The Glad Cafe

I have to confess, I have only been to the Southside twice since I moved to Glasgow almost four years ago. I know, what a schmuck, right. So, as I had a hire car for the weekend, I decided to use this as the chance to venture South and sample The Glad Café.
It is very unassuming from the outside so I was surprised to find such a big venue inside. The atmosphere was welcoming, with great background music («Graceland» followed by some Stevie Wonder) and the staff were really friendly. We parked ourselves on two couches and ordered some coffees. The menu is comprehensive, packed with great local dishes and the cake selection is sweet enough to give your doctor diabetes.
I ordered the falafel wrap and Gemma ordered the Cullen Skink. As soon as our dishes were brought over, I had the words of the Grail Knight running through my head. I had chosen… poorly. It is not that my dish wasn’t tasty (though it would have definitely benefited from a garlic mayo or a raita and some dressing on a meagre salad), more that the Cullen Skink was delicious. The portion was massive, more than enough for two to tackle and the Crossmyloof Loaf was so good, I tried to buy some. «Sold Out» — damn it!
The price was also pretty reasonable, with coffees priced between £2-£2.20 for your standards and the food costing £6-£7 each.
I’m not in the Southside very often, but I would be more than happy to come to the Glad Café again.

The Glad Café is a fantastic and high quality day to night venue, like a slightly friendlier, chirpier Mono in the Southside.
Easily accessible by bus on Kilmarnock Road, this lovely venue is a social enterprise, providing employment and training opportunities and entirely not-​for-​profit. Cake always tastes better for a good cause!
It was super busy on a Saturday afternoon but there are some really sweet little benches to sit on while you wait for a table.
There’s a really impressive range of hot and cold (and alcoholic) drinks with a home bakery selection to match– there was coffee cake, carrot cake, lemon meringue pies, pistachio and white chocolate, chocolate and more to choose from and the serving sizes are EPIC.
Really friendly service, delightfully hip décor and superb quality baking mean I’ll be hurrying back here as soon as I can to try the main food menu which looked fantastic and imaginative with daily specials too.
There are lots of great events from bands to poetry to film screenings to attract evening audiences here too– as well as a sister vintage and second hand clothing shop right next door. I say, what a jolly lovely place to spend a Saturday afternoon!

After months of wanting to visit The Glad Café, I finally got to with Gian and my old studio mate while looking for a flat in South Side! Only took over a year to get me to that part of town (gooosh lazy Sarah is lazyyyy).
Anyway, first things first, this place is super dope. Love the atmosphere! Very alternative and gives me the same vibe as Project Café or Stereo. Also seems like a great space to do work in! I like it a lot!
Went in for some food so I ordered their burger special which was a Spicy Beef burger with chips and salad. It’s £9.95 which is not super cheap but it was WAYYY filling. Was filled to the brim at the end of that meal! Nice. Looking forward to trying more food for sure
Also had coffee! 2 cups in fact, within an hours (wow). But they make REALLY good coffee. I was super happy with my caffe lattes! Tasted great! £2.30 a cup, which is a normal price.
Staff members were coohl too. Very friendly and quick! Good job!
Anyway, if I’m moving to the South Side, I’m REALLY looking forward to being a regular here! Can’t wait to go back and also check out their vintage shop right next to the café :-)

Been wanting to check this place out since I first heard about it & finally, a couple of weeks ago, I got to go. Thankfully it lived up to my expectations of the place. I was only here in the bar for a drink after work but it is such a lovely and cool place to hang about it.
Some might say living in the West End I am spoiled for choice for hip bars/​venues but I really don’t think there’s anywhere WE quite like the Glad Café. It reminds me more of Stereo or Mono in that not only is the GC a great place to have a drink but also does really nice food (so I hear) and puts on gigs and other such events. It’s what Shawlands/​the South Side has been crying out for. If I lived local this would most definitely be my local.
Beers on tap the evening I went were Brooklyn Lager, William’s Lager and Caesar Augustus, West Munich Red and a Sam Smith’s beer. This is a really good selection for a place the size it is. Prices were not too bad either ~ £3.50 for a pint of the William’s Bros. lager. They also had some nice bottled beers too, including the Drygate beers. The wine list looked pretty substantial also and again, pretty good prices. I did have an issue with the West Munich Red beer in that it tasted bizarre/​off but thankfully the nice girl serving let me choose another beer instead.
I like the décor, furniture and layout of the café, it feels very boho and being in here on a Winters evening with all the wee tealights lit it was delightfully cosy & just what I needed after a long, tiring week. If you want to come here for food I noticed the kitchen stops serving at 7pm which surprised me as just assumed this was a place were folk could come for an evening meal but obviously it really is more a ‘café’ than just the name suggests.
Great place, lovely vibe and providing that little bit something extra for the area ~ I’m a fan.

I am downgrading the Glad Café from 5 stars to 4 as on my last couple of visits services has definitely been a bit wobbly, while the portions are undeniably small. I ordered eggs on a Sunday morning and got two eggs on 1 (one) slice of toast! I appreciate the «crossmyloaf loaf» might be fancy bread but surely they can stretch to providing 2 slices?

