The Farmhouse

Queen Street, Glasgow.

The Pleasant Surroundings Inside The Farmhouse Restaurant.

In the NEWS 1978…

Another Tasteful Farmhouse Has Come To Town…

A good meal in pleasant surroundings without a long wait to be served, that’s the formula which has made the Farmhouse Restaurant chain successful in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The first Farmhouse Restaurant opened in Edinburgh 12 years ago, based on an idea by the founder. A former vegetarian, he decided to set up a restaurant serving fresh food from his South Queensferry farm.

That restaurant was in Edinburgh’s High Street. It has since been closed and replaced with two more, in Rose Street and Princes Street.

Five years ago, the company opened a Farmhouse restaurant in Glasgow’s West George Street. It immediately became a favourite with business people for lunch, house-wives for morning coffee and afternoon tea, and tourists for snacks.

The latest venture is a Farmhouse in Queen Street, Glasgow. In a former carpet showroom, it is larger than the other Glasgow restaurant, seating almost 200, and, in the four months since it has opened, it has proved every bit as popular.

Nowadays, the South Queensferry farm doesn’t have the capacity to supply four thriving restaurants, but it does still send some of vegetables. And a spokesman said: “We still keep the original standards of home-cooking, hygiene and well-presented food, based on fresh food principles.”

The four restaurants are run to the same standards and all have wholesome decor, with tiled floors and attractive natural wood tables and bench seating. On any day there are about five hot dishes to choose from.

“We start serving the hot food about 12 o’clock,” I was told, “and continue serving it until we close. “This means that shift workers and tourists can get a proper meal at times when other restaurants wouldn’t be serving them.”

Shoppers in Glasgow’s city centre will find the Queen Street Farmhouse ideally situated, as it is close to the Argyle Street end, just through the lane from Buchanan Street.

It is open as early as 10 o’clock for morning coffee and few could resist the lure of their home baking. When I visited the restaurant, there were delicious gateaux, apple pies and meringue flan on offer. These can be served with cream.

As well as the hot food, the Farmhouse is famed for its salad specialities and vegetarians are catered for. The restaurant is open from 10 a.m. right through the day until 6.30 p.m. It stays open until 7 o’clock on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Many families out for an evening at a Glasgow cinema find the Farmhouse an excellent place to dine first. The company who own the chain feel they have Scotland’s two major cities well-covered with their four restaurants.

However they do have plans to open up elsewhere. “We would like, eventually, to be in big cities all over the country.”