Bennets Bar in Edinburgh, City of

Fantastic traditional Edinburgh pub with good beer, whisky and great pizza. The pub retains its original (and odd) Romanesque style decor on a beautiful polished wood interior. You can often catch some good music here as well

Beautiful bar (interior circa 1905) with a great ambience. Friendly service, fine selection of beer and whiskey. Good bar food. Recommendation!

Quaint, rustic, traditional, extremely friendly, great

Good vibe, decent prices and good staff

Didn't eat here, but the food looked very good. First time in this traditional, Victorian era pub. Great decor, very friendly staff. Jusy sorry it's not in my home town

Fantastic original fitted bar with huge whisky selection. Real ales as well as usual draft lagers and ciders. An Edinburgh institution.

Easy going and friendly place to wind down with a few good beers... and try the flight of whiskys. Good selection and tasting notes. As a tourist during the Fringe Festival, this pub was a real jewel to find.

How not to run a pub: Encourage the “regulars” to badger paying patrons into moving from the spot at the bar where they’re drinking. Oh, and the beer is mediocre at best. Never going back, go to The Belfry just up the road or The Cameo across the road instead.

Let me preface this by saying I’ve been coming here for years. Decades, even. It was always pleasant - the bar itself is beautiful; old and ornate. The staff used to be friendly and accommodating. However, things seem to have massively changed. I really hope management reads this because your current standards fall well below the mark and your staff are rude and obnoxious. Popped in for a quiet pint, as usual. Paid and looked for a wee spot to stand. Propped ourselves up at the end of the bar and were told “There are seats through the back?” but happily responded we were fine to stand where we were. This induced a groan from a “regular” and shared rolled-eyes between him and the bar-person. He continued to stare at me and mutter. Eventually, his friend appeared and essentially told me that was his spot. We told him there were two free stools beside his chum and he could sit there. This resulted in “I’m not long for this world” and other hyperbolic ramblings. Stood our ground and told him, politely, that he didn’t own the pub and we were there first. The staff, who clearly are friends with the “Grumpy Corner” (as they willingly called themselves) proceeded to gossip about us. One particularly miserable woman adjusted a sign saying “Service area - Do not block hatch” in a passive aggressive manner despite my partner being barely in the way. ALL of this could have been avoided had someone initially said “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re expecting people in this spot” or even a reserved sign placed. We would have happily said “Sure, no probs” and found a seat elsewhere. To be made to feel unwelcome in a pub we’ve frequented regularly over many years was unacceptable. Your staff were childish and discourteous and it made everyone uncomfortable. No one is entitled to a spot in a pub any more than anyone else. Will be telling friends not to come here again and if you’re a tourist, just avoid it - apparently you’re not welcome unless you’re an ultra-regular. There are dozens of better (and more hospitable) bars in Edinburgh. Both staff and regulars embarrassed themselves in this situation.

Small typical Edinburgh bar We ate there two evenings because we were happy there We recommend

I've been coming here on and off for 40 years. My cousin Ian had a lovely affair with the place and every time I raise a glass of Guinness here it's to his memory. The service is as good as the Guinness which along with swanys on the southside probably are my top pints of the black stuff in Edinburgh. I'm sure there's at least another 10 bars that have the through put and care to deliver a perfect pint but they're my 2. Let's face it once you get a good pint of Guinness you rarely say let's go and try another pub. I like it here. The food has always been good when I've eaten and as it's the festival still you can pop over to the Cameo and watch Since Yesterday or some other film from the many on offer. Right, time for another pint then I've got to go.

Quaint pub with a great bar! Very well attended. Food okay for a pub. Great drinks selection of beer, whiskey, gin.

7 stars******* A fab, old style pub. Great ale. My wife said probably the best fish and chips she has EVER had ... and we've had a few! The main course salad was lovely as well.

Typical Scottish pub with all its flavor and good atmosphere.

The food, although not very complex like much of Britain, tastes excellent and the quantities are overwhelming, corresponding to a decent price, even being in the capital of Scotland.

Best pizza I've had in a long time. Everything excellent

Beautiful place, not that expensive, traditional bar. (Prices for one beer)

Another crown jewel of an Edinburgh pub. Try the delicious vegan starters

I can’t speak to the food, and the drink selection is pretty good. The decor supposedly hasn’t changed for around a hundred years and it has a very comfortable aesthetic.

Great pub with cost atmosphere. Didn’t have the food. But loved this place.

Wonderful place to sit and contemplate what's happening in the world

Great traditional Edinburgh pub with a really good vibe atmosphere. Worst steak pie I have ever tasted cold filling burnt pastry made separately plonked on top of a dry steak stew which was cold (£16). Very disappointing

A good old fashioned pub with a relaxed atmosphere and a good variety of real ales

Excellent place, just popped in for a Guinness on my 1st visit to this traditional pub.. It's definitely worth a 2nd visit !

