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A café with a curved shopfront and a circular blue sign stands on a street corner, wooden benches and planters set outside.
Glasgow

Spitfire Espresso

A coffee roaster's café on the corner of High Street and Bell Street, pulling its own Gunnerbean coffee on a red La Marzocco.

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Welcome

Spitfire Espresso stands on the corner of High Street and Bell Street, at the edge of the Merchant City, behind tall windows under the red roundel of its sign, with tables and planters out on the pavement.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

It roasts its own coffee at a roastery on Osborne Street, and it has a second café on Great Western Road.

The house coffee, Gunnerbean, is seventy per cent Brazilian and thirty per cent Colombian. The Brazilian beans come from the Vila Boa farm in the Campos das Vertentes region, a carbon-neutral farm, and give sweet, chocolatey, nutty notes. The Colombian, from traceable cooperatives, add a subtle spice and a rounded acidity. Together they suit flat whites and lattes. Every shot is pulled on a red La Marzocco FB70. Alongside there are single origins from Burundi, Indonesia and Brazil, a Mexican decaf, and food: sandwiches, bagels, brunch and cakes. It opens every day from eight in the morning, until five, or six on Friday and Saturday.

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Before you go

Spitfire Espresso on High Street opens Sunday to Thursday from 8am to 5pm and Friday and Saturday from 8am to 6pm.

The café on Great Western Road opens every day from 8am to 5pm.

Hours
Sun to Thu 08:00 to 17:00; Fri and Sat 08:00 to 18:00.
Where
55 High Street, G1 1LX.
Also
387 Great Western Road; the roastery at 3 Osborne Street.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
8am–5pm
Tuesday
8am–5pm
Wednesday
8am–5pm
Thursday
8am–5pm
Friday
8am–6pm
Saturday
8am–6pm
Sunday
8am–5pm

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Did you know

A modern stone building carries a circular sign reading 'Spitfire' above an arched entrance, wooden benches and planters set outside.
Did you know

It is seventy-thirty.

Spitfire's house coffee is seventy per cent Brazilian and thirty per cent Colombian, a ratio chosen for flat whites and lattes.

Shelves display artwork, jars, coffee bags labelled 'Dear Green' and tote bags above a yellow counter in a café.
Did you know

The farm is carbon neutral.

The Brazilian beans in the house coffee are grown at the Vila Boa farm, a carbon-neutral farm in the Campos das Vertentes region.

A café window with a blank white awning above it stands on a stone building corner, bar stools set outside beneath teal-framed panes.
Did you know

The machine is a red La Marzocco.

Every shot at the High Street café is pulled on a red La Marzocco FB70 espresso machine.

A café with a curved shopfront and a circular blue sign stands on a street corner, wooden benches and planters set outside.
Did you know

It roasts its own.

Spitfire roasts its coffee at its own roastery on Osborne Street, a few minutes' walk away.

A circular blue sign reading 'Spitfire, Espresso' hangs on a stone building corner, a red sandstone building glowing in evening light behind.
Did you know

It is called Gunnerbean.

The house coffee goes by the name Gunnerbean, sold alongside a single origin called B52 Brazilian.

A modern stone building carries a circular sign reading 'Spitfire' above an arched entrance, wooden benches and planters set outside.
Did you know

The beans are all arabica.

The green beans Spitfire roasts are 100 per cent arabica, bought from a depot that deals directly with farmers and cooperatives.

Shelves display artwork, jars, coffee bags labelled 'Dear Green' and tote bags above a yellow counter in a café.
What is on

What is new across Glasgow, day by day.

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What is on in Glasgow
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Where it is

55 High Street, on the corner of Bell Street.

Close byAt the edge of the Merchant City.
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  2. A long straight Merchant City street of sandstone buildings under a pale pink sky.Merchant CityThe eighteenth-century streets where Glasgow's tobacco merchants traded, with the Tolbooth Steeple of 1626.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. The bar at Babbity Bowster, dark wooden tables and booths below tall windows.Babbity BowsterA 1790s townhouse by James Adam on Blackfriars Street, rescued in 1985 as a bar, restaurant and hotel.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. A waiter carrying copper dishes through the busy dining room.DakhinUnder a mile 1 min by road
  5. The Wilson Street PantryThe Wilson Street PantryA café and deli in the Merchant City since 2014, known for its breakfasts and brunch, with Papercup coffee behind tall windows.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. A shopfront reads "Buck's Bar" beneath an awning marked "Trongate", parasols and outdoor seating standing on the pavement.Buck's Bar TrongateAn American-style bar on Trongate of fried chicken, cocktails and rock'n'roll.Under a mile 1 min by road
Directions
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Red leather booths, globe lamps and timber walls in the dining room at Margo.RestaurantsMargo0.2 miles
Two focaccia sandwiches, one of ham and mozzarella, with a bowl of soup on metal trays at Sister Midnight.CafeSister Midnight0.2 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the café, and when each is next free.

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