Menyu

Local guide · City of Edinburgh, Scotland

Over 2.8 million Fringe tickets, one menu: a guide for Edinburgh restaurant owners

The 2026 Fringe issued 2,805,395 tickets in 25 days, and VisitBritain counted 2.56 million overnight visits from abroad to Edinburgh in 2024. A QR code on your tables can open your dishes in the visitor’s language. Choose pounds and UK time in Menyu’s settings, and prices show in £ while the opening status follows UK time, though it reads in French.

See my menu online, from its linkRules for menus in the UK

Café table on a sloping cobbled Old Town street lined with tall stone tenements, with a red QR code stand, a small fish pie and a glass of white wine
AI-generated illustration

Key facts

Edinburgh in figures

overnight visits from abroad in 2024, second among UK towns after London (first estimate)1
2.56 million
tickets issued at the 2026 Fringe over 25 days, 8% more than in 20252
2,805,395
residents at mid-2025, second only to Glasgow among Scotland’s council areas3
531,370
a year for tables and chairs inside the World Heritage Site, £169 outside it4
£213 per m²

Growth

Scotland’s second council area by population

National Records of Scotland puts the City of Edinburgh at 531,370 residents in mid-2025, behind Glasgow City (654,330) and ahead of Fife (373,990).3

Children aged 0 to 15 make up 13.7% of residents, one of the lowest shares in Scotland, and the four largest Scottish cities, Edinburgh among them, have the highest shares of people aged 16 to 64.3

For your menu

A city weighted towards working-age adults can justify a lunch offer and an after-work menu of their own.

Visitors and languages

Second only to London for overseas visits

VisitBritain’s first estimate gives Edinburgh 2.56 million overnight visits from abroad in 2024, second among UK towns after London, up from 2.32 million in 2023 and 1.80 million in 2022. VisitBritain warns that outside London these figures rest on small samples.1

For your menu

Visitors who know only a little English choose faster from a menu written in a language they read with ease.

Seasons and events

August: the Fringe and its 2.8 million tickets

The 2026 Fringe ran for 25 days and closed on 31 August: 4,232 shows from 77 countries gave 61,277 performances in 306 venues, and 2,805,395 tickets were issued, 8% more than in 2025, free shows not included.2

Saturday 15 August set a single-day record, with more than 164,000 tickets issued, and 334 street performers, buskers and street artists played the Royal Mile and the Mound Precinct.2

For your menu

In August your tables turn with show times: a short menu, quick to read on a phone, keeps pace with them.

Local food

41 MICHELIN tables, most with a vegetarian choice

The MICHELIN Guide lists 41 restaurants for Edinburgh and its surroundings: seven with one star, five Bib Gourmands and 29 selected, 19 of them in its moderate price band.5

Its filters flag vegetarian options at 36 of the 41, vegan options at 27 and gluten-free options at 22.5

For your menu

With a vegetarian choice at 36 of the 41, a guest expects to find yours, and its allergens, in a few taps.

Local rules

The tables and chairs permit, by the square metre

Section 59 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 bars placing anything in a road so as to cause an obstruction without the roads authority’s written consent, and makes it an offence. The council’s site notice for a tables and chairs permit is headed with that section.67

The City of Edinburgh Council’s permit, open to anyone who sells food or drink, allows tables and chairs on the pavement from 9am to 9pm, seven days a week, with extensions between 7:30am and 10pm subject to approval. In Central Grassmarket the standard hours are 12 noon to 9pm, usually from April to September. A clearance of 1.5 metres must stay free between the tables and any street furniture.48

The 2026/2027 rate is £213 per square metre inside the World Heritage Site and £169 outside it: 4 m² inside the World Heritage Site cost £852 a year, a part-year permit is charged by the day, and each extension of hours adds a flat £150.48

With the application go a layout plan, needed for renewals too, a wind management plan and details of the barriers. A site notice stays up within 20 metres of the premises for 14 days, during which objections can be sent in writing to the council’s Network Management & Enforcement team at Waverley Court; questions go to [email protected].47

For your menu

Measure before you apply: the permit is billed by the square metre, and every renewal needs a fresh layout plan.

With Menyu

Menyu for an Edinburgh menu, limits included

Menyu publishes your menu at one fixed address and gives it a QR code with your colours and logo. These are the uses that fit Edinburgh, followed by what a UK account cannot do.

  • A QR code for each table on your permit

    Printed in your colours, the QR code keeps the same address while you change the menu behind it, so a new price reaches every outdoor table as soon as you publish. That price carries the £ sign once you choose pounds in the settings, and nothing is converted.

    • Same QR code, menu updated whenever you publishIncluded
    • QR code in your colours and with your logoIncluded
    • Prices in pounds, chosen in the settingsIncluded
    Generate my QR code

  • A pre-show menu that appears by itself

    A category can show at set hours only, so a short pre-show menu can appear in the early evening and disappear later on. Choose UK time in the settings and the hours you enter are read on the Edinburgh clock: a menu set to start at 5pm appears at 5pm.

    • Categories that show at set hours, on UK timeIncluded
    • UK time, chosen in the settingsIncluded
    Browse a demonstration menu

Limits

What Menyu does not do

  • Menu prices can show in pounds, but Menyu’s plans are billed in euros.
  • The open-or-closed status follows the UK time chosen in the settings, but that status line reads in French, ‘Ouvert · Jusqu’à…’, even on an English menu.
  • There is no online payment for a UK venue: payment accounts are opened in France only. Orders from the menu, on Premium, are paid at the counter.
  • Leave the phone box empty when you create the account: it only accepts a French number of ten digits.
  • Menyu orders have no tip or service charge line.

