Garfunkels Restaurants

I had barista coffee and a small lunch here. Good coffee, wifi (though not terribly fast) but best of all, charging outlets at nearly every table.
It’s right on the Royal Mile, almost to the castle. Nice radio music, coffee and pastries.

Not impressed overall chicken club was OK but the fish was not good fries and onion rings are frozen.

Just average.
So I’ve stopped into this Garfunkel’s on a few occasions for dinner since moving to Edinburgh. My assessment is this: the servers are pretty good, the food is decent, but the prices are not. This is standard «chain-​style» restaurant type of stuff being served, nothing too notable or interesting on the menu.
I’ve had the steak and chips and the BBQ wings on my last visit. The wings were totally overcooked and the steak was not medium-​well. I must emphasise, if on the second floor, service will forget about you if you come before they are busy. I’ve seen it happen to me and to other patrons dining earlier than dinner time.
One server in particular is good. He is an American expat living in Edinburgh and he is very attentive and on his job while serving you. In terms of food, I would call it very average. Satisfying, but nothing to write home about. The service level depends on who you are dealing with, but generally it is also average. Perhaps slightly about that. The prices are more expensive, which for the food they serve is not justifiable in my opinion.
Overall, this isn’t the worst place in the world for dinner but it certainly isn’t the best either.

This place is awesome! Its one of my favorite places to go to when im in the UK. I took my friends here for dinner and they loved it! I ordered the British Bulldog and it was amazing, wish it was a little spicier though. My friends got a pepperoni calzone and a burger which they enjoyed! We are so coming back here!

We had two wonderful breakfasts. Friendly service staff. Refills on hot beverages at breakfast. Had what I know as a Denver omelet, ham, green peppers, onions, really nice. Eggs cooked to order both visits. Certainly a nice spot.
Our experience was excellent. Will certainly stop there again.

Garfunkels almost reminds me of a TGIFridays with the variety of food choices. Food was mediocre, but location was great. Expensive, but portions are large enough to share. Wait staff was very nice, but not very attentive. It took about 15 minutes for our garlic bread appetizer to be brought out, however, they did realize they’d screwed up, apologized and did not charge us for the bread. If you’re looking for something easy and on thee Royal Mile, check it out. Otherwise, you may be able to find something cheaper and more authentically Scottish elsewhere.

This is a great little place. It is located on the royal mile, the street you take to get to the castle.
The waiter we had was very friendly and helpful. Iglesias gave good recommendations and his thoughts on the menu items.
He took excellent care of us even though he was extremely busy.
I had the haggis with nipps and tats aid haggis with turnips and mashed potatoes.
My partner had the pulled pork pizza. Both items were very well priced and filling.
We will stop back in here before we head home.

Ahhh Garfunkel’s. Many years ago the Glasgow branch was a regular student haunt and whilst I’ve never been in this branch in Edinburgh, it did feel like a bit of a step back in time.
It had just started to rain, we weren’t that fussy about where we ate and I hadn’t (for a change) planned it in advance. I don’t think I’d choose to go back.
It’s pretty hard to write a review for a pretty bland experience with ok food and reasonable service. Everything could be better, but nothing was particularly bad with the exception of the slippery stairs which were a bit of a worry! I’ve definitely had better though, so 2 stars it is.
We were welcomed and seated quickly, our drinks (from a very limited selection) arrived soon after we ordered them and the food wasn’t far behind that.
The pepperoni calzone I had was ok, although the dough was a bit dry and it could’ve done with a little more tomato sauce, the ‘loaded skins’ (loaded with BBQ pulled pork) were alright but I’m pretty sure they were made offsite, and Kirsty’s scampi and chips seemed tasty enough.
Price wise it was a little higher than I’d want to pay for the quality I received but it is situated on the Royal Mile so there is an element of ‘tourist tax’ at play no doubt.
So, not a bad experience, just one I won’t be in a hurry to repeat.