Fab wee café ideally situated at shawlands cross.
Ive been in here a few times now as they offer gluten free choices on the menu plus a lovely selection of gluten free cakes.
There is an events room that has loads happening but i havnt managed to make it along to anything yet but i plan to soon!
Lovely little venue!

The Glad Café is awesome, nice food, though they stop serving really early. And they now have a self-​service beer fridge with some cracking brews!

My baby brother was just off an overnight flight home after 2 years in Canada and had 2 new nieces and a nephew to meet. Finding somewhere appropriate for an overtired uncle, 3 one year olds, a 2 year old and 3 screechy sisters stumped us and we ended up settling on the Glad Café as the sister who’s sofa my brother has moved on to lives very close.
The first thing to mention is that this place is easy to miss. Thankfully the wee vintage shop next door are very helpful and pointed me in the right direction, otherwise puff might still not have met Uncle Stu.
I liked the eclectic, mis-​matched décor and relaxed feel. That they had enough high chairs for the brood deserves a special mention. But I do think that the sheer number of small people at one table threw the waiter as he seemed a bit shell shocked, given that there were no tantrums, massive hissy fits or tears I don’t really see what the issue was.
We ordered breakfasts and while my eggs royal was good I wasn’t blown away. Maybe my standards have been set too high brunching at Brunch Club. There wasn’t anything wrong I just felt it was all a bit meh. I ordered a croissant for Puff and even toasted am pretty sure they were quite stale, it has to be said this didn’t stop puff from demolishing it but she can’t be trusted given that she will happily eat dirt from the garden!
The cake counter looked impressive but the small people were getting restless so we left without sampling anything — this is probably why my visit to the Glad Café didn’t quite hit the mark. I’ll need to go back and eat cake and see what I think next time…

The glad café really is a happy place. I had woken up to phone calls from Australia (home) and it was bad news, we had lost a loved one. I was quite catatonic all day and stayed home from work as did my partner. At about 3.30 pm he decided to get me outside and as we got dressed it began to rain so instead of going to the park we went somewhere to eat as neither of us had ate yet.
I had a craving for veggie curry with fried rice and we drove about the south side until something caught my eye. Ah! The Glad Café, i had heard about it around the place and was regretful i didn’t try it at Bungo in the Back lanes. So we parked the car and in we popped. Its a large open area that feels really relaxed without feeling like they tried too hard. It was cosy and clean at the same time which most places aim for and go of course somewhere between boho and hobo. A lovely large bar, counter area and a smiley down to earth waitress who told us to have a seat and she would come get our order before 4 as thats when the kitchen closed. A nice comfy couch and i ordered the veggie burger and my partner got the soup of the day. It felt really relaxed in here and just what i needed. My naked face and swollen eyes had me looking something like ET yet i felt super comfortable.
That veggie burger! Yummo, so delicious. I can’t remember too much but i know there was pickles and maybe lettuce and tomato? and mayo the burger itself was flavoursome and wholesome. Chips were undercooked however the guy had 10 minutes to cook it in and they were still good as they were hand cut. When we left i said «i feel full and nourished» the food didn’t leave me sickly full but that lovely warm nourished feeling. Something tasty and good for you and served to you by lovely people with a relaxed manner. Will definitely be back, a delicious veggie burger in a lovely place. So close to home! i hit the jackpot.

I love this place and you will too. Friendly atmosphere and consistently good coffee and food. A place to chill, study or just get some lunch, The Glad never fails.
The staff are super nice too, down to earth and friendly. Says a lot about the place. Glad this is in the Southside. I can go every week!

I’ve yet to eat much here other than a hummus plate as the vegan munchies often seem to be on their lunch menu, but I’ve been in a few times for drinks and events. Tonight I was there for an event which was on as part of this month’s Refugee Festival Scotland (organised by the Scottish Refugee Council). I love the space; it’s not too hot, quite intimate, and has a great sound for both film and live music.
It was £1.80 for a half of Williams’ Bros Caesar Augustus, which is fairly average in price. There’s a bus stop right outside with frequent buses to take you into the city centre in around 15mins, unless you’re fortunate enough to be within walking distance of crawling home! It’s definitely my favourite place to go for an evening drink on the southside.

my favourite south-​side hang out.
I love coming here for brunch and reading their lovely Glad Rag free paper (great stories, poetry and design) as i tuck into yummy tea blends and try to choose between their amazing selection of delicious cakes.
also really liked the veggie haggis burger.

Obviously a great venue and cool place to hang out. The male member of staff who greeted and served me was very friendly and welcoming.
The service was quick and the coffee good. Unfortunately, the cake, which had a good taste, was a little dry and shy of filling. One side of the slice had obviously been exposed to the air and was very dry. This side was presented to me face up, drenched in icing sugar, presumably to cover this up. Such a shame, as I’m sure it would’ve been delicious if it had been more moist.
I’m interested in social enterprise and and asked a female server about it when I went to settle my bill. She didn’t seem to know much about it or wish to engage in conversation about it.
A mixed experience.

Glad Café is just so nice. I find it hard to pass that wee door on the street into the the gem that is glad. The food, the staff & the venue is always way above average & I’ve never been disappointed.
If you’ve not been yet… What have you been doing???

