Burgers & Beer Grillhouse

Exterior

Burgers & Beers Grillhouse, which originally opened as Just Burgers and Beers, is located at the heart of Edinburgh’s tourist land on the Royal Mile and is priced accordingly. And however good, bad or indifferent it is, the fact that it’s so totally overpriced is always likely to be in the first sentence of description of the place.

I’d heard various positive reports, though, so thought it best to include it on my burgerquesting journey. I popped in on a moderately busy Saturday afternoon.

In a signature Old Town property, they’ve implemented the usual burgerhouse stylings with rough wood panelling and exposed pipes. This has been done with reasonable restraint and uses the bare stone walls to good advantage, so feels smart enough.

The waitress who looked after me on most of my visit was effusively cheery and talkative. She kept things ticking along very nicely throughout.

Burger, fries, beer

I ordered…well, a burger and a beer. From the horrifically overpriced beer selection I opted for a bottle of Caesar Augustus (£5.95) then added their basic burger, the Uncle Sam (£10.95), and large fries (£3.95).

The burger soon arrived looking much as expected. It was in the Cambridge Bar style, so far too lean and light on flavour for me, which was rather disappointing.

I know people like these type of burgers, and if you do I’d urge you to visit the Black Fox where, aside from anything else, at lunchtimes during the week you can get two cheeseburgers for £10, and the overall quality is considerably better than what was on offer, here.

The fries were fine, and the beer is one I drink from time to time, but usually when the rest of choices are not too interesting, as was the case here.

So overall, Burgers & Beers is one for the tourists and should be left well alone by locals. Even if you like burgers in this style, which I don’t, there is much better value available in Edinburgh, so seek it out instead. It will be interesting to see the impact that the arrival of Byron Burgers nearby has on this place. Whatever the case, it’s not a place I would recommend or return to.

Scores
Blythe scores Burgers & Beers
2.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 13/20

I ate: Uncle Sam burger; fries

I drank: Caesar Augustus

I wore: pinstripes

Address: 192a High Street, Royal Mile, Old Town, Edinburgh EH1 1RF

Total bill: £20.85