The Best Beer Bars in Edinburgh

Tom Kitchin's gastropub in Stockbridge leans into the neighbourhood pub format with enough conviction that it actually works as one. The menu runs on Scottish comfort, haggis and neeps, fish pie loaded with seafood, the kind of food that makes you want to book a table rather than just turn up optimistically. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks. Come hungry, and leave room for the rice pudding.

1. Top 50 Gastropubs 2026 · #56 · Top 50 Gastropubs
2. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

The antique brass water tap at the end of the bar exists solely so you can add a splash to your dram, which tells you everything about this place. A proper old Edinburgh pub on a corner you can spot by its blue exterior from halfway down Bread Street, it has the dark wood, mosaic tiles, parquet floor, and ornate fittings that only come with serious age. Eight Scottish real ales on traditional hand pumps, no pretension, and nowhere better to be on a wet afternoon.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

Stuffed birds, stacked crockery, and several lifetimes of collected oddities cover every wall and ceiling of this old Morningside pub, making it feel less like a bar and more like a Victorian curiosity shop that somehow got a liquor license. The shelves behind the larger bar hold what may be Edinburgh's deepest whisky selection, and Caledonian and Belhaven come on draught for anyone who finds the malt list overwhelming, which is fair.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide