The Peartree House

The Peartree is located just off Nicolson street on the way to Newington close to Edinburgh university. It is popular for one reason, the huge beer garden to the rear. It is not actually a garden — there is no grass — but more of a huge patio with an outside bar, lighting and heaters. Not surprisingly, given the location close to the university, The Peartree is a student haunt, and always seems to be too busy in the evenings. It is also very popular during the Fringe when the beer garden is packed. The interior is nothing special, the décor is of traditional style, but it does have some comfy sofas.

There are a couple things I really enjoy about Peartree:
First, they played the Seahawks/​Vikings game on their large screen. And the staff were totally chill with our group bringing in some Indian takeaway during half time.
Second, it’s a fun lively place! Somehow, every time I visit, a large group comes through in costumes. And even when the bar gets flooded with students in superhero and animal costumes, service is still relatively quick.
Third, student discount!
Lastly, on the rare warm (ish) day in Edinburgh, the beer garden area is lovely.

Not a bad pub in the university area. In the summer, the beer garden is definitely an excellent place to hang out, and there’s often barbecue food on offer to go with your beer. However, the Edinburgh summer is notoriously unpredictable, and at all other times of the year, you might as well face the fact that sitting outside will not be pleasant.
Inside is fine. For a pub in the student area, I think the Pear tree lacks atmosphere. It’s fine and generally pleasant, but I always hope for something more. Not sure how to describe what I mean, really.
Drinks selection good– the usual you’d expect from a pub, and there are televisions to watch sports games, with rugby in particular being in demand here.

An Edinburgh classic. I have been coming since I was old enough to drink :) They have an enormous patio, which in the summer is very pleasant. There are a large number of couches to sit on, and the beer selection is great. If you are in this part of town, well worth checking out, doubly so if it’s sunny:)

Saturday night calls for a drink usually and I was around the area so I decided to meet a friend here for a drink. I usually don’t like going near pubs in this area because it’s mostly students. This pub is a haven for the uni crowd since its next to campus. Good space outside and a warm and cozy setting inside.
There’s plenty of tables, seats, and couches with big screen TVs, but it does get crowded so if you come a bit early and chill you can get a good spot to chill and relax. Last night was a big loud cause of the music but overall it’s a good place to chill and catch up with your friend or boo while enjoying a nice pint.
This place has the typical beers, spirits, wine as in other pubs, but honestly I’m not a beer connoisseur. As for the wine selection, since I’m more a wine drinker, the selection is not much different from other pubs. You can order food here, but I haven’t tried it. It did smell good!
The staff are pretty quick with service. It’s clean and cozy so overall I would recommend this place if you’re in the area and want to either: relive your uni days, if you are in uni and u want to chill with mates, you want to watch sports on a big screen to, you want to pretend like you’re in uni and chill with other students.

Popped in the pub last night with a couple of friends. Thought it would be more a young person pub since it’s close to the university but there was no distinct age group in the pub. Got a Scottish light beer and it was good considering I’m not much of a beer person. Overall, it was a good experience and if I’m back in Edinburgh, I would visit again.

How have I not reviewed the Peartree yet? Sitting here, in a warm café on a cold, blustery November afternoon whilst reminiscing of summer days gone by… And when you think of a summer’s day in Edinburgh, you think of The Peartree.
The Peartree inside is a pub, with a big bar in the middle. It’s the outside of The Peartree that counts. One of the few «beer gardens» in the Old Town, or Edinbrugh at all (and keep in mind that «beer garden» is the normal expression for any outdoor drinking area belonging to a pub — it’s not a garden at all, but stone floor with park benches, so don’t expect grass, trees or picnic blankets). But it’s outside, it gets the sun, and it’s really pretty big as far as beer gardens go. Even with the space though, you’ll struggle to find a spot at peak hours, as most of Old Town flock here, especially students, after the working day is done (make that 3pm onwards) for an afternoon, sunshiney pint.
They show rugby and football on a screen outside, they have outdoor shacks serving hot dogs /​burgers in the summer. And attached upstairs /​next door is a cool pub doing all sorts of dance nights like swing.
So, The Peartree for me is the epitome of Edinburgh summer and Festival season. I can’t say I’ve been in winter, but now I’m reminiscing I may check it out…

On a warm day in Edinburgh, there may be no better spot to be.
The Parttree is two parts. The first, a giant outdoor beer garden (which is really more of a stone patio but still, massive). Picnic tables, people cooking meats, a stage for live music and sometimes a giant screen for things like giant games. Grab a cheap drink, sit out there with friends, have the best time ever.
Inside, it’s a different story. It’s clearly an old man’s pub and not with any of the fun or liveliness of outside. I’m not sure I’d stop in here if it was raining or cold as there are other bars in the area I think I’d prefer.
Still, for that outdoor space alone, what a win.

