Esca in Glasgow City

Esca has been closed for years !

Very nice food here, I don't go much but would still recommend ii

Great atmosphere and food ,staff great

Lovely place , great food, fabulous service

I love this resturant and staff are friendly, the first time in 5 years going to this resturant that i have had a bad experience, waited over an hour for our meal, when meal arrived one of the meals was not what we ordered and the other meal was more spaghetti than anything else, garlic bread was burnt black and my partners meal look awful was supposed to have sea food in it again it was more spaghrtti than anything and 2 massive lumps of garlic in it, so disappointed was really looking forward to my meal here. Staff apologised but this is not good enough the resturant was busy and they had a few big tables in this is no excuse for poor service and food that is awful if you have so many bookings then they should not take people walking in from street. so disappointed, i will go back for one last meal and if their is no improvement then i will be taking my custom else where.

Sister invited me and my son along for lunch I had the Carne misti Pizza trust me as I am Chef and a big foody I can honestly say that was one of the best if not the best pizza I have ever Had seriously I will be recommending this place and for sure I will return. its a GEM of a place.

Came here on a Tuesday night before a gig and got a groupon deal. the food was perfect and the waitress was so lovely and helpful. Lovely atmosphere in the place - even on a Tuesday night! Would come back again - with our without a groupon. :-)

Great evening with great friends and excellent food and service

Estuve aquí el sábado por la noche para cenar.El restaurante fue fácil de encontrar.Sentado enseguida ofreció una bebida y luego el agradable camarero vino y tomó nuestro pedido.La comida llegó bien presentada y estaba buenísimo.Definitivamente volvería aquí si en la zona de nuevo.

Lovely restaurant, friendly staff who made us feel very relaxed as had a toddler with us. Food was delicious.

Staff were very friendly & made us feel welcome even with a 1yr old running round!! Food was lovely & would definitely reccomend if you like a real traditional Italian restaurant.

We were in Glasgow for thew eekend and had a voucher for this small restaurant, tucked away in a quiet corner of Glasgow. The voucher was for 2 fillet steaks sides and a glass of wine each. We were prepared for the portions to be small because of the cost but how wrong we were.The meal was very good and the service in spite of the restaurant being busy was very speedy .Thoroughly recommend Esca and we will be returning.

Lovely visit with the family. Delicious food and fantastic service, will definitely visit again. Thanks

Great food And excellent service would defo recommend.

These pictures are from the last time! Back again tonight for a table for four! Yet again outstanding! Love this place, so friendly, staff are brilliant and the food is amazing! Will keep coming back 👍👍👍👍👍

Nice food, nice service, good price

My partner and I had dinner here on a voucher for pasta or pizza for two. On arrival we were greeted by really helpful young waitress.. the restaurant looked lovely and the food did not disappoint. It was delicious..We will definitely return.

Belated Christmas Night Out in Esca. Nice meal and good service. Had a great time.

Friendly, helpful staff with tremendous food

Very homely and authentic Italian. Great for couples or families and food and service is excellent. Lasagne is my fav.

My first visit but my husband's second to the restaurant which is slightly off the beaten track.We were warmly welcomed and shown to our table right away. Presented with the a la carte menu when we had booked for the pre-theatre menu which starts at 16;00 when making the booking.Drinks order was taken quickly and food order shortly after.I chose the pate starter which was accompanied by lovely toasted bread and onion chutney and for my main course I picked spaghetti carbonara. My husband had minestrone soup served with the nice bread to start and spaghetti bolognese as his main.Both meals were delicious.The drinks we had were one large glass of Shiraz-Malbec at £7.10 and my husband had two pints of lager at £5.50 a pint.We declined a sweet option as we were both too full, although we shared a white coffee.The total bill came to £50.70 which we thought was good value and we would definitely visit again.

Fab family run place . Great food and brill service

I think that this is the third time that Terry and I have been to Esca, and we have always been delighted !!We were staying up in Glasgow for a couple of Celtic Connection gigs, one of which was in a nearby venue. We thought that we'd just head along to Esca ~ they do an amazing Fillet Steak !!Terry is diabetic and she has to cope with a very, very restrictive diet. Sometimes that can be difficult, but not for Esca. Once again a hybrid non standard menu was immediately offered without hesitation >> and that's what I consider to be excellent customer service.The restaurant was busy (an indication of its popularity) but the attentive and friendly staff more than made up for that.We had a great steaks cooked to perfection washed down with a nice bottle of wine. It was excellent !!

fitted a large party of us in at very short notice. service and food great even for a party of 24

Attended with husband on a busy Saturday evening. Had printed off the wrong portion of discount voucher but staff couldn’t have been more helpful, allowing us to pre- purchase and use another voucher and booking us for the following week for us to attend with correct paperwork. Food always good here and had deserts tonight , many under £5 on menu. Lovely homemade tiramisu and a substantial portion. Great food and service.

