Grassmarket Bar

Super Stimmung und gute Livemusik

Visited on a Saturday night and it was busy with superb music and atmosphere. Good place worth a look.

I came here a few weeks ago to watch one of the world cup quarter finals with some friends and although it provided a friendly atmosphere in which to relax, it’s mainly just drunk locals who are there every other day of the week and see the place as their territory. The general environment was quite good at the time, but we got the feeling that it would have been pretty dour at any other time.
The interior décor isn’t the best and although there’s enough seating, you can’t help but feel that the place needs livened up. They do have a good, big television screen which was ideal for showing the game and the were reasonably priced.

The Grassmarket Bar is definitely not by pub of choice to drink in that is for sure. I have only been here once, which I feel is more than enough, several months ago, and was completely and utterly put off by all the drunk locals who were hanging around both inside and outside the bar.
This bar is situated in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh and so it is just a short walk from the city centre and should be an ideal place for people to go for a quite drink or for pre-​drinks before a night out, but unfortunately its not.
The staff are friendly enough, but they don’t seem to be able to control the loud and drunk locals. The bar has an extensive range of different beers, ales and wines, which are well priced and there is a student discount available. There is a huge windscreen TV which shows sporting events, and it was showing all the World Cup football matches.
There is a lively atmosphere inside, but the locals brought it down a fair bit. If it weren’t for the drunk and sleazy men drinking at this place, I would love this pub as the drinks and atmosphere are great, but I felt put out by them and probably won’t be going back.

We decided to nip over to The Grassmarket Bar after a couple of fancy dancy cocktails at The Dragonfly, which left us suitably tipsy and willing to ‘try anything’.
Fast forward a couple of hours and you will find three incredibly drunk girls joining in with football chants for a team I cannot even remember. The bar has a huge screen for sports and the drink is really reasonably priced, we were just happy to get a pint for under a fiver after skinning ourselves at the cocktail bar!
Nice atmosphere, nice enough pub (although absolutely roasting hot, air con anyone?) and full of brilliant singers! Excluding us of course.

The Grassmarket; a beautiful, cosmopolitan, buzzing area of Edinburgh. Continental and Scottish at the same time, it is a must-​see for any visitor to the city. Frequented by markets, this area is also surrounded by excellent bars, cafes and restaurants. It’s a great place for dinner and a pub crawl.
The weekends are particularly atmospheric, especially on sunny days when locals and tourists alike sip their cappuccinos outside, or during the festival when the pavements are lined with street performers. And all this at the foot of the historic and monumental Edinburgh Castle. Yup, this place is pretty special.

Whenever we have friends staying in Edinburgh we always take them to the grassmarket for some relaxed afternoon drinking. The pubs are always pretty busy and have a great atmosphere — particularly in summer when you can sit outside most of the pubs and restaurants. Many of the pubs offer food with the Last Drop doing great comfort food which will set you up for the evening ahead. There are also a variety of restaurants serving Mexican, Italian and French food. Although it can get busy on a Friday and Saturday night with stag and hen dos (like most parts of Edinburgh!), the grassmarket still retains a great friendly atmosphere if you are out with a group of friends. I wouldn’t recommend it for a quiet drink or a romantic night though!

I absolutely love the Grassmarket. As a regular visitor to Edinburgh, we always head to the Grassmarket to soak up the atmosphere. The bars, restaurants and shops overlooked by the magnificent castle. The place is relaxed but with plenty going on. The bars are always busy, especially on weekend nights. Full of hen and stag nightsgood innocent funlove it!

At the time of writing the Grassmarket is one huge road works. When finished it should be even more pleasant for tourist, shopper, drinker, eater and bummler.

The cobblestone roads and gentle buzz of the strollers, restaurants and pubs create an unmatched charm and harmony within the Grassmarket. The vast open space is lined with an assortment of restaurants offering Mexican, French, Scottish or Italian cuisine, as well as a number of good olé’ traditional pubs.
Sitting at the southern foot of the Castle, this historic area houses some of Edinburgh’s tallest and oldest buildings. It is an eclectic mix of activity that bubbles with atmosphere and character and is a wonderful place to sip a cappuccino, stretch your legs or have a pint of ale.

One way to gauge a good pub is by the behavior of the customers as they walk through the door. At the Grassmarket Bar, some salty folks walk straight up to the barkeep, are handed ‘the usual’ without saying a word, and immediately begin chatting to their friends (or, more accurately, the other regulars). What sets GB apart, however, is how first-​timers react upon entering: they almost always look around, smile, take a seat, and relax. And stay awhile. Somehow, this small pub manages to balance the feel of a neighborhood watering hole with a genuinely welcoming environment, hosting both locals and tourists alike (oh, and don’t forget the frequent pubcrawl groups, though they don’t hang around for long).
The menu at GB is pretty limited, offering the oh-​so-​typical fish and chips, burgers, and toasted sandwiches. Notwithstanding, the nachos are pretty darn good, piled high enough for a table of 4 to share, and (very important to this writer) the nachos are served with tons of guacamole and salsa instead of the usually skimpy half-​lettuce-​filled ramekins offered by many Edinburgh pubs. The very art of serving nachos is NOT about skimping, and GB is cannot be accused of committing such crimes.
The beer selection is also a bit limited, with a few basic offerings on tap and in bottles.
Spirits are on hand, as well as a worth-​mentioning shooters menu, boasting some top-​shelf yummy mixes I’ve not seen elsewhere in the UK. (Another personal peeve: shooters that are basically rotgut vodka and over-​sugary colored liquidshello, hangover!)
The Grassmarket Bar’s prices, for alcohol as well as for food, are reasonable and on-​par with other pubs in the area. Service is also friendly and unassuming, with barkeeps that are happy to let you alone or to spend time chewin’ the fat, whichever your pleasure.
In all, for a clean, welcoming spot to watch footy, eat nachos, and then warm up to other drinkers with some friendly shooters rounds, Grassmarket Bar is worth a stop, and pleasantly free from the crowd-​choked nature of other venues on this popular strip.

Ah, the lazy, beautiful Grassmarket; a cosmopolitan zone for chilled out eaters and strollers wanting the best of broad, Parisian streets, cosy cafes and restaurants, and green trees. There is a wonderful feeling community here, and the busy city behind the hill seems almost forgot. The Grassmarket is like a small slice of provincial life, watched over by the striking castle above. Some days you will find market stalls stretching its length, which are lovely to wander through, and something makes me want to believe the stall owners have come from far away places where buildings are made of wood and have meadows all around.
Ah, such is the effect of the Grassmarket.