The University Cafe situated in Byres Road has an art deco exterior but internally it’s all very Edwardian, by the look of things nothing has changed since it was first opened. Look carefully and you’ll see that Jack took this photo of the front door, I’m standing next to him.
Cafe culture was a big thing in Glasgow, I think it started way back in the early 20th century when there was a large influx of Italians who came to Britain, escaping from a war or poverty. They stayed and most of them went into business often opening up cafes or fish and chip shops. In fact whenever you meet a person with an Italian surname in Scotland it’s a fair enough question to ask them – fish and chips or ice cream?
In fact my parents met each other in an Italian cafe, but not this one and there were still a lot of cafes around when I was growing up, sadly not many have survived into the 21st century. For some reason they nearly always had the walls lined with massive mirrors, which I’ve always found a bit disconcerting.
Anyway, it was at Easter when we were in Glasgow that we finally went into this cafe to have an ice cream, we’ve walked past it hundreds, possible thousands of times but never actually sat down in it. The seats are those old tip up wooden ones, like in old cinemas. I couldn’t resist asking the young girl who served us for a McCallum, but sadly she didn’t know what it was – one of the older staff did though. She’ll know the next time someone ancient asks for one! It’s just a vanilla ice with raspberry sauce, and if someone can tell me why they were always called a McCallum in Glasgow, I’d be much obliged!
The exterior of the cafe – and the chippy next door as well as two other Art Deco buildings nearby – can be seen here.
