The City Cafe in Edinburgh, City of

Great drinks! Quite a unique American diner vibe, selling breakfasts all day as well as burgers etc. Martin is a delight! Outdoor space for people watching too. Drink pictures their new Summer slushie, delicious.

Delicious food. Good service, nice atmosphere

The design and atmosphere was very good ✨️ The staff were very friendly and polite 💐 There is a lot variety of food and drinks. But we were not satisfied with our breakfast, unfortunately 🤷🏻‍♀️ The food looked good, but I didn't like the taste of the spinach.. In the other menu, the butter was very small for the price, they could add more butter and use fresh vegetables 😇

I’d already seen lots of reviews of this place especially about the delicious milkshakes so I knew I needed to check this place out! Our hotel was only a few doors open so that was a bonus. We had lunch (hot dog and chips) and kinder bueno and strawberry milkshakes. The drinks were definitely worth going to! Food was ok, could have been better. Friendly staff and clean toilets. Still enjoyed going! Thank you.

nothing extraordinary including food.

Absolutely brilliant nostalgia cafe and brilliant service

Absolutely loved our visit here. The food was great. We had the bacon and cheese hot dog special and the chicken and waffle with maple syrup and both dishes were seriously delicious. The staff were really friendly which made the whole experience even better. The atmosphere was relaxed. Highly recommend if you're looking for great food and a fun surrounding.

Nice place to go for a meal or a few drinks when going out up town. Burgers are really good. Staff are very freindly.

Great food and friendly service. Wish found it sooner

Eggs Benedict: the muffin was an untoasted milk roll, the hard-boiled eggs, the hollandaise sauce without salt and the ham with a sour aftertaste

Muy buen servicio, sin embargo mi comida decepcionó la experiencia. Pedido Huevo florentina, salió en 5 minutos, tibio cálido y empapado. Té y café de buena relación calidad-precio como en tazas grandes. Caro a £ 32 para la comida promedio

I ordered a burger so massive I had to assess its load-bearing capacity before taking a bite. Stacked with beef, pickles, cheese, and possibly its own ecosystem, it was less of a meal and more of a structural challenge. Just when I thought I’d survived, the ice cream sundae arrived - three scoops of joy, drowning in sauce and whipped cream like a dessert-themed avalanche. I didn’t eat it. I submitted to it. Great food, retro vibes, and portions that defy logic—bring an appetite and maybe an architect.

Delicious breakfast, nice service and atmosphere like a typical American diner - definitely recommended!

This is a atmospheric cafe styled with American diner decor. It is ideal for an all day breakfast and they do great shakes. There's a pool table at the back which is an added bonus. The service is good and accommodating.

Great little spot for a relaxed rest and good food

Large portions, good prices and quick service. Great cappuccino as well!

You wouldn’t think you could go wrong with a plate of nachos but the City Cafe proved us wrong. Dry nacho chips with grated cheese on top that they hadn’t even bothered to melt. For £9! Disgusting. We had a few bites and left it. They didn’t ask if there was a problem when they took it away - just gave us the bill. Also, £9 for a glass of rather unpleasant cheap white wine! What a rip off. Service was lacklustre at best. This place used to be a good bet for some decent nosh - not any more. Oh, and don’t get me started on the fruit flies buzzing around. Avoid.

The City Cafe is one of my favourite places to visit and has been since the mid 90's whether it's for food or just a quick drink when I'm in the area. Staff are always welcoming and friendly.

Highly recommended. Love it. Been going there since before most of the current staff were born....

Good food and drink. Good service and very cool American diner inspired premises.

Visité recientemente con mi hermana y sus hijos. Personal todo fantástico - amable y acogedor con un gran servicio. La comida era fantástica - a un precio razonable y sabroso. Sin duda volveremos!

The food was so so so good I would definitely come here again very clean place nice staff lovely attitude

The food did not correspond to the price we paid for it, the waiter forgot the coffee that was in the order, the waiters looked like they were in chaos about what was happening where

Loved it there, staff really friendly, great atmosphere too. Would definitely recommend.

My friends and I had the best time doing karaoke there! Harmony and Agnes were the sweetest and nicest team we could have hoped for. Great service and overall very enjoyable atmosphere!

Overall the experience was nice but staff was not bothered at all with customers

Absolutely amazing place, friendly staff, food 100% delicious 😋

Great breakfast, the boozy shakes are worth it. The full Scottish breakfast was beautiful.

I love this cafe. The staff are so pleasant and the food is great. A lovely place to go.

