MERCHANT CITY & TRONGATE

The lavish architecture of the Merchant City points to the prosperity of Victorian-era Glasgow, a wealth that the city is just beginning to reckon with given it was built off the back of the slave trade. Today it’s home to fashion boutiques and fancy cocktail bars. The streets of Trongate are more hardscrabble, but it’s here, in the neglected corners, that artists have made their home, with some of Glasgow’s most creative venues, most adventurous galleries and most-loved independent shops.

Food

No trip to this part of town is complete without a stop at Paesano (94 Miller St), home of the tastiest Neopolitanstyle pizzas in town. It’s by no means the only Italian joint in Merchant City, though. Glance down John Street – home to relaxed Italian cafe Osteria (no. 17), as well as The Italian Centre (no. 7) – on a particularly warm day and you might mistake it for Milan. For those who prefer pizza of the deep dish variety, Thundercat (86 Miller St) is introducing Glaswegians to hearty Chicago-style pizzas.

Piece (100 Miller St) is Glasgow’s best-loved sandwich place. Head around the corner to spri (241 Ingram St) for a tasty range of freshly-made salad bowls. Glasgow institution Cafe Gandolfi (64 Albion St), serves up great local fare and arguably the best breakfast this side of the M8, but not far behind is bake- house Singl-end (15 John St), a fave for weekend brunch.

And if you’re after a quick bite in this part of town there’s Shawarma King (113 King St), home of Glasgow’s (maybe Scotland’s) best kebab.

Drinks

Merchant City is at its most lively in the evening, but bars here can be pricy, so we’d point you in the direction of the more cheap(er) and cheerful boozers on the Merchant City periphery, like Strathduie Bar (3-5 Blackfriars St) and Babbity Bowster (16-18 Blackfriars St).

Merchant City is home to Glasgow’s LGBTQ+ community, with gay bars peppered across it. Katie’s Bar (17 John St), Delmonicas (68 Virginia St) and The Underground (6A John St) all guarantee a fun pre-club atmosphere while AXM (90 Glassford St) and Polo Lounge (84 Wilson St) are the big destinations where you can dance the night away. The pick of the LGBTQ+ hangouts, however, might be The Riding Room (58 Virginia St), which is loved for its wild cabaret nights. Also look out for events at Bonjour (37-45 Saltmarket), a queer workers’ co-op bar and community space that’s home to some of the most forward-thinking nights in the city.

In Trongate you’ll find Mono (12 Kings Ct, King St), an awesome bar with an ethos of serving delicious plant-based scran and tasty beers, and hosting great gigs. Closer to the Clyde you’ll find two even more well-established Glasgow boozers: The Clutha (169 Stockwell St) and The Scotia (112 Stockwell St). Both usually have some form of toe-tapping live music in the evenings. Music also runs through the veins of Ma ie May’s (60 Trongate).

Indie Shops

Ace indie record shop Monorail Music is located inside Mono, where you’ll often find co-owner Stephen McRobbie of The Pastels behind the counter. Comic book nuts, meanwhile, can find a great selection of comics and graphic novels around the corner at A1 Toys (31 Parnie St).

Across the arcade from Mono is vintage shop Mr Ben (6 Kings Ct), which has been keeping Glasgow scenesters stylish for decades. There are also two other great second-hand clothing shops next door – Minted and West Vintage – and within spitting distance is The City Retro Fashion (41 King St), making this corner of Glasgow a fashionista’s delight.

Things To Do

You’ll find some of Glasgow’s most vital galleries in this corner of town – for a full rundown of Glasgow’s art scene, turn the page. The area is also home to the Tron Theatre Company (63 Trongate), one of the most important producers of contemporary theatre in Scotland.

Elsewhere in the city centre, The Gallery of Modern Art (Royal Exchange Sq) is hosting an exhibition by Helen de Main and Mandy McIntosh titled Repeat Patterns. Here, the two artists discuss government changes to the welfare state and the implications for women, through collaborative printmaking practices. The Centre for Contemporary Arts (350 Sauchiehall St) hosts a dynamic, multi-disciplinary programme stretching across film, performance, theatre and visual arts. This summer the main gallery space will be home to Pinkie Maclure’s exhibition The Lost Congregation, where the artist will transform the space into an otherworldly church with stained glass windows depicting scenes of wasteful consumerism. The show continues until 12 August.

Close to the iconic Barras Market, Many Studios (3 Ross St) is a hub for artists and designers in the city, and recently became home to Market Gallery. The artist-led space hosts regular exhibitions and residencies –check their website for upcoming events. Close by in Bridgeton is

David Dale Gallery (161 Broad St), and the iconic Glasgow Women’s Library (23 Landressy St), which has an active roster of events, workshops and exhibitions. Until 30 July, you can see Rabiya Choudhry’s illuminated artwork on the building’s facade: part of a commission by The Common Guild. Further east, at Platform in Easterhouse (1000 Westerhouse Rd), the resilience and strength of this East End community is celebrated in East End Portraits, a series of photographs by Saskia Coulson and Colin Tennant –you can catch the exhibition until 19 August.

Heading south of the river, Govanhill in the city’s Southside is home to a number of galleries, including new space Broadside (123 Allison St) and three galleries in the recently opened 20 Albert Road complex – A-M-G5, Cento and ivory tars. Heading further south, the recently refurbished Burrell Collection is home to an expansive range of artworks – from Edgar Degas to Paul Cézanne – all in a beautiful setting in Pollok Park.