Red Onion
John Quigley took a low-level job in Peter Stringfellow's Covent Garden kitchen, ran the place by the end of it, made the Good Food Guide as its youngest head chef at 22, then spent years cooking for Tina Turner, Paul McCartney and Guns n' Roses on tour before opening this bistro with his wife Gillian in 2005.
Why go
The touring years are the reason the food here reads the way it does: fast, confident, built to please a room rather than a guide inspector. Quigley and his daughter Rosie took Channel 4's Come Dine With Me: The Professionals in an episode aired on 19 July 2022, beating fellow Glasgow restaurants Saffron and Calabash with seared Barra scallops, Gressingham duck breast and a vanilla cheesecake with salted passionfruit caramel. He died on 23 November 2025, aged 62, after lung cancer. His family's statement said they were "committed to continuing his proud legacy at his successful family-run restaurant, Red Onion, with his dedicated and loyal team there," and Rosie had already been running the management side since setting up the takeaway during the pandemic.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the competition menu is the best guide to what this kitchen does well. Seared Barra scallops, then Gressingham duck breast, per Glasgowist's account of the winning courses. The Sunday roast is the other reason people book.2
- Avoid: trusting the restaurant's own About page. It still names John Quigley as the current chef patron and has not been updated since his death.
What locals & experts say
- SLTN (November 2025): Donald Macleod of The Garage and the Cathouse called Quigley
a crackin' cook whose grit and determination put his Red Onion restaurant on the world stage.
1 - Gary Maclean, MasterChef: The Professionals winner, in SLTN (2025):
John was a brilliant chef, a generous mentor, and will have a lasting influence on Scottish hospitality.
1 - Come Dine With Me: The Professionals, Channel 4 (2022): Glasgow heat winner over Saffron and Calabash, for GBP 1,000 and the trophy.2
- Local rec: Jeff's save, his note below.
Good to know
- Timing: open seven days, food through the day. Check the Maps pin for current hours.
- Booking: worth booking for dinner and Sunday lunch. The room fills off the back of theatre and office trade.
- Getting there: 257 West Campbell Street, five minutes' walk uphill from Glasgow Central, on the quieter edge of the city centre.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Good food guide rec"
Verdict
could-visit — If it's on your way, and in the city centre it usually is. Twenty-one years of contemporary Scottish bistro cooking from a chef who was in the Good Food Guide at 22 and then spent a decade feeding touring rock bands, with a televised competition win over two Glasgow rivals to show the kitchen can execute under pressure. It stays at could-visit rather than higher because the founder died in November 2025, no source yet names his successor in the kitchen, and no critic has written about the food since.