Great breakfast, fresh cooked and hot. Great friendly service, great atmosphere highly recommended

Holiday with our 2 young grand daughters & arrived in the city late in the evening due to flight delay we stumbled across this fab american style diner.The staff were very friendly and helpful, especially regarding the lactose intolerance of one of our party..The food & the atmosphere was excellent..It was so good we returned the next day...The milk shakes were particularly appreciated by everyone..

All round amazing experience! The food was very good (although I wish they did American pancakes) and the atmosphere was incredible, really felt like we were in American!! It was so good we went twice whilst in Edinburgh!

Restaurant serving hearty Scottish breakfasts all day. Decorated in American style with many details. Good service, good prices and good food. 30 seconds from the Royal Mile.

My favorite place to eat when i visit Edinburgh. The food is lovely.

Came here both days we were in Edinburgh for our stay. The breakfast is lovely and very reasonably priced and the staff are super friendly, will definitely be back the next time we're in Edinburgh!

Friendly staff and an excellent breakfast.

Dog friendly, staff friendly & food delicious. Loved the 60's vibe in this cafe..

The food and atmosphere here was amazing! It genuinely made me feel like I was in a real American diner! The next time I’m in Edinburgh, I won’t hesitate to come back! 🤍

very nice place, very American, good sandwiches and chips as well, friendly staff, service a little slow but otherwise everything is ok! very youthful place we got 1 cheeseburger (including chips) 1 buffalo chicken (including chips) 1 bottle of water we spent £35

The atmosphere is fantastic, and the staff is incredibly friendly. It truly feels like stepping into a classic American diner. Eggs Royale Absolutely delicious! The eggs were perfectly cooked, and the presentation was on point. The salmon was fresh and flavorful. BLT A timeless classic that’s hard to get wrong. The cross-section looked amazing, the bacon was perfectly crispy, and the fries had a great coating—super crunchy and satisfying. Full Scottish I swapped the haggis for extra bacon—might’ve offended the waiter a bit, haha! But everything was delicious, and the bacon had an almost American-style flavor. Would definitely order it again. Oreo Milkshake Beautifully presented and tasted amazing. My only tiny wish? I’d love it to be just a bit thicker.

I love this place and wanted to pop in for food but wanted to make sure with a pre-booking. I emailed them but no reply (as I couldn't find a table booking app). Went to Brew Dog instead and popped in here on the way back for a beer.

Good breakfast! Friendly and kind staff!

A very disappointing experience. Arrived really hungry, asked for chilli beef nachos. Nachos came out meat free. I asked for the beef chilli, they took my plate away, I waited and waited. Eventually, the second plate came out - still the wrong food. They said they’d rectify right away but just ignored me and didn’t bring out any other food. Duty Manager was really rude and didn’t care. Would never come back, no idea what the kitchen staff are up to whilst on duty. Emailed owners to find out what happened, who responded initially and promised to followed up but didn’t.

The food was delicious don't get me wrong and the staff were friendly enough, however, they got our order wrong and gave us the wrong drink. I also requested white toast as part of my breakfast and the waiter said that was ok. When the food arrived the toast was brown bread not white like I requested. I didn't feel like bringing this to their attention as I'd already mentioned that the beverage was incorrect. The staff were polite and professional and the food was delicious.

We were made to feel so welcome and the food was lovely , Scottish breakfast delicious We went there at night for a karaoke booth and through ly enjoyed ourselves, Would definitely recommend this place. For both food and atmosphere and good and friendly service Thank you Fraser and Harmoney

Went here for dinner, enjoyed it so I went for breakfast the following morning. Great selection of vegetarian options, much better than most places.

A great spot, and an Edinburgh institution, and the menu helpfully marks things for different diets… I’d love to be wholly positive about it, but unfortunately the service was really slow (around half an hour from sitting down until we got our first drink), and the food was only so so. Service charge added without us being asked, too. But, with a few improvements to the service, it’s still worth a visit.

I ordered the Full Scottish Breakfast. My fiance got the veggie version. I took a taste of her veggie haggis and it was the closest to the real thing I've ever had.

Absolutely awesome place and food was outstanding as was the service would Highly recommend a visit when up in Edinburgh 👍

A really lovely themed restaurant. Service by all staff was excellent especially Angelina who was very friendly, attentive and remembered our preferences. Atmosphere and backgrund music was great giving you the real American diner experience. Food was delicious. Definitely will revisit when next in Edinburgh.

