New Town free house where the burger menu is the destination and the craft taps are the reason you stay for a second.
The Cambridge Bar sits on Young Street between Charlotte Square and George Street, a narrow lane that hides one of the better burger pubs in central Edinburgh. The bar is a free house, which is the structural reason the beer list rotates more honestly than the New Town's tied-house competition, and the kitchen runs gourmet homemade burgers made from 100% Scottish beef, buffalo, or chicken with locally sourced ingredients.
Three things drive the bar's reputation: the burgers, the beers, and the screens on match days. The Bar Fly's 2014 review called the kitchen's burger and chips a working argument against any other Edinburgh pub on the same street, and the kitchen has held the standard since. Anyone after a hush and a cocktail list is on the wrong street; anyone after a £14 burger and a small-batch Scottish pale is in the right room.
Two rooms over the ground floor with dark wood, leather banquettes, and a long bar with the taps angled out toward the room. Screens stay tucked in the corners on a quiet night and pull to centre when the Six Nations or Champions League is on. Incredinburgh's burger guide flagged the snug behind the bar as the best seat in the house.
The craft tap rotation is the move. Pints sit at £6.50 in 2026, with the taps running Scottish breweries (Cromarty, Williams Bros, Pilot) and a couple of guest English lines. The burgers from £14 include the standard build plus options with Cajun spices, beetroot and a fried egg, or buffalo meat. Skip the more elaborate cocktails on a busy match day; the kitchen and the taps are the build the bar is set up for.
A mixed New Town local trade through the afternoon, a steady after-work West End spillover from 5pm, and a sport-driven crowd on big match days. Tripadvisor reviewers consistently describe the room as "busy" and recommend booking the burger if you arrive after 7pm.