Sneaky Pete’s

The bar itself is ok, it’s pretty small and grungy. Was able to see a live band play called Return to the Sun. Had a great night to remember. But my real reason for this review is the service. The bartenders were very sweet and kind and the bouncer that night, John, was a cutie who was helping us out at the end of the night. John, you were a God-​send for two drunk American girls who couldn’t figure out where to go after the bar closed. Thank you thank you thank you! If you’re ever in Los Angeles, look me up ;)

Sneaky Pete’s — it’s kind of grungy, the toilets are a bit gross, and damn if it’s not absolutely miniscule.
I came here for a really awesome gig (Matthew and the Atlas) last weekend and was surprised with how small the space was. This made the experience awesome, though, because you could be no more than something like 25 feet from the band (unless you’re us and you’re right in front, rocking the «we’re over 30 and don’t care if you judge us» vibe).
The sound was completely decent, and sound engineer was good and responsive to requests from the band.
All taps were off (ha!), but the bottled beer selection was entirely respectable.

Fair play to any Edinburgh music venue that can keep itself afloat without public funding. Sneaky Pete’s is an institution, though not one I’ve frequented too many times in recent memory. (I was remembered last night that this used to be Subway: more kudos to SP’s that they’ve managed to overcome the bad vibes which may have hung around the place.)
It’s small, it’s hot, it’s packed for musical treats most nights of the week. See your future favourite bands here before they hit the radio playlists.

Never had a bad night there — one of my favourites

Sneaky’s, oh Sneaky’s. What a place — a tiny place that is. Sneaky Pete’s probably fits about 100 people and it’s not a place to go sober and it’s definitely not a place for everyone. The best time to arrive is around 1:00/1:30 am. Don’t wear nice clothes or nice shoes. In fact, you should probably invest in a pair of shoes specifically for nights you know you’ll be going to Sneaky’s. You’re going to spill a few drinks and you’ll also have some drinks spilled on you but that’s all the fun (or is it?) Jagerbombs are £2.00 and the staff are pretty attentive. Nick, the Bar Manager/​Booker, is pretty awesome and has been booking some great gigs/​djs recently. If you become a regular then you get a membership card which allows you to get in for free (instead of I think it’s a £3.00 entry). Once a month the kids from LuckyMe come and that night is always crazy — I believe it’s the last Friday of the month. Sneaky’s is great and you’re guaranteed to have a good night if you’re not into fake tans, fake hair, and fake nails. Go on and cut some shapes.

When someone says to me, ‘hey, lets go to Sneaky Pete’s’ I get really excited as I know the night will be full of Jäger Bombs, good music and drunken dancing. This place is always a good option when the bars ring last orders as you can drink on for another few hours until 3am.
Not the sort of place you go to to sit and have a quiet drink, in fact I can’t remember seeing a chair in the whole place!
They often have local bands playing which is great but this does mean that there is often a charge on the door to get in, normally around a fiver.
If you want to finish your night on a high shimmying on the dance floor or lining shots up at the bar then boogy on down to Sneaky’s.

Absolute dive but good anywayz…

I generally go to Sneaky Pete’s when I’m drunk. There, I admitted it. It’s not a particularly classy place, but since when is that a problem?
Sneaky Pete’s sits on the Cowgate, underneath George IV Bridge. Although it’s really small, it still manages to cram in a dance floor and a DJ and also has live bands at the weekends.
There are drinks deals on; drinks cost from about £2 upwards, with Jagerbombs a particularly cheap option. The music is pretty eclectic, which means although there may be some you do not like, you always have the chance to discover something new and exciting. There are also adverts for up-​coming gigs which means you can stay in the loop.
In general Sneaky Pete’s is one of the better venues on the Cowgate, the drinks are cheap, you’ll get in and you might hear something new, or have a dance. It’s a good place to launch a proper night out, or just finish a pub crawl.

To be honest, I don’t really understand the appeal of Sneaky Pete’s. A lot of my uni friends rave about (and rave in…) this place, but it’s not an environment in which I would voluntarily choose to spend a night out. I get the whole ‘underground’ club thing and I can’t really fault the DJs (except when they play scary break/​speedcore), but it is pretty grubby and the bouncers seem to let anyone in, no matter how inebriated they appear to be. Given its teeny tiny size, the place does get packed out pretty quickly and it has more than its fair share of cliquey regulars. Cabaret Voltaire puts on similar sorts of nights to those on offer here, but somehow does it in a cooler and cleaner way.

With a name like this my friend’s and I were intrigued to try it. Add the 70s music night and we were all for it. And living up to its name it is a «sneaky» small pub down in Cowgate, slightly overshadowed by it’s loud and boisterous neighbouring bars/​clubs.
This place is great, has the dance floor (which is not big) separate from the bar and lounge room (which is good cause you can dance and not bump into people aiming for a drink or vice versa) and the DJ was great and was happy to play requests. It was a Tuesday night and we were almost the only ones there, but we danced our socks off and had a grand time!

I really didnt know what to expect from this place — granted from the outside it looks like a complete dive, but I implore you to go in.
Once you get over how hot this place is (its a total sweat box), you will come to appreciate your surroundings — the whole bar is based upon one small room with a stage and a projector at the end and a bar against the side wall. The drinks are cheap, and although you can taste that they are, they do what they are meant to so why worry? The rest is the dance floor area — and only about two seats.
The music here is great, every band I have been here to see have been excellent — with some even getting big after they first appear here as nobodies.
A lot of people wont like this place — but I do, its quirky, has good bands play and the screen at the back shows some of the tripiest home movies I have ever seen. Plus, sometimes they give you 3D glasses for the hell of it. Yay.

My only reason for ever going to Sneaky Pete’s is to see a gig, apparently they do club nights too but I have never been tempted. It’s a bit dingy for that.
As a venue, it is tiny! Surprisingly small and surprisingly able to fit a lot of people in. It gets very hot, sweaty and loud in here depending on the band. If you have a more metal/​rock band playing then you will probably get bashed around a lot and pretty wet with some blokes sweat dripping all over you. Some pretty good up and coming bands play here, as well as the usual drivel which fill up the slots. It’s hit or miss whether it will be good or not. It’s cheap enough for drinks too, but I think there is better live music venues in and around Edinburgh.

open and heaving with university students (and maybe some a bit younger or not so intellectually inclined) on a monday night. throbbing breaky beats and cheap drinks. a bit on the druggy side. but hey, it’s monday and they’re open and poppin’, so why not pop on in & see if you like it?

My friend and I stumbled upon this place whilst on route to somewhere else. The music (house) enticed us inside and as it was probably the only place which wasnt crammed wall to wall we decided to stay for a bit and have a few tipples (long vodkas). The drinks were made well and served in decent sized glasses. The overall interior is no frills and rather shabby, the toilets were rather smelly and with only 2 cubicles would become a nightmare when the place got busier.
The atmosphere was a bit tense, there were a few silly girls there who quite clearly could not handle their booze and were becoming rather leery towards people.
I noticed during the course of the evening people would turn up, stay for a drink then leave hastily. (they must have sensed the vibe too).
This place might have the potential to be a good pub/​club but the groups of immature drunken idiotic young girls let the place down severely, as does the shabby interior and smelly toilets shame as the dj’s were actually quite good and the bar staff served up decent drinks.
Dont think we will be going back.