Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers is a restaurant in Grassmarket, Edinburgh. Rated 4.7 stars from 1633 Google reviews. Known for craft beer selection and expertise and dry-aged burgers and twice-fried chips. Best for solo dining and groups. Price range: £10–20.
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers is rated 4.7★ on Google (1,633 reviews) and 4.5★ on TripAdvisor (156 reviews) — a consistent rating across both platforms.
Rankings updated
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers
Across 1,538 rated reviews, 95% gave four or five stars.
| Rating | 4.7★ |
| Reviews | 1,633 |
| 1-star share | 1.1% |
| Best for | Solo dining |
In Their Own Words
Review highlights surfaced by Google — shown in English, with the original beneath
“Cosy and relaxing, chilled music, friendly staff, and table service too.”
“Excellent selection of beer and food, great service and nice atmosphere”
“Very small portions for the price paid.”
Consistently rated across Google and TripAdvisor
1,789 reviews across two platforms
Better value than the Grassmarket average
Around £15 a head, below the £25 typical for Grassmarket and rated higher than the area at 4.7★ against 4.6★. Based on the 22 Grassmarket venues we hold Google pricing for.
Quick Verdict
Grassmarket's most reliable craft beer bar, with burgers that justify the care and a room built for conversation.
You want craft beer expertise, a properly made burger, and a room where you can actually talk.
About Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers
Craft beer is the whole point at Salt Horse in Grassmarket, and the range — draught lines, bottles, and a shop wall that pulls you in before you've even sat down — is genuinely hard to match in Edinburgh. Staff know what they're pouring and will steer you through IPAs, sours, and whatever's arrived from Manchester or further without making it a lecture. The burgers earn their place on the menu: the dry-aged beef patties and the Home on the Ranch are the ones people keep writing about, and the twice-fried chips are a rarity in this city. Seating is limited, so booking ahead is worth doing. The music leans indie and the room stays cosy without feeling crowded — a place where you can actually hold a conversation, which in the middle of Grassmarket counts for something.
In the last 90 days, Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers has drawn 29 substantial written reviews (50+ characters of genuine feedback) — recent momentum that is one of the signals behind its place on the hot list.
What Stands Out
Craft beer selection and expertise
Reviewers consistently praise the range across draught and bottle lists; staff guide customers through sours, hazy IPAs, and Scottish craft without pretension; 279 mentions of beer selection in Google review topics.
Dry-aged burgers and twice-fried chips
Multiple recent reviews name the Home on the Ranch burger as the standout dish; twice-fried chips are noted as unique in Edinburgh and reminiscent of Montreal fries; 143 mentions of burgers in Google review topics.
Attentive table service in a cosy, LGBTQ+-inclusive room
Recent reviews note staff were 'fun and good natured' and gave time even when busy; venue actively cultivates transgender-safe, LGBTQ+-inclusive crowd; casual, cosy, trendy atmosphere with free Wi-Fi and water refills.
Practical Information
Opening Hours
Contact
Frequently Asked Questions about Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers in Grassmarket is built for solo diners—the cosy vibe, chilled music, and bar seating make it a first-class occasion. Free Wi-Fi and water refills anchor it as a genuine third space, and staff are attentive without hovering.
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers serves dry-aged beef burgers and twice-fried chips that reviewers consistently praise. The Home on the Ranch burger appears in multiple recent reviews as the standout dish. The craft beer selection—spanning sours, hazy IPAs, and Scottish craft—is the headline draw.
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers in Grassmarket, Edinburgh has limited seating and accepts reservations. Recent reviewers recommend booking ahead, especially if visiting with a group, to secure a spot in the cosy room or the garden patio.
Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers in Grassmarket actively cultivates a transgender-safe, LGBTQ+-inclusive crowd. The venue has gender-neutral restrooms and a welcoming vibe that draws diverse groups and solo drinkers alike.
Dogs are welcome at Salt Horse Beer Shop, Bar & Burgers in Grassmarket, Edinburgh. The venue has a garden patio and cosy interior where dogs can accompany you while you enjoy craft beer and burgers.
Also in Grassmarket
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How We Rank Venues
Rankings are recalculated monthly from live Google Business Profile data. Our Hot Score weighs review velocity (new text reviews), baseline rating, and Google Business Profile completeness. No editorial picks, no paid placements — just what the data says this month.
Hot Score: 67/100 · ranked October 2026
The written profile on this page is generated from real Google reviews and reviewed monthly. Quotes are verbatim and belong to the people who wrote them — not to us.
How our monthly rankings workOwn or run this place?
booteek is the AI agent for independent restaurant and bar owners. It helps AI assistants like ChatGPT recommend your venue. It does not change this list: a place on the Hot List cannot be bought.
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