NQ64, the immersive retro-arcade bar concept will make its Scottish debut on Thursday, 12 August in the former Badabing bar on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road. The company was founded by Matt Robson and Andy Haygarth and currently operates sites in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.
It has been transformed into a neon splattered ‘drinking den’, with UV graffiti designs on the walls, floor and ceiling. It will be home to a large selection of retro arcade machines including a Guitar Hero sound-proofed studio and classic consoles.
They’ll be serving up a range of game-themed cocktails such as the prosecco based Princess Peach, the Blanka with Tequila and melon and Mad Max with rum, absinthe and fire. A selection of packaged beers will be available including a some from Edinburgh based breweries Pilot Brewing and Campervan Brewery, and ‘retro’ crisps.
Pub operator JD Wetherspoon is opening The Caley Picture House in Edinburgh, following a £2.5m redevelopment of former live music venue The Picture House, on Lothian Road.
The new pub will feature two bars, one on the first floor and a smaller bar on the balcony level. Its contemporary design is a “modern take on classic art deco.”
It will serve real ales and craft and world beers, including beers from local and regional brewers.
Manager Matthew Knowles said, “We are looking forward to welcoming customers into the pub and we are confident that it will be a great addition to the Edinburgh community.”
The new pub is named after the original Caley Picture House, which opened in 1923.
Craft beer brand Innis & Gunn has announced plans to open its first bar and restaurant in July.
The Beer Kitchen by Innis & Gunn will be on Lothian Road in Edinburgh which is already home to craft beer bars The Hanging Bat and The Red Squirrel.
The bar will house three exposed 2.5 hectolitre beer tanks which Innis & Gunn say will provide ‘the freshest, most flavoursome pint imaginable’.
The food will be a twist on the classic seasonal dishes to be paired with the range of beers on offer.
This will be the first in a number of Innis & Gunn on-trade outlets. It plans to roll out another five pub venues and a boutique style hotel, to the rest of the U.K by 2017. The new venture is being Spearheaded by David Hall, (previously of Edinburgh’s Tigerlily, Opal Lounge and Rick’s).
The Picture House in Edinburgh’s Lothian Road has been sold to JD Wetherspoons much to the dismay of the current management who have now started a petition to keep the pub as a live music venue.
The Picture House has now been closed and Wetherspoons have said that the Lothian Road venue will be turned into a ‘superpub’ and that there are no plans to put on live music.
The Picture House was one of the biggest venues in Edinburgh and over the years bands such as Pink Floyd, Queen, New Order, The Smiths and AC/DC have all played there.
A spokesman for Wetherspoons said, “We do not have live music in any of our pubs, so it is extremely unlikely that live music will continue once it reopens.
“However, we are always prepared to listen to the arguments and to discuss it further.”
Meanwhile Wetherspoons pub, The David Macbeth Moir in Musselburgh has the best pub loos in Scotland and that’s official! The pub in Bridge Street was named as winner for the pub sector (Scotland) in the Loo of the Year Awards 2013.