The good was tasty however I didn't appreciate the waiters "cheeky chappy" attitude.

Most amazing Italian in the city centre. Food has been amazing every time for years and years. My favourite restaurant

If you are looking for a very nice Italian and are in the East End area then why not try Esca with sits opposite Tron Theatre. Better value than Italians nearby in Merchant City but fantastic food. Offering a Pre Theatre menu for 2/3 courses as well as A La Carte it represents great value food in nice surroundings. The manager also has a good dry sense of humour.

Excellent, myself and my wife just had two fillet steak meals, both were cooked to perfection with a side of onion rings which were also terrific. Followed by two coffees, brilliant meal, will definitely be back. Staff were very friendly and always had a smile.

Gorgeous food, super friendly staff, great service and superb value for money. Loved the atomspere. Highly recommend.

Great service and food was fantastic... as always.

Nothing too fancy , great homely food

Excellent food, staff are helpful if a bit slow and forgetful. 3 goes to get our bill right, but food was superb. Love eating here 😃

Service , food and the setting was great

Staff excellent, venue quaint and welcoming and food excellent

Food and staff excellent highly recommend

Food was great , bit of a wait but food cooked fresh so did not mind 😊 also it was very busy . The prices are very reasonable , and the staff very attentive.

Came for lunch, liked the fish of the day and the lady in the kitchen seemed to be a very professional chef, thought the waitress was a bit rude and seemed quite bossy but other than that thought its was a great experience. Would definitely go back.

Good excellent and staff are to great

There is a reason why this restaurant has been in business for so long. I have been there over 10 times, twice with large groups, the rest with smaller groups (2-4 people), and a few times on Groupon deals. Esca is small and so friendly. Their menu doesn't go outwith the scope of the chef's ability - they don't offer anything the chefs cannot cook well. I was sceptical on a Groupon that offered steak and mash (not Italian, obvs) but it was cooked beautifully - better than many specialist steakhouses in Glasgow that charge much more. On other occasions, I've had both pizza and pasta (and boyfriend says it's the best lasagne in Scotland) - never even slightly dissatisfied with the food.Whenever my relatives visit (I'm not originally Glaswegian, been here 15 years), we go to Esca. It's not stupidly posh, but it doesn't pretend to be - it's great food and lovely service

Small portions big price service terrible

Good hearty Italian food at affordable prices.

Absolutely beautiful meal .Would reccomend it ..

Visiting many cheap and cheerful Italian restaurants over the years and this one was not up to scratch. I ordered chicken Alfredo penne and when it arrived it was so unbelievably bland! Even with extra Parmesan on top made little difference. My fiancé ordered a spicy chicken calzone which was nice but nothing to shout about. We where also seated at a table for 2 in a corner where I was practically sat on a poor woman’s knee who was with a party of around 10 and my partner was backed onto a table of women of around 6 and we both felt like we where apart of these separate parties rather than having a nice conversation of our own!

Food was excellent. Nice atmosphere and great staff. I would recommend the Seabass it was delicious. 👍

Disappointing (poorly cooked steak with very dry chips - billed as hand cut - and served barely warm) meal served by disinterested staff. Perhaps because we had a voucher.

Despite being a Glasgow lad , I’d never been here before. Quite impressed. Booked a table for 6 and all were happy with our choice. Good selection on the lunch menu and staff very pleasant and helpful.

I like the environment, very cosy. Staff member was very funny and made us laugh. Prices are okay and food was very good but not out of this world. Overall we liked it 🙂

Good music and atmosphere, food could have been a little hotter but otherwise a good brunch

Very friendly, little Italian restaurant. Great food at reasonable prices. Service was excellent, and menu was varied with plenty of choice. Fab.

I had eaten here a couple of times and always found it to be excellent. Went along today with a large group of girls from work. Everyone was raving about their meal! We ate off the pre-theatre and some had 2 courses and some opted for 3 courses. Excellent choice of foods and everyone cleared their plate! The service was spectacular and the man (sorry never got his name) was very friendly and joked with us. Could not fault anything about Esca and look forward to returning soon. Highly recommend. Great location - near shops and 10 minute walk form Central Station.

