocchi with pancetta and peas (£9.95) as well as a side of garlic bread.
The scallops were good — 4 mid-​sized scallops. Initially I didn’t think the dish had much flavour but the anchovy butter was really delicious. It also came with bread which was good for mopping up the sauce.
The gnocchi was a huge portion. The pancetta was quite fatty but that’s to be expected I guess, but I didn’t find that the peas cut through the oilyness of the pancetta. The gnocchi was good, possibly a little stodgy.
I guess you can probably work out my feeling about this place — it was fine, not exciting, not terrible. It was just ok, which is why I’ve gone with the 3 star mark. The staff were fine, a little slow at times but they were all friendly enough. I did think the bill was pretty expensive in the end, around the £50 mark for a 2 course meal x 2. Part of the bill was a couple of beers and a cocktail but I still thought that was pretty pricy.

I had the outrageously over-​priced steak ciabatta for lunch this week, at £8.95, it was a thin, tasteless but of beef with overdone onvions, not a bit of mayo or anything served with it on the side, we had to wait 10mins for the ketchup and mayo to arrive, there was about 7 chips on the plate, and I just felt completely ripped off. Dreadful. Dont ever go. You are in Finnieston, so many other wonderful options to eat!

Shame that the action of management puts a bad name to the supposedly good reputation of food. Our neighbourhood looks like a slum with all the fly posting that Panevino is placing every where because they will not pay for advertising the legit way. Guys sort your selves out.

Today I decided I would treat myself to lunch as I had a few errands to run in the west end and lovely Italian food began calling my name. I decided, as I was already near it, I would pop into Panevino as I’d heard lovely things and wanted to try it for myself.
Upon entering I was immediately welcomed by staff and offered a seat at either the bar or at a table. I opted for a nice window table, and the menus were brought over to me. My initial thoughts of the place were all positive; lovely staff, warm but polished interior, and an abundance of Italian produce available for sale around the bar. Good first impressions!
I had a look at the menu and noticed they have a few deals, including a £7.50 for two courses «In N Out» menu, which offers a limited but tasty looking selection of dishes. I opted for a couple of today’s specials, told to me by one of the managers who was serving me. To start I went for a medium cooked Beef Wellington in a starter portion, followed by a Linguine Stratecchi; strips of fillet steak with garlic, chilli, cherry tomatoes and courgettes.
Panevino pride themselves on taking the formality out of dining out, by suggesting you can eat as little or as much as you want; from a coffee and a couple of antipasti dishes, to 3 courses and a bottle of champagne. The staff also seem to adhere to this, as all of them were quite chatty and laughing and seemed to be in high spirits, which I think says a lot about the place if the staff stay happy.
My starter was gone almost as soon as it arrived. The beef was so tender and well cooked, the pastry was crisp and crumbly, and it all came together wonderfully. My only qualm is that it was slightly over-​seasoned, but otherwise perfect. The pasta I had for my main was the opposite; incredibly under-​seasoned. The strips of steak throughout were exceptionally cooked and tasted outstanding, but otherwise the dish felt very bland. I also do not feel the courgettes had any place in the dish; they felt almost randomly added for the sake of another ingredient.
My experience at Panevino was majoritively positive and I will definitely be returning to try other things from their menu. Reasonable prices met with authentic Italian food, and great staff. Feeling some Italian food? In the area? Head here!

On impulse, jumped in here for dinner on Sunday. Been here for a good few months now and always seems busy.
Good service, sparked off by ‘Bonjourno!’ where we were looked after, but not excessively so.
Decided to try lots of little things so went for Bruschetta, marinated mixed peppers and immense chips. Also stole some of my partners rocket and parmesan salad. She ate a ‘trio of burgers’.
Food was awesome, and filling. Though out starter of mixed breads, with oil and vinegar perhaps bagged us up some.
Portions were modest to good, where the presentation was above average with really nice cutlery, plates and condiments.
Happy people.
Décor is also sleek and welcoming, which verges on being cramped when you’re upstairs.
Pleased to see a loyalty card and promotions online etc which inspires repeat customers. I am all for it.
Will be back.

Went here on Saturday last weekend. Same owners as Little Italy in Byres Rd i believe. Food was fine, service was average. Nothing good or bad to say so i would say indifferent to the place. Would i go again? Most probably if it was necessary. Worth a try.

I enjoyed my meal which was very good, but not outstanding. The head waiter seemed to be far more interested in the tables with female or previous diners, offering them dishes not on the menu. Good hosting is very welcome, but not right if only offered to selected tables. The background music CD jammed and played the same single song for the entire time we were there, despite pointing it out. Whilst this may seem picky, it shows a lack of attention to detail.

I’ve been to Italy numerous times and Panevino is the closest I ‘ve ever been in UK to an Italian eatery. Especially the place where everyone can sit together around the Bar area. Great atmosphere.
The food was gorgeous too — Mozzarella sald was blow minding and beetroot risotto was cooked to perfection.
Well done to the new comer.

Panevino has it all and I’ll try to explain why. Its a new, hip and stylish Italian breakfast /​lunch /​dinner /​apéritif bar /​restaurant and enoteca (phew that was a mouthful) which has been opened by the owners of ‘Little Italy’ — a true Glasgow institution in the West End. It tastefully furnished, with marbled walls and a swish bar, akin to something you would expect to find in New York.
Panevino are going for a new concept in dining, focusing on lighter bites and fine wines. The idea is that you build your own antipasto platter from a wide selection of beautiful cured meats, salame’s, cheese and marinated vegetables. The antipasto is ideal for sharing and compliments a fine bottle of wine perfectly. I was really impressed with the produce on offer, they really seem to have invested in some top quality stuff.
After the antipasto starter, a ‘small plate’ main course was the order of the day. The prices seemed very reasonable, but the plates were indeed very small so didn’t truly satisfy our hunger. The cooking unfortunately was pretty poor and not as authentic as I had hoped, especially after the promising starter. A sloppy lasagne, a grilled piece of chicken with a slodge of dry tomato stew on top and a plate of about ⁴⁄₅ small scallops. Not exactly inspiring.
All in all, a great little addition to the thriving scene on Argyle Street in Finnieston. I would certainly recommended this place if your after a sophisticated drink with some fine nibbles.