Great pub. Fast service, good beer, nice staff, lots of tables. My only complaint is about the toilets: they are, without a doubt, the most disgusting pub toilets I have used. Often there is no hand soap, and the urinal being a mere ditch in the floor is an extremely poor design choice for painfully obvious reasons. You should wear wellies to go to the loo here.

I like this bar and visit regularly. The atmosphere is nice but I cringed with embarrassment today when speaking to a visiting Australian couple who were served fish and crisps rather than fish and chips as exerted a bit perplexed . Come on how difficult is it to deep fry some chips even if frozen rather then serve a packet of crisps with some pieces of fish . The fryer is on. What an example of Scottish hospitality 🥴🥴🥴

best edinburgh bar by far ! the staff are so incredibly friendly and the food and drink are always perfect, great student discount as well!!! <3

Great atmosphere, good food, nice service. There was music and singing in the back room. There were opportunities to try different whiskeys in a sort of three-pack. Everything at moderate prices. Clear recommendation for a stop.

Very good bar, really nice atmosphere

Nice staff, big portions and authentic Scottish food.

Brilliant atmosphere, decent food and very friendly staff. Anytime again...

Good atmosphere sometimes love music

An amazing place, very beautiful and with a wonderful selection of beer and spirits, plus very helpful relaxed people. Whenever we are in Edinburgh, this is the first pub we are going to.

This is a deciving bar on the main route. Enter thru the front door, and there is another area around the corner. But a cafe sits on the corner as you enter. The outside seating, smoking area is on the side street. Cool, back in time feeling in the bar but with a great selection of ales, beers etc.

The best pub in Edinburgh for us

Great old style pub. Go here for a pub quiz on a Tuesday.

The pizza and drink for £12 was great! Nice atmosphere, drink prices not terrible. Really nice spot for some food and drinks.

Very cool atmosphere with live music and board games.

Nice bar with board games :) Food rather ok, but good cocktails.

Lovely bar with a very diverse clientele. Great atmosphere

Purely bad rating due to no communication! I tried to contact Bennets bar on four occasions, twice by phone (no one picked up) and twice via their contact form on their website (no one replied). We've booked our table for people eight elsewhere.

The rudest guy with the beard served us. Not a chance we’ll be back here

I had a good time and it is always lively and the bar is beautiful along with the back bar and is one of these historic bars you have to visit in Edinburgh.

Nice old pub. Notice the little nook by the entrance with a small service hatch.

This is a strange pub in that, it has two entrances. There is a small bar which can be entered from Valleyfield Street, which also has outdoor seating. The main entrance is on Lothian Road. This is a 19th Century establishment. The original art and fittings are still here. Whilst at the bar, I noticed a small hatch and asked about it. This is a small 6 person private area. What a wonderful pub.

Very good environment especially for students, they are super friendly and they are super pet friendly. Then they show your dog on Instagram :-) They seem like a good vibes family.

A wonderful, cozy place with delicious fresh beer. And cauliflower in some delicious sauce is simply a masterpiece.

Took colleagues from all over the world to experience Scottish hospitality but they left shocked at the behaviour of the barmaid.

This is a fun old pub. Interior is classic and rustic with tons of history which you can see on the walls, on the floors, on the bar. Solid cask ale selection and some tasty haggis bonbons. There's a second room in the back but it was pretty quiet in the main room when I visited. Some folks started trickling in after I arrived and quite a diverse range of ages. A classic pub a bit hidden by the construction but these are the places that you remember and hope to never disappear.

Fabulous interiors. Decent cask. Not the largest range of cask beer.

Excellent place with good food and many whiskeys to try.

Like the bar and selection of drinks but it's always really cold ❄ no matter spring summer or winter

I have wanted to visit this pub for a long time due to the private little room with its own hatch to the bar. The service was top notch and the food was beautiful, we ordered pizzas, (homemade) garlic bread and chips.

An old, cozy pub. There are delicious little things to eat and beer and whiskey... The atmosphere is great, the service is friendly. Everything is great. Unless you go there when the 6 Nations Cup (Rugby) final between Ireland and Scotland is being broadcast live... then you can drink as much as you want, you just can't fall over... 😀😃 🙂

Very busy for an early Saturday afternoon. Friendly staff and regulars mostly of the older type. Nice spot though.

Great and authentic Scottish pub, loved the sample bottles next to the cask ales, nice touch

Proper boozer just off Lothian Road. Really friendly service and a good range of craft beers, wines, cocktails and spirits. Good atmosphere with a varied age range. Food menu looked good and reasonably priced compared to some others in this area. Good to see this type of pub still exists

Rude and unhelpful. Don't go there. Ignorant in the extreme

Never changing victoriana pub. Great beer selection 👌

Great ambience, super nice people, perfect food! A fixed point when we come back to Edinburgh 😊

Good choice of beers and whisky. Also do food. Live music in back bar.