Students love it here. Inside it is an ‘old-​mans pub’ kinda feel and outside they have their strength — the massive beer garden.
The pub itself is a little tired, flaky and the bar area is in need of sprucing up. But then again. students love it here.
They have nice little alcoves to sit at and especially in the summer months (i.e. any day over 15C and sunny in Scotland) their beer garden is packed.
Do I recommend going here? Nah. not when you have a little more disposable income. If however you like being jagerbombed by students then this is the place for you.

Free wifi is a theme of all my reviews, and they have it here. There is also a fire going, a coal fire. The bartender let me have a piece of coal yesterday because it was the first time I had ever seen coal. He was amused. I was told it might be radioactive, and I left it in a café I was in. In hind sight, I think at was not very nice.
Anyway. You can also put on any music you want, and their music is pretty terrible. So I always hook up an iPod.
They are chill about my writing group meeting here even if people only get soda water, though I have taken on an afternoon scotch habit. They can’t do manhattans or old fashions, which is why I dock a star, because that’s lame. Is this a bar or an alcohol stand at a fair?

I got chased away by a very rude manager as they don’t allow dogs, or children anywhere in the beer garden or inside the place.
Unfortunately we were silly enough to miss the sign at the entrance and proceeded to buy drinks — as one does in a pub.
The manager rushed out and told us that we should leave immediately, we couldn’t finish our drinks. We were called stupid for missing the sign at the entrance and were told that like most pubs in Edinburgh they don’t allow dogs.
Asking for the reason, he said that dogs are unhygienic and a health risk should they cut their feet on the ground. He also refused to give me his name but did mention that he was the manager.
Whilst I have absolutely no issues with pubs that don’t allow dogs, what I do have an issue with is an over zealous manager enforcing those rules draconianly.
There are better pubs in Edinburgh which have a beer garden that would appreciate your custom, so I suggest you make your way around the corner to 56 North.

The rare Scottish sun comes out and the Peartree is suddenly flooded with willing customers, who really don’t mind the price gauge for the opportunity to sit outside…
To be fair I get it, the problem is when it isn’t sunny there are better and cheaper pubs in the area and when it is sunny the Peartree is so busy that the service tends to go down hill. Was it not for the lack of decent beer gardens in edinburgh (Three Sisters Blackbird and Beehive as some other examples decent or not) I doubt Peartree would get much repeat custom.
I haven’t every had a particularly bad night here, but on the other hand I have had many better nights elsewhere. In short accept it for what it is and it is ok but they make you pay for the use of that lovely courtyard…

There doesn’t seem to be many beer gardens around Edinburgh and The Peartree has to be one of the biggest of them. It’s good for this reason (and that’s why I give it an extra star) but it’s absolutely mobbed when it’s actually sunny. I also think it’s a bit expensive considering I think of it as a student bar. The inside is very dark and more resembles an old man pub which I normally like but not so much in this bar. I only go to this bar really if I’m meeting others here. It wouldn’t be my first choice of bar as I don’t think it holds any kind of great atmosphere.

Great go to place for a beer garden in the summer but take my advice, the minute the sun goes get the hell out of there and go somewhere cleaner, nicer and where the bar staff actually welcome your custom!!!

