Eusebi Deli, the popular Glaswegian-Italian family hospitality business, has secured planning permission to convert a nearby ‘eyesore’ empty unit into a smart new restaurant and wine bar.
The Eusebi family’s target is the former United Bank building in Gibson St, which has sat vacant for 10 years, just across the road from their award-winning premises on Park Rd in the city’s west end.
Planning approval for converting 11 Gibson St from bank use to hospitality was previously granted to them in February 2020, but work at that time was stymied by the Covid lockdown and the permission lapsed.
A fresh application, submitted on behalf of the Eusebis in March 2025, stated that it was now ‘financially viable’ for the conversion project to restart, and it has since been approved.
According to the application, the space will be occupied by a restaurant and wine bar called Babette, featuring ‘an impressive wine display’ and ‘a theatre of open cooking’ – and creating 18 jobs.
The plans submitted on behalf of Eusebi Deli stated: “The property has been vacant for almost ten years, which is down to a nationwide ongoing trend of banks leaving the high street.
“The building has been neglected for some time resulting in the interior and the shopfront falling into disrepair.
“The site is now an eyesore, which the applicants are desperate to get on and do as they are now over the hump of the financial difficulties of the Covid and post-Covid, which has had a lasting impact well after the pandemic was brought under control.”
The Eusebi family has been operating businesses in the east and west ends of Glasgow for over 70 years, now into its fourth-generation.
When Edmund and Giovanna Eusebi established what was their first deli restaurant on the corner of Park Road, that also involved the extensive remodelling and refurbishment of a site that had lain almost derelict for nearly 15 years.
Those Park Road premises have since become synonymous with quality food for sit in dining, and takeaway sandwiches, cakes and drinks, together with a freshly made pasta offer.
