51 of Edinburgh's Best Places to Eat

This article is taken from the 2025 edition of The Skinny Guide to Edinburgh – a 116-page selection of some of our favourite things to do and places to go across the city. Pick up a copy at venues across Edinburgh this summer, or read it online via Issuu.

Breakfast and Brunch

71 Steps
22 Rodney St
Run by the folk behind the Bearded Baker, 71 Steps is a lovely, calming space. Food-wise, the excellent bagels feature heavily, alongside great coffee and top-drawer sweet baking.

Edinburgh Larder
15 Blackfriars St
Two great phrases to hear when you’re planning breakfast: ‘high quality’ and ‘all day’. The Larder has them both covered, with top-notch Scottish ingredients aplenty.

Hank’s
162 Fountainbridge
Mornings at Hank’s are a busy affair; inside you’ll find high-quality breakfast options, a great salad bar, and some very good baked potatoes.

Hula
103-105 West Bow & 94A Fountainbridge
Loads of foliage, in both print and in person, awaits at Hula’s two spots. The brunch options are great, the juices are delicious, and the decor is great.

Kvasa
101 Leith Walk
We like big buns, and we cannot lie. They don’t come much bigger or better than at Kvasa, the only place we can think of with a dedicated cinnamon bun loyalty card.

71 Steps. Image courtesy of 71 Steps.

The Pantry
1 North West Circus Pl
If you're making the IG pilgrimage to Stockbridge, or you're just in the market for an extremely well-made breakfast with a bunch of options to suit everyone, The Pantry's your pick. 

Preacher’s
24-26 Lady Lawson St
Across the street from The Skinny office, these folks have saved our bacon on multiple occasions. Freshly-baked rolls, homemade tattie scones, and great lunch options for later.

Roseleaf
23 Sandport Pl
Mismatched decor, a lovely water-adjacent location and cocktails served in teapots; if ‘vibes’ were an Olympic sport, the Roseleaf would definitely be among the medals.

Singapore Coffee House
5 Canonmills
Bringing kopitiam classics to Canonmills, Singapore Coffee House offers a real change of pace. Look out for their kaya (coconut jam) on toast.

Snax
118 Buccleuch St & 15-17 W Register St
A true Edinburgh icon, Snax is the place to go if you want a classic cafe breakfast. These guys have been kings of bacon and egg country for years – long may they reign.

Singapore Coffee House. Image courtesy of Singapore Coffee House.

Lunch, Treats and Food on the Go

Africano Wrap Place
4 Chapel St
These guys know how to manage a queue; no-one has ever waited for one of these delicious, spicy, flavour-packed wraps for more than a few minutes.

Alby’s
8 Portland Pl & 94 Buccleuch St
Big Hot Sandwiches – fair play to Alby’s, they live up to their slogan. Head here for massive wedges of focaccia loaded up with exciting fillings and updated takes on classics.

Bánh Mì Brothers
141 West Port
A tiny spot turning out great sandwiches inspired by the Vietnamese classics, with regular specials and a lunch deal that puts certain big supermarkets across the street to shame.

Company Bakery
6 Station Rd, Musselburgh
One of Edinburgh’s very best wholesale bakeries, you’ll find Company’s bread and pastries throughout town, but head to their cafe in Musselburgh for the full experience.

Edinburgh Street Food
Leith St
ESF has it all – loads of food options, hundreds of seats inside and out, quick service via an order-at-seat system that actually works, and an enormous pink sign you literally can’t miss.

The Fishmarket
23A Pier Pl
Fish and chips don’t get much better than at the Fishmarket. It’s always busy, but the rewards are worth it; ride the tram all the way to the end and hop into the queue.

Greek Artisan Pastries
23 Bread St & 32-34 Portobello High St
These pastries are serious units. You could pave a road with these slabs of bougatsa. Hyperbole? No, the pastries at Greek Artisan Pastries really are that hefty, and delicious with it.

Ground Floor
125 Great Junction St
The new home of community radio station EHFM, Ground Floor is a micro-cafe with focaccia from Alby’s, great coffee, and a front row seat to the antics of the radio studio.

Harkness Pies
30B Raeburn Pl
Pie-lovers, brace for impact. Harkness’ range of pastries is incredible. Whether it’s a Pentlands walk or a day at the Fringe, one of their Scotch Pies will see you through.

Lannan Bakery. Photo: ZAC and ZAC

Lannan
29-35 Hamilton Pl
The queues are legendary, but the rewards at Darcie Maher’s bakery are worth it. Brilliantly crisp pastry with mind-blowing lamination, and bags of imagination across the counter.

Lovecrumbs
155 West Port
The vibe – delightful. The coffee – delicious. The seating – surprisingly ample. Lovecrumbs is ideal for an Old Town pitstop, with a great selection of sweet treats and a few lunch options as well.

Mary’s Milk Bar
19 Grassmarket
Mary’s is so good that it’s crossed over from ‘foodie’s pick’ to ‘legit tourist attraction’. The ice cream is genuinely the best in the country, so check it out regardless of the weather.

Moo Pie
26 St Mary's St
Moo Pie’s soft serve ice cream is amazingly smooth, their flavours are brilliant, and if you’re here in the winter their hot chocolate is unmissable.

Mootz General Store
62 Raeburn Pl
More big sandwiches – Mootz serve up enormous Italian-inspired pieces piled high with great ingredients. 