times have been had here
Ok, so I held off on my review here because I have mixed feelings, on one hand I think this is a good pub, with plenty to offer, including a warm welcome on a cold winter night, a good beer and whisky rang, and most importantly the best beer garden for miles. On the other hand, I feel like it’s really just an average stinky carpet pub with disinterested staff and some dodgy clientele.
To make my mind up I basically trawled through the numerous memories I have of visiting here, season to season, and realised I quite like it. It’s not a 4 or 3 star, but a solid 3 star gaff. Let me share some of my best memories with you…
Last January I gave up booze for a month, it was fine and I lost some weight and gained a wee six pack (didn’t last long) and the first pint I had was a pint of Edinburgh Gold by our local beer masters Stewart Brewing. It was arguably the best pint of beer I have ever tasted, and it made me the happiest man on earth. That pint wasn’t consumed here, but the following pints were and it was cold and wet outside, and I was happy to be drinking beer in the warmth of this cosy howf.
About two years ago we had some really bad snow, I hadn’t been in Edinburgh for long and had limited drinking partners, one of which never said ‘no’ to an after work beer. On this particular occasion we ended up at the ear tree, as I was trying to go home and he was like a lost dog following me so we stopped here for one last beer (it wasn’t the last one). We went outside for a cigarette, and he was so drunk he started making snow angels on all of the garden benches, it was ridiculous.
Summer before last we had sun, we didn’t have much last summer, but the one before was good. I always find the meadows a bit boring after a few hours, so the choice was home or Pear Tree, we went to the pear tree, and got a bench, we shared with some random Oz-​balls who were drunk and funny, then I realised another friend was at the table next to me, so we ended up getting sunburnt in the sun listening to live music…
Those are my stories

Student focused pub…
Beer garden for the summer…
Lots of drink specials.

The Peartree, fairly central standard old-​style pub but with a difference; it has a huge beer garden! Well, not so much garden, just rows and rows of picnic benches with a (Ivy?) bush growing up the building wall. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t visit this pub unless it had said garden. It’s good for the summer time weekend lazing, sipping on a cider and watching some festival gigs on their mini stage in the corner.
Inside there is a big bar in the middle which means there is a nowhere for the bar tender to hide! I had a red wine last time I was here, it was very warm (which is how I like my red wine, although maybe not everyones preferred temperature?) They keep their wine stock near the bar lights and it absorbs the heat, which is a nice touch, whether it was intentional or not!
They have a big screen for games and a few comfy leather couches dotted around. Toilets are basic and dated, but they serve their function. Pretty small bar inside really but it’s friendly and welcoming enough.

People go to the Peartree because it has a giant beer garden. Despite temperatures being easily 10 – 15 degrees cooler than summer should be, it’s still *technically* summer and dammit WE WILL DRINK OUTSIDE. And not only that WE WILL EAT OUTSIDE too. So, to accompany this, The Peartree has a bbq hut. Outdoor drinking + bugers = amazing, right?
Mmmmmmmm maybe not.
The selection of beers caters more towards the student crowd in variety — and by that I mean it has your standard lagers and ciders — and at £3.50ish a pint, the pricing which 6 years ago when I was a student seemed astronomical, now just seems standard.
The burger hut is much better in theory than in practice, considering the burgers are from Farmfoods, the guy cooking them spends most of his time smoking, and mine was so burnt on the bottom is was crispy.
The Peartree is blessed with an excellent location and, as I said, a beergarden which sets it apart from the rest. Without these, it would just be another bog standard pub and for that, it gets 3 stars.

Short review this one because the bar itself is quite small.
1) AWESOME beer garden if its sunny — not too windy and you’re able to get there before about 5 – 6 pm when the sun goes behind appleton tower. Then it can get VERY cold
2) Outdoor heaters mean that some of the outdoor tables are nice all the time!
3) Bar is small — square — old style. It’s been around for a few hundred years and I imagine used to have a couple rooms but now there is just one — it usually has sport on. This is unacceptable in my book so loses marks here.
4) Worst pub quiz ever — the guy was using like a kiddy toy microphone and was completely unintelligible even when he was stood next to you. This was a while ago and it might be different now!
5) Beer — overpriced — not much choice
Overall — GREAT place to go hang on a sunny day — unfortunately the rest of the time I’d give it a miss.

This is the go-​to-​place for pubbiness for loads of meetup-​y sorts of things in & around Edinburgh University.
It’s fine– quite a nice place to drink, actually.
It lost a star, though, as it’s got gassy only OK ales. Deuchar’s and Caledonian 80/​-​
It can’t really be that hard to have cellared ales. Loads of people do it. It’s just… disappointing.
A bit on the spendy side, too.
On the up side, it’s got a nice big bar and you won’t wait long to get served.