Bruno’s Diner

Despite having been open for barely a month this place has at least one very shoogly table, which I had the misfortune to choose — cue tea all over it by the end of the meal. The menu’s also already looking a bit seedy — price corrections in pen, spelling errors etc. as well as the meal options being arranged slightly oddly.
An earlier reviewer has commented on food prices being around £1 higher than you’d normally expect and I’d agree with that although the omelettes we had were both good and filling (if a bit salty by the end — possibly due to the type of bacon used in the Mississipi) and the Oreo milkshake was as firm as you could hope form. Many of the other dishes sounded very tasty as well.
Service was good and you can expect to be asked a number of times how you’re enjoying the food.

Calling all Americans in Edinburgh!
So, this place has nailed the American diner food experience (well, and we’re also tutoring them on the finer points). But, if you have been missing Aunt Jemima (fake) maple syrup, or you love your from-​the-​package pre-​mixed pancake mixes pancakes, or you miss all-​you-​can-​drink-​endless-​refills coffee, or you want to go somewhere that gives you American style «streaky» bacon, or you miss the steak and eggs style breakfast, here you go. Look no further, it is here! The breakfasts are dead on except for no hash browns and no scrapple, but we are explaining such delights to the staff, so maybe those will make it in a future iteration of the menu. The condiments are perfect — all American brand ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. (should check to see if they have A1). Their milkshakes are not the thick American diner milkshakes you might expect, so don’t order those, or ask them to make it extra thick. Macaroni and cheese was good. Need to go back and try non-​fry-​breakfast items. And sorry New Yorkers, these are not NYC bagels. I don’t think NYC bagels are going to happen in this lifetime outside of NYC, and they haven’t quite got the concept of lox down, but they may sort that out soon.
The interior is well decorated to resemble a Jonny Rocket’s chain-​type diner and the staff uniforms are very sweet. Definitely theatrical diner and not honest-​to-​goodness-​old-​mom-​and-​pop diner, but honestly I don’t think the Scottish would appreciate or «get» that kind of dining experience. They have their Sunday fry ups at pubs for that sort of thing. Overall good portions, pleasant wait staff, relatively good service (they had the art of asking you if you wanted more coffee refills constantly down= a good thing!), and nice décor to enjoy. Thumbs up for this new development in he neighborhood a stone’s throw from all the Grassmarket and Lothian Road pubs for after a night out!!!
The final thing they probably won’t ever duplicate from an American Diner is all-​night service. But you know, for this, only some things are going to be found off a highway in the US. :-)

Bruno’s Diner opened about a month ago. It markets itself as an American diner that is open from 7am to 7pm. The owners said that there was a gap in the market for sit-​in breakfast food so they decided to open their own diner. It’s located in the heart of Tollcross where the Two Thin Laddies used to reside.
I visited on a busy Saturday afternoon. It looks like a stereotypical American diner — checkered floors (black and white), high bar stools and waitresses in 50’s outfits. The menu consists of pancakes, omelettes, french toast, and typical fry up eats. My boyfriend had ‘the Big Smokey’ and boy was it big (see pic I uploaded). He says it was really good — def lots of meat. I had a smoked salmon bagel with capers, onions and tomatoes. It was quite standard.
I found prices to be a pound more expensive than what I would typically pay elsewhere and for the area. Our waitress was friendly and seemed to maintain her calm even though it was really busy.
Bruno’s Diner is alright. As it’s fairly new I am sure they are just getting to the sway of things. I’ll re-​visit in a few weeks and perhaps order something more ‘breakfasty’.