The Filling Station

This is the first place we ate when we arrived in Scotland. I ordered hagis bites and fish n chips with a couple business. The food was great and the wait staff was exceptional. The food here was a perfect mix of Scottish and American cuisine.
The atmosphere was very well lit and quite. The music playing was a variety of American classics ranging from tom petty to prince or Jackson five. The place was very clean and inviting.
I think I ate here about 5 times during my trip.

Its a shame that i couldnt rate this place better but alas it had too many things wrong with it. Straight off the bat we walked in with a big group and there was no visible person to seat us or visible area to go up to to wait so we milled around and someone came up to us and eventually got us sat downstairs. We ordered drinks with a variety of cocktails and such on offer, good variety at that. I went with a cider as most were horribly overpriced (N.B so was the cider, like 5 quid a pint!)
We then went to order food and i thought i would play it safe with a burger with blue cheese. This came and honestly i could not taste the cheese, majorly overdone with the chilli sauce that was an addition to the burger. The burger itself was decent enough and the salad was ok with nice crispy chips on the side. They forgot my order of spicy chips instead of regular fries but it took so long to order i wasn’t too fussed. On the plus side once the drinks arrived and our order was taken the food was along in double quick time!
We were considering shots but our waitress didnt know what they had and constantly had to check with the bar staff about what she could and could not offer us so we jsut left it and went for the bill. It was they that we got the little surprise of the bottle of wine. It cost £13.50 for a bottle of middling wine that one of us ordered. Thats quite expensive for the wine that we got as you could buy it down the road for a fiver. This coupled with the other problems unfortunately drags this down to a two star.

I think this place has the best steaks in edinburgh. Nice place, American style furnished and very friendly staff. I wish I didnt find about this place in my last day … Can’t wait for the next time !

OMG ! This place is a real disaster. The unexistent service is ridiculous. You ve to order yourself at the bar, and wait more than an half hour for an untasty cheeseburger pretentiously named lux !!! And the prices are on the range of mind. Forgot that awful place. It s just a scandalous tourist trap !!! Don t stop there you ll waste your money and your time.

Very good, comfy high street American restaurant that isn’t a rip-​off!
«High Street» in Edingburgh is a touristy area indeed, as it stretches from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, with plenty of small restaurants in between. The Filling Station, if your mind is set upon American style food, is a formidable lunch and dinner option. Good food, very nice décor, super-​friendly staff, fairly competitive prices (for Edinburgh anyway!).
Went there twice (once for dinner, once for drinks) in July of 2014. Even if you don’t have a reservation and times are busy, the very helpful staff will eventually find a table for you! Bar staff are equally friendly. This is definitely a superior branch of The Filling Station chain. Dinner included fried chicken strips (not bad, but nothing special) and Chicago Deep-​Filled Pizza, essentially a meat-​filled quiche — which was superb and filling, There is a 20 minute waiting period for the latter, but it’s worth it.
The selection of ales and lagers, including a couple of real ales, is very inviting for a late night drink, too (My hotel was close by). Prices aren’t outrageous for drinks either.
Highly recommended for tourists who do not want to get ripped off.

The staff were very nice, and try to help when they get the time, however this is a very busy place, so getting hold of a member of staff can take some time.
Disabled access could be MUCH better, and even on the wettest and coldest of days, they do try and encourage wheelchair users to eat outside as the staff freely accepted that there wasn’t much space.
The fish is NOT fresh, but frozen, nothing better than what you could get in a supermarket but at a fraction of the cost. £12.25 for frozen fish and «fries» is just a bit extortionate. However my partner had a freshly made Pizza which she thoroughly enjoyed. The food can be a bit greasy, and while we were there, several customers had complained about the same thing.
There does seem to be a drastic lack of management. I was determined not to sit outside in minus 1C, so when I asked to speak to a member of management about this, I was told one would be right with me. Still nothing after a 45 minute wait!!!
There are far more accessible places, with better management, and far better food, even the chip shop opposite serves MUCH better fish and chips and at half the price.
This is one place I won’t be returning to in a hurry

Turned away at 10.15am because the kitchen was too busy. Plenty empty tables though. Poor management, if you’re going to advertise about a new breakfast menu you need to expect this and plan ahead.

