Where to Drink: Edinburgh, Scotland
For a city of its size, Edinburgh has a surprising number of places to find a great cocktail. And they all have a distinctly Edinburgh quality about them.
Not a single one is fancy, for starters. Most of them are in basements. The few that serve food have things like chili dogs (IYKYK) and there are more than a few pool tables.
The city also has the tightest knit hospitality crew that I’ve ever seen. If you sit at a bar and start talking to your neighbors, you will almost certainly learn that they work at another bar or restaurant you’ve heard great things about.
It’s a city where you definitely want to talk to the people sitting next to you, and where you'll have no short of great places to choose from. I had a hard time narrowing this down to just four!
The Last Word
For a chill night in Stockbridge
The Last Word is a basement bar in Stockbridge with a turn of the century aesthetic. Think wooden floors and tables, dim lighting, and armchairs by the fire. It’s cozy, and the perfect place to grab a drink solo or catch up with a friend.
Their cocktail menu is mostly simple riffs on classics. All easy to wrap your heard around, and all crushable AF.
My favorite was the Fresh Prince, which I kept calling “the watermelon paloma” despite the bartenders’ fond headshakes. (I’m choosing to believe they were fond.)
Tell Gracie and Antony that I say hi!
Lucky Liquor
For a fun night out with friends
Lucky Liquor is an equally great bar from the same team as “the Word.” It’s got a different vibe that’s just fun. Think neon lights, chili dogs, and a pool table in the basement.
Their menu is similar in that none of the ingredients or techniques are going to make you scratch your head, and that’s a good thing. (Fun fact: Lucky is the eponymous bar with a line of flavored liqueurs that you’ll see on every cocktail menu in town.)
Highly recommend giving their Negroni and chili dog a try. And bonus points if you give Naomi a hug for me!
Little Capo
A great restaurant with great drinks
Little Capo is definitely a restaurant, and a really good one at that. I heard three different bartenders rave about their own dinners before I made a res—and then, when I stopped into Lucky for a drink beforehand, I ran into two of their chefs at the bar who told me exactly what to order. (Love a small city.)
It was definitely my favorite dinner in Ediburgh, and the drinks are just as good as the food. The standouts for me were the sea bream (which the aforementioned chefs recommended) and their take on a pickled margarita.
Pro tip: Request a counter seat! It really adds to the experience.
Nauticus
For local spirits and ingredients in Leith
Nauticus is decorated like a nice pub, but there’s no mistaking it for anything but a cocktail bar after you look at the menu.
It’s focused on Scottish spirits and local ingredients, but not in a generic scotch-filled way. There are plenty of options and truly something for everyone.
My favorite was the "Chai Me a River," a rum and sherry highball with chai and ginger beer. It was perfectly spiced and crushable.
As a bonus, the menu itself tells you the story of Leith so tourists can get a little local history while they’re sipping.
Looking for more recs?
I've included my annotated Google Maps below.
This has all the deets for the bars above, plus a dozen more. And a handful of things to eat and do between drinks!