Artisan Bar & Lounge - Outlasting the temperance movement

Don't get between a thirsty drinker and their pub.

It’s been a packed last few weeks for me, having been away and busy with work. Which means I haven’t managed to get to the pub as frequently as I would have liked.

So this week, I’m bringing you a rerun of another early review, from before many of you started subscribing. The Artisan Bar is another super Victorian boozer with a large prominent central bar and those really thin tables around the outside which you also get at The Bow Bar and many others in the city. It’s also got a fascinating history – including a surprising link to the temperance movement of the 19th century.

It also features in my top football-watching pubs, if you’re still interested in the Euros.

After the original review came out, I was passed a 1979 Edinburgh Pub Guide from a subscriber to this newsletter (more on that below). You might be interested in what it had to say about the Artisan Bar. Just remember it was the 70s.

If you're female you really run the gauntlet going through the bar of this pub. It's noisy and cheerful – but when it gets heavy they aren't joking – even with a mate "protector". But brave it for the Safari Lounge through the other side. This lounge must be unique. Drinks are downed in a respectful silence, broken intermittently by the teetotal barman, a polite and genial person, expounding his philosophy of life while taking endless trouble over your pint. The lounge earns its name "Safari" by the row of miniature plastic animals on the bar shelf and a pair of curtains with zoo scenes on them – otherwise it's strictly lino floor and livingroom wallpaper decor. A really nice place with an atmosphere of old-fashioned grottiness unrivalled in the area. Go before it's discovered.

The Safari Lounge no longer exists at the Artisan Bar, as far as I know. Incidentally, there is now a separate pub/restaurant just down the road, also called The Safari Lounge. Though I’d stick to the Artisan if I were you.

Enjoy the review by clicking below, and scroll down for this week’s chaser.

The chaser

The fascinating 70s pub guide was shown to me by reader Anne, who grew up just by The Artisan Bar (she warned me some of it would be slightly dated in 2024). Anne and I volunteer together at the Edinburgh Food Project, so this week’s chaser is something of a charity appeal.

If you're able to give a couple of hours a week of your time to a food bank, I’d really encourage you to give it a go. The charity is struggling with donations as the cost of living crisis continues. We recently lost funding for supermarket vouchers we used to give out, which means users of the food banks get £5 less per week than they did before.

And if you’re able to donate anything, please remember it’s not just tinned food which is accepted. We are often short of toiletries, pet food and household cleaning products. The easiest way to donate anything – anything at all – is to add a reminder to the bottom of your shopping list. That way, next time you go to the supermarket, you can pick up an extra something to pop in those big baskets you see after the checkout.

Thanks for reading this far. See you next week.