The Blind Poet is named after a man who could not see and changed the course of Scottish letters anyway, and the pub that carries his name still runs on words and music more than anything else.
Published February 18, 2026 · By Daniel Okafor
The Blind Poet sits at 32 West Nicolson Street, in the Southside thicket of bars between the University of Edinburgh and the Meadows. It takes its name from Thomas Blacklock, the 18th-century poet who lost his sight to smallpox as a child and who later urged Robert Burns to stay in Scotland rather than sail for the West Indies. CAMRA and the local pub historians file it among the Southside's enduring student rooms.
Regulars sum the place up in three Bs: beer, banter, and bands. Live music lands several nights a week, usually rock, pop, or country, and the room is small enough that the band and the crowd share the same air. The weekly open mic, long billed as Blind Poetics, keeps the spoken-word thread alive, a fitting nod to the poet on the sign. During the Fringe in August the back room turns over to comedy bills, a fixture the pub has run for years.
The room leans shabby and lived-in, with worn sofas, oak tables, and verses scrawled across the walls. The Skinny describes it as a student favorite that pulls a wider crowd for the music, and that read holds up. Nothing about it is polished, which is the point. The doors open at 11am most days, far earlier than the Southside's later venues, so it doubles as a quiet afternoon pint before the bands arrive.
The draw at the bar is a steady run of traditional ales alongside the usual lagers and a short spirits list. Prices stay student-friendly, which is rare this close to the university. Order a cask ale and a seat near the band, and skip anything that tries to be a cocktail, because that is not what this room is. It belongs on a real list of the best live music bars in Edinburgh.
Weeknights bring the university crowd and the open-mic hopefuls. Weekends pull a louder, music-first room that runs late, since the doors stay open to half past midnight every night but Sunday. Come on a band night to see the pub at full tilt.
What makes The Blind Poet matter is its place in the Southside's live-music circuit. It shares Nicolson House with the Pear Tree and the Counting House, and together they anchor the student-bar stretch off Nicolson Street. For a city that takes its folk and session music seriously, a room this small that still books live acts most nights is worth protecting.
The Blind Poet will never be the prettiest pub in Edinburgh, and it does not try to be. It is a music room with cheap pints and a poet's name, doing the same honest job for the Southside year after year. Judged on what it sets out to do, it is one of the most reliable live-music pubs in the city.
The Blind Poet pairs with the rest of Edinburgh's live-music drinking. A short walk away, Sandy Bells has run nightly folk sessions for generations, while The Jazz Bar on Chambers Street takes the late-night thread underground. For a quieter Southside pint nearby, Cloisters Bar is the move. Our roundup of the best live music bars in Edinburgh and the wider Edinburgh bar guide set the full scene.
