OK, we're all geeks here, right? Right. We've all seen Guardians of the Galaxy?…read more The scene in the prison where all hell breaks loose, and Rocket and Groot are fighting bad guys, and the bad guys are all like "PEW! PEW! PEW!" and Rocket doesn't have a gun, and then Drax arrives and is like "BAM! BAM! BAM!" and kicks people and throws Rocket a gun, and Rocket says "Oh.... yeah!" in an almost religious way? That "Oh... yeah!" was how I felt when I took my first bite out of a Jack's burrito for the first time in a long time this evening. I donated to the Jackstarter to help Illegal Jack's return from the dead, so I popped in today for the first time since the reopening to see how things had gone (and pick up my swag bag, priorities, people!) and I didn't plan to stay and eat due to lack of time... Then I saw a couple of burritos being built in front of me. And I smelled the pulled pork... and I caved, people. I folded quicker than a paper tent in a hurricane. I watched the staff look after the woman ordering two burritos to takeaway, wrapping the first one and leaving it where steam and heat would stop it going cold while the second was assembled. I love attention to detail like that. Also, using the lid of whatever filling you choose to catch any spillage so the fillings aren't cross contaminated. Little things make a difference, people. It came to be my turn. I opted for carnitas (that's what the pulled pork smell wafted out of) with a mild salsa, sour cream, pinto beans, seasoned rice and cheese. I watched in awe as the burrito was rolled. I really need to learn how to do this myself some day, I took my cup, filled it up with Coke and sat down. One bite later, I was back in Tex-Mex heaven. I'd missed Jack's, I really had. Other places may have more branches, but quantity isn't quality. Jack's is quality. The new premises are still a work in progress as Mr. Jack (nice bloke!) explained to me, but are still clean, bright, comfortable and welcoming, and even the music being played ticked all the boxes for me. Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd? Perfect Tex-Mex music. Honestly, I can't fault it. I will be back, I will eat too much every time I go, and I wil swear that I'll never do it again. But it's a lie. It's all a pretty little lie... Oh, and if you're in over the next week or so? Ask about the cranberry salsa - it's astonishing! Welcome back, Jack. You were missed..

BURRITOS! WHO DOESN'T LOVE EM??…read more Last night after a long and rainy day at work I coerced two coworkers of mine to join me for a bite out. My bus routes being what they are, I'd not only seen the remnants of the old Illegal Jack's on Lothian Road (though never got to try it), but now had spotted the new location along St. Patrick's Square nestled in the corner. Because we were looking for a budget meal that we could still sit down to, we decided to give Illegal Jack's a go. The first thing that became apparent to us is that Illegal Jack's has actually employed friendly staff. Wha... what? Where even am I? Walking in the door to being greeted with smiles and genuine friendliness is such a novelty when so many places give you the ambivalent "I'm being nice because I have to" luke-warm treatment at best, or downright snubbing at worst. And yet when we walked into Illegal Jack's the two gals at the counter of wonder were chatty and all smiles, and we had a short conversation about how good the music they were playing was. (Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack anyone?) Next comes prices. I got a small veggie haggis burrito (score!) that was somewhere around 6 pounds. Normally I'd be greedy and add chips or sides, but even this burrito being small, it's actually massive (I was impressed the gal at the till managed to perfectly roll it, and even smush it all around so the proportions were evenly mixed--MY HERO). So I topped it off with a nice wheat ale from Stewart's and left with my bill around 11 pounds. Not bad at all for a solid beer and a solid burrito. Next came seating. Illegal Jack's isn't quite up to restaurant standards of atmosphere for obvious reasons, but the seats feel a lot cozier and less standardized than your typical Pinto's or burger chain. We sat down next to a gentleman mysterious staff member who was doing some laptop work--he very nicely jumped to shift some of his things to the side for us so we could sit. Again, as I was remarking loudly that the music was lovely he thanked me for noticing as he must've been the man in charge of the playlist (come on, Grateful Dead was playing, my hippie heart rejoiced!). But enough about my music tastes. How was the burrito, you may ask? Delicious, of course! That was a really damn solid burrito. My coworker even did a happy dance (twice) whilst she ate it, which I think is a good sign for any burrito. Even more than that, when the gentleman staff sitting next to us noticed my bottle of Louisiana hot sauce on the table he disappeared into the back and plopped down a bottle of Scotch Bonnet + Mango hot sauce from his personal supply in the back for us to try. Damned if it wasn't delicious, but whoo it had some great heat! Overall I left this place feeling 1) chuffed as all get out 2) with super duper happy tummies 3) pleased at how NICE everyone was and 4) STOKED that I have found an amazing burrito place that I can easily get to (lamenting the fact that Los Cardos is all the way on the other end of town in Leith!). So if you're fancyin' a fairly-priced burrito in a joint that feels just a little bit closer to home, give Illegal Jack's a scope. I know for certain I'll be back!

We stayed at the Edinburgh Marriott on our first night in Scotland as we were driving up north the…read morenext day. Since we were quite tired after a long day traveling and walking in the city (since we couldn't check in till the afternoon), we wanted something filling and quick to eat and stumbled across this place. Little did we know that this is a chain of Italian American restaurants in the UK. The "New York" Italian food also made me laugh a bit. Let's say it wasn't really NY food though (so much for typecasting Italian food in NYC hahahaha). The restaurant itself is quite large and nice. It's located right outside the mall too for easy convenience. There's plenty of choices for food and it came out pretty quickly in my opinion. We ended up ordering a bruschetta, garlic pizza bread, and salad as starters along with the Penne Arrabiata and Ultimate Mac 'N' Cheese as the main courses. For "NY Italian" food in the UK, I thought it was pretty decent. The service here was pretty good too, even when they originally messed up our salad order. The waitress admitted fault (chef miscommunication) and quickly made us a new salad. It was a bit pricey if you compare the prices in USD, but the service and food's solid enough for people to come back here if in the area.