Let me start by saying Esca has been for many years my partner and I's single favourite eatery in Glasgow. We have recommended to so many people over the years and visit often.

Visited Esca last night as we normally highly rate our experiences at this restraunt. I now have concerns regarding hygiene and in particular good hand hygiene. When I was in the restroom, the chef came out of the cubicle and left the restroom without washing his hands. I raised this with the manager who spoke to the chef and assured me he washed his hands in the kitchen. He accepted this was not good practice and advised he would remedy this issue.

A friendly welcome on a rainy day in Glasgow. We are a lovely light brunch of eggs benedict and eggs florentine, with a couple of cheeky glasses of strawberry prosecco. Food was just what we needed for a day of shopping and the staff were good fun too. Worth a detour if you're hungry.

Such a cosy, family-run restaurant. It’s a hidden gem in the heart of Glasgow and I think more people should know about it. The restaurant was pretty much full when we got in but thankfully we managed to get seated. My boyfriend and I ordered a starter, 2 pizzas and 2 desserts. I had a glass of red and a cocktail and my boyfriend had 2 ciders. We paid about £60 for this which is incredibly reasonable. We were also very happy with the service. A humorous older gentleman, made our night out very enjoyable. We will definitely be back.

Lovely staff, possibly the manager? Really helpful and on the propitiate side of flirtatious. I'm vegan and he gave good advice and reassurance. Restaurant was lovely and cosy and the food was fresh.

Nicely decorated. Ordered the full Scottish breakfast with a portion of black pudding. Plate arrived looking like something from a greasy spoon. Taste was poor, a combination of poor cooking and cheap ingredients and everything had a weird over cooked oil aroma to it.

Great place, we used an itison voucher and got this amazing 3 course meal, great music playing a lovely staff! Hidden gem

Restaurant très joli, propriétaire extrêmement sympathique! Nous y sommes allés pour boire un café, il nous a offert des shortbreds en plus!

Exceptional food, service second to none, friendly and attentive staff, what more can I say. This was the first time my wife and I had been in and we will definitely be going back soon. Highly recommended.

Wife and I popped in for first time after recommendations from colleagues. What a great place to eat. Food was very tasty & service was very friendly. Atmosphere was cozy, it's not a huge place but there were plenty of fellow diners giving it a buzz. Prices were great value for money,

We visited this restaurant as we had not been in here a number of years. The pre theatre menu is very limited but even when we saw the a la carte it was not better. The pizza arrived uncut, i havent seen that in a long time most places cut it before it arrives. My meal was fine but my 2 companions were not impressed. This has gone downhill since i was last there. it was one of my favourites a couple of years ago.

Nos detuvimos para almorzar ya que estábamos en la ciudad.

Beautiful food and great service

Mi esposo y yo comimos aquí esta noche en una oferta de cupones de pizza y pasta. Compartimos una pizza de Pollo Picanti y una lasaña. Ambos eran muy sabrosos y muy calientes. El restaurante tenía un ambiente encantador y un personal muy agradable. Además, la música de fondo de Crooner hizo que toda la experiencia fuera muy relajante.

Ordered lobster ravioli and rather bland done in a tomato sauce. Much prefer la vita spicy chilli sauce with their lobster ravioli.

Mi pareja había organizado una comida para los dos hasta las 5 de la tarde, donde obtuvimos una oferta de menú de PreTheatre y, ¿qué puedo decir? ¡Me alegra que haya elegido Esca!

Food great, value for money. Would visit again.

Excellent food and excellent service

Hemos estado visitando Esca regularmente durante años, pero definitivamente va cuesta abajo. Las últimas 2 ocasiones la comida no ha estado en ninguna parte de su estándar habitual.

Good place for lunch. We had poached eggs in Benedict style with an excellent hollandaise sauce. Nice interior. Good service. Will go again :-)

Acabo de ir a este restaurante para almorzar, me lo compraron como un regalo y cuando leí las críticas, estaba un poco preocupado.

Nice little place with great service and good value for money. The food wasn't amazing and a little bland.

We had the Fillet Steak and it was excellent👌. Lovely friendly wee place.

Just had lasagne in Esca it was delicious. Would recommend going

Had lunch with three others, they were all happy with their dishes but I was disappointed with my fish of the day. It was deep fried white fish, prawns, mussels and calamari with fries and rocket. In my opinion it was rather poor the batter was heavy and the prawns in particular over cooked while the skinny fries seemed to be mass produced and tasteless. We all had tiramasu for dessert which was a dry sponge without a noticeable trace of marsala or coffee. Perhaps I was unfortunate with my choice as my friends were happy with their main courses but in truth I cannot recommend this restaurant.

