Black Bull in Edinburgh, City of

Had lunch with some friends, and as a first visit, it certainly lived up to expectations. It was very busy, but very little waiting time.

The British pub culture is something special for us tourists because it is so diverse. The Black Bull's musical style is rock/metal, and accordingly it also attracts a slightly older audience. The decoration is also aligned accordingly. We found the location in a narrow house charming. It wasn't very busy when we visited during the week, but there was live music to our delight. We were served quickly and friendly at the counter. Since we didn't order anything to eat, I can't comment on that. The drink prices were okay.

Rude bar staff, bar has a pool table you can't use due to space. Been informed the tall bald one has convictions. Worrying times. avoid at all costs.

Worst service in a pub in Edinburgh, some weird bald boy behind the bar thought he owned it,.don't think he realised he's minimum wage 🤣 avoid.

Great atmosphere, great music. Absolutely divine Sunday Roast topside beef. Beautiful vegetables. The only thing that could be improved was the Yorkshire pudding size and texture. I wasn’t that hungry and they allowed me to have a kids meal as an adult. Decent beer selection. Good location right near the castle.

Amazing pub. Been coming here for over 20 years. Great staff.. Great prices.. Great atmosphere. Great people.Recommended to all.

No been in here since the 90s shame Thier gonna shut it good place for alternative music peeps

First time there, but hopefully not the last. Comfortable place. Good service.

Nice bar. Shame it's due to close down in two weeks from now.

Let's face it Edinburgh is expensive but here cheapest in town so far... I recommend and it plays heavy metal 🤘

First trip to Edinburgh and we luckily found this pub on our first night. 4 nights in Edinburgh, 4 nights in Black Bull. Kiitos ja anteeksi!

Best rock bar in Scotland any time of the day just left the place 10min ago

Visited premises for the first time. Centrally located in the city centre. Prices reasonable. Good if you like heavy metal music blasting. Used by men finishing work. Off Putting when you see one of the customers seating their dachshund dog on a customer table. Not great for hygiene.

Pantera and cocktails, need I say more?

Staff are great. Was not too busy, It had a lovely vibe about it.

Loud music. Pool table. Drinks good.

Stopped in for a nightcap. Music was way too loud for my liking, but I am over 50. 😉 Bartenders were very attentive and provided quick service. Drinks were delicious.

Had a pint in there with a friend spoke to a regular, played some pool.

Good evening, if you like heavy metal even better.

Good pool table. Not much else really.

Amazing as always, it's officially our local

Love a rock bar and this didn't disappoint. Only had a couple pints but the music was great and the staff were very friendly. Place was full of like mental metal heads young and old and was great to see. Will be back!!

Busy wee bar with pool table. Friendly staff and relaxed atmosphere.

Love this pub! Everyone is lovely, however the quiz host guy AJ was not. No He was rude to me during quiz and He then had a drink at the bar and then went behind the bar and started moaning at the bar staff, who were busy enough, whilst he checked the stock behind the bar. After quiz he asked me aggressively where the staff were. Like thats my problem?? Let your staff work and have a nice quiz night for cryin out loud

Great vibe at the place. Good music and helpful staff.

Andy the bartender was so nice to us, very accommodating and made the experience so enjoyable, very friendly staff all round :)

Probably the Best Juke Box in Edinburgh Some Great Sounds and a decent Pint.

Great place, always start here if visiting Edinburgh

We arrived in Scotland and our first stop was at the Black Bull Tavern for a cold pint! We were served by a very animated and positive individual tending the bar, who quickly served us first with a warm welcome and the perfect Scottish smile! Following that, a serve of a few cold brews, some good ole grunge rock music playing in the backdrop, along with some happy locals; was the perfect setting and first impressions of the good people of Scotland! Thank you Andy for the warm welcome and A-1 customer service, as we felt very welcomed and at home. So impressed we even took a selfie with him - hah! Rating - 5 Rock Stars for Black Bull Tavern (Edinburgh)!!!

Buen sitio para tomarte una pinta y disfrutar de la musica ambiente de estilo rock. Cuenta con esta reliquia de AC/DC

Good rock pub, not the usual dive! Very friendly.

