Habana

Sitting between the Playhouse Theatre and CC Blooms is very popular with the locals, but mainly both the male and female Gay population. The well decorated bar runs along one wall and a large staircase leads to a balcony level overlooking the main bar area, great for people watching. It is a great place to go for pre-club drinks especially with cc 's right next door, or even for pre- theatre drinks. Drinks promotions are always on offer. On sunny days, tables and chairs are outside and are even better for people watching. The staff are very friendly and there is always a 'party ' atmosphere on evenings and weekends. They play good music and there is karaoke on certain nights as well as other promotions. If you want to have a quiet drink upstairs or out on the street,or even want to get the party started before hitting the clubs then this is the place to come.

So this is an LGBT friendly bar we hit on our merry tour of Edinburgh. As you walk in its set up on two levels with the bar and a little seating downstaris and further seating upstairs. The staff were lovely if a little slow with our drinks but the choice wasnt the best for spirits. They had to search for a dark rum and i can only guess its not something thats ordered much as they only had ovd. Im not picky and soon had many of these. The place has a tired feel to it and could do with an uplift but is clean and ha da good sound system. The drinks were pretty cheap and the staff were lovely, even charging one of our parties phones behind the bar for them. Id happily go here again as the atmosphere was really nice, had a good buzz about it and seemed quite fun. The plus points are the bar staff, the friendliness of the punters and the price of the drinks. The bad points are the toilets (you go down a back stair to gvet to them, dangerous when drunk lol) and the range of alcohol. Good middle of the night pub to get you stocked up before you ehad off to your final place of the night.

I popped in here with my partner on our anniversary tour of Scotland. Honestly it is the friendliest pub we have been to so far in Edinburgh. We were early on a Saturday night and stopped in b/c I had recognized it from searching gay friendly pubs online. We were very pleased with the bartenders and beer prices and will stop back in before we leave the country. Good mix of people and age groups friendly staff, good atmosphere. Really good time (minus the one Really drunk guy but that happens)

I've only been to Cafe Habana once and it was en route to the Club Below Stairs which is further down Leith Walk. The pub feels fresh and lively inside with quite loud music, modern decor and plenty of customers. The service is quite fast and friendly and the bar is laid out in such a way that you which drinks are available and how much they cost. The drink prices are as you would expect with £1.90 bottles of beer and £3 for a double spirit and mixer. We just stopped off for one drink to send us on our way and we left impressed by the pub's atmosphere and lay out. Situated right opposite the Omni Centre and Edinburgh Playhouse, Cafe Habana would be an ideal place to go for a drink after a performance or before going on to Mood. Further, it does plenty of its own entertainment with big screens showing sporting events and it even does its own karaoke night. Cafe Habana, although not the cheapest pub, is in an excellent location and has something to suit just about everyone.

Not the cheapest of the bunch but due to it's incredibly close proximity to the Playhouse, I wouldn't say it was awfully dear. I paid about £3 for a vodka and lemonade, so pretty average really. The atmosphere is good. I've been here twice, both for a short amount of time before shows but each time I have enjoyed a drink in the bustling bar and left happy. The decor is fresh and modern, nothing spectacular but definitely up with the times. Good wee bar which I'll be going back to for a few drinks before a show next week!