Scran, located on London Road, is a name well-established within the Glasgow food scene. Famous for their specials, coffee and of course, their eggs.
Having recently moved from Alexandra Parade in Dennistoun to the Barras in November last year, the eatery has seen an increase in customers with many new faces visiting to try their scran.
Aiming to make their customers leave happier than when they arrived, owner and chef behind the multi-award winning establishment, Chris Mears, has said he has been welcomed into the Barras community with open arms and still can't believe people are willing to wait up to an hour, and in some cases longer, to get a seat.
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Sitting down with Glasgow Live to talk about his cafe and how the last couple of months have been since their move to the other side of the east end - as well as the growing challenges of running a business - Chris said now was the perfect time to move.
"I looked at a place just doors down from London Road before Scran even opened its doors in Dennistoun but the timing wasn't right back then. After issues with the old unit though, the stars aligned and this place became available", he said.
"It was in terrible shape but we ploughed every last penny to do this place up - a lot of blood, sweat and tears and we made it happen. The timing couldn't be better and there's a real buzz to the Barras right now."
He continued: "I've felt so welcomed here. Within a couple of weeks I was getting gifts from Us V Them, Hutch, Cheryl's Bakes and The Gate - they're all using us - even if they've got their own coffee they'll still pop in, it's a real community.
"There's a beautiful blend of all cultures and classes from across Glasgow and further afield and it looks like it's here to stay."
The man behind the scran says that the key formula in creating the success that they are now is simply down to "consistency and high standards so no matter how busy we are, every plate has to go out the same."
The 44-year-old said that this combined with the local suppliers he uses adds to what makes Scran special from Stornoway Black Pudding, Yolk n Pod, Chulos Cookies, Bavarian Bakehouse, the Roasting Project and Mortons Rolls - to name a few.
Starting his career in the kitchen at the age of 15 in his hometown of Strathaven and doing a dishwashing job at The Waterside, Chris quickly fell in love with the buzz of the kitchen.
Attributing most of his skills to what he learned after joining Stevey Sanderson at The Steayban learning how to make bread, butchery, sugar work, pastry and more, "it was a really good place to work and taught me the discipline needed to be a decent chef."
Scran isn't his first venture however with the chef having headed a busy restaurant near his hometown before taking over a busy pub alongside his brother and two friends converting the function room into a fine dining restaurant, naming it Papas "in memory of my papa who passed away and my friends dad who also died - so it was in memory of them."
Having also worked in Glasgow gems including east end's Tibo and Cafe Strange Brew in the south side, Chris was keen to set up his own venture after a dip in his mental health.
He explained: "Doing 80 plus hours a week was really bad for my mental health, so opening a cafe was a no brainer and to get my life back with a better work-life balance."
Trying to come up with a name for a cafe, as anyone can imagine, can take time. And wanting to keep in with the Scottish lingo, it was almost decided that 'Grub' would be the name of the cafe. But not loving the name, Chris opted for Scran - a word which he believes has been given a "resurgence" around Glasgow in the last few years.
Making sure there was no other places called Scran in Scotland at the time, the name was made official. But with it being a popular Scots word, more businesses with the same one word catchy name have since landed on the scene.
Talking about the city and the location for his cafe, the Scran Man, as he's called, said: "I instantly fell in love with the town and its people so it simply had to be here - the east end community is the heart that keeps Glasgow alive."
Thriving on London Road, the cafe continues to see queues out the door with many 'Scran Fans' leaving them rave reviews. Talking about the pressures of being the best on the brunch scene, Chris explained: "I don't know if we are the best but maybe we're the best at what we are doing. I've always been a firm believer in doing what we do, the best that we can, and getting our heads down and not getting too caught up in what other places are doing."
As well as being famous for their eggs and the all important hollandaise sauce, Chris says that Scran has become "synonymous with loaded fries".
"I think we've definitely made it acceptable to eat fries with your flat white and eggs Stornoway" he laughed adding: "When I was writing the menu four years ago I thought I've never seen loaded fries on a brunch menu before but why not?
