Just a few years ago, Glasgow’s Finnieston was a very different place. Aside from the odd bar and restaurant dotting the Argyle Street stretch, the area was mostly deserted.

Today it is transformed. Finnieston has become one of the most lively, popular neighbourhoods for a night out, with a plethora of bars and restaurants arriving in recent years thanks in part to the opening of the Hydro.

There’s been talk of “the new Byres Road” but Finnieston retains its below the radar credentials, maybe due to its lack of public transport access – there’s no steady stream of revellers stepping off the subway.

The nearby edgy SWG3 Studio Warehouse which hosts art exhibitions and club nights, as well as the Electric Frog Festival at the Riverside Museum, adds to Finnieston’s super cool credentials.

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Restaurants in the area have watched and unsurprisingly, welcomed the change.

“I remember driving down to the area nine years ago with my husband when I was considering buying The Sisters building at Kelvingrove,” said Jacqueline O’Donnell head chef and owner of The Sisters Kelvingrove (and celebrity chef of the Great British Menu fame). “There was nothing here apart from Air Organic. Since then I have watched Finnieston flourish so much, even in the last eight months let alone the last nine years.”

“Old man bars began closing down and cocktail places were opening up. There’s always been beautiful wee artifact shops, galleries, hidden lanes, which we all took for granted until they started polishing up their signs and taking more care when they noticed more people coming into the area.”

Derelict

Hands up who can remember Glasgow curry institution Creme De La Creme? Zahid Sattar, restaurant manager of Bukharah, worked in the iconic Argyle Street restaurant in the early nineties.

His memories of the time reflect a very different Finnieston to the one we have today.

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“Finnieston used to be derelict,” he said. “There was nothing here. SECC was round the corner, but the new Finnieston flats were empty warehouses. It was not desirable. It was horrible.”

“Now it is the new West End. Every second shop is a café, a restaurant or an eatery. It’s changed days. It is amazing.”

“It’s not even a regeneration or a government thing. It’s just individual entrepreneurs who have gone out and experimented with the premises. The next person has seen it and they have opened etc. It’s been an organic process which has just grown arms and legs.”

Hidden Lane

Gary Bayless, owner and head chef of Fanny Trollopes, which has been on Finnieston’s main stretch since 2002, agrees.

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“If you go back five or six years the pubs would still be where people went for their early morning roll and sausage and pints.”

“I think what’s changed is that there are a lot of young people here who have started their own businesses. Then is the Hidden Lane and all the talent in the Hidden Lane, such as recording studios and jewellery makers.”

One such talent is Kirsty Fitzgerald, who opened The Hidden Lane Tea Room in 2010. Within the past four years, she has witnessed Finnieston grow. “When I first opened there wasn’t much down here at all,” she said. “A couple of nice restaurants and bars.”

“I don’t know if it’s because of the Hydro or just the area in general, but so many amazing top quality bars and restaurants have opened up. Even from when I first used to come to Glasgow as a 16, 17 year old, this area to me wasn’t somewhere you would come for a drink or to meet your friends. It’s totally changed. It’s like Byres Road now. It’ll keep on growing and getting better and better.”

Finnieston’s Future

Against all odds, the once grim derelict strip has become one of Glasgow’s most vibrant neighbourhoods. What’s in store for Finnieston remains to be seen; despite its growing popularity we can only hope the area retains its bohemian charm and the coffee chains stay at bay. But for now, Finnieston has its finger firmly pressed on the pulse.

“I would say we’ve overtaken the true West End and this is the place to be,” Jacqueline O’Donnell adds. “it’s almost like it’s just arrived. As far as I’m concerned, Finnieston is fabulous.”

For more Finnieston stories as well as dining deals, check out our Piece of my City Finnieston page.