Had an absolutely lovely Scottish breakfast definitely recommend going in for a feed

Best breakfast in Edinburgh! Three of us got the full Scottish breakfast, massive! Very good quality food

Overall not a very good experience. When we first went in, there were no tables available, but there was one being cleared. We went up to the guy and jokingly said "I know you hate when people do this, but can we sit on this table?" referring to how the table wasn't ready yet, but we wanted to sit down. He gave me a really dirty look and said "well it's not booked is it". He never came over to wipe the table, give us menus, ask us what we wanted, or anything. I went up to another member of staff who was to be fair nicer, and we said that for now we just want an iced coffee and a hot chocolate and to come back in a minute while we think about what to have to eat. She brought us our drinks and then never came back to ask us what we wanted for food. Overall a really poor environment, felt very hostile, and to be brutally honest, the drinks weren't very nice either. Genuinely awful. It's a shame, because the vibe of the place looked quite good.

Exquisite attention from the waitress, the food very good. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, quality price and attention to service

Very expensive drinks and insanely slow service. Friend said the food they had was good but I didn’t try it. Photo booth and karaoke downstairs

Great place to have Scottish breakfast , loved the morning vibes , pancakes and the cream were an amazing experience , would definitely revisit ,if ever.

Great breakfast, lots to choose from. Very nice

My girlfriend and I came for breakfast, it was really delicious! The bacon and maple pancakes are brilliant. The scrambled eggs are also really really good! My girlfriend had the scrambled egg and sausages roll and said how good it was. Really 10/10! Also the American Diner aesthetic was really pleasant. I recommend it!

Lovely vibe, lovely staff and great food. 5 star.

Excellent cafe bar staff very friendly and helpful, excellent interior takes one back to the 80s period, excellent beers and drinks and food milk shakes 😀 👌

Excellent place for breakfast. I was looking for a vegan breakfast and found this cafe. Great place I've you are in there and food was amazing.

Nice diner in classic american style. Good food. Nice music. Friendly staff.

A wonderful place for brunch with kids. Excellent American diner theme and they had fantastic Halloween decorations up. They were so accommodating when my kids needed to swap something from their meal. Plus the adults all enjoyed their meals too. I only managed to take a photo of one of my eggs as I ate the other.

I was very well attended to on site, I felt there was a lack of support via WhatsApp to speed up service and clarify doubts quickly.

Loved this place, tasty food, and reasonably priced for the centre of Edinburgh too. All the staff were super friendly, always smiling even when busy

Did a boozy brunch with my friends great waffles and pancakes and lovely mimosa and long island ice tea. The whole place has an American diner feel and staff are great

Went to get a Scottish breakfast from here. The food was really decent. The service was a bit slow at times, so make sure you aren't in a rush when you visit. They were very flexible with substitutions on meals, which was great! Overall not a bad experience at all.

Pedí una recomendación de un café, sin lujos, fuera de la pista turística, y City Café fue la respuesta. Personal absolutamente encantador, muy amable y comprobado un par de veces que estábamos contentos con todo. Gran personal y servicio rápido, perfecto para lo que estábamos buscando (los huevos florentine eran muy sabrosos! )

Always have a great experience at The City Cafe. Staff are friendly, it's always been quiet enough not to have to wait for a table, but busy enough for a good atmosphere and the food is lush! The French Toast is a must!

Good drip coffee with a good cafe breakfast. Check out the life size Elvis.

Came here for a drink before a show at the fringe fest. Overpriced and poorly made cocktails. Very disappointed with the drink and the service. If you want a drink before the comedy club then do not be fooled by going in here first.

Nice brunch/lunch spot. Decent food, good value.

Great place for a quick snack, it provides a great vibe of classical American diner place

Very cool place. Nice atmosphere and very friendly staff.

Saw free comedy quiz in Festival hilarious thanks again we came last year and thoroughly enjoyed We left money after show which is a great idea 💡

A city institution with an art-deco American diner decor, it's been decades since my last visit but my daughter goes there every now and again so decided we should pop in for lunch as we were in the area. The food was rather ordinary - my nachos appeared to have been microwaved, with the cheese having melded itself into the paper lining the plastic basket, so I ended up accidentally getting paper in the odd mouthful. Daughter's dirty fries were fine, according to them. There really wasn't any atmosphere to speak of, but that might be because it was just after 3pm so not really a time when the place would normally be buzzing. Service was good & pretty swift, and there wasn't the usual experience of waiting forever to catch the eye of staff to get the bill - so too marks for attentiveness! Overall, the food filled a hole but wasn't anything special. I don't see myself rushing back anytime soon though as there are much better options available in town.

