Madogs Night Clubs

Wandered in here on a late Wednesday night with my brother, just for giggles. Dear oh dear, what a sorry state of affairs. The place was empty apart from two well inebriated couples in their mid 40’s. Harmless enough I suppose. Ordered a couple of pints of lager from the surly barman. Then I took stock of the place. It’s the same as it always was, crap. There was a young, pasty faced «DJ» just behind me, fiddling about with an electronic deck, playing absolute nonsense. When I asked him if he had any Wham, he just ignored me. If you are just looking for a late night drink, this place is fine but I would not choose to go here otherwise.

The Place is more than just a night club (apparently) we only went on a Sunday Afternoon for a late lunch /​early dinner
I went here on a voucher — steaks and a cocktail for 2 people. I had never set foot in this place. It was a sunny afternoon and we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves. The décor is comfortable and the separate areas had just enough tables and chairs to not crowd it.
It is dark brown and reddish purple upholstered.
As it was a sunny day it was nice and cool inside, but the fact remains this is underground thus no natural light.
We were pleasantly welcomed by a waitress and she sat us down promptly and explained the deal we had and what our choices were. — which were any of the rib-​eye steaks £17.95 and a cocktail up to £6.95 — seeing that the voucher was £19 this was a good deal. — But I’d find the original prices a little too much.
I ordered a tequila and cracked black pepper steak which came perfectly cooked. Anita A. had a variety with mushroom and onion jus, which was pretty good as well.
the shoestring fries were crispy, served with any condiment we wanted.
I especially enjoyed the cocktails. I had a Calvados /​dark rum with orange and lime mix and Anita took a Strawberry Martini.
The service was prompt and very friendly.
Would I go here again? Possibly if I had a special deal or just for the cocktails as they were very nice.

If I don’t ever set foot in Madogs I will be a pretty happy camper.
I really did not like this bar. Not one bit. The worst part is that I can’t exactly put into words exactly why not. We turned up mid-​week and it was karaōke night. That’s a bad start. Then there is the very bizzare collection of people that seem to frequent here. Most of whom are old enough to be my parents, and if I saw my parents acting that I don’t think I could step foot in my home ever again. But then there’s also the the young, slightly dodgy looking crowd who are obviously just there cause it’s cheap? And this made me feel beyond uncomfortable!
I would not recommend going here.

I’ve always known Maddogs as a solid option for cheap, pre-​club drinks.
Yes, being on George St, you do encounter plenty of silly muppets but this is always expected alongside inexpensive boozing.
Only use Maddogs solely for this purpose, otherwise you’ll realize it’s a pretty dismal place to go.

I like to come here before hitting one the big clubs on George street. It’s nice to have somewhere relatively cheap to sit with friends and have fun!
The bar is really nice, lovely trendy décor. It’s a bit small, and I’m always aware of being underground. The bar can get a bit busy, but beig a victim of its own success shouldn’t put you off!
It’s a great place to come before a nigh out, it’s in a good location for Edinburgh’s hotspots and can be quite cheap!

You think this place is great the first time you go in, but after 10 minutes or so you realise that it was definitely a mistake!
On student nights, although it’s full of drunken idiots at least they’re drunken idiots your own age. Because there’s nothing worse than being in a bar surrounded by people old enough to be your parents, who are far drunker than you’ve been in a long time. It’s just kind of awkward and pathetic for everyone else nearby.
And that’s pretty much the best way to sum up Madogs on the vast majority of nights during the week. If you ever want a self-​confidence boost, and watching Jeremy Kyle isn’t quite working, you should come in here. Especially on karoake nights.
Yes, it’s cheap. But you have been warned.

Back in first year we used to go to Mad Dogs while we waited for some of the trendier George Street clubs to open. They used to do some really cheap deals too, which made it even more appealing. So we were often there quite early when the bar was pretty empty.
Then we made the mistake of coming here on a Saturday night. Oh. My. Gosh. Clearly this is where the older folks who still like to party like their twenty like to go. There was many middle aged woman in their pink cowboy hats and beer-​bellied middle aged men admiring them. The music was horrendous and loud, but the punters seem to love it. I’m not going to lie, we were entertained by the extreme dancing of the majority of the patrons– think middle aged pole dancers without the pole. There also seemed to be an air of «if you look at someone the wrong way, then your gonna get it».
The last time I returned to Mad Dogs they had done away with the cheap deals. Thank goodness as the clientele need not be encouraged to drink anymore. This place is really quite terrible. So cheesy and full of people who are old enough to know better. Not for me thanks.

Apologies to the previous reviewer but I think that Madogs is one of the worst bars in Edinburgh and definitely the worst on George St.
Admittedly I’ve only been here once. I think it was during the festival — it was 3am and we wanted to keep drinking — Madogs was the only place without a line… for a reason.
When we staggered in I thought it best one of the top 5 best bars in the world because they were playing Tina Turner’s «simply the best»
I was sadly mistaken.
On a weekend during the festival it was DEAD and even then the bar staff could barely be bothered to serve us.
The music was too loud for how dead it was and from what I remember, horrible (other than Tina of course).
I think a really old wasted hen party came in at one point… that didn’t really help things.
I think it’s obvious I don’t remember much about my night at Madogs. Whether that was due to the alcohol or the fact that I just wanted to wipe that night from memory, I couldn’t tell you… but I do remember it was empty, dirty, loud, and as it’s on George St the drinks were probably overpriced as well.
Boo.

Scottish people have a propensity for drinking. Its in their genes. They’re taught from birth. Or perhaps that was just me. In any case, its not unusual to see people staggering around the streets of most major Scottish cities on a Friday and a Saturday night.
However, when these people stagger down the steps of Madogs, even they shake they heads in disbelief at the drunken mess they encounter. I cant think of a single time I’ve arrived at this bar to be confronted by people spluttering around arguing, getting jiggy, fighting, spewing, annoying the security. Its complete chaos. But very amusing. If there is such a thing as Cougars in Scotland (and I’m using that term loosely), then this is where they come. Not like the Cougars across the pond though. Nope.
Its true what your mother told you.
There’s always somebody worse off than you.
I just didn’t think she was talking about being drunk…