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Whirlybird's dining room on Victoria Street, with wooden tables and chairs, a stone wall, fringed lamps and a tall window onto the street.
Edinburgh

Whirlybird

An all-day café, bar and restaurant over two floors on Victoria Street, in a building more than 250 years old and in the Michelin Guide.

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Welcome

There's something lovely about a long lunch on Victoria Street, the curving, colourful street that winds down from George IV Bridge to the Grassmarket, and Whirlybird gives you every reason to linger.

It's a café, bar and restaurant over two floors of a building more than 250 years old, and it's already in the Michelin Guide. Come in the morning for coffee and pastries, or settle in later for East Coast seafood chowder with Freedom Bakery sourdough, pan-fried hake in a Champagne velouté or braised lamb belly with green apple harissa. There's a Highland Wagyu burger for the hungry, date and brown butter madeleines to finish, and a board of Scottish cheese from Mellis, the cheesemonger just along the street. The bar mixes cocktails too, from a Freezer Martini made with Isle of Raasay gin to the house highball. It opens at 9am every day and the bar stays open late, so book a table online for dinner.

Close byHalf-Cut CoffeeA bright green coffee shop on Candlemaker Row, opened in 2026 in the old Half-Cut barbershop, a few steps from Greyfriars Bobby.2 min by roadSee itThe painted 'No Half Measures' sign on the pale green wall inside Half-Cut Coffee, above a rack of prints and cards.
Before you go

Open every day from 9am, with coffee and pastries in the morning, lunch and dinner, and the bar open late.

Book a table online.

Where
36-38 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2JW.
Open
Every day from 9am, until 11pm Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Food
Coffee and pastries 9am to 12pm; lunch 12pm to 5pm and dinner 5pm to 9.30pm on weekdays; 12pm to 9.30pm at the weekend.
Booking
Online through its own site.
Dogs
Not allowed.
Access
No wheelchair-accessible entrance.
Phone
0131 226 1900

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
9am–11pm
Tuesday
9am–11pm
Wednesday
9am–11pm
Thursday
9am–11pm
Friday
9am–midnight
Saturday
9am–midnight
Sunday
9am–11pm

Eaten here? Tell others what to order and when to go, and the best go on this page with your name.

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Where it is

At 36-38 Victoria Street, in the Old Town, between George IV Bridge and the Grassmarket.

Close byVictoria Street and the Old Town.
  1. Gladstone’s LandGladstone’s LandA merchant's tall tenement of 1617 on the Lawnmarket, its rooms furnished as three households lived in them, under painted ceilings of 1620.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. The WitcheryThe WitcheryA candlelit restaurant at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, opened by James Thomson in 1979 in Boswell's Court, a merchant's house of around 1600.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Camera ObscuraCamera ObscuraOver 100 hands-on illusions and a camera obscura show at the top of the Royal Mile, with a rooftop terrace over the city.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Green corner shopfront reading "I.J. Mellis Cheesemonger" with cream awning and wooden bench outsideI.J. MellisThe first Mellis cheese shop, opened on Victoria Street in 1993, selling farmhouse and artisan cheese matured in the company's own rooms.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. The Red Door GalleryThe Red Door GalleryA family-run gallery shop on Victoria Street behind a red door, of affordable prints by Scottish and UK artists, with jewellery, cards and gifts.Under a mile 2 min by road
  6. The green front of Maggie Dickson's on the Grassmarket, gold lettering over the door.Maggie Dickson’sA pub at the east end of the Grassmarket, named for Half-Hangit Maggie, with 92 whiskies, local craft beers and live music.Under a mile 3 min by road
  7. Magdalen ChapelMagdalen ChapelA small chapel of the 1540s on the Cowgate, guildhall of the hammermen, holding the only stained glass in Scotland that survives whole from before the Reformation.Under a mile 2 min by road
Directions
Stone archway close, with a "Rare Whiskies" sign listing Ardbeg, Laphroaig and MacallanAttractionsRiddle’s CourtA step away
Golden bird sculpture above a hanging sign for Gladstone's Land, offering tours, ice creams, coffees and cakesAttractionsGolden Hawk Sculpture at Gladstone's LandA step away
Empty tables and murals fill The Deacon's House tearoom, shelves lined with china aboveCafeDeacon's House CafeA step away
Deacon Brodie's Tavern sign on the Royal Mile, hanging baskets in bloom belowRestaurantsDeacon Brodie's TavernA step away
The red front of W. Armstrong & Son at 83 Grassmarket, established 1840, with a vintage bicycle and dressed mannequins outside.ShoppingW. Armstrong & SonA step away
Bronze sculpture of a basket with a carved oar motif on its stone plinthAttractionsSusannah Alice Stephen MemorialA step away
Hanging pub sign for the Jolly Judge on a stone wallRestaurantsJolly JudgeA step away
Turreted stone building with a Makars' Court sign in Edinburgh's Old TownAttractionsWriters’ Museum in Lady Stair’s CloseA step away
Turreted stone tenement with crow-stepped gables and a lamppost in Edinburgh's Old TownAttractionsWriters' MuseumA step away

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Stay nearby

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