Questions

Questions and answers

What does a tables and chairs permit cost in Edinburgh?

£213 per square metre a year inside the World Heritage Site and £169 outside it, at 2026/2027 rates. Four square metres inside the World Heritage Site come to £852 a year; a part-year permit is charged by the day, and each extension of hours adds £150.48

Until what time can my tables stay out?

9pm, from 9am, every day of the week. Extensions between 7:30am and 10pm can be approved; in Central Grassmarket the standard hours are 12 noon to 9pm, usually from April to September.48

Can neighbours object to my permit?

Yes, within 14 days of your application. The site notice stays up for those 14 days, visible within 20 metres of the premises, and each objection must be in writing, give its grounds and be signed.

Questions about an application go to [email protected].47

Which law covers tables on an Edinburgh pavement?

Section 59 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984: nothing may be placed in a road so as to cause an obstruction without the roads authority’s written consent, and breaking that rule is an offence. The council’s site notice for tables and chairs refers to that section.

The national rules for menus, allergens and tips are on the United Kingdom page.67

National rules in the United Kingdom
Can an Edinburgh restaurant use Menyu now?

For its menu, yes. Choose pounds and UK time in the settings: prices then show in £ and the menu’s timings follow the Edinburgh clock. Five gaps are worth knowing: online payment is not available, orders carry no tip line, a UK phone number will not pass at sign-up, the opening status reads in French and the plans are billed in euros. The QR code, the translations, the allergens and the filters work as they do in France.

Menyu’s limits in the UK
How do I change my menu for August without reprinting?

Edit it in Menyu and publish: the QR code on your tables keeps its address, so new dishes and prices show straight away, in pounds once you have chosen them in the settings. Up to ten stories on the menu, in photo or video, can announce the festival specials.

Are the restaurants on this page Menyu customers?

No. All five come from the MICHELIN Guide, which lists 41 restaurants for Edinburgh and its surroundings, and none was contacted.5

According to the guides

Five MICHELIN Guide addresses, from Stockbridge to Leith

All five are in the MICHELIN Guide’s current Edinburgh selection: one starred restaurant, three Bib Gourmands and Hendersons, a vegetarian address since 1962. Four of the five sit in the guide’s moderate price band.

None of these restaurants is a Menyu customer, and none was approached. All five come from the MICHELIN Guide; on 21 October 2026 their own websites showed menus, opening hours or bookings.

  1. Timberyard

    Lady Lawson Street9 · Modern British, contemporary · ££££

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 20265

    Behind a big red door, a converted warehouse where a few prime ingredients make each plate, such as turbot with girolles, suyo cucumber and smoked roe.9

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website10

  2. The Scran & Scallie

    Stockbridge11 · Scottish, traditional cuisine · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    A neighbourhood pub from the Tom Kitchin stable, busy enough that you should book for its haggis, neeps and tatties or its signature fish pie.11

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website12

  3. Noto

    Thistle Street13 · Asian influences, modern cuisine · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    Stuart Ralston named this small-plates restaurant after Bob Noto, his roommate in New York; dishes such as duck bao buns are made for sharing.13

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website14

  4. Hendersons

    By Bruntsfield Links15 · Vegetarian, vegan · ££

    • MICHELIN Guide selection 20265

    Janet Henderson opened it in 1962 and her grandson Barrie runs it today; the meat-free menu is mostly vegan and includes a take on haggis, neeps and tatties.15

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website16

  5. Ardfern

    Leith17 · International · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    A café, bar and bottle shop next door to The Little Chartroom, with brunch by day and small plates at night, such as hash browns with whipped feta and jalapeño ketchup.17

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website18

Method

How this page was made

Page written by the Menyu team, based in Montpellier, France, from the sources cited, all read on 21 October 2026: National Records of Scotland, the ONS, VisitBritain, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the City of Edinburgh Council, legislation.gov.uk, Google’s autocomplete, the MICHELIN Guide and the restaurants’ websites. What it says about Menyu matches the product’s code on that date, updated on 22 October 2026 for the currency and time zone settings. The restaurants named are not Menyu customers. The illustration is AI-generated; it shows no real place.

Sources

  1. VisitBritain, Inbound visits and spend: trends by UK townvisitbritain.org · accessed 21 October 2026

  2. Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 concludes with its 80th anniversary firmly in sightedfringe.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  3. National Records of Scotland, Mid-2025 population estimatesnrscotland.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  4. City of Edinburgh Council, Tables and chairs permit - Licence and permit applicationsedinburgh.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  5. MICHELIN Guide, MICHELIN restaurants, Edinburgh and surroundingsguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  6. legislation.gov.uk, Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, section 59legislation.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  7. City of Edinburgh Council, Tables and chairs consent: notice of application (site notice)edinburgh.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  8. City of Edinburgh Council, Tables and Chairs Permit Guidance notesedinburgh.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  9. MICHELIN Guide, Timberyard, Edinburghguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  10. Timberyard, Timberyard, official websitetimberyard.co · accessed 21 October 2026

  11. MICHELIN Guide, The Scran & Scallie, Edinburghguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  12. The Scran & Scallie, The Scran & Scallie, official websitescranandscallie.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  13. MICHELIN Guide, Noto, Edinburghguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  14. Noto, Noto, official websitenotoedinburgh.co.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  15. MICHELIN Guide, Hendersons, Edinburghguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  16. Hendersons, Hendersons, official websitehendersonsrestaurant.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  17. MICHELIN Guide, Ardfern, Edinburghguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  18. Ardfern, Ardfern, official websiteardfern.uk · accessed 21 October 2026