Café Gandolfi has been in the Merchant City since 1979, when the surrounding area was derelict warehouses rather than galleries and restaurants. It helped pioneer the gentrification of the quarter and has outlasted most of what followed. The interior — designed by Tim Stead, a Scottish artist, using hand-carved organic forms for the furniture and bar — is unlike anywhere else in Glasgow.
The food is Scottish with a light Mediterranean influence: good soups, fish cakes, black pudding, haggis in various forms, and a long list of ales and wines. The breakfast and brunch menu is particularly popular at weekends. The ground-floor bar and the upstairs restaurant have different vibes; both are good. The carved wooden tables and chairs are antique objects now and creak accordingly.