Smile Cafe

I’m a bit in love with Smile Café and am glad that I have the medium of Unilocal to express it, otherwise I’d be standing outside their door with a creepy placard Love Actually style.
This is their city centre location — they have another spot on Queen Margaret Drive which I’ve only visited once, I’m sad to say. The city centre location is bright and airy and makes for a perfect relaxed lunch spot. I was meeting a friend here and even though it was busy, we were able to nab a table around in the back seating area. I love how they transformed this place as it was so dark and bleak before, it looks way more welcoming now!
I took a quick look at the lunch options and decided to go for the pesto pasta with a side salad, and got a can of drink. Their lunch deal is £6.50 and I was really pleased with my meal — delicious, tasty pasta and a lovely dressed salad. I can’t fault their food, it really is spectacular. They also offer panini if you’re not in the mood for pasta, and they’ve just started doing pizza by the slice which I definitely need to go back to try.

I was meeting the Mr’s cousin for lunch today and was wondering where to go. As I haven’t been to Smile Central since the awesome Unilocal event just after it opened, this seemed like a good idea.
When we arrived just before 12 it was super quiet, but ended up totally full by the time we left.
The guy serving was, well, all pure smiley. Very pleasant to deal with.
I opted for coffee, mushroom soup and a toasted tuna /​onion ciabatta. And, oh my God do I want this again! The soup was not overly creamy, and very peppery — just the way I like it. And the ciabatta was nothing short of perfect. For the two of us the bill cane to £15 which was well worth it in my opinion.
I was really glad to see that Smile have retained their awesome standards, and that it’s became a popular place to sit in and take out.
I definitely won’t wait so long to return.

Going to Smile Café allows me to pretend to be Italian … or at least 25% Italian haha I love it there!
Every time you enter Smile Café, as suggested in their name, you are greeted with a warm smile and a «Ciao!». A friendly welcoming upon arrival! Your eyes are also welcomed by the many freshly made Italian baked goodies at the counter! Cannoli, croissants, sliced meat, pizza, calzone MMMMM! What a treat!
I’m usually here to have a cuppa coffee, as the staff members here know how to make a delicious cappuccino or caffe latte! I always give myself a few seconds to reminisce upon having a cappuccino in Venice, while sitting next to the large pictures of Venice they actually have in the café lol.
The food itself, what can I say? Awesome. I just had their tortellini today and it was so … yum. Yummmmmmmmmm! Great way to start your day, that’s for sure! My Italian approves of Smile Café! :)
Will be back for more! As often as I possibly can hehe.

SMILE! Oh yes I did.
The flat white I have just had is up there with the best of them and my caffeine filled body certainly enjoyed munching its way through a Pancetta and Asiago toastie. In the background Italian radio is playing, Italian foodstuffs adorn the shelves and I have just been taught how to say Aaaa-​si-​aaa-​go properly with Scottish accent! A great place to come to start the day. Now where are the Ferrari keys

Smile! You guys are legendary at what you do! I finally got round for a quick lunch break at smile café number 2. Busy lunch time but Rocco G had nabbed us what was the last table available which was perfecto! Firstly its the little touches as you walk in the door an umbrella stand something you don’t really see anymore.
Order at the counter? Now I found this difficult… The amount of tasty looking food is unreal, what to choose from? Well it had to be the yellowfin tuna pasta. Green olives and sundries tomatoes. Beautiful. Whilst we waited for our food we munched on some massive olives. Washed all down with a latest flavour of San pal!
The staff here are just so lovely, always smiling. We finished up with espresso’s Great authentic Italian flavour! They do the best coffee.
Grazie smile it was amazing!