"You have hash browns which is potatoes so why not jazz them up? So I took the risk and literally made the secret sauce recipe an hour before we opened and it's still exactly the same today."
Ensuring his menu consists of "simple food that's cooked well in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere", he credits his staff to its success calling himself "fortunate" adding: "I wouldn't be able to do it without them."
Their famous eggs saying, lit up on a pink neon sign within the cafe, was born after banter with one of their regulars. Going back four years ago Chris recalls: "One of our regulars up in Dennistoun who worked in the local pharmacy couldn't believe how busy we were and she'd walk out with her roll and sausage shouting 'it's only eggs' as a joke.
"I don't know who said it first, maybe I said it to her, but it was just this wee friendly back and fourth and it stuck.
"One pink neon and a bunch of t-shirts later and it became our saying. I think it stemmed from me telling folk as well 'I don't know what the big deal is, it's only eggs, I can't see what the fuss is about'."
Going through a staggering 1,000 eggs every single week and collaborating with locals including Chris Eats for their first special at the Barras, creating a twist on their famous French Toast, the owner says he is always keen to hear what his regulars love eating and seeing how that combined with his love for travel can help inspire his next special.
Keen to "never charge over the odds because good value is still at the core of our ethos" with the cafe never charging over £10 for a plate - with the exception of specials to make up for the added costs of extra ingredients and hard work - there are many obstacles to deal with when it comes to finances, now more than ever with Brexit and the cost of living having a massive impact on businesses.
With key ingredients soaring in price, the business owner says that "people's perception has to change I think as far as the cafe scene is concerned".
He explained: "The general rule of thumb for a chef is you would take your raw ingredients and multiply that by four to get your menu costs so I should be charging £20 for my eggs Stornoway and we're charging half of that. But because we're a cafe we've got that label and people don't expect to pay that much because if you did nobody would come.
"To put that dish on the plate costs me around five, six pounds so with the four pounds I have to pay my staff, my electricity, my rent, my rates and make a profit, it's impossible. I'm not making any."
As well as admitting to not paying himself as much as he should, he adds: "Tomatoes are more expensive than avocados but people just don't see that. We're going to take the hit but I think if it keeps going that way, there's only so long we can absorb those costs."
Business owners and the general public are all in the same boat when it comes to seeing an increase in their energy bills with the chef revealing: "I think we've gone from £500 a month and that's ok for a wee cafe but we're up to over £2,000 a month now so that's a huge increase.
"If the government help doesn't continue, you're going to see a lot of small businesses getting shut down - we're just up against it from every direction."
Despite the struggles, Chris says: "I wouldn't change it for the world. It's the happiest I've been in years. Part of Scran was, from the mental health perspective, because I totally burned out after working 80 hours a week saying 'this isn't life man this is hell on earth' so I made a point I was gonna open my own cafe and make it a place that was nice to work in."
A typical day in Scran starts at 7:30am, switching the coffee machine on for the all important caffeine kick, prepping food and taking in deliveries.
After another coffee, staff members - Mel, Freya, Simeon, Hoss and Alex - come in with Chris trying to wake them with his "quality dad jokes until they're smiling enough to face the public" he teased, joking "unless Hoss comes in grumpy which is quite often."
Opening their doors at 10am, it's non-stop until they close.
"We never sit down, it's just carnage until the kitchen shuts. We do a waiting list and it's a text back system. At the minute we're seeing waits of an hour, an hour and a half for a table and it amazes me that folk are willing to wait that long because it's only eggs - but we must be doing something right.
"It's a good kinda carnage though, I enjoy it. And we do it all again the next day."
Opening Scran back in 2018, the cafe has gone from strength to strength, with it to date still being Glasgow Live's only double winner at our Best Places Awards triumphing in the best coffee and best restaurant in the east categories. It has also since gone on to win several other awards proving their formula is a winning success. But hey, it's only eggs though right?
Scran is located at 239 London Road, Glasgow, G40 1PE - just by the Barras.
You can keep up-to-date with Scran on Instagram here and visit their website to check out their menu here.
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