Old Bell Inn

Excellent traditional pub located on Causwayside on southside of Edinburgh near Newington. The atmosphere is extremely cosy, with a low ceiling and wood pannelled walls. There are screens for the sport and excellent food available too. Very comfortable seating, and a very relaxed ambience. I would assume by the quality décor and general ambience that the Old Bell is aiming to attract a discerning type of clientelle.
This is a quality pub and a must if you are in the Causwayside/​Newington area.

Great Edinburghh pub with friendly staff. A nice place to sit and drink on a cold Scottish night.

I was put on the task of finding a older pub with good food for our large group of 17 for our first nite together. I hit the jackpot when I found this establishment. The downstairs is where you want to be. Fun local pub with locals who enjoy their drinks and their rugby. We were setup upstairs due to large group which worked out well for conversation and accommodating us. The food was excellent. This is not only a pub but a true restaurant with wonderful food. I highly recommend making an effort to get over here while in Edinburgh.

Be warned: If there’s football on you can not move in the place!
This used to be a stop off for me on the way home (in another lifetime) but my visits have become quite infrequent. The Old Bell is nice pub with friendly staff, fun clientele and a decent selection. It’s a good spot to watch some sports Rugby was my poison back in the day (well, still is… but when I went here that’s what it was for!) and the place doesn’t fill up quite so much for that as for soccer!
I recently came here for a meal and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and the upstairs dining area. The dining area is lovely!
I had fish and chips and it was a massive piece of fish, I almost couldn’t finish it (lies, I always finish fish).
Overall worth a visit if you’re nearby or if you stay close, otherwise I wouldn’t seek it out.

Came here to watch the rugby with a friend and discovered a new pub I like :-)
The Old Bell is on Causewayside and perfect for Newington, Grange and Sciennes. It is very traditional with stained glass, lower ceilings and dark wood.
I had a couple of drinks here and some sweet potato fries. The fries were good — chunky and I would have liked them crispier but didn’t stop me from eating them all. The menu looks good — some pub stuff but also other things which can be made gluten free and is reasonably priced.
Staff are cheery, efficient and friendly, even though the pub was heaving due to the rugby being on. There’s lots of screens for watching games and even an upstairs I believe too but I liked the atmosphere in the bar.
It is a nice pub and even though I don’t live in this part of town, I’ll be back here I’m sure to meet friends and have some food and drinks :-)

The highlight of a weekend in Edinburgh — the atmosphere, food, ale selection, hospitality, and warm locals was simply intoxicating. By far our favorite drinking and dining experience in comparison to the less intimate, tourist laden spots that adorn the Royal Mile.
All the food we tried was divine — lamb shank, haggis tatties and neeps, beef cheeks. The food quality and presentation exceeded any expectation I had for a neighborhood pub — rich, decadent sauces — made with love! Generous selection of cask ales. I could go on…
If you’re yearning for an authentic Scottish experience away for the tourist circuit, Old Bell Inn is your pub.

We just arrived in Edinburgh and this was our first stop! It was walking distance from the B&B we’re staying in. Enjoyed a couple of pints and some featured scotch. Had lots of nice conversations with the locals and bar patrons. We gathered a lot of good information about what to see and do while we’re in town. Hope to get back here again before we leave!

One of the cosiest and welcoming pubs in Edinburgh? It would seem so.
Made a deliberate effort to call in for the first time on Easter Sunday and took to the place immediately. Low ceilinged, dark panelled and a pleasant level of customer chatter (the tv did get turned up when the Man U. game came on later though).
Good quality ales were well served by the friendly and seemingly knowledgeable bar staff and a happy couple of hours were spent. One to return to.

My new local! And a lovely, wood-​lined olde worlde place it is, with good beer, too.
It feels like a country pub because you get such a range of people in — young couples, old geezers in flat caps, clusters of golf fans in strange golfy clothes … everyone and anyone seems to fit in here.
It has wifi, too, though the connection can be a bit flaky. And it shows sports, though be warned if you’re a cricket fan: the staff really don’t ‘get’ cricket and keep trying to change the channel, thinking ‘nothing’s happening, it must be finished…’

During uni I lived right up the road from Old Bell and it was my local. The pub is the same: beautiful interior, great fellow drinkers, a classic ‘old mans’ pub that doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is.
The reason why this gets three stars is because we decided to head upstairs and eat the other week and that’s where things got disappointing, but I don’t want to hurt the pub itself because having a drink here is so classic. Old Bell used to serve pub food, and I remember it being really tasty. But they’ve changed to an Italian menu, which is fine. However it doesn’t seem to… fit, with the low-​key relaxed feel of the bar downstairs. The restaurant was completely empty when we arrived on a Friday night, which made me a little sad because I really do love the Old Bell and wish I went more often. The food was fine. We started with a small portion of the meat platter and it was HUGE! So glad we ordered the small portion. For the mains we went with a small portion of the lobster ravioli and the small portion of the mushroom risotto. The mains were tasty, looked beautiful, again glad we ordered the small. It was good but nothing really jumped out at me in terms of taste, which again is fine for pub food but this was, fancy pub food. It was kind of odd to be honest.
The service was terrible. The woman who served us was rude, defiant, bored, etc. She was not interested. It was when my partner and I couldn’t seem to go out to eat anywhere and get good service, which happens from time to time I guess.
Would I recommend it? The pub– oh yes. If you’ve never been go now, enjoy a good pint in good company in a classic pub. The food? Meh. Best to just go for the pint

I think if I conjured up an image of an old mans pub in my head it would be the Auld Bell. The bar has a nice selection of ales on tap and staff the know to keep their beer. I think every time I have been in we have had some friendly banter with the folks on the other side of the counter either to do with their latest ales or just good natured chat. This is always a good sign, staff that seem to genuinely like working in a place. The décor is great low ceilings with wooden beams. Thumbs up here.