Not bad, but with some issues: Music is good, but usually too loud to have a proper chat. Some pool tables are too close to where people are seated, which is quite annoying. The worst: there used to be a big fat incel behind the bar, acting like a Victorian mental granny when any couple was kissing. Edit: I know what's a rock bar and surely I went to more rock/metal gigs than anyone else there. Music volume shouldn't interfere with people's chat (unless you can't tell the difference between a rock bar, a gig and a club). Do you know what's unacceptable? Buzzing with an alarm to customers for utterly stupid reasons (the size, weight and sexual issues of the barman were just a description of facts). I already gave too many chances to this bar and you seem to not acknowledge much about it... there are better options in this city anyway.

They played Kashmir, I love this place. I absolutely love it.

We came in quite late on Friday night, our sever Megan was absolutely lovely! We were noticed and served very quickly by her, we will definitely be back hopefully Megan will be in so I can pass on my gratitude. I didn't rate the food as we only had drinks.

I love this bar, best Duke box/music in Edinburgh, wide range of different types of people frequent bar, I always feel comfortable and at ease.

Pop in with friends for a couple of pints and enjoyed it. It has a traditional feel about it and the staff were very friendly

Fun spot to spend an afternoon with friends!

Einer der wenigen ehrlichen Pubs in Edinburgh echte Kerle am und hinter dem Tresen besser geht's nicht.

No food, just a great boozer with some fine beers and great music

Popped in for a quick drink. Great pub, love the Halloween decorations

Great staff also atmosphere in pub I'd great 👍🏻

They have really friendly local staff working in there and it's always welcoming atmosphere in the pub. One pool table at the back. Rock and metal music playing. Relaxed vibe.

Great rock bar. Found this place on Sunday evening most other places were very quiet so a great discovery.

Great pub. Fast service with very informative staff.

This would be at the top of my list of places to go back to, a great crowd that seems to have such an easy vibe.

Entramos siendo turistas y salimos con whiskey escocés en vena. Una experiencia

Great small Bar with good rock/metal music

Great cocktails and a good selection of all other drinks. Lovely atmosphere too 👌

Coming here with my mate for a pint of beer after a long day at work. The atmosphere was really nice, and the way I’ve been served was efficient and really fast. My review has nothing to do with the service, but with the information they put in them Google maps profile as it say that on Friday and Saturday they close at 1:30 AM, which is also the reason why we choose this pub. As I told you we were a little bit late, I admit, around 20 past midnight and we take a pint which we even did not finish as at the end we where run to go out at 1 AM.

Great wee pub, bar staff are good craic and love the pub quiz on a Tuesday. LGBTQ+ friendly and they keep their tequila in the fridge, what more do you want?

Reasonable priced pours and great service. Thank you!

A great place to choose if you are looking for a pub that feels like the old Edinburgh. I think it would be a good place for tourists to come to for that reason, even though there didn't seem to be any around. I did meet a group from Newcastle when I visited, but overseas tourists seemed lacking. But I think they'd enjoy the traditional Old Town feel. The atmosphere was sociable and friendly. It was a place where even on a Saturday night you can bring your dog and people are able to come alone and read the paper without being bothered.

Good boozer, jukebox adequately managed to be rock only, chilled atmosphere, perfect for the rockers wishing it was 2002 again!

A good place to listen to music yesterday. A boozer — for, by, of persons abusing alcohol and language now. Revert!

Good draft selection in a pub with atmosphere. Relatively loud music playing from a rock classic juke box that gets your blood churning, but you know what you're getting when you walk in. They've got a pool table and active crowd.

Brilliant wee rock bar, a stone's throw from Prince's Street. Great range of beer, fairly priced. Great music and great atmosphere. Friendly staff (and customers!). Definitely a 'must visit' for any rock fan visiting (or living in) Edinburgh 🙂

staff rude, payed for game of pool, then asked for id and told i couldn’t play the game of pool as a 20 year old because i left my wallet at home. also lady who served us lied to colleague to make it seem as if we tried to sneak in to ensure we weren’t allowed to play the game of pool we had payed for

Super miejsce i obsługa!!! Marta wielkie dzięki!!

