The Squid & Whale

Located on Great Western Road, The Squid & Whale brings some South American colour to Glasgow’s West End. The pavement beer garden is a guaranteed sun trap in the summer months, whilst inside the vibrant paintwork and astonishing amount of plant life and cactuses keeps it feeling cosy (and a little tropical). As an independent bar they’ve chosen their own fridge stock and there’s a fantastic range of bottled beers and ciders from a variety of breweries.

Additionally, the kitchen serves a mixture of South American, Mexican and Louisiana Creole dishes – and with a name like The Squid & Whale it's not surprising that there’s lots of seafood on offer. The main menu isn’t vast but the dishes are well chosen and there are plenty of daily specials to keep it varied, including chowder, gumbo and blackened fish. They also screen live sports during the weekend, while later in the evening the resident DJs spin a selection of vinyl, and on Sundays when the hangover has set in they offer the remedy of an amazing breakfast burrito. Let's just stop and consider the wonder of that for a moment. A. Breakfast. Burrito.

You don't even have to take our word for it, if you don't feel like it. It seems that The Squid & Whale is a smash hit with you, the readers, too! Every year, The Skinny hosts our annual Food and Drink Survey, and in 2014 The Squid and Whale scored a hattrick, taking home being placing within the categories of Best Pub, Best of the Americas and Best Newcomer, along with the likes of Inn Deep and Timberyard. If you're interested in hearing more about where's best for international cuisine, check out our feature on the best world food in Scotland. If it's a decent pint you're after, have a read of our feature on the best pubs and beers in Scotland. Or, if you're wanting to size up the rest of the new guys on the block (and be 'new,' we mean new as far as 2014 was concerned) have a look at our round up of the best Scottish newcomers. To get fully up to date on where's best to impress your pals, have a scan of our Food and Drink Survey winners from 2015 and 2014.