🏆 Edinburgh Bar Awards 2025 – Winners

The Edinburgh Bar Awards are built on peer recognition – by the trade, for the trade. Every nomination, shortlist, and final decision comes directly from the community, celebrating the venues, teams, and individuals who make our industry thrive.

This year’s winners showcase the creativity, consistency, and camaraderie that define Edinburgh’s hospitality scene. A huge congratulations to all the winners and highly commended – each recognised by their peers for raising the bar.

Best Bar – Sponsored by Schweppes

• Winner: Panda & Sons

• Highly Commended: Hey Palu

Best Pub

• Winner: Nauticus

• Highly Commended: The Mother Superior

Best Restaurant Bar – Sponsored by Liberty Wines

• Winner: Old Pal

• Highly Commended: Little Capo

Best Bar Team – Sponsored by Monkey Shoulder

• Winner: Panda & Sons

• Highly Commended: The Cocktail Geeks

Best Late Night Venue – Sponsored by Red Bull

• Winner: Uno Mas

• Highly Commended: Nightcap

Unsung Hero – Sponsored by Jubel

• Winner: Cam Chittleborough

• Highly Commended: Sam Baxendale

Rising Star – Sponsored by Bacardi

• Winner: Freya Kemp – Old Pal

• Highly Commended: Emily Weston – The Cocktail Geeks

Best Shake – Sponsored by Royal Mile Trade

• Winner: Logan Pope

• Highly Commended: Saul Lavelle

Best Cocktail – Sponsored by Marie Brizzard

• Winner: Yuzu Margarita – Hey Palu / Chancho

• Highly Commended: Porridge Colada – Nauticus

Social Star – Sponsored by Atomic 10

• Winner: Ross Lawrie – Schweppes

• Highly Commended: Groundskeeper Fanny (Murray Tait)

Far Side of the Bar – Sponsored by Dunns

• Winner: Connie Macdonald – Port of Leith

• Highly Commended: Kaitlin Wilkes – The Ada Coleman Project

Legend Award – sponsored by Backs! Hospitality

• Winner: Sian Buchan

Edinburgh Bar Awards 2025 – Finalists Announced 🎉

After weeks of nominations, community voting, and peer review, we’re proud to reveal the finalists for this year’s Edinburgh Bar Awards.

These shortlists represent the very best of our city’s hospitality scene – from cocktail innovators and neighbourhood pubs, to the unsung heroes and rising stars who make it all possible. Each category has been shaped by a 50/50 weighting of public vote and industry expert vote, ensuring both community recognition and peer respect.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in nominating and voting – your support helps celebrate the people and places that make Edinburgh one of the world’s great bar cities.

Check out the full list of finalists below 👇

Best Bar

• Bramble

• The Cocktail Geeks

• Panda & Sons

• The Powder Room

• Hey Palu

Best Pub

• The Mother Superior

• The Finch

• Nauticus

• The Black Cat

• Athletic Arms (Diggers)