Amazing selection of whiskey and ales. Great atmosphere, feels a bit like time travel, I will definitely go back.

Wir hatten einen schönen Abend und wurden sehr freundlich bedient.

Bennets Bar is highly recommended and I can see why. It's a beautiful and ornate pub with lots of history. Lovely, warm atmosphere.

A must visit if you’re interested in late-Victorian Edinburgh pub architecture. We must be thankful that many of its original features have been retained.

Bar looking worse for wear. Please put on some heating. The place was frozen and customers were commenting about it. Even the bar staff were wearing hats and scarves. Not a pleasant place to sit and have a beer.

The best pub in Edinburgh, big ups James Fox, the best bartender in Edinburgh, as well as the rest of the lovely bar staff and management

Great pub, good beer and good service. Not been refurbished so still has a used old feel to it with mirrors and wood. Sadly that includes the toilets which are in need of an upgrade. Gets busy and can be noisy.

Looks old school, completely different to any pub in Australia.. service was quick and beer, well, it poured like a Guinness and was delicious. I saw food there which liked fine but it was the beer we were after..

Maravilloso pub clásico de madera oscura con asientos y bancos rojos, y espejos y cristaleras típicas. Atención excelente.

Nice bar, very old but quaint, toilets had seen better days

Bar looks inviting from the outside- staff are young and enthusiastic- the place has experienced a renaissance since Covid. Unfortunately despite the money the owners must be raking in the women’s toilets are rank, smelly, out of order and dark and the bar is freezing!! No fire in December- the many bodies there aren’t sufficient to heat it up…Disappointing

Lovely old worldy pub has history fantastic service &, good 👍-food 👍

Davvero un bel pub in stile Scozzese , arredato in modo davvero carino, old style. Un immensa varietà di birre, gin e whisky. Complimenti

Cracking friendly bar with good selection of ales and spirits. Original 1850s look bar. Wealth of knowledge behind the bar.

Loved it. Traditional pub, great taps and folk live music

Great bar with a lovely selection of whisky as well as the usual on tap beers. I didn't try the food but the pizza looked and smelled delicious

The atmosphere is fantastic! Traditional pub with great staff and good beer.

Wednesday 6-9pm, music jam sessions. Great welcoming atmosphere.

Wonderful bar with period fittings - great selection of whiskies, beers/ales, gins etc. well worth a visit

Good original pub with a lively crowd

What a beautiful pub, I hear it hasn't changed since 1906 and I can see why! Can't beat it if you're looking for a traditional Scottish pub with a great range of drinks, and that bartender James really knows his stuff

This place is great! The atmosphere is very nice with a good mix of people. The drinks were reasonably priced and the food was really good. I’d recommend this place to anyone and will surely come back here!

Great bar staff are friendly and efficient

Great pub, varied drinks selection, friendly bar staff and atmosphere

Grymt ställe som hade trevlig personal och en grym stämning. Rätt god pizza. Stället har en bakficka där fredagskvällen är lite lugnare.

Fortunately I read the guest book in the Air bnb I stayed in just 100 yards from Bennetts Bar. Spent three consecutive days in what I can confidently say is one of my favourite pubs I have ever had the pleasure to visit. Excellent choice of beer and a selection of malt whiskey that I am now planning to work my way through, one by one when I next get a chance to visit. Had food on the first afternoon which was mostly beige but none the less very tasty. It soaked up the alcohol so we could both power through the evening. Second visit I was clearing the little table we were about to sit on and inadvertently gave my whiskey to the barman. Five minutes later I realised and proceeded back to the bar only to find he had kept it aside and handed it back. The service everyday we visited was excellent, the knowledge of 150 whiskeys more than sufficient to help me choose wisely. Brilliant atmosphere and friendly locals . Great history going back almost 200 years. Cannot wait to return.

Best pub in Edinburgh, excellent beer selection however that could be improved with the addition of one or two more non-alcoholic options.

Fabulous old bar with great selection of whiskys

love this pub and especially love the sexy fox that works at the bar!

Service was dire, 3 staff on but a power of non service.

Ein ausserordentlich gemütliches Pup.

Lovely traditional pub. 2 for 1 pizzas Monday to Wednesday really good value and very tasty.

One of the best bars in Edinburgh. The whisky menu is great!

Sehr netter Service, Bier zu moderaten Preisen. Nichts gegessen, deswegen keine Bewertung. Sehr nettes Personal.

A traditional old style bar. A bit like taking a trip back in time.

Excellent spot with friendly staff! Good selection of craft and regular beers. Very attractive space, and convenient location. A great stop! Loved the special little private room on the street at the end of the bar. Probably need a booking to get it, but such a cute little cubby hole!

Great find. Original edwardian decor, good selection of beers and great atmosphere.

Great pub, great whisky, great service.

Tomamos unos whisky en un ambiente acogedor e íntimo. Es típico bar escocés. Me gustó.