Byres Road

Byres Road is one of those streets which is essential to the character of Glasgow, Glasgow just wouldn’t be Glasgow without this long and busy street. I’ve driven down it, walked down it, cycled down it and even had the privilege to be part of the West End Festival parade where the whole street is closed off and hundreds of people go down the street from the Botanics all the way to Kelvingrove Park.
Some things to spot on your way around the street:
— a giant illuminated halo over the Oran Mor
— Botanic Gardens at the top (Great Western Road end), collection of pubs at the bottom (Dumbarton Road)
— some of Glasgow’s more grand tenements and cast iron railings
— Glasgow’s only Waitrose in the city boundary
— a Commonwealth Games mascot Clyde in Hillhead Library, and local photographs
— idyllic little cobbled lanes just off Byres Road with yoga studios and vintage shops
— posh chippies and traditional good quality ice cream
— specialist deli’s and fishmongers
— more good quality coffee than you could ever want… a coffee crawl of just Byres Road would leave you jingling with caffeine!
I also like to do a slightly more ‘off the wall’ activity in Byres Road; play «if I won the lottery» visiting one of the many estate agent windows and thinking what I might buy if money were no object!

Byres Road to me is peak West End. It’s full of bars, full of restaurants and especially full of students. Especially for students new to Glasgow its probably one of the first places to explore and it does a good enough job of providing for them that it can be a while before the investigate much further.
Let’s call everything between Great Western Road and University Avenue the «top end» of Byres Road and everything between University Avenue and Dubarton Road the «bottom end» of Byres Road. Mostly I stick to the top end but that’s mostly out of habit. There you have supermarkets ranging from Iceland to Waitrose, not to mention a real butcher and a fishmonger. You can find fast food at Greggs, Subway or Mario’s Plaice, or, if you’re looking for something more interesting to eat you can try Cup, Curler’s Rest or Nic’s NYC Deli. I’m really only scratching the surface here.
It’s also a great place for gifts with branches of Fopp, Waterstones, Papyrus and Demijohn all within a stone’s throw of each other. Branches of most major banks can be found on Byres Road too, as can the Hillhead Library, a whole bunch of charity shops, a couple of jewelry stores, some vintage clothes stores, Boots and Superdrug, opticians, travel agents, hair dressers and beauticians, key cutters, a cheese monger, phone shops, obviously coffee shops and cafes, more than one ice cream parlor and on and on.
Really, it’s no surprise that the new students take a while to explore further afield. Almost everything you could need (and a few things that you might never need) can be found here. It’s like a miniature city centre right in the West End.
While you’re wandering around, stop to glance above the shop fronts now and then. The old tenement buildings that house them are kind of cool and also house the odd hidden gem. Especially keep your eyes open at night — near University Avenue one building has a lit up diagram showing the fazes of the moon. It took me nearly five years to spot that, so I’m sure there are more secrets around as well.

I do quite like Byres Road but I’m always left with a feeling that it isn’t quite living up to its potential. Starting at the bottom of Byres Road, there’s a large restaurant space on the corner which has been many businesses over the years and is currently occupied by Usha’s (Indian tapas). Heading up Byres Road, some highlights/​places I’d stop into are: The Two Figs which is a lovely cocktail bar, The Record Factory which is a live music venue which now does Meathammer burgers and Number 16 Restaurant which is an all-​time favourite of mine.
Further along, there’s the famous University Café (which somehow I’ve never been to, will someone please take me?!), The Hill and Bar Gumbo as well as a couple of decent charity shops. You’ll have to wait for quite a while to cross over to the other side of Byres Road, or maybe that’s just my bad lunch — I find these lights are really slow to change!
The top end of Byres Road has more charity shops as well as the lovely Ruthven, Ashton + Cresswell Lanes tucked off the sides which are well worth exploring if you have time. There’s ice cream shops (Nardini’s and Crolla’s), a luscious cheese shop (George Mewes), the delicious Little Italy for pizza and The Curler’s Rest for a pint. Other notable places worth a visit are Hillhead Subway Station for the amazing Alasdair Gray mural, Avenue G for coffee, Cup for a lovely afternoon tea and Fopp for any music needs you may have. Oran Mor stands at the top of Byres Road and is quite the magical venue for live music, weddings, shows, decent pub grub or just a pint.
I started this review at 3-​stars but as I’ve written, I’ve realised there’s actually a lot more places on Byres Road that I love than I realised.
Note: Not many things bug me more than people spelling Byres Road as Byers Road. ESPECIALLY if you’re a business owner on the road.