Best Restaurant Bar

• Paradise Palms

• Old Pal

• Copper Blossom

• Little Capo

• The Devil’s Advocate

Best Bar Team

• Hey Palu

• Panda & Sons

• The Mother Superior

• The Cocktail Geeks

• Nauticus

Best Late Night Venue

• Nightcap

• Sneaky Pete’s

• The Mother Superior

• NQ64

• Uno Mas

Unsung Hero

• Adam Fraser Gray “Herman” – Panda & Sons

• Sam Baxendale – Bramble

• Cam Chittleborough – The Cocktail Geeks

• Sian Buchan – Uno Mas

• Cullen Hutchison – The Mother Superior

Rising Star

• Logan Pope – Lucky Liquor Co

• Freja Kemp – Old Pal

• Emily Weston – The Cocktail Geeks

• Saul Lavelle – The False Widow

• Walt Webster-Curran – Panda & Sons

Best Shake

• Saul Lavelle – The False Widow

• Sam Milne – Panda & Sons

• Logan Pope – Lucky Liquor Co

• Cam Chittleborough – The Cocktail Geeks

• Fowwaz Ansari – Bittersweet

Best Cocktail

• Bramble – Bramble

• Yuzu Margarita – Hey Palu / Chancho

• The Perfect Pear – Mother Superior

• Porridge Colada – Nauticus

• Make Love Not Warcraft – Cocktail Geeks

Social Star

• Chloe Archibald-Ansari

• Groundskeeper Fanny

• Carrie Smith

• Ross Lawrie

• Rachel Dixon

Far Side of the Bar

• Connie Macdonald – Port of Leith Distillery

• Ross Lawrie – Schweppes UK

• Kaitlin Wilkes – The Ada Coleman Project

• Ellie Raeside – Bacardi UK

• Dan Bartley – Miscellaneous

🕊️ Legend

This year’s Legend Award will be announced separately by our expert panel — recognising a lifetime of contribution to Scotland’s hospitality scene.

At Backs! Hospitality, we’re incredibly proud of the impact our awards have on the communities they celebrate. From the beginning, these awards have been about bringing the industry together to celebrate one another – in a way that feels more inclusive and accessible than traditional awards evenings.

What’s become clear, especially after speaking with past winners, is just how meaningful our peer voting system has become. While we originally chose this approach for its simplicity and transparency, it has since grown into something much more significant.
Being voted the best by the best – by your peers – has become a true badge of honour for those who take home the now-iconic Disco Pineapple.

That’s why this year, we’re making the biggest evolution to our awards since our very first Ball in January 2020.

After thoughtful, and spirited, debate about whether to change a system that clearly resonates, we’ve decided to make a slight but important shift. The changes outlined below are designed to elevate the role of peer voting and increase transparency, helping take the Bar Awards to the next level – while staying true to the spirit of what makes them special.

Round 1: Nominations

You Nominate!
Everyone is welcome to suggest nominees for any category. This keeps the process open and inclusive – we want to hear from YOU.

At the end of this round, nominations will be reviewed and compiled into a longlist of 15 nominees per category.

Nominations close at midnight on Sunday, 20th July.

Round 2: Voting – Finalists & Winners

Voting reopens on Monday, 28th July, and is open to both the public and a panel of past nominees.

Voters will select their favourites from the longlist. These votes will determine both the Top 5 Finalists and the Winners in each category.

• Public Vote (50%): Your vote counts for half of each nominee’s final score.
• Expert Vote (50%): The remaining half comes from a panel made up of last year’s Top 5 finalists in each category. These peers bring valuable insight and industry knowledge to the process.

Voting closes at midnight on Sunday, 31st August.

Finalists & Endorsements

Top 5 Finalists Announced – Monday, 8th September

Expert Endorsements
The expert panel will provide short endorsements for each finalist, highlighting their strengths and achievements. These will be published alongside the results to ensure transparency and provide valuable context.

Winners Announced

Monday, 22nd September at The Edinburgh Bartenders Ball

WINNERS & HIGHLY COMMENDED – EDINBURGH 2024

  BEST BAR 

THE RAGING BULL

HIGHLY COMMENDED – STAR BAR

  BEST PUB 

NAUTICUS

HIGHLY COMMENDED – POLWARTH TAVERN

  BEST RESTAURANT BAR 

OLD PAL

HIGHLY COMMENDED – HAWKSMOOR

 BEST BAR TEAM 

THE COCKTAIL GEEKS

HIGHLY COMMENDED – BRAMBLE

 BEST DRINK 

CRANACHAN – COMMONS CLUB

HIGHLY COMMENDED – COCONUT DAIQUIRI – PANDA & SONS

  UNSUNG HERO 

JANE ROSS – MOTHER SUPERIOR

HIGHLY COMMENDED – BEN LESLIE – THE RAGING BULL

  RISING STAR 

ALESSIA IMPEDOVO – PANDA & SONS

HIGHLY COMMENDED – ALEX MOORE – NAUTICUS

  BEST SHAKE 

FOWWAZ ANSARI – BITTERSWEET

SAM MILNE – PANDA & SONS

  FAR SIDE OF THE BAR 

ELLIE RAESIDE – BACARDI

DANIELA LIVERANI – SAZERAC UK

  LEGEND 

JOHANNA ELIZABETH COLE