SoBe Burger Edinburgh — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Some people have no clue how to work in hospitality. When we first entered, all that the cashier had to say was "Hi", that's it, very blunt. Not indicating a table, not a smile, not welcoming at all. Nothing. The atmosphere was cold (like the temperature), the environment awkward and silent, interrupted by an unbearable noise on loop that sounded 10 seconds on and 10 seconds off for the whole duration of the lunch. The floor under the table was sticky. We ordered two burgers (quite small, to be fair), a portion of fries and a can to share for £27. The food was left on the counter (zero service) and when I asked for a couple of cups to share the cola she looked at me like I was asking for something weird, like the moon. In a place where you go to eat they don't have cups, or glasses, or even a straw. We had to drink from the same can with the mouth dirty from sauce, because two cups was too much to ask, obviously. The toilet was quite nasty and stinking, but I wasn't surprised. Last but not least, when we left and I said "thank you" (despite everything), the cashier clearly pretended not to hear me and ignored me on purpose, probably because she realised that we weren't happy and she was kinda offended, when we should have been the offended ones due the treatment we received. The food was alright, not too bad but nothing special, not good enough to save a place where the incompetence owns. If you order from there it could be fine, but I would strongly avoid consuming at the place because they have no idea how to deal with customers, but overall, probably the lack of basic education.

I'm not usually the type of person who leaves reviews, but on this one...

I'm delighted that there's a SoBe Burger on Lothian Road. I popped in on Saturday, just before the dinner rush and got served quickly.

As I was dining in I could do the Deluxe Meal offer which got me a double cheeseburger, fried and three chicken tenders. I watched the smash burgers get made as you can see the hot plate.

My initial reaction was "is that all?" when the food arrived because it didn't have the same Instagram appeal as some of these huge burgers. However! The cheeseburger was delicious and the chicken tenders perfect. Average fries and it's weird they don't offer loaded fries upgrades.

The vibe was not what I expected. SoBe is down to earth. It's almost like a Leith Walk cafe or one of the late night Lothian Road venues that have managed to persist for decades. There are tables for eating in but they're rammed close together. Importantly, there was plenty of staff on duty and the eating area nice and clean.

Overall? I hope it opens late and stays clean. SoBe will be brilliant for film festivals or even pre and post shows at the Usher Hall.

Edinburgh has no shortage of great burger bars and SoBe's is a contender for the "best of" list.

[August 25 update] Still impossibly tight tables but otherwise...

After hearing good things about this chain we decided to order delivery to try it as it was close to where we lived. My partner is vegetarian and they had an option for a vegetarian burger. It didn't arrive with the order and we had no way of contacting the brand of this chain. After submitting a Just Eat refund we tried to order another burger only to be called and told they have no vegetarian patties left. We still don't know if this was the case with the original order as it was still available online which is bad for those wanting it specifically. The member of staff then hung up and we couldn't cancel the order via the Just Eat app, so we had to find the number for their branch to get them to cancel it. But when calling the branch it said it was Slumdog, not SoBe Burger. It was SoBe but clearly they haven't changed their answering machine. After telling the staff member they needed to reject the order they asked for no details and hung up saying they would do it. They didn't. It took us calling Just Eat to get it resolved, for a first time order it has been a frustrating experience...