Great service, great location and quality burgers! Do visit this place, lounge outside, enjoy people watching & great food/​cocktails!

The staff were very nice and attentive — shame the drinks (flavorless and seemingly devoid of alcohol) and food were not of the same quality. The food was greasy /​and sloppily presented and disappointing.
There are better options on the Royal Mile

So it was our first night in Ediburgh, and our group couldn’t agree where to eat. We walked up and down the Royal Mile looking for a place that had something for everyone. Looking at the posted menu on the door, it seemed like this place would do the trick.
We walk in and it’s an American themed restaurant! Leave it to us to travel halfway around the world to eat at a place just like home. Even the menu called them «fries» instead of «chips»!
I had a bacon cheeseburger, and the bacon is quite a bit different in Scotland than back home. Instead of thin crunchy strips you get a bigger piece of fried pork. It’s more like a slice of lunchmeat than american bacon. Still good though. The burger was very good. The waitstaff was attentive (and one of the guys in our group even tried to get her phone number — sheesh. College kids!!)
I’m knocking off a star for the bathrooms though. Truly disappointing. Everything was wet as if there was a leak in a pipe or faucet. The stalls were dirty and broken. There were no paper towels or ways to dry your hands. Just awful facilities downstairs.
As an American reviewing an American themed eatery abroad though, they did a pretty good job getting it right. The décor and music were spot on for the 50’s. The classic comfort foods and american fare were all there. It’s pretty legit. Like going to an Applebee’s here in the states.

This was recommended to us so we thought we would try it. But then wished we hadn’t bothered and regretted choosing an American diner over a traditional Scottish pub.
The food was very average but I was super ill after I ate it. That put a dampener on my short 2 day trip to Edinburgh!
The service was ok, the prices ok too. The food tasted ok as we were eating it… but I wouldn’t go there again now!

i’m a fan of chain restaurants. they’re reliable and generally consistent with the food and service that you get. so when a group of 6 of us were looking for a place to eat dinner near the royal mile on one of the last nights of the fringe festival, we decided to head here. on arrival we were told it would be a 50 minute wait but since that was likely to be the wait anywhere we added our name to the list and sat down at the bar.
the bar was packed, obviously with everyone else that was waiting for a table but we managed to grab a tiny booth so at least the ladies could rest their feet with a seat. the boys finally managed to get to the bar and returned with drinks which luckily took up most of the waiting time as we were soon shown to a table. now this table may have be able to seat 6 children, but 6 full sized adults was a bit of a squeeze! we didn’t complain though as we couldn’t really afford to wait for a table much longer in case we missed our show.
the menu is fairly standard american type food. loads of burgers, wraps, pizzas, pastas, and some other american classics. most of us went for the burgers and one person had the kentucy wings and chips. i have to say for a really busy restaurant, we got our food fairly quickly. the burgers were all of a good size and i have to say mine was quite tasty. but compared to some other burgers i’ve had recently (burger meats bun!!! omg!!) this one lacked a bit in comparision. having not had a proper lunch and breakfast being long gone i also forced the boyfriend to share a side of mac and cheese with me. this was ok, but a bit bland after all the bacon on top was gone.
so if you’re looking for a place to go for a good food on the royal mile, then the filling station is definitely a-​ok but that’s as far as i would go. i enjoyed my meal, but i think that was mainly due to the company and not for the fact that the food was outstanding.

Noisy and slow, the food was good but the overall experience much less than perfect. Waiting at the bar was not bad, but waiting at the table later was a bit long and noisy.

When traveling I always have to try someplace that claims to be American style and see how close (or not) they got it… Budweiser was on the menu, so that was a good start (not that I’m a fan of Bud though lol). They did have some competitive pricing but watch out — soda refills are not free like they are in the states. I had the chicken fingers starter which was OK (and came strangely on a bed of coleslaw). For my main I had the meatball calzone which was actually very tasty! Better then the calzone over at Pizza Express… Can’t say much for the atmosphere –walls were plastered with american posters, they played 80s and 90s rock and pop, but it was Sunday and the place was mostly empty… Overall it was ok.