Very clean but very busy…read more Standard F&B's menu. Staff pleasant but very busy so often difficult to get their attention.

I was visiting Scotland from the US last year, and a local friend and I had dinner at The Anchor…read moreLine on my birthday. We both got the fillet and agreed it was the best steak either of us had ever had. It was melt-in-your mouth tender and full of flavor. I almost forgot to even try any of the sauce because the steak alone was incredible. The staff was very welcoming and friendly, and they surprised me with a birthday card and also wrote "Happy Birthday" in chocolate on the plate for my dessert! The atmosphere was formal yet still warm and comfortable. If I could fly out to Scotland for my birthday dinner here every year, I legitimately would.

Beautiful dining space, excellent service, and delicious food! The halibut is a keeper.read more

Ok, 2.5 stars. I don't want to be too harsh now…read more I was so excited to come here and review the this place. It was a toss-up between Bell's diner and feed, both being equidistant to my home. So off I went to feed wanting to suss out this new local business and what it had to offer. And it was meh. Feed is actually located inside St Vincent's pub. There's a little section in the back for the 'feeders' which I assume is an affectionate term but I just didn't like. You will then need to brave the masses to corner yourself off in an area out the back that's oh so lonely whilst the masses look onto their football game and scream and cheer nonstop. So really one star for ambiance, it downright sucks if your looking for a semi quiet meal without sports crazed fans hollering every other minute at a screen you can't see. Then begins the mission to return to the bar, again braving (and interrupting) the masses to order food. Now with 2 burgers, 2 fries, two drinks (beef and cider) and 6 wings the total came to £47.80- WAY too overpriced in my opinion, and at this point I started listing the higher end restaurants I could have gone to for the same/less cost in my head. So then back to my seat. There is nowhere to look except the wall, it's really quite isolating. Then the food rolled on our after about 10 minites and I realised- I've eaten this food before! And the waves of memories set in, where I had actually had feed delivered to my home just after it first opened, and then I remembered the food being so uninteresting that I actually forgot about it. Hoping for an improvement, I dug in. Wings: with 6 for £10 I'd expect them gold plated, but they were your run of the mill cooked wings slathered in Buffalo sauce. The blue cheese and and celery were good though, I remember when they delivered they put the celery in with the chicken so I had limp and warm veggies the last time. Some improvement, not much. Fries: just fries. From the frozen section. Maybe I was hoping they'd be hand cut or something? Anyway they were good but you could get fries like that anywhere. Burgers: overdone and dry, just like last time. The bread is too chewy and needs to be heated in my view. The house made pickles are a nice addition but it was in with my blue cheese and chilli jam burger- made no sense and was not a good addition. I love to support a good new business but I'm really struggling to find the good points here. The food was good, but there are better burger joints in Edinburgh. This place is a pub and a poor attempt at encouraging people to use this place as a restaurant. The level of noise and crowding does not make for a good meal. It was also not even memorable to me from the last time, and I rarely forget a meal. Overall this place is overpriced and not at all amazing. I'd don't feel the need to go back, and consider this fair warning if you decide to brave the masses too.

Been here many many times for food and in my opinion it's the best burger in Edinburgh. BUT tonight…read moreI'd finished work and just wasn't in the mood to cook or eat anything heavy. Now these boys have recently started to introduce classic basic burgers alongside their more inventive selection. I don't know if it was the organic sourced beef and the lack of any complicated topping allowing the flavours to shine through, but this was THE BEST MOTHER EFFING BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! Sweet baby Jesus it was 100% perfect. Perfect.

Incredible! We had a mamas sweet pizza and holy. Cow. All pizzas are available in gluten free and…read moreyou can build your own as well. One of the best gluten free crusts I have ever had. Surprisingly a thicker crust than expected but delightful!

Service was wonderful, knowledgeable about gluten allergies! Beautiful little place and very best…read moreGluten free Pizza I have ever had! Well done and much thanks!!! Fabulous!

We have visited several times and loved it but on this last visit found that the poutine portion…read morehas halved in size and increased in price. We always enjoyed sharing a poutine but the portion is too small now The food is good but there are better value places now. Not going back

I tried Bread Meats Bread as an American living in Glasgow on July 4th weekend, so it was the…read moreultimate burger test! The inside of the restaurant is light and airy, and the staff was very friendly. I had the lunch special which is really reasonably priced: £11.95 for a burger, drink, and fries. I chose the black and blue burger (mushrooms, bacon, American cheese, and blue cheese) and sweet potato fries. For dessert, I had a slice of caramel apple pie. Both my burger and pie were great, but the saltiness of the burger and the sweetness of the pie overpowered the other flavors more than would be ideal. All in all, a lovey experience!

I love this 1950's diner with its chequered tiled floor and red cushioned booths and the jukebox…read moreblasting out Elvis. I love the shakes and the chilli dog and waffles and pancakes. It's such a vibe!

They already start off with a decent rating by me because they are one of the few places in the…read morearea that serve breakfast past 11:45. The cafe itself is going for a rundown 50s era American dinner look. To be honest, a bit cliché, but it is what it is. However, the reason we go to a restaurant is the food and to be honest, the food isn't all that great. Just look at my picture of the eggs Benedict. It tastes like it looks. But again, at least they offer it all day.