Iconic Glasgow café is no more, but its ice cream is famous

Many of us may think the idea of trading Italian sunshine for Glasgow with its, let’s say, less favourable climate would be daft. But when one young man decided to make the move in 1895, he would bring with him several treasured cafes and an ice cream empire.

Serafino Crolla arrived in the city from Frosinone, near Rome, ready to bring a taste of Italy to Scotland and set up his first shop on Queen Mary Street. Serving homemade Italian ices, it was one of the first to put its stamp on what would soon become a city synonymous with gelaterias.

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The Crolla family expanded to a second shop in Clydebank, and after the First World War, the Premier Café opened in Bridgeton. As traditional as they get, the café served ice creams as well as sweets, tobacco and fish and chips.

The Crolla family (Image: Herald and Times archive) They had tough competition, as an influx of Italian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries meant that gelaterias were multiplying thick and fast in Scotland. 

At its height, there were around 90 in Glasgow, creating what has now become an adored part of the city’s culture and hospitality. Locals could escape a rainy day by entering the warming atmosphere, sliding into a comfortable leather booth and ordering a fish supper followed by a ‘pokey hat’.

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It’s no wonder customers could feel so at home in a traditional Italian café, as they were usually a family affair. Names such as Coia (Coia’s Café on Duke Street) and Verrechia (University Café on Byres Road) still tumble from the lips of hungry diners in Glasgow today a century after these beloved establishments first opened, proving the impact of an authentic, hard-working family business.  

Another famous Glasgow cafe, University Cafe, is still standing (Image: Herald and Times archive) Multiple generations of the Crolla family worked hard day and night to continue the success of their business, and it proved so popular that they expanded the Premier Café into the two stores on either side. By the 1950s, the Crollas had around 30 vans roaming the streets of Glasgow delivering their ice cream.

While the Premier Café is no longer there, the taste of Crolla ice cream is continuing strong. They operate in Polmadie and supply to a range of shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels and more, offering 60 flavours and a unique ‘create-your-own’ concept of blending ice cream.

Serafino’s great-grandson Peter marks the fourth generation of the family, and they expanded their business offering further last year when they took on the Soave brand. Also a family business, the Soaves came from Cassino near Rome and opened a café in Coatbridge.

Crolla's ice cream van in the 1950s (Image: Herald and Times archive) Despite advancing with technology and producing their ice cream in a factory, they have never changed the original beloved family recipe that pre-dates the First World War.

While the Premier Café is no more, you can almost guarantee you’ve had still a taste of Crolla in a restaurant, café or shop.