Traditional pub, lively on a Saturday night, good range of ales and the food looked alright too. I used to live round that part of town and didn’t venture in as often as I should — now I’m further away I relished the chance to visit again.
(And an excellent restaurant upstairs.)

The Old Bell Inn is one of those pubs you walk by and think «man that place looks cool, I really need to check that out some day» and then you forget and never end up going.
Fortunately for me, Newington is now local-​ish for me and The Man and I decided to start exploring.
The Old Bell is just as cool on the inside as it looks from outside. The walls are wood panneled, the ceiling is interesting, and the seating is plentiful and comfortable. I think I even recall a fireplace in the back.
It has an average selection of beers (though another reviewer mentioned that it hosts a beer festival which will have to be a must-​visit for me next time it’s on) and some wobbly tables, but it’s a great wee pub with a lot of character.
I was immensely hungry when we were there and the kitchen was producing some seriously impressive looking food, but we decided we wanted to visit a proper restaurant for the evening so all I was able to do was look, and decide that next time we’re here I’m definitely going to try the grub.

Some nice pub.
They’re currently in the middle of a beer festival, and they’ve a load of cask ales on tap as well as super reasonable prices. Friendly service, cheap set menus, and solid pub favourites.
This place could be anywhere and it would scream «Scottish Pub». It’s just a nice old place to eat, drink, and while away an afternoon, watching the SNP rack up seat after seat after seat, taking on a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament.
And a nice place to do it, too.
They do have The Great Evil of pubs– Fruit machines– but it’s hidden round a corner next to the loos. So that’s all right. Sorta.

in agreement with the prior reviews this is a great local pub with good food, good ales and a couple of decent wines by the glass. Although I have been here quite often, I had never done their quiz before until tonight (sunday) and I must say that it was pretty good. well paced and the right level of challenge.
Just a note-​they stop serving bar food at 7or so, but if you want a fancier, later dinner, the new bell upstairs was well with it last time I went. Ineed to go again and review it!

The Old Bell is a traditional Scottish pub, it feels like a country pub has misplaced itself and got stuck in the city. It’s got a homely atmosphere, the kind you’d expect from an old school pub, but it is lively as well. The people inside range from students to the older generation and it has a good communal feel, everyone is happy to chat to you which makes a nice change from most pubs.
The pints are good, they do a fine Guinness here and there is a wide selection of booze — the ales are especially good, as they should be in any self respecting traditional pub. The prices are not cheap, but this is not the place where people go in to get wasted, just to have a quiet few and a but of a chat. This lends itself to the atmosphere; it is always friendly and you never have to worry about drunken louts runing your evening.
Upstairs is the New Bell, the restaurant part of the pub. Again, very traditionally decked out it serves excellent Scottish cuisine. The menu is based on pub food but they have clearly made an effort to raise the bar. For starters the salmon and haddock fish cakes are great, and the steak pie was a well cooked main meal. Again not particularly cheap but you get what you pay for

This is a great, traditional pub in Causewayside and, although it doesn’t offer the most exciting night of your life, it’s a great place to relax. The décor both inside and outside feels classy, polished and almost antique, giving it an amazing, cosy atmosphere. The staff are friendly and seem to get on well with the loacals. The drinks aren’t the cheapest you’ll find in Edinburgh and they certainly aren’t trying to reign in the students.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this and the setting and clientele are both sufficient to provide a fun, relaxed evening down the pub.

For any visitor to Edinburgh wanting to take in a bit of traditional Scotland, I cannot make any greater recommendation than to visit The Old Bell Inn. This pub is the quintessential traditional pub. When you walk in, the sheer atmosphere of this pub will envelope you; at the bar you’ll hear local banter between long time residents and the décor cannot be faulted.
It may not be the cheapest pub in town and I wouldn’t start adding it to any pub crawls or start you’re night out here, but if you want a chat over a quiet drink this might be the ideal place to go. Worth the extra prices for the atmosphere advantage over the cheaper pubs which can have negative atmospheres at times — if you go out for drink you want to enjoy yourself and enjoy your surroundings. This pub will let you do both.

I don’t know why I am always surprised when I see this place: I sort of forget that it’s here because it’s out of the «beaten path» but this pub is tres cool and is certainly under the category of «traditional pub».
It has an random mix of clientele– of the regulars and then the students or postgraduates/​staff of the relatively close by Kings Buildings (aka as the Science campus). I would suggest this pub to anyone after a quiet pub and good chat. I have only ever been here for a drink and I found the whole establishment quite pleasing with a warm atmosphere to it. There is a restaurant upstairs but I have yet to try it as it closes far too early for me (7pm).

While not the pub that is closest to where I live, the Old Bell Inn is certainly my ‘local’ — and I’m very pleased that it is.
Most certainly a classic pub, with lots of leather, wood and comfy darkness the Old Bell is a fine drinking establishment for a night where the thought of loud music and dancing is a bad one.
Drinks are well priced, but dont expect to find a million different flavoured vodkas and fruity cocktails — thats just not the style of the Old Bell, sticking to draught lagers, ales and ciders — as well as the odd wine or spirit.
The Old Bell has a quiz night on Mondays, and at other times shows sports drawing in a crowd of loyal regulars with an age range from 20 — 80 years old. Dont let this put you off however, as the Old Bell Inn is a welcoming and excellent place for a quiet drink.