Restaurants, Bar & pub food, Budget, Outdoor dining, Wi-Fi within 5 miles of Edinburgh

From its location to its choice of pizza toppings, Kilderkin is slightly odd but pretty great. Initial impressions are of a slightly dodgy boozer, with its dim lighting, basic decor and unprepossessing exterior. Inside, however, you’ll find one of…

Beer and burgers are the main draw at Holyood 9a, and both are worth a trip to this corner of the Old Town. A selection of 11 beers is permanently on draught and, combined with another 10 rotational pumps, constitutes one of Edinburgh’s best selections…

Floor-shaking stamping, plaintive strains of Spanish guitar and passionate cries of ‘ole!’ might well accompany your meal at La Sal, thanks to regular performances from Alba Flamenca, the dance school next door to the restaurant. Formerly known as El…

Ideally positioned for much of Edinburgh’s student population, the Greenmantle is a busy Southside local. Offering a meeting place for university societies, as well as hosting their own quiz nights, live music, poker and Spanish nights, this bar always…

Situated in among the pubs and clubs of the Cowgate, Bar 50 is an ideal place for students and backpackers to relax over a pint and a game of pool during the day, or kick start a great night out on a budget. With large pitchers of cocktails for under a…

Since the previous owner left to concentrate on his political career, John Watt has taken on this established business as chef-proprietor, and changes are still in the offing. Attracting and students – who enjoy discounts – and city centre workers…

With a drinks menu dominated by cocktails, spirits feature heavily in the arsenal of bottles behind the bar of this Newington establishment. From vodkas flavoured with kiwi, marmalade and vanilla, to gins sourced from the UK, Europe and USA, the grape…

Combining Old Town cellar with deliberately worn industrial touches, this is one of the city centre’s better looking bars. Coombed stones walls and low lighting make for an atmospherically louche hangout slightly at odds with the pumping bass on the…

The industrial metal interior is suitably on trend for the Edinburgh outpost of this headline-grabbing brewery. More radical though is the proud proclamation of ‘no football, shots or Stella’. A bar that sees serving good beer as its primary function is…

Hardened patriots might lament this venerable old boozer’s transformation from dingy haven to high-end Swedish ϋber-pub, but only the most misanthropic skinflint can really resent its success. Indeed, JP’s has an uncanny knack of catering to wildly…

With new management since August 2012 there has been a renewed focus on the quality of the wine and food. There is an Italian focus to the wine list but it also features interesting choices from around the world, with 30 or so available by the glass and…

In the heart of Edinburgh University’s busy student zone in Chamber Street you will find what years ago was the Edinburgh Dental Hospital. Today there are happier reasons for opening your mouth wide and more sociable anaesthetics. Revolution, the 60+ UK…

Given its neon signage and the staff’s long-standing penchant for Hawaiian shirts, the Basement has never been a byword for subtlety and sophistication, but instead is a slightly ironic slice of Miami teleported into a Scottish cellar. It’s clearly a…

Despite new owners and a bit of a revamp in 2009 it remains business as usual with Bar Kohl continuing to serve over 50 flavours of vodka, as it has done since first opening in 1993. Exposed brick walls, chalk boards and standard wooden pub tables no…

With walls emblazoned with an improbable selection of cartoon characters, and primary colours very much to the fore, Treacle is clearly not aiming for understatement, and it succeeds in pulling off an atmosphere that is breezy and upbeat. Food-wise…

A bar belonging to a fashion house will almost by definition be intimidatingly stylish: there cannot be many bars where the cocktail menu varies according to the colours and themes of the current fashion season. Nonetheless, the staff appear to be…

Balfour’s diehards might be bamboozled when confronted by the enigmatic grey façade that has appeared on this erstwhile drinking den, but there’s no doubt that Leith Walk’s latest addition will soon attract an equally loyal – if somewhat different…

Much like its Canongate sister the White Horse, the Earl is a grand mixture of classic Edinburgh local and funked-up eclectic touches. The crowd is a hotch-potch of students, cheery thirty-somethings and a clutch of venerable regulars decorating the…

Recently acquired by the company behind city-centre boozers the Abbotsford and the Guildford Arms, the Cumberland Bar falls into the same category of old-fashioned Edinburgh pubs that enjoy a sense of character even without having been tampered with in…

Rick’s is a dependable member of the Edinburgh bar scene, positioned just off George Street but attracting essentially the same clientele, whether shoppers, the after-work crowd or weekend revellers. It’s almost never quiet. The layout has been well…

To the uninitiated, arriving at Elbow is a particular treat, not least for its eccentric layout, with a mezzanine reached by a rickety staircase and a ground level boasting leather booths fitted into various nooks and crannies. The décor, which includes…

Happy birthday to the Traverse Theatre. In 2013 the venue celebrates its Golden Jubilee and to mark the occasion its fondly regarded basement bar/cafe has an updated menu. Fried sea bass with crushed new potatoes, or tagliatelle with mushrooms…