This place is your quintessential American Route 66 diner style place, with all the old car signs and parts all over. I went for breakfast after a night out so I was pleased to go somewhere that was serving familiar hangover foods. Hash browns, eggs and the sort. I ordered the hash browns, which could have been McDonald’s hash browns if I didn’t know better, and then the omelet I ordered was completely flavorless. Really disappointing. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to use hot sauce just to get some flavor.
It’s fairly obvious that it’s not a Scottish pub from the outside, so hopefully not a lot of people make the mistake of coming here thinking that’s what it is only to find an American style restaurant. It was nice on that day, but I wouldn’t go back.

OK, so sometimes it’s easy to just do something kinda familiar. We’d eaten at the Filling Station in Stirling and we were tired, so this worked for us.
We all had the dinner special — appetizer & meal thing. They were ok. Now first of all, please don’t advertise you are the «great American Highway» as you are not Route 66. And don’t paint all your memorabilia red; this is considered a «hot» color and if you want people to hang around and drink, you don’t paint & decorate in red, orange or yellow.
AND, yes, we know the waitress was trying to be helpful, but you are a service industry. When a patron (that would be the person paying the bill) says they want an item, don’t try to talk them into trying something else. The customer is always right; you are there to serve. If they ask, then answer, but don’t try to influence over and over; it’s very annoying.

Dismal. Below average food at above average prices.
The Filling Station is just another homogenised would be American Diner styled eatery where the burgers are served on bread dry enough to make you order another drink.
If you are after a manky burger, why not o to MacDonalds or Bilurger King where at least you’re expecting disappointment.
The single onl redeeming feature of this place is the fact tha the beer is cold, beyond that there is nothing that will get me back in here again.

One of very, very few places open and serving food after 10 pm in central, touristy Edinburgh. We didn’t realize that it was American diner themed until we’d been seated, but we weren’t exactly at liberty to be picky, seeing as this was the 7^th place we tried and the only one who would seat us.
The food was fine, nothing stellar or outstanding, but reliable and filling at good prices. The extra star comes from the service, as our server was super friendly, checked on us a couple of times, and had a happy smile the entire time.

The Filling Station is one of my favourite food places in Edinburgh. Situated in the centre of the High Street on the Royal Mile, The Filling Station is always very popular with the tourists.
I love to go here for food because it always reminds me of America with the American style décor and its huge portions. Inside the restaurant it is very ‘Americanised’ with car registration plates, maps and the seats arranged in booth styles to be like a diner. The menu is very American/​Texan orientated with dishes including burgers, nachos, steaks, and of course, chips! I adore their burgers, which are absolutely massive, and if I eat one for lunch it will always fill me up for the whole day. The prices are really reasonable too with most main meals priced at about five pounds.
Also, I think special mention ought to be paid to The Filling Station’s milkshakes, particularly their strawberry, which is absolutely gorgeous!
There is a bar inside which overlooks the busy Royal Mile so it can lovely to go here for a drink in the afternoon and watch all the tourists. Every time I have been to The Filling Station is has always been really packed, especially on a weekend, which is a good sign, but not so great if you want to eat here and can’t get a seat!
The Filling Station has plenty of tables and chairs outside the restaurant on the High Street so it is a great place to sit on a warm day and watch all the action on the Royal Mile.

Like Sarah Beth said below, «If you are American and on vacation, don’t come here. That’s like going to McDonald’s in Paris instead of getting a baguette sandwich.» So why did we go? We ended up here after asking the concierge at our hotel (a really nice hotel!) where to go. In fairness, we asked for a good/​local meal, but didn’t specify that it shouldn’t be touristy.
The decorations, the service, and the ambience were nothing to write home about. The location was fine (on the Royal Mile). The appetizer (bruschetta) was actually quite good. BUT the meal, itself, was a big letdown. The sides were plain bad – a miniature serving of coleslaw drenched in mayonnaise, and fries that had clearly been reheated from a freezer bag.
Eat somewhere else. It doesn’t matter that this place’s prices are reasonable, since the food isn’t worth it.

Very good pizza and burgers.