Stopped in here for a lightening fast lunch with Rachel G this week. Was very impressed by the sheer variety of sandwiches (both hot and cold) on offer, as well as the imported drink selection. I had heard that the coffee in here was excellent, but unfortunately (or fortunately) they happen to sell the pomegranate and orange flavour San Pellagrino, perhaps my favourite drink, so I had to have that instead!
I was all prepared to have the Torino cold sandwich which is cheese, aubergines and roast pepper, but just as I was about to order I noticed the hot sandwich menu and went with the Lupinata instead. This was smoked cheese, sautéed mushrooms and wild broccoli! Served on a large crusty roll with a side salad and a little bowl of crisps, this sandwich really done it for me! The toppings were plentiful and cooked to perfection! My only gripe was that the roll was a bit hard from being toasted for my taste, but otherwise I loved it! My little lunch came to £7 exactly, which is a little on the expensive side, but okay for a wee treat I think!
The café itself has a nice European atmosphere to it and the staff were extremely helpful and friendly. There is a small selection of European produce to buy here as well. The only thing I didn’t like about the café was that I hated the shade of red the bannister is painted and felt like it didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the décor! Haha!
I’d like to go back on weekend when I’d have more time to sit and relax in the café and sample some of the pastas and sweet treats that were on offer!

Unfortunately did not get a chance to sample menu as sat for 15 minutes without any acknowledgment! Not my style of café!

Fantastic place — wonderful food and staff — can’t recommend it highly enough!!!

There are many reasons I love Unilocal,and the recent evening at Smile Café is a perfection example of why; you turn up somewhere you haven’t been before and get to spend a few hours with some lovely people, eating amazingly tasty foods.
Not working in the city centre, my exposure to new places is limited, but I knew of this branch of Smile café because I happened to be on Bath Street the day it opened, but I didn’t go in because, if I’m honest, the name just doesn’t really speak to me. Another café/​coffee shop? So what?
HOW WRONG WAS I!
Once inside it’s a large, bright space, which is bigger than it looks with a few tables hidden through the back. As well as being a café there is a small selection of Italian goods.
Italian fare is what is on offer — those pies are made with a pizza dough — and aside from my dislike of peppers and olives, everything I tried, from ciabatta to pasta was delicious, full of flavour and perfectly cooked. A couple of glasses of wine helped wash things down.
Alas I left before the coffee and pastries appeared but that just means I’ll need to head back there for my Cannoli fix another time.
And I will be back, now that I know it’s not just another generic coffee house that is (but hey, it would be mega-​harsh to knock a star off because the name doesn’t sound Italian!).
If you are in the area, or even a few minutes walk from the area, check it out, you will not be disappointed!

So you are out looking for somewhere tasty to eat, you really need to stop and try the food at the smile café. Savoury pies to die for and the pastries omgggggģg and i am not even sweet toothed. The staff could not have been more helpful or pleasant and i will certainly be back on a regular basis.

How appropriate the pic is of one of the savoury pies. But onto that later.
First Unilocal for a longggggggggggg time. But Uni is all finished and it’s time to join the real world again. Yippee!
The café was only a short hop from work and located between Bath St and Sauchiehall St, very accessible when in town. Great corner location and large window proved excellent vantage point for looking out and looking in — loads of interested passers by once the place was rammed.
Especially great to catch up with fellow Unilocalers of old and great to meet others including newbies and long termers I hadn’t met before.
AFter a wee apéritif, Briony did the honours and we were introduced to a variety of sarnies on ciabatta. Great range of fillings from pepperami and cheeses with spicy salad — some familiar tastes and just enough to tickle my tastebuds. Great range of veggie options too.
After a brief break, the hot food appeared and Gibby and I were almost knocked over in the stampede — tip — don’t get in the way of hungry Unilocalers. But no wonder. Various pastas with mouthwatering aromas — pestos, anchovies, tuna, green veg, and all perfectly cooked. The anchovy in particular was lovely as it’s easy for it to be a little to salty — but this was perfectly seasoned. And the green pesto dish was lovely. Best part at the end was when all the flavours mixed into one, all the key ingredients really complimented one another. — Delish.
Then — the pie! I had spotted these large pastries plated up but didn’t realise that we were in for a real treat. I had wrongly thought — sweet dish but wrong — savoury heaven. Think of dry and lovely consistent quiche but inside out with a light thin pastry. The ham was amazingly seasoned. I thought ah the sausage can’t beat that — it was close. mildly spiced and too filling by this point. I had to compliment the owners and Marta, the chef was brought out and praise heaped upon her for an amazing dish.
All in thus far — great hearty soulful food that hit the mark for appetite and quality.
I couldn’t manage a sweet and at first, resisted the special coffee. But I weakened and succumbed. So glad I did. The chocolate sprinkled on top was as good as it gets but hint — stir vigorously as I didn’t realise that the bottom was a viscous chockky sauce. I did manage to scrounge a lovely amorreti biccie.
I’m not normally as gushing as this but I will be back — I’m just worried that Smile City Café is too close to the office and all my planned abstinence will wilt in the face of food heaven.
Great effort once again by Briony and looking forward to the next event.