My husband and I ate here twice when we were in Edinburgh as part of our honeymoon tour of Ireland and Scotland back in August of 2013. We arrived in Edinburgh in the evening (forget the day of the week) and went straight to our hotel, arriving sometime after 9 pm. In the morning, we found that we did not want to spend over £12 each for a «full Scottish breakfast» at our hotel (Holiday Inn outside of the city center).
We took the bus into the city center and got off at Waverly Place and started walking up to the Royal Mile, hoping to find some place suitable to eat. Lots of things were closed, given it was between 8 and 9 am… but then we happened upon Garfunkel’s. They had a «full Scottish breakfast» for only £7/​person, which seemed like a steal. Free wifi sealed the deal for us (what’s up with hotels in Europe all charging for wifi? lame).
We popped in, were given a private booth toward the back near the bathroom, and ordered our food. The first morning, I forgot to ask for my eggs fried hard, and was given eggs with runny yolks… no problem, since I didn’t specify, although the next morning when I asked for my eggs fried hard, they were done to my satisfaction. The standard breakfast came (comes?) with two eggs, baked beans, a fried tomato, mushrooms, bacon (which is not like American bacon, more like ham, but still good), sausage, and a hash brown. We whipped out my husband’s laptop and were able to catch up on emails, Facebook, and check bank account balances while waiting for our food. The service was fine from what I remember. We would not go for dinner or lunch, but for breakfast, this place can’t be beat for cost. With the giant breakfast we had here, we were able to get away with only eating two meals the first day. We met up with our tour group on our third morning in Edinburgh (same hotel) and the breakfast there was pretty comparable to Garfunkel’s, only it was all-​you-​can-​eat.
Note to Americans: Do not get coffee here. UK/​Irish «coffee» is not like what you are used to and Starbucks is pretty much the only place you can get what is called «drip» coffee there (regular coffee here). There is a Starbucks a few doors down where we stopped for our coffee, although if you are used to half and half or real cream, good luck finding it. It’s all about the skim and low-​fat milk in Edinburgh.

After a long day of sightseeing all over Scotland, we returned to Edinburgh to retrieve our car, and faced a 45 minute drive back to where we were staying before having dinner. My husband, his colleague, and myself were all cranky from hunger (ok, it was just me who was cranky), and thankfully we passed by Garfunkels on our walk. It seemed decent enough for a quick bite.
We were quick to be seated, but it took a while for someone to take our orders. It’s an American style restaurant, and had a pretty decent sized menu. I had the Mediterranean Veggie Burger with chips which, at that hour, really hit the spot. I think my husband and his colleague both got burgers as well, I don’t remember, but everyone seemed to think it was OK.

We stayed in a hotel around the corner from the restaurant and when staying in London I would often go to the Garfunkels off Trafalgar Square, so thought I would go there and enjoy an English, um Scottish, breakfast.
We were sat quickly and I ordered the bottomless coffee and a typical breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, etc. The coffee came after 5 minutes but waited about a half hour for the food altough the place was far from crowded, it was morning and everybody was pretty much ordering the same breakfast, so I didn’t expect to have to wait so long.
I finished my first of the bottomless cups of coffee in about 10 minutes. Unlike in the USA where the waitresses come by with a pot of coffee and say, «can I warm that up for you,» these Polish waitresses were nowhere in sight. I had to go and grab one to get another cuppa joe! I did in fact see the bottom of my cup, so the bottomless thing is a flat out lie! I hate when they lie about coffee!
The food came… eventually. It was ok but nothing to write a postcard home about.
So dear readers and travelers to far away exotic places like Garfunkels around the world; if you are close to a Garfunkels and it is the only place open, do grab some greasy breakfast but insist that they stand by to recharge your coffee cup as often as you deem necessary.

My experience here was not that bad, perhaps things changed. The sofas upstairs were cosy, the food came in within tolerable lateness (was tired so did not mind it), and the staff were kind and smiling. We were there around 2pm and yes we were alone. I don’t mind it, probably better so I can burp at will (LOL!). My steak was properly cooked, and in general the food and chips were normally good — neither anything to complain about nor superlatively wow-​effect. Thought the bill was a bit overpriced at the end…
We just visited this restaurant withouth checking much, so probably in this area you can find better, though I wished to make the point that from my experience it was a fine lunch!

Utter disappointment.
When my boyfriend and I came across this restaurant I got so excited because I love the Garfunkels restaurants in London and so I forced him to come in with me. We’d read the reviews it had already got on Unilocal but I was convinced that they couldn’t be true. Unfortunately they turned out being completely accurate. The menu wasn’t particularly varied and their weren’t very many choices. I ended up getting the BBQ Chicken Melt while my boyfriend got the Chicken Carbonara and we got Garlic Bread to start. We were served our starter fairly quickly and I can’t fault the Garlic Bread — it was definitely the best part of the meal. Our main meals took a while to come out and when they were eventually brought to us my chicken was pink/​undercooked. I ended up eating a few chips and accidentally ate half a chicken fillet before realising it wasn’t cooked properly. We didn’t bother staying for dessert. The service was subpar and the restaurant is definitely overpriced for the portions that you get, when we got our bill we were certain they’d counted it wrong. The interior of the seating area is nice but the toilets were fairly horrendous. The ceiling had some kind of mould or something growing on it. I was so so gutted that my visit here was disappointing but hey, at least I’ll know never to return.

