Pilgrim Bar

I knew this place as another name but it just won’t come to mind and that’s probably for the best.
The joint was dead and that’s a tad bit strange on a Friday night at 17:30, isn’t it?
Anyway that’s a good thing for us as the floor was sticky, you didn’t have to fight to get to the bar, you got a seat with a table, there was no queue to the toilets and you could hear the conversation!
The décor is quite cool with old suitcases under the bar and old doors (some that open to the toilets).
I think this bar would be crawling with students normally and the Cowgate bar crawls would fill this joint in no time.
Think I would need to have a few to enter this place if it was busy as I wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation lol

We popped in for a quick ‘between shows’ pint over the festival. There was a show on in the back (which is actually the front…) when we arrived so we kept our voices down.
I liked the denim chairs and the suitcase bar. There’s a retro arcade game which is quite cool, the flashing lights distracted me quite a bit!
Not much to say about it, I think this translates as to ‘lacks some character’ — maybe an evening visit will change my mind about that but I did get a feeling there wasn’t much soul to the place though they were clearly trying.
A nice alternative to OX184, if you’re in the area.

Popped into Pilgrim Bar for a Free Fringe show this past week.
We didn’t stay long and I only had one pint over the hour long show, so I can’t comment in detail about the selection or food menu but what I do know, is the space itself is pleasant. It’s has a minimalistic warehousey feel to it, which I love. The space isn’t trying to hard, which is really refreshing to see. The beer selection seems limited, but they have Blue Moon on tap and really, that’s all I need to keep me happy. I thought the prices might be because of the Fringe, but having read the previous reviews, it seems that the beer just always falls on the side of expensive. Not enough to deter me from returning, but I was pretty surprised.
I will also give them a hearty tip of the hat for supporting the Free Fringe. However, their set up was rather strange. The Fringe «stage» was set up in the back — which was intimate, but felt a little like watching a show in your parents’ basement when you pinned up a sheet and pretending it was a backdrop. It also meant that the rest of the pub was not involved in the show and therefore, pretty loud against the one woman spoken word going on behind the sheet. To their credit, I’m pretty sure the staff quietly shushed them a few times, but it did make for a confusing experience.
I don’t think this place will make it into my destination list any time soon, but they have intrigued me enough that i’ll keep an eye on anything up and coming post-​Fringe season.

Only found this place through a groupon deal for cocktails and nachos … What a find!!! As it was a Monday we had the place to ourselves to enjoy the ambiance and awesome décor. Staff were friendly and helpful and as the place filled up with multicultural locals and a touring group from Oz, the place became alive with an amazing atmosphere filled with chat and laughter. Great wee hidden gem and will defo be back.
Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars was due the fact they had ran out of Jack Daniels and also as I’d left my charger behind the bar and no one has answered the phone when I’ve called … Nothing to do with the place itself … Xx

Pilgrim Bar was ok and has nice enough décor, but the staff aren’t very friendly and I thought it was overpriced. They didn’t have a huge variety of beer on tap, and although they have some good beers on tap like Innis and Gunn and Blue Moon, over £6 a pint seems like a bit much.
The place isn’t bad for the Cowgate, and it seems quite popular with the students (there are student discounts). I’ve been twice and both times it was pretty deserted before 8pm but got busier later, and fairly loud. The nibbles are basic at best and not great, but they were nice to put them on at the travel blogger event I was at the last time I went.

Not bad at all! All other places nearby rammed to the gunnels on a Saturday night, this was quiet. I love the recycled stuff, the layout and the décor. We had Macaroni cheese for me and cottage pie for him. Microwaved but not to death. Finished off the night with a drambuie and a vodka at about 8pm but we have had a busy day :-)

Great for students offering a 25% discount all day every day. Cheap, quality drinks and beer. Food menu limited.

I’ve walked past this place a hundred times and kept meaning to stop in, yesterday I finally did…
The décor is funky, old theatre seats along one wall, bench seating along another, with tall bar stools along the window. The bar is a wall of stacked antique suitcases.
There is a small selection of craft beers with Innis & Gunn on tap along with their own Pilgrim Lager which was sold to me as ‘similar to Tennents’. (not exactly a great selling point IMO). I was promptly offered a taste and although it’s inoffensive, wouldn’t be my first choice.
The menu is small with chilli con carne, lasagna, cottage pie, nachos and a couple of other options on offer, prices are very reasonable at around £6 each. Portions are ok and the food is more akin to home cooking than what I’ve gotten used to for ‘pub food’. I polished off my cottage pie without trouble and definitely had room for dessert (which they don’t have).
Very much geared towards a student clientèle, it’s not somewhere I’ll be rushing back to although I can’t fault my visit at all.

Trying to make a name for themselves by being the bar with the smallest carbon footprint in Edinburgh. The seats refurbed from cinemas and restaurants; the bar made from recycled suitcases and the lighting from large cleaned-​out sweetie jars (two very cool touches); the walls insulated with salvaged wooden palates.
They have screens that play all the most popular sports. They have a big central bar to make the most of that cool, sit-​by-​the-​bar-​local feel without getting in other people’s way. They have an abundance of seating areas now that they cleaned out the pool tables, fussball and boxing punchbags that graced (read: cluttered) the gone — but not missed — previous incarnation, Rush Bar.
Most biasedly they have a card for those that frequented in the EARLY early days, that grants them 25% off all food and drink. Now I haven’t sampled their food as yet (a selection of flavoured baked breads which do sound enticing) but when it comes to finding a cheap JD in town.
Staff are chatty and laid back, surroundings are just the right amount of dim, and the crowd is studenty yet not in droves, meaning it’s quite chilled and subdued enough to enjoy a quiet — but not too quiet — Friday night.
Good venue for a chilled one or for prinkies.
Yup. I said that. Not sorry.