Adapted gluten-free breakfasts, without contamination. They give you gluten-free bread if you want and the menu says what does NOT contain gluten. Celiacs, you can have breakfast in peace, my celiac wife was not contaminated.

City café es increíble jiselle es tan impresionante que realmente hizo la noche! El personal es de lo mejor que no hay un mejor lugar para relajarse o salir de fiesta sea lo que sea que este lugar lo tiene todo...

Fantastic breakfasts and great service.

Absolutamente horrenda experiencia. Extremadamente decepcionado con el servicio que me ofrecieron. Un miembro del personal me hizo sentir mal, con respecto a mí alternando mi desayuno escocés completo debido a que estaba embarazada. Se equivocó de orden, lo que se puede entender considerando lo ocupado que está. Sin embargo, lo que no me gustó es que me apartara para intentar demostrarme que lo que escribió para mi pedido era correcto. Me sentí avergonzado en ese momento y descontento con el nivel de descaro.

Loved the bar, we had a couple of drinks, staff were friendly. Went to see Devin Gray's performance as part of the Fringe festival, loved it!

I really enjoy this place. All of things they got wrong about American diners are the worst part of American diners. The food is excellent, coffee is great, and the staff is always super friendly and accommodating to large groups. I went here multiple times during the Fringe. I then left and went to the US where the diners are far worse. City Cafe is awesome. Highly recommend.

Todos los años visito la periferia y cada año como en el café de la ciudad. El personal es siempre amable y la comida es genial! Sirve desayunos y almuerzos. Me encantan sus bolsitas de desayuno, solo £ 5. 50 ! Además, puede tomar una copa en cualquier momento durante todo el día. Los asientos son cabinas y es ideal para un montón de amigos que tienen una charla👌

Awesome place. Great food. Really nice staff. Dog ice creams available too.

Got a link sausage roll the sausage was hard won't be back

Cracking breakfast, super fast service. Would 100% recommend

Me encanta este restaurante de los años 50 con su piso de baldosas a cuadros y cabinas acolchadas rojas y la máquina de discos que expulsa a Elvis. Me encantan los batidos y el perro chile y los gofres y tortitas. ¡Qué vibra!

The food was decent diner style food and the staff was super friendly. Just a cool experience with a fun ambience right in the center of Edinburgh!

Pancakes disappointing. Coffee blah. 😑

We went here during the fringe festival a super busy period for this place. Our food came not quite as we asked for burger still had all the salad ect and the veggie hotdog originally was given a meat one (which staff realised in the nick of time) We were told the burger would be removed from our bill but instead the gratuity and service was removed. All the wait staff we interacted with were lovely and incredibly professional we would not have made any complaints if we knew that staff would lose their tip instead of the price of a burger being removed. Especially during such a busy period they deserve every penny of the gratuity.

Had a vegan breakfast here. Pretty good. Great service and music.

Laid back and very casual. If you want quick in and out , go somewhere else. This place allowed us to relax and meet some locals .

Stopped by for a couple of milkshakes and a game of cards. Great service and the milkshakes were amazing!!!

The chips were among the worst alive ever tasted, with a taste and smell of rancid oil. Some overcooked, some undercooked. Time to clean the fryer or use new oil.

The Scottish Breakfast is highly recommended. The service was excellent.

Nice little cafe, stopped for a bite to eat and a drink. Little pricey but the big portions evens it out, the food, caramel coffee and staff were great!

This was my second visit and was just as good as the first. The waiter was lovely, not at all pushy, very friendly and professional. The tea / coffee were served quickly and the pancakes followed shortly after. They were delicious. I'll definitely be back. Thank you.

This place was a great find! We just arrived in Edinburgh and needed a bite to eat and this place didn’t disappoint. The caramel latte I had was probably the best one I’ve ever had to be honest! The food was good too! Can’t fault this place at all!

Googled places to have Breakfast on our day trip and this place came up. American style inside and proper portions of good food well cooked. Especially liked that the coffee came in a proper mug and not some fancy glass. Reasonably prices in todays climate. Will be calling agian if back up there

Popped in after one of the Taylor concerts. The food was absolutely amazing, so was the service! They were pretty packed and had a constant queue of people but there was no franticness - the vibes were immaculate and it was such a cool diner! I went for the veggie scottish breakfast and it BANGED! Also, the vanilla milkshake??? BANGED AS WELL.