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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
David McLean

Edinburgh's long lost restaurants we miss from down the years

While it's of vital importance that the capital's culinary options always shift with the times, there are still loads of top restaurants that we're gutted are no longer with us.

From long-established Italian pizza and pasta specialists to more exotic eateries serving up the best in East Asian and Mexican cuisine, we take a look at seven lost Edinburgh restaurants we wish were still serving up their quality grub.

Darios

Darios Italian restaurant is a much-missed fixture on Lothian Road. Picture: Google Street View.

When it came to late night dining options, there were few places better than Darios on Lothian Road.

Run by city businessman Tommy Di Resta, the Italian restaurant fed many a famished clubber down the years and was equally handy for people coming out of the Usher Hall or ABC Cinema.

Having served up reasonably-priced pizza and pasta dishes since the ‘80s, Darios sadly closed down in 2014.

READ MORE: Flashback Mr Boni's Edinburgh menu takes us back to legendary ice cream parlour's glory days

Fat Sam’s

Fat Sam's was a must-visit eatery in the '80s and '90s.

A visit to US gangster-themed eatery Fat Sam’s back in the day was an offer we couldn’t refuse.

Fittingly situated in the old Fountainbridge meat market, the restaurant is remembered for its robotic house band and for dishing out badges that stated ‘I Survived Fat Sam’s’ to customers who finished their meal.

In spite of Fat Sam’s popularity, the restaurant shut down permanently in 2000 and is now the site of a modern office and retail block.

Himalaya

Himalaya was on the go since the 1980s.

There are few better ways to curry favour with capital food fans than offering delicious Indian food, and Himalaya was definitely worth a group expedition.

The Bruntsfield Place establishment served up Indian and Nepalese cuisine for a generation of Edinburgh foodies before closing for good just four years ago.

The premises are now home to Saffron, an equally-exotic restaurant specialising in Middle Eastern dishes.

Wimpy

Locals lapped up fast food chain Wimpy until the early 1990s.

This British burger chain predated the likes of McDonald’s and was hugely-popular back in the day.

Edinburgh had several Wimpy restaurants in the city centre, including Queensferry Street, Frederick Street and two on Princes Street.

Known for its table service, bender burgers and Mr Wimpy mascot, the former fast food giant has stuck in the minds of locals of a certain age.

Wimpy vanished from the capital in the early 1990s and today the chain only has three restaurants in the whole of Scotland.

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Mr Boni's

Mr Boni's sadly closed in 2002.

Mr Boni’s ice cream parlour in Tollcross was an Edinburgh institution we were all absolutely gutted to lose.

The roots of the Italo-Scots business were planted in the early 1900s, with the Boni family operating a cafe and restaurant at Gilmore Place.

It would be as an ice cream parlour, however, that Boni’s would become a household name.

Boni’s ran several parlours in Edinburgh in the 1990s, but the business sadly folded in 2002.

Illegal Jack’s

Illegal Jack's was immensely-popular in the 2010s.

Illegal Jack’s was everyone’s favourite city centre Tex-Mex grill for a spell in the early 2010s.

A big favourite among families and local students, Jack’s was forever packed to the rafters and won numerous foodie awards during its time.

The eatery originally had premises on Lothian Road, but later moved to St Patrick Square. Sadly, both restaurants are now gone.

Brattisani’s

Brattisani's served up the best fish and chips in town.

God bless those Edinburgh Italians - as if producing top quality ice cream wasn’t enough, they had to go and serve the best fish and chips too.

Brattisani was a very well-known name in these parts once-upon-a-time, with the family operating several fish bars around the city.

The Brattisani eateries at Morrison Street and Newington Road are the stuff of legend and it was a sad day when the family wrapped their final suppers in 2004.

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