Burger restaurant takes over historic Glasgow cafe

A 117-year-old cafe in Glasgow’s city centre has been replaced by a new burger restaurant expanding into its second premises.

Kings Cafe, in Elmbank Street, has been taken over by a burger restaurant. Picture: Facebook

Kings Cafe - the oldest establishment of its kind in Glasgow - has made way for Steak, Cattle and Roll, a takeover that marks the end of more than a century of trading for the well-loved takeaway venue.

A host of famous faces, including actor Peter Capaldi and comedian Billy Connolly, passed through the cafe’s doors looking for a late-night snack - but the eatery has been undone by a drastic drop in regular custom.

The new tenants, however, have pledged to retain some of the historic cafe’s heritage, and will fuse options familiar to regular customers of the Elmbank Street enterprise with the Weaver Street-based burger restaurant’s signature dishes. Part of the new signage for the cafe, pointedly, reads: “Est. 1898”.

New signage over the Steak, Cattle and Roll-owned cafe. Picture: Facebook

The former owners of Kings Cafe announced the closure in a Facebook post earlier this month. Citing a drop off in trade from Sauchiehall Street for the decision, they said: “It is with regret that we announce the closure of Kings Cafe on 3rd February 2015.

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I would like to thank all of our loyal customers for their support during the last 2 years.”

Jamie Ross, the son of the cafe’s former owner, told STV News: “Back in the day, at least 1,100 people would be out at the Garage or other clubs - which is why we remained open until 4am at the weekends.

“But in recent times that number has rapidly dropped, and that lack of business has hit us hard.”

The new business, called Steak, Cattle and Roll at Kings Cafe, opened last Thursday.

Owner Adam Hussain, who is opening another standalone restaurant on Howard Street, said of the Kings Cafe takeover: “We currently have our second location opening in a couple of months, but the opportunity for the Kings Cafe site came along at we just couldn’t turn it down.

“We sat down and discussed our options for the cafe, and the aim is to not remove any of the history that makes it so well known.

“It would be naive of us to look past the history, so instead we plan on making a fusion between the two.”