Kenne das Garfunkel’s aus London und als ich mit meinem Freund in Edinburgh, vom Hunger getrieben, auf der Suche nach einem Restaurant waren, entdeckte ich von weitem das Garfunkel’s und dann war die Entscheidung auch schon getroffen!!!
Super Essen und sehr nettes Personal!!!
Gerne wieder!!! Cheers

Terrible service — sat for 30mins before being presented with a few frozen chips and a crap burger!
£10 it cost and it was awful!

Inedible, intolerant & indelible
I will never forget the miserable excuse for food my wife, baby, friends and I were served with such contempt.
Luke warm chips, would have been better than the soggy cold items which garnished my burger.
The staff couldn’t have been less interested in providing actual service either. As other reviewers have said, it felt like they really didn’t way to be there at all.
Still, on the bright side, at least I now know why it always looks empty when I pass, because it, along with the Filling Station are the last two bastions of shite on the High Street section of the Royal Mile.

After a REALLY long day of traveling from the U.S. and immediately beginning our sightseeing in Edinburgh, we found ourselves extremely hungry while walking the Royal Mile. It was rainy and cold and we were essentially searching for a warm, cozy spot to have some lunch. We walked by a couple places and came across Garfunkel’s which felt warm and comfortable at the doors so we decided to give a whirl. The place was pretty packed, mostly with tourists like ourselves.
They seemed very understaffed and everything felt rushed. We ordered our food from the very basic menu. I felt like I was dining at the UK version of Chili’s. Not bad, but basic. We ordered the Haggis and the Fish & Chips. I did not taste the Haggis because I wasn’t feeling brave but I was told it was really good. I ate the Fish & Chips which was overly crisp and lacking a lot of flavor.
The biggest issue with Garfunkel’s was the lousy service. Our waitress appeared very miserable like she’d been up all night and really didn’t want to be there. Again, the place seemed understaffed and spread thin between many tables. Throughout the rest of our trip I saw several «Garfunkel’s» chain locations and I felt it was probably best to not give them another try.

Breakfast 2 for £11 sounds good, but the food was small in portion and plastic in texture. Service was okay, but the quality of food was below expectation.

Despite being located in the prime position on the Royal Mile, Garfunkels is never that busy whenever I am in. The décor inside is really American, with diner like booths inside.
The menu offers a bit of everything, including pizzas, burgers, omelette’s, sandwiches and fish and chips. The food is tasty and always filling — if I come here for lunch I won’t feel hungry the rest of the day so it is definitely good value for money. My favourite aspect of Garfunkels is probably the salad bar which never fails to impress me with the vast range of salad options, although it costs about £5 per trip to the bar which is quite pricey for a side addition to your meal. Most main meals are priced at around eight or nine pounds, but considering the decent portion sizes, it is still pretty pricey and as a result it doesn’t seem that popular with the students.
I really love their burgers as they are always massive and well cooked and come with a limitless supply of sauces which always pleases me no end. The staff are really friendly and chatty, but I think there are cheaper places to eat in Edinburgh, which serve a more varied menu.

I think «restaurant» is a fairly optimistic description of Garfunkel’s. I’d rather eat McDonald’s or a chippy on a park bench than waste my money in a shithole like this.
With such imaginative delights on the menu as steak tortilla wraps and potato skins, Garfunkel’s is stuck firmly in the mid 1990s, and so I can’t think of any reason to recommend it other than for retrospective reasons.
Paying a tenner for smiting that you could buy in a Boots meal deal for £2.99 isn’t big or clever, and I’m surprised this dump is still trading. I’ve certainly never heard of anyone having a good word to say about it.

I usually associate Garfunkels with airports, as previous to visiting this one I had only been to the ones in Heathrow and Gatwick, and paid over the odds for pretty average food. I wasn’t too excited about my visit to the Edinburgh restaurant, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt anyway.
We booked a table for dinner before a gig but we didn’t really need to, evident by the empty tables which I thought was strange for a Friday night. The waiter who served us was friendly and chatty, which was nice, but not overly in your face like you often get at some of these Americanised restaurants (TGI’s anyone?) Garfunkel’s prides itself on British cuisine but it feels distinctly American in its décor and style.
I had the steak sandwich with garlic and coriander mayonnaise, which was nice but a little overcooked and the chips were a bit cold. My boyfriend had the Moroccan Meatballs and cous cous which he said were mediocre at best, and at £11, quite overpriced.
We left it at that and went on our way, with a bill for over £30 for 2 mains and 2 drinks, which is quite expensive in my experience. There was zero atmosphere and no reason why I would come back here again, when there are so many nicer places to go which are much better value.