Casual Edinburgh restaurant recommendations

[CarlanHoben]

Enjoyed reading the Edinburgh restaurant recommendations thread so hoping to pick everyone's brains about more casual restaurants in central Edinburgh please for a family long weekend in Feb - 2 adults & 2 older teenagers.

Not looking for a high end experience, just good food & atmosphere. We've got one vegetarian (not vegan) in the party and 2 enthusiastic meat eaters! Cuisine that usually works well for us as a family is Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Lebanese, Mexican, American - specifically not looking for Indian/ Thai. First visit to Edinburgh for us all and only have 2 days so will be staying pretty close to the centre. Scottish recommendations would also be great

We enjoyed El Cartel

I always make a beeline for Howies when I'm in Edinburgh.

Hendersons for Vegetarian, Kyloe for steak, Mowgli for Indian.

Sorry, just saw no Indian. Contini on George st is good for Italian.

When you say the centre, do you mean the new town, or the old town?

Baba in George street

Middle eastern food, small or larger plates .We really liked it

We've eaten at The Scran and Scallie a couple of times and had a really good meal both times. It gets busy so you'd need to book.

https://scranandscallie.com/

Amazing thanks all!! Off to start investigating. We are staying at the west end of Princess Street so looks equidistant to the Old Town and New Town from looking at a map. We are happy to walk - just not looking for places that would need a taxi

Seconding Baba in George St..Middle Eastern deliciousness.

We’ve eaten at Meze Meze on rose street a couple of times. Gorgeous Middle Eastern sharing platters. Really central. Quite small so probably best to book. Warning, very generous portions!

Fava in Morrison Street near Haymarket Station in West End is great for Greek food. Middle range, not too expensive, nice ambience.

Cafe Andaluz on George Street for tapas or BABA gets very good reviews is on my list of places to visit.
Bonnie & Wild in the St James centre (very casual, it's a food market type place)
It's a chain but I really enjoyed Wahaca for Mexican food.
First Coast on Dalry Road isn't too far to walk from the west end.
I think Scran & Scallie is probably more high end than you're looking for, it's definitely got a high end price tag!
You don't need taxis in Edinburgh, the bus service is excellent.

Vittoria on the Bridge

The Boozy Cow