Glasgow & Edinburgh's best food & drink shops

Picture food shopping, and it’s easy to get stuck on images of fluorescent light bulbs, aisles you could drive a small bus through, and walking twenty minutes across some kind of proto-aircraft hangar because the milk’s at one end and the beer’s at the other. Luckily, your favourite food and drink shops show that there is a better way to get the shopping done, although it does involve a bit of walking so let’s get to it.

First stop fruit and veg, and Roots & Fruits on Glasgow’s Great Western Road. We say fruit and veg, but Roots & Fruits is the super-hyper-deluxe version of your typical greengrocer. Delicious fresh produce abounds, and the connected deli, organic grocers and flower shop make a great one-stop shop. Fill your kitchen/diner with stuff from Roots & Fruits, and everything will seem fine with the world (although your arms may hurt a bit from lugging it all down the road).

When your cupboard is in need of a serious spice boost, head over to Lupe Pintos. The Mexican deli’s shelves are packed wall-to-wall with goodies from across the Americas and beyond, with an incredible range of hot sauces, preserves and spices. Lupe’s also offer store cupboard essentials like tacos, tortillas and flours at prices that should make the big supermarkets feel embarrassed, and encourage their locals to put all those items to good use in their annual Chili Cook-Off competition.

After all that spice, you’ll need something to cool down, which may explain why you lot have voted three off-licences into your food shop top five. First up is Valhalla’s Goat in Glasgow’s West End. Besides having the one of the greatest shop names we’ve ever heard, Valhalla’s Goat shine with an incredible range of booze. The place is wall-to-wall with beers, wines and spirits from across the globe, with just enough room left over to plonk yourself in the middle and try to work out what to snap up first.

Over in Edinburgh, The Beerhive in Canonmills has a spectacular range of beers and a staff that are more than able to talk you through their various merits. Then there’s the Kegerator, the Beerhive’s draught pourer which can serve up kegged beer to take home alongside your many, many bottles. On a similar note, Growler Beers offer the flavour and texture of a pub pint but in the comfort of your favourite chair, and taking the beer home beats the alternative of taking your favourite chair to the pub. With a range of beers from breweries across Scotland and beyond, Growler can help you get a good pint at home, where you pick the music and no-one will have you thrown out for going behind the bar for another bag of crisps.