The Original Mosque Kitchen & Cafe
50 Potterrow
A true icon of Edinburgh's food scene, the outdoor seats behind the Central Mosque have seen thousands of folk pass through for delicious and still-astonishingly-cheap curries.

The Pitt
20 West Shore Rd
The original Edinburgh street food market, The Pitt has moved to the Granton waterfront with events, gigs and regular market-markets to go with a rolling selection of local food vendors.

Polentoni
38 Easter Rd
A superb deli amid a clutch of great independent spots on Easter Road, Polentoni is the place to load up for your picnic. Lovely sandwiches, brilliant sweet treats, and more.

Project Canelé
150 Dundas St
Head here for one of their eponymous French cakes – beautifully craggly little lads with a soft custardy inner and caramalised outer.

Project Canelé. Image courtesy of Project Canelé.

Razzo Pizza Napolitana
59 Great Junction St and Edinburgh Street Food
In a crowded field of Edinburgh pizza, Razzo is right at the front. Their pizzas are classics of the Neopolitan style – puffy crusts, excellent sugo, a lovely soupy bit in the middle. 

Sicilian Pastry Shop
14-16 Albert St
Whether you want a delicious cannoli, an arancini filled to the brim with ragu, or a full-sized birthday cake with your name on it, the Sicilian Pastry Shop has you covered. Leith legends, and rightly so.

Twelve Triangles
Locations across Edinburgh
12T offer up reliably great pastries and bread from their various spots across town – if you want more of a sitdown option, head to their Kitchen Table cafe on Easter Road.

Dinner Time

Chennai’s Marina
59 Clerk St & 192 Dalry Rd
When Chennai’s Marina say ‘two chillies’, trust and believe them. The Sri Lankan restaurant bring the heat to their curries, along with mountains of flavour.

Chez Jules
109 Hanover St
This French institution in the New Town is the place to get a steak or moules frites and come away with a surprising amount left on the Monzo – their lunch deal is legendary.

Eleanore
30-31 Albert Pl
Turn things up a notch at Eleanore, where elegant, delicate presentation comes alongside flavours that will knock you off your feet if you aren’t ready for them.

Kampong Ah Lee
28 Clerk St
A brilliant no-frills Malaysian restaurant, ideal for dinner before a Fringe show or after a hike up Arthur's Seat. Big flavours, speedy service and some absolutely brilliant roti.

Kim’s Mini Meals
5 Buccleuch St
Home-style Korean classics delivered with love, with the not-insignificant chance of a seat in a weird corner underneath a staircase.

Konj
15-17 Grindlay St
The much-loved Iranian cafe moved into plush new digs attached to the Lyceum earlier this year – head here for mezze-like plates, stews, rice dishes and delicious grilled meats.

Little Capo
18 Howe St
Self-described as ‘Italian-ish’, this New Town spot is a brilliantly cool spot in the New Town with a bumper bar and some extremely nice terracotta paintwork.

Montrose
1-7 Montrose Ter
The cute, atmospheric Montrose (from the team behind the Michelin-starred Timberyard) is a delightful and surprisingly laidback option if you want to get fancy, but not too fancy.

Muna’s Ethiopian Cuisine
8 Gillespie Pl
The eponymous Muna is an absolute whirlwind – catch her flying in and out of the kitchen with trays of delicious Ethiopian stews and curries, all on funky homemade injera.

Noodles Home
14a Nicholson St
A brilliant and surprisingly big noodle restaurant right in the heart of Fringeland, Noodles Home is the place to go for enormous bowls of handmade noodles in incredible broths.

Noto and Tipo
47a Thistle St; 110 Hanover St
A double header from Edinburgh’s own Stuart Ralston. Tipo is inspired by Italy, so head here for great pasta; Noto has a more varied menu, headlined by some outrageously buttery crab.

The Palmerston
1 Palmerston Pl
Excellent pastries in the morning, inventive and considered cooking in the afternoons and evenings, and a grand but not-too-grand setting whenever you arrive.

Paz Taqueria
64 Thistle St
Paz is ideal date night territory – moody lighting, great cocktails, lovely staff, and inventive tacos that will give you plenty to talk about.

Pomelo
27 Sciennes Rd
Firmly established in their new place in Sciennes, Pomelo offers up excellent modern Asian cooking. Their hand-pulled noodles are the stuff of legend.

Sabzi
162 Ferry Rd
This award-winning family-run spot on Ferry Road serves up brilliant and highly shareable Indian classics from a menu which changes weekly.

San Ciro’s
148 Leith Walk
Top-notch Neapolitan pizza delivered at high speed and with some real touches of flair; exciting flavour combos, energetic staff with a passion for the craft, and it always smells incredible in here.

Skua
49 St Stephen St
We love it when fine dining chefs get a bit wild with it. Case in point: Skua, where top-drawer cooking leads to incredible fried chicken paired with excellent drinks.

Stockbridge Eating House
7 St Stephen St
Plenty of folk are playing the ‘classic bistro cooking’ card right now, but the Eating House does it particularly well. Head here for great flavours, lovely service and a homely vibe.

Taco Libre
3 Shandwick Pl & 85 Rose St
Chaos reigns at Taco Libre, with its bright lights and loud decor. The tacos are some of the very best around, with simple, authentic fillings and bags of flavour.

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For more on Scotland's food scene, pick up a free copy of GNAW, our dedicated food and drink magazine, at venues across the country this summer