Our Cafe
A friendly neighbourhood café serving homemade food and barista coffee.
Our café is a welcoming, community-led space where everyone is encouraged to slow down, connect and feel at home. We serve delicious vegetarian and vegan food alongside carefully made barista coffee, with a focus on warmth, care and genuine hospitality.
We also host events, workshops and creative activity, making it a place that feels alive and connected to the community around it.
We serve food, hot drinks and a rotating selection of sweet treats, using sustainably and ethically sourced produce. We choose our suppliers with care, prioritising quality, sustainability and values that align with our own.
What’s on the Menu?
A little taste of what’s on the menu!
Seasonal Soups - Flavourful soups made in-house.
Customer Favourite - Curried Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup
Delicious Toasties - Our Creations 110% Tasty
Customer Favourite - Mozzarella, Sundried Tomato & Homemade Pesto or Fully Loaded Cheesy Bean Toasty
Barista Coffee & Hot Drinks
Our beans are supplied by Steampunk Roastery based in North Berwick. We use organic teas, hot chocolate & milk in all our drinks.
Opening Hours
Mondays - CLOSED FOR HIRING
Tuesdays - CLOSED FOR HIRING
Wednesday - 9AM - 3PM
Thursday - 9AM - 3PM
Friday - 9AM - 3PM
Saturday - 9AM - 4PM
Sunday - 9AM - 4PM
Find Us
We are located along the Forth & Clyde canal in Glasgow
Old Basin House
5 Applecross Street
Glasgow
G4 9SP
Notes
Our cafe is a large space suitable for buggies and wheelchairs.
There is step-free access via a ramp from the pavement.
There is ample street parking
The toilet is fully accessible and suitable for wheelchair users.
Our toilet does not have baby changing facilities
We have indoor seating and a small amount of outdoor seating is available.
The cafe Wi-Fi is accessible for customers
We allow people to work from the cafe but please be mindful during busy periods.
Our menu is vegan & vegetarian with some gluten free options. However we do use products containing within the kitchen.
If you have an questions regarding allergens our staff will be happy to offer guidance
Food Connects
Food sits at the centre of everything we do because it is something we all share.
Whether we are growing, cooking or eating together, food creates meaningful moments of connection, learning and care.
In Hamiltonhill — an area affected by food poverty — we see food not just as nourishment, but as a way to build resilience, dignity and a better future.
By connecting people to growing food in an urban environment, we celebrate the joy of transformation, understanding where food comes from, and sharing it with others.
Food allows us to explore culture, tell stories and learn from one another, while good growing and cooking practices support not only our own health, but the wellbeing of our community and the wider environment.
Our Values
Community Care
We look after one another, creating a space where people feel supported, valued and welcomed.
A Better Tomorrow
We care for the environment by supporting responsible growing, ethical sourcing and practices that protect our future.
Creativity
We celebrate the joy of imagination, making and expression as a way for people to explore, connect and learn.
Inclusion
We actively listen to and uplift marginalised voices, ensuring our space is open, respectful and shaped collectively.
Old Basin House & the Birth of Gathering Ground
Gathering Ground was born out of both a need and an opportunity.
Old Basin House was Originally built in the 1790s. It has always been a place of movement, meeting and exchange. As the historic terminus of the canal, it once connected people, goods and stories from across Scotland. After decades of changing uses and years standing empty following a fire in 1997, the building was brought back to life through the support of Regeneration Capital Grant Funding and Historic Scotland.
Given the identity of the building within the community. Creating a shared space where people could come together around food, culture and everyday connection seemed right for the space. The building carries many local memories & stories and now its accessible to create new ones.
We see more than a restored building — we see the chance to create something new for the community. Moving into Old Basin House has turned a historic space into a living one again.
Many people are drawn here first by the beauty and history of the building, but its real purpose is now what happens inside and around it. Just as it once connected communities through the canal, Old Basin House is once again becoming a place where people meet, gather and build something together.