Haven’t given one star before but this was the worst food and service I have received in Glasgow.
Ordered from the specials board.
Coley with squash cous cous and Harrisa.
and my wife had a Thai pork burger.
The fish was one of the driest dishes I have ever had, a tiny morsel of squash and a forest of undeclared salad mixed through the bone dry cous cous, car crash of a dish.
The burger had heat but was again dry without any flavour or fresh Thai flavours boke!
Would have complained but staff were few and far between, we had to find someone to order, food arrived before cutlery and there was no check back.
Whilst paying at the counter (was keen to get out!) was asked if the meal had been ok said no and told member of staff why… ‘Not good then’ was the response… Afraid so.

‘This is your sort of place, isn’t it?’ asks my Dad as we enter the Glad Café. It’s like he’s read my mind.
The Glad café is cosy and bright with a creative artsy vibe. It was thriving and inviting when we arrived. A lot was going on; chatter and drinks and coffee and cake.- The beautiful cake selection atop the counter almost tempted me for something sweet. Next time, Glad, next time!
We were here to see the film ‘A Dangerous Game’, which was followed by a Q&A with director Anthony Baxter. I was really grateful to have been able to see the film since, as an independent documentary, there wasn’t a great deal of demand for it and, as a result, it hasn’t been shown in larger cinema chains outside of a handful of showings across the UK. So to see the film AND meet the director was a great experience. The ticket cost of a mega-​bargain of £5 and the lovely Glad Café location was an added bonus.
The little back room where they showed the film is a great space, and it’s lovely that the Glad Café put it to such good use with regular music and arts events. — First on my list is the monthly open mic night. A bustling wee cultural hub, is Glad. And there’s a whole host of exciting things happening, all a-​calling me back. That and the warm welcome. And the drool-​worthy cakes. And the scrumptious sounding lunch menu.
I’ll see you soon, Glad?

The Glad Café is very eclectic. In all ways.
Décor-​wise, nothing matches and it’s a bit of a jumble. But that just adds to its charm. You’re also as likely to find a live band, or random poetry recital happening whenever you pop in for a drink. Oh, they have monthly leaflets of their planned live events.
It kinda reminds me of a much larger (and more upmarket) version of Chai Ovna. But less snobby (customers I mean), and with a bigger menu. The food here sounds great and looks tasty — I’ll be trying it next time I’m in Shawlands.
I’ll pop in again — it’s just a good place to chill.

easily one of my favourite places to go on Pollokshaws Rd.
Tonight I was meeting friends so it was a couple of sharing platters & 2 bottles of wine (£57) and a lovely chilled evening.
If I’m not working during the day I am happy to come here for a late lunch and wile away a few hours reading a book as it’s as much a café as a bar. There’s free WiFi for those in need of it and the staff (mainly volunteers) are friendly but not in your face.
I’ve been to quite a few events as well so if you’re local to the Southside or fancy a chance give it a try.

Well disappointed that they give plastic glasses for gigs — I asked why they said because theere was no dish washer in the gig room (as if they can use the other one) and that they recycle plastics!
Do you know how much energy used to recycle plastic???

Finally made it here and got a seat on Tuesday afternoon. I honestly don’t think this place is as hard to find as people say — just look for the Pacman-​esqe red logo and head through the door towards the back and you’ll be there.
The space reminds me a little bit of a nursery/​primary school. I think it’s the bold colours, the wooden railings and the layout. I don’t mean this as a criticism at all as it has a unique vibe which is different from anywhere on the southside. The space is also pretty big with tables in different areas (mezzanine, along the window, corridor etc) so you should be able to find a nice cosy spot to sit — although, heed my warning about how busy it can be on the weekend!
I was greeted by a super friendly staff member who told me what was being served that day, and reassured me I wasn’t too late for lunch as I got there about 2.15. I decided to go for the sweet potato fries and the seafood chowder. In hindsight, this was way too much food for one person and I would have been better off focusing my attention on just the chowder as I seriously over-​ate.
The chowder was really generous with mussels and salmon, and was a really intense, smooth, creamy flavour. It was so good in fact, that I kept eating well beyond the point my stomach told my brain I was «full» and I only stopped when I started feeling like I was going to pass out from over-​consumption. The soup came with bread — white, brown or Crossmyloof loaf. I went for the intriguing local loaf and was in heaven — this was really good, dense, tasty bread. I meant to buy a loaf when I was leaving but got distracted chatting to the friendly staff.
The fries weren’t what I expected — for one, they were massive. Each individual chip was quite weighty and it was hard to eat more than a few. I think they also needed some kind of seasoning or parmesan cheese over them as they were a bit plain on their own.
My meal of the chowder, chips and a fancy lemonade came to just over £10. They also do soup and sandwich deals which are more budget friendly. I can’t think of how The Glad Café could improve. Their food is restaurant-​quality good, the staff are super cool and the venue is relaxing and comfortable. My only slight grizzle would be that the wifi wasn’t quite working when I was there, but then I instead buried myself in street press so it was a nice excuse to take a break from the net.
Note: they accept Swipii cards.