Beloved Glasgow city centre restaurant thanks customers for two decades in city centre

A beloved Glasgow restaurant has celebrated two decades of serving customers in the city centre.

The Red Onion took to social media to thank customers who have supported the diner over the years following their 20th anniversary on Tuesday, November 12.

The West Campbell Street restaurant, which was launched in the early noughties by head chef John Quigley and wife Gill, is known for their varied menu which caters to varied dietary requirements - making sure there is something for everyone to enjoy.

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John, from Giffnock, previously told Glasgow Live how he was inspired to go into cooking through his family - though initially not wanting to be a chef - the culinary exposure would go on to shape his life.

He said: "I didn’t always want to be a chef, but I always loved cooking. Everyone in my family cooked - my mum and dad and all of my uncles cooked - they were teachers, and every year we went to France on holiday and we had a villa in Spain in the ‘60’s, so I was brought up around garlic and prawns and olive oil. Back then, in Scotland you would have only found olive oil in the chemist for medicinal purposes.

"Being surrounded by good food meant that cooking came naturally to me, it was actually cool for the men in my family to cook, we all did it, even though that was quite rare in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. My gran used to tell me to become a chef and I’d write my own pay check, never was a truer thing said than that, although at the time, it never occurred to me that this is what I’d end up doing."

John would end up in London at the Chelsea Art School where he started at the bottom washing dishes. In the following years he would work his way up - studying under top chefs as he developed his own unique style.

After being the youngest head chef featured in The Good Food Guide, he took to the road with Tina Turner in what he described as a 'baptism of fire'. Still not sure he wanted to be a chef and wanting to see more of the world, he then cooked for celebs including Guns N’ Roses, Morrissey and Paul McCartney.

It was during this time he learned how to cook for varied diets, he added: "I came off that tour in pieces, recovered and went straight back out on tour with Guns N’ Roses, which was even crazier. That’s when I found my feet and realised that I was good at this job. Rock and roll catering is a whole different story in how you work - cooking for the band, the crew - and for me, it was exciting getting to go all over the world and cook with all these amazing different ingredients from different cultures.

"It taught me never to be phased in a kitchen, because my location kitchens went from a bullring one day to an ice hockey rink the next. Nothing that can go wrong in a kitchen can faze me now, and dealing with vast amounts of different individuals and their dietary requirements is something that I’m good at. Taking that time to accommodate someone in terms of what they want to eat is what’s important. I’ve never been the kind of chef who tells people that they must eat what I decide to make for them.

"I did the rock and roll thing for five years off and on and then was asked to tour with Bryan Adams. I was good at the veggie thing, I’d toured with Morrissey, I'd toured with Paul McCartney - that was a total dream – and Bryan Adams had heard that there was a good vegetarian and vegan chef out there and asked me to come and do his rehearsal catering.

"After three days of rehearsals, he asked me to be his private chef. I did that for the next five years, and that gave me a brilliant opportunity to see the whole world. Adams was the first to play in Vietnam, since the war had ended there and the first band to play in Greenland – he was the biggest artist on the planet at that time and he wanted to conquer every territory that he could. That was an amazing experience and it’s when I got to see and cook in the Far East, Japan and Australia."

John would return to Glasgow after being asked to run Mojo, described as being one of the city's first 'style bars serving proper food'. It would be here that he met his wife Gill.

From here he worked as the head chef of The Puppet Theatre in the West end, The Microbrewery in Anniesland and the The Art House Hotel before launching the Red Onion.

He added: "We loved this place as soon as we walked in, and we still do. We’ve worked hard and were well established. Our big thing is that we cater so well to all dietary requirements, whatever they are, we have an Al a Carte menu for them. I call it inclusive dining - we run an Omni-kitchen and put the same effort into every ingredient and every dish that we make and serve. Our kitchen has grown organically - we haven’t suddenly introduced a vegan menu as a marketing ploy.

"The challenge has been getting the Red Onion at Home menu right, providing great food that transports and reheats easily, and doesn’t have any chef trickery involved and it’s affordable too."

Writing on X, formally known as Twitter, to mark the anniversary the diner said: "HIP, HIP HOORAY!! Red Onion is 20 years old today. A massive thank you to all our customers, staff and suppliers for their support over the years. It’s been a blast and here’s to many more… well maybe a couple…"

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