Robertsons Bar

I’ve never spent much time in here, but I used to live in the area and walk past it quite alot. It’s definitely a football pub, being next to tynecastle stadium. I often saw police cars out front and fights breaking out, as it seems to attract a rowdy crowd. Not the place to go for a nice quiet drink.

If you’re a certain type of Hearts fan, you would probably love this pub and call it a home away from home.
If you’re anything else, just keep walking.

Although Robertsons Bar is one of many many pubs in Edinburgh, it is unique in that it maintains a pretty old-​fashioned premise about it. It looks like something from the 1960s, but not in an old and tatty way, in a cute wee cosy way.
Robertsons sells a good selection of different beers, ales, wines and the usual standard spirits. The prices are really reasonable here with a spirit and mixer costing about £2.50 and a large glass of house wine costs about five pounds. There is limited food available, which I was pretty disappointed with as I was here drinking for several hours and was hungry and had to go to another pub to get a meal there. Robertsons pretty much just sells crisps, peanuts and pies.
There is a really lovely and fun atmosphere in here and the staff are always friendly, but when it gets busy it can be really difficult to get the attention of the bar staff to get a drink. A cosy little pub which is great for a drink, but not so great for food.

I was instantly put off by this bar since they are apparently quite fascist in how they filter out their clientele.
«Home Support Only» is hardly a welcoming sign to be given when you’re visiting a pub for the first time. The plan may be to eliminate violence by keeping it for Hearts fans, but it’s hardly a great message for anyone else, including visiting away fans.
If anyone has read Irvine Welsh or have at least seen Trainspotting, they may romanticise his visualisation of Edinburgh. They may want to go on a tour to capture the essence of the city, the place where the real people go. If that is the case, I regretably advise against visiting here. In case you’re not familiar, Scottish cities are fanatical about their football, and although thousands of people can have an adult debate about it, you get those who like to frequent the football bars and would pan you in if you declare yourself a Hibs fan.
There used to be a history of football casuals in Edinburgh. Some of the ideology has been carried forward from the 80s into this century, so pubs dedicated to one team should not be frequented unless you are local, love Hearts or can play clueless enough for the punters to think you’re endearing.
I had my eyes down in here during a week day just to see what it was like, and while I experienced no trouble it’s easier for girls. I sound sexist, maybe, but it’s sadly true. The clients were really nice to me but they might not be as nice to guys. As Stuart experienced it was not the same for him, and as Amy said it’s best avoided unless you live around here.
That’s my bit of street smart education done for the day. By all means try it out — you might meet a nice local. But there are plenty other pubs up town which are more accomodating. It’s right by Tynecastle so it’s not a ridiculous notion that it’s home support only, but even though it may be to prevent arguments from forming, it’s still a bit offputting.

I’m not a Hearts fan, I don’t even like football. You can kind of see where this review is going.
I’ve never felt so hated in my whole life as I proclaimed to the group of old bastards at the bar that «Football isn’t my thing». These guys LIVE for football, to the point that I feel sorry for them.
I might organize a wee day trip for them to the park, to show them there is life outside watching grown men in shorts chase a ball around all day.
Keep on walking.

The only reason you could possibly go to this bar is because you are a Hearts fan. The sign outside says «Home Support Only» and I can imagine they fully adhere to this rule. Unless you are in Gorgie to watch a Hearts game as a Hearts fan, you should probably avoid this bar at all costs. It is a real ‘local’ pub so if you want to experience that, er culture, then this would be ideal.
The sign outside also advertises that they sell «Wisky». I think that sums it up pretty well.