Good Italian food. Cafe type interior.

Food was lovely can't fault it! But Service was lacking not enough staff we could not get another drink waited 25 minutes for a dessert menu which we never received! Despite the waitress walking back and forward several times! ask for the bill and left after we get the attention of another waitress who give us a bill which was incorrect but rectified it straight away.

Food good. Staff on this occasion not so much. Service terrible.

Had a really nice lunch here after working at the high court in Glasgow. They do a set lunch menu £8 one course £11 two courses approx. I had the pollo milanese which is breaded chicken with spaghetti - I asked for olives through it. It was just excellent and such a nice big portion. I also had a pint of morreti which was £5.50 - a bit on the expensive side.

Booked a meal voucher via 5pm which on our arrival the staff knew nothing about! No problem, we were seated and our code noted. The service was what one would expect and the steak and wine deal was very well received. The restaurant has a comfortable feel about it with fantastic aroma wafting from the business area. The place appears to have a regular clientele and some new ones like ourselves.

Always excellent. Great value for take aways. Pizza or pasta only £5.

Popped in for lunch and very pleasantly surprised! Lovely atmosphere, comfortable with great service. Fantastic food, I had goats cheese salad with freshly baked ciabatta bread, amazing light and tasty. Also Pizza Americano which was authentic Italian, beautifully cooked, thin base and fresh. The sweets were gorgeous with a cafe latte. Highly recommended, definitely be back!

Food was great but the service could've been better

Lovely food, lovely atmosphere. Tomato and basil soup was lovely and our chicken starter was fabulous. I'm writing this review before we've even had our mains because I have utter faith in this restaurant. Would recommend to anyone.

Lovely food, great service and value for money

Very nice meal very friendly staff highly enjoyable

Well, this was a lovely little surprise for two weary walkers seeking, e.g., fish-n-chips or haggis bon-bons, and instead finding delicious Italian food and cocktails -- with a Dean Martin/Perry Como soundtrack. (That clocktower in the photo is a block or so away.)

Good food good service good value

Fabulous,authentic ltalian food. Service v v friendly,esp Natalie ,with v attentive,bright chat. We felt it was great value for money..& will return!

Nice place, food great....honestly...issue with flys though...

Great food in a lovely atmosphere. Waiting staff lovely. Highly recommend.

Me and my girl friend has two vouchers to use for two fillet steaks and house wine. We came in and got served by a lovely waitress who took our steak and wine order. While waiting for our food something fell from the ceiling, what I can describe as a large clump of rubble hit me on the head and went all over the table, floor and me. To which I jumped up and said and excuse the profanity, ‘what the f@ck was that’. Everyone in the restaurant saw it and was shocked. It did not hurt, but it was a fair whack and hell lot of mess for me to jump up and wonder what the heck had happened. After this, there was no apology or anything at all just, move along to the next table and when I ruffled my hair to get the dust and rubble out of it, the manager said, ‘your putting your dandruff all over the floor’ some terrible attempt at humour, when the funny part was that it was actually the crumbling ceiling of his restaurant falling apart on top of me that I was trying to get off my hair and clothes. Again no apology was made and we were given nothing complimentary at all. I’m not saying that it is their direct fault that their ceiling is in a dire condition and falls on their paying customers, I’m just saying that some apology and good service would be expected, rather than to be met with a rude manager. After this, the few tables next to us spoke to us and said that we should definitely get free desert or drinks for sure, to which we thought would be a given considering. But not at all.

Was there last night had not been in a while and used to go alot. Staff were great see voucher on Groupon and never got it so we paid 10.50 for each pasta dish. Not too bad although tortellini was a very small portion even my nine year old said to me what's this that's a shame. Again though staff great and would go back but wouldn't pay that for tortellini sorry.

Great service and great food would definitely recommend

Had a very pleasant early meal before a 7.00pm show at The Tron Theatre. Service excellent. Hot goats cheese followed by fish of the day and finishing with Sticky Toffee Pudding. Recommend.

Nice atmosphere and ok food, a bit too garlicky for my taste.

Great place for a bite to eat..traditional family run Italian restaurant

The personal was very polite but the dishes were way to small and tested kinda bland ..except for the garlic .. everhything was very garlicy.

Awful food served cold, this is the 2nd time I've had a problem with this restaurant