Scotsman’s Lounge to get first facelift in nearly four decades

The Scotsman’s Lounge on Cockburn Street has been a mainstay of the old town traditional pub scene.
The Scotsman's Lounge, Cockburn Street.The Scotsman's Lounge, Cockburn Street.
The Scotsman's Lounge, Cockburn Street.

It has been left untouched for 34 years, and Quiet Man Taverns, who bought the pub in September 2016, have now started gutting the interior for a much-needed new year refit.

But locals, and those with a reticence towards change, fear not. The refurbishment is aimed at freshening up tired fittings and not an attempt to alter the heart of the traditional pub.

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Director of Quiet Man Taverns Daniel McNally, said: “It was getting to the stage that the work needed to be done. I don’t think it could have lasted another year without falling apart! I remember being in the pub as a student and the toilets haven’t changed.

“Nothing structural is getting changed but we’re ripping everything out. It’s still going to look like an

old-fashioned pub but everything is going to be new.

“It was funny speaking to some of the regulars – some are devastated and some are really looking forward to it!

“I was chatting to one guy who was looking for a better stool at the bar and I told him he’d have a nicer one, with a back on it!

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“The staff will remain the same and we’ll have the same musicians playing. The intention is not to tweak it too much so there won’t be any surprises for the regulars. They’re not going to walk in and see the bar has moved to the left, for example. We’re keeping the same flooring as it’s a nice old-fashioned one but it will be completely sanded down and have some work done to it.

“For the first time the pub is going to have a proper nice big gantry with a wider selection of whisky and gin and we’ll be keeping the same draught beer.”

The renovation continues a busy period for the expanding Edinburgh pub group, who opened The Perch on the site of the former Dogs restaurant in Hanover Street in November.