Only stopped for a drink but stayed for music. And what's more, the toilets are immaculate!

Es un lugar un poco encendido hay que bajar unas escaleras y es un bar donde su música en rok duro aunque había personas muy mezcladas el servicio rápido.

Brilliant pub, very fair prices, jukebox with most rock/metal songs that you can put on for £1 for 3 songs or £2 for 7 songs. Great atmosphere

Great little pub. Worth the trip down the steps. It has amazing staff, drink variety and music. This bar also has a pool table free first game. On our visit to Edinburgh we found this place because everywhere you go there's always a black bull so we had to go in! We returned both nights 👍

A proper pub! Good beer, good people and good music. My kind of place

Fantastic rock pub definitely go back

Great rock bar in Edinburgh. Great atmosphere. Fair prices.

Love this place, always good music great company and a good pint! Routinely have visited this place pre and post-pandemic and couldn't imagine going into Edinburgh and not visiting it.

Excellent pub with a vast catalogue of Rock and metal on the Jukebox! What's not to like?

This place is part of the Heavy Metal history of Scotland. Still amazing!

Great music and beer, didn't have food when we were there tho

Nice sized bar good music few things let it down guy on bar serves as if bars 10 deep when your the only person to be served and walking half way up the bar for your drink seems a bit weird but thats more staff attitude then the bar itself, when leaving if your a non smoker then your unlucky stair case seems to be the seating area for smokers again not bars fault just irritating to leave a good pub into a cloud of smoke. Overall decent price good seating and facilities are spot on only lost a star for one staff members service and squeezing past smokers on stairs. Would happily go back for a drink reason I will leave 5 stars but would say my visit because of those 2 things would say 4 but not bars fault so I recommend a visit if your in the city.

Un locale tipico scozzese ideale sia per i turisti che per i locali. Ambiente conviviale e pulito . Il fish and chips è molto buono, fritto veramente bene. Complimenti a tutti

Seems a shadow of its former self, not a great choice on tap but go for the Bourbons, best choice in town.

Very patient staff. Dealt with our nonsense with a smile, even though we were clearly leathered

Good boozer! Liked the rock music and good atmosphere. Level Head IPA went down well too 😊

Love this venue every time there, made to feel welcome xx

Good pub , friendly staff and there is a pool table

Metal pub , pool table , quirky , legendary

Great pub, great atmosphere and lovely staff

Music too loud to speak, some drunk aggressive people looking for a fight our of nowhere. Good beer options

Love the black bull, lovely staff and drinks are reasonable, what's not to like

Great rock bar, friendly bar staff. Cool jukebox and pool table! Well worth a visit

Really cool rock pub in the middle of the city. Good drinks till 1am and a lovely staff

Rough and ready late night boozer with the occasional DJ . Decent prices and good party crowd . Loads of pretty girls

Great beer and good people are there.

A little hidden gem, would definitely recommend

Daryl and Aaron amazing came here on my birthday service amazing lovely people amazing jukebox as well

Great place to have rock, fun and beer

I admire this excellent bar for its authenticity, great music and interior design plus the best Guinness I've ever had. If I had to recommend it to my friends, I would certainly do it and recommend it to anyone who likes such climates.

Fab pub, went in after rocky horror. Very friendly. Had a great time

Absolute best music. Pub is unfortunately quite small :(

Friendly bar staff and good selection of beer.

Ottima musica e selezione di birre. Gran bel posto in centro per rilassarsi. Da vedere

Always my first port of call in Edinburgh

Called in for a pint in the way to meet some pals for a work thing. Friendly staff and a huge selection of whiskey, the jukebox was playing some right tunes too.

Easy going rock based pub with a pool table and fruit machines Great selection of beers

Great place and the staff are brilliant, good place for tv sports, pool and nice and central too...

This could well be my 'local' if I lived in Edinburgh.

First time in the Black Bull last night, I love to try different Bourbon, and what a selection they have. Friendly bar staff and great music. My new local when in Scotland.

Great bar, best jukebox in Edinburgh, staff are friendly and welcoming. One of the last proper pubs in the city.

Brilliant bar, lovely staff. Very friendly. Great music and bourbon. One of the new remaining rock bars left in Edinburgh