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Green banquette seating and wooden tables inside a bar with large sash windows
Edinburgh

Checkpoint

A restaurant and bar in a former church of 1899 on Bristo Place, with big windows, comfort food and cocktails, and a festival stage upstairs.

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Welcome

On Bristo Place, a few steps from Greyfriars Kirk, a stone church of 1899 by the architects Sydney Mitchell and Wilson was built for the Seventh Day Adventists, on the site of an older Baptist chapel.

Today its ground floor is Checkpoint, a restaurant and bar that The Times once counted among the coolest restaurants in Britain.

The room is pared back: white walls, wooden floors and simple tables and chairs with the air of an old schoolroom, and big windows looking onto the street. The cooking is comfort food made with care, from stews and fish soup to a house burger and steak, and there are cocktails and a long list of beers to go with it.

In August the church upstairs becomes Assembly Checkpoint, one of the Fringe's venues, with cabaret and music on its stage. The rest of the year, Checkpoint opens every day from mid-morning until late.

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The Daily for 1 November, from Scotland with love. A misty lane runs past slate-roofed cottages toward a wooded hillside.
Close byDeacon Brodie's TavernA Royal Mile pub named after Deacon William Brodie, cabinetmaker and councillor by day and burglar by night, hanged in 1788.2 min by roadSee itDeacon Brodie's Tavern
Before you go

Open every day from mid-morning until late.

In August the church upstairs becomes Assembly Checkpoint, a Fringe stage for cabaret and music.

Where
3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh EH1 1EY.
Telephone
0131 623 3000.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
10am–midnight
Tuesday
10am–midnight
Wednesday
10am–midnight
Thursday
10am–midnight
Friday
10am–midnight
Saturday
10am–midnight
Sunday
10am–midnight

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Where it is

On Bristo Place, between Greyfriars and Bristo Square.

Close byGreyfriars and the University.
  1. Illustration of Paradise Palms pub on Lothian Street, corner of Bristo SquareParadise PalmsA bar on Lothian Street since 2014, hung with bunting, serving cocktails and vegan food, with DJs, drag bingo and a record shop at the back.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Round hanging sign reading "soup cafe" outside a shopfront in black and whiteUnion of GeniusA small soup cafe on Forrest Road since 2012, under new owners since 2024, with the day's soups, bread and sandwiches.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Greyfriars BobbyGreyfriars BobbyA bronze of the Skye terrier said to have kept watch over his master's grave.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Dolly the SheepDolly the SheepThe first mammal cloned from an adult cell, in the National Museum of Scotland.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Greyfriars KirkGreyfriars KirkThe first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation, opened in 1620.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. Timber slabs laid along the wooden floor of a grand columned galleryTalbot Rice GalleryThe University's free gallery of contemporary art in Old College.Under a mile 2 min by road
Directions
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Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

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