Morten Andersen is wary of theme bars, which usually put the gimmick first and the drinks last. Frankenstein survives the scepticism for one practical reason: it is a converted church with the screen space to show a match with sound, and in the Old Town that is rarer than it should be.
The bar occupies a 19th-century former church at 26 George IV Bridge, a minute from the Royal Mile in the heart of the Old Town. It runs across three floors, each with its own bar, under a horror theme that is loud about its monster but quiet enough to ignore once the football is on (Frankenstein official site). The church shell gives it the ceiling height and sightlines that a low pub cannot match. The old nave seats a crowd the way few Old Town rooms can, and the upper galleries keep a view of the main screen even when the floor is full. Theme aside, that volume is a genuine advantage on a sold-out international, when smaller pubs turn supporters away at the door.
The sport is genuinely set up rather than incidental. The venue keeps a dedicated live-sport page and shows Scotland and England fixtures with sound on its huge screens, with the downstairs Bier Keller carrying the audio and the main bar running screens without it (Frankenstein live sport listing). Sound on the marquee game is the detail most Old Town bars skip, and it is the reason travelling supporters pick this particular room for an international weekend over the quieter pubs nearby.
The drinks and food are a crowd-pleasing list rather than a cellar to study: keg beer and cider, themed cocktails that lean on the horror branding, and a kitchen of burgers and sharing plates cooked to order. Order a pint and a burger before kickoff, treat the novelty cocktails as the party trick they are, and keep your expectations on the beer modest. For a serious pint nearby, our Edinburgh craft beer guide points to the Old Town taprooms.
Who it is for is the group that wants a big fixture with sound and then a late night without changing venue, since the upper floors turn over to DJs and a late licence once the final whistle goes. Visiting supporters, stag and hen groups and students all fit. A drinker after a quiet heritage pint should look elsewhere, and our best sports bars in Edinburgh roundup lists the calmer screen rooms.
Best time to go is a Six Nations or international football Saturday, when the church fills and the Bier Keller becomes the loudest room on George IV Bridge. The bar opens at noon daily and runs late, to 1am midweek and 3am at the weekend, so an evening kickoff rolls straight into the night. Avoid arriving after kickoff for a marquee game expecting a seat near the sound, because the Bier Keller fills first.
The honest verdict on Frankenstein is that the theme is a distraction from a genuinely useful sports room. The church conversion gives it the scale to seat a crowd and the screens to show the game properly, and the sound on the big fixtures settles the argument. Tripadvisor reviewers into 2026 still rank it among the Old Town's reliable big-match venues (Tripadvisor).
Frankenstein earns its place in this guide as the Old Town's largest-format sports room, a converted church that shows the international with sound and keeps the night going after. For a broader tour of the city, start with our Edinburgh bar guide.
Sources: Frankenstein Edinburgh official site; Frankenstein live sport page; Tripadvisor reviews.