There’s always a worry when favourite indie band moves onto a major label or your beloved comic book gets turned into a tv series… will something be lost or gained? I’m delighted to say there was no need to worry with the two guys from smile café. The new smile café central is their west end concept amplified. A bigger, airier and roomier location, its a great layout with plenty of seating which means there’s no risk of not getting a table (yet). The food is again top notch, and the coffee the same fantastic quality you’ve come to expect from Santino and Rocco. They also have the deli type thing where you can buy great Italian sauces, olive oil and dried pastas etc. Had a great pork belly panini, which I was gonna take a picture of, but it was so tasty it was gone before I had the chance! Great homemade deserts, a fantastic ceiling and toilets! Smile hasn’t lost any of its authenticity or quirkiness by moving into the big league, all in all delighted…

Huzzah! After the massive success of Smile Café on Queen Margaret Drive, my home boi’s have opened up their second café, on the corner of Bath Street and Douglas Street.
If you’ve never heard of this place, well, in a nutshell, Smile Café is a proper Italian style café and sandwich bar. I know the owners well and know for a fact they only use genuine Italian products and try their hardest to bring the authentic tastes of Italian to Glasgow.
Unlike the West End branch, where you can just about get away with swinging a cat inside, this place is gigantic in comparison and I reckon you could get away with swinging an elephant if you had the brute strength to do so!
I remember the old place that was here before, The Gatsby it was called, and it was very dark and dingy, all painted grey (eeugh!) but now the Smile Lads have done a cracking job opening the space up and painting it brightly and giving it a real fresh feel.
Every morning there is a selection of deliciously baked Italian pastries such as Cornetti (croissants) filled with Chantilly cream or Nutella, Sfogliatelle and Cannoli. Furthermore there are home made cakes like the chocolate and almond Caprese and Neapolitan pastiera. I cannot really think of anywhere in Glasgow serving this type of stuff, so it is pretty dang original as far as I’m aware. I love a sweet breakfast and as you may know, I am a bit of a fan of a good old Italian style espresso or cappuccino, so for me this is a combo made in heaven for breakie.
The espresso in Smile is still my favorite in Glasgow. Its just so creamy and smooth with absolutely no bitterness. This also makes for a nice velvety cappuccino which isn’t overpowered by the strength of the espresso. I’m a big fan :)
Food wise, the Central store is selling similar sandwiches to the West End branch, but they have a large selection of pre-​made specials (sandwiches and salads mainly) for the mega crazy office rush that starts around midday.
I popped in one afternoon for the sandwich and soup take-​away deal (£6) and for this I got an excellent Porchetta and salad ciabatta and a hearty minestrone soup. Everything tasted excellent and the ingredients used really are top notch and soo fresh!
The café also seems to be doubling up as a little delicatessen and they stock quite a good range of Italian products like Mulino Bianco biscuits, artisan pasta, bog standard pasta (like Divella), savory biscuits, tinned pulses and beans, pasatta, olive oils, grilled veggies, mozzarella etc etc.
Being situated on my way to work I can see myself popping in here most morning for a caffeine hit. I really am totally chuffed to have them in the city now and this place is a must for anyone wanting to try a real Italian café experience!