RFK Rankings · Edinburgh
Best Restaurants for Family-Friendly in Edinburgh (2026)
Family dining · Edinburgh · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 8, 2026 · Updated May 22, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
A toddler can wreck a hushed tasting room in four minutes, so the test in Edinburgh is simple: a kitchen good enough for the parents, a room loud enough to hide the noise, and a kids' menu that is not an afterthought. The city delivers, from a Bombay cafe off St Andrew Square that serves a children's menu all day to a covered street-food market in Leith where kids run free until eight. These are the rooms that make a meal out with children feel like a day rather than a gauntlet. Here is who each one suits, what to order, and what to know before you go. Seven, ranked on the cooking, the room and the welcome.
1.Dishoom
A buzzy Bombay cafe with a children's menu at every service and a famous bacon naan. Book it for the whole table.
Dishoom opened its Edinburgh branch off St Andrew Square in 2017, and Shamil and Kavi Thakrar's Bombay-Irani cafe runs a dedicated children's menu at breakfast, lunch and dinner, which is rarer than it should be in a room this good. The signature bacon naan roll, made with bacon from Ramsay of Carluke, is the dish that converts sceptical kids, and the all-day buzz means a noisy table disappears into the room.
This is the family booking for parents who want to eat properly rather than settle, with house black daal that has simmered for twenty-four hours and a children's mango kulfi at about £6.70 to close. Walk in expecting a handsome, busy room and a long queue at peak, so book an early sitting. Reserve ahead for dinner, take the first table of the evening with younger children, and order the bacon naan the moment you sit.
Book on the Dishoom site for an early sitting; the bacon naan settles any restless table.
2.The Pitt
A covered Leith street-food market where kids eat free and run loose until eight. Go on a Saturday for the chaos.
The Pitt is the easiest family meal in the city, a covered street-food market on Pitt Street in Leith where entry is £2, children go free, and a rotating cast of trucks and stalls means every fussy eater finds something. It is explicitly family-friendly until 8pm with an adult, with live music, open space and a dog-friendly crowd, which makes a long lunch feel like an afternoon out rather than a meal to endure.
Because the vendors rotate weekend to weekend, the move is to let everyone wander and order their own thing, from loaded fries to bao to ice cream, then regroup at a shared bench. Walk in expecting noise, queues and zero formality, which is exactly the point with young children. Note it runs weekends only, Saturday and Sunday from noon, so plan around that and come early before the best stalls sell through.
Turn up at The Pitt on a weekend; entry is £2 and children go free.
3.Civerinos
A loud Old Town pizzeria built on slices to share and a kids' menu. Book Hunter Square when everyone wants different things.
Civerinos, founded by Michele Civiera, is the Old Town pizzeria that solves the everyone-wants-something-different problem, with pizza by the slice, themed Local Legends pies and a kids' menu running fish, burger, chicken and chips and brownies across its branches. The bookable Hunter Square site is the family flagship, loud and casual enough that a restless six-year-old is nobody's problem.
This is the relaxed neighbourhood booking where the food is genuinely good rather than a compromise, with a Stockbridge branch that local parents single out as especially child-friendly. Walk in expecting a young, busy room and slices big enough to share around the table. Reserve for Hunter Square at the weekend, order a couple of whole pizzas plus slices for the children, and let everyone build their own meal.
Book the Civerinos Hunter Square site; order a few whole pizzas and let the table share.
4.Wahaca
Thomasina Miers's Mexican market kitchen with a £6 kids' menu and baby-changing. Try it for quesadillas and churros.
Wahaca, the Mexican market-food group from MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers, sits on South St Andrew Street in the New Town and is built for groups and children, with a dedicated kids' menu from £5.95, baby-changing facilities, accessible toilets and outdoor tables. The small-plates format means the table grazes together, and the cheese quesadillas and mini chicken tacos are reliable with younger eaters.
This is the easy, affordable family booking where nobody has to commit to a single plate, and the churros at the end are the carrot that gets children through the meal. Walk in expecting a bright, casual room rated well by families, with a 4.2 average across more than a thousand reviews. Reserve for busy evenings, order a spread of small plates to share, and finish with churros and chocolate.
Book the Wahaca site; the cheese quesadillas and churros keep younger children happy.
5.Mimi’s Bakehouse
A Leith shoreline bakery with high chairs and a children's afternoon tea. Pencil it in for a low-stakes weekend brunch.
Mimi's Bakehouse runs its flagship on West Harbour Road on the Leith shoreline, a cake-and-brunch cafe set up for families with high chairs, toddler seating and a children's afternoon tea that turns a Saturday morning into a small event. The whimsical, cosy decor and generous bakes make it a low-stakes choice when you want comfort rather than a project.
This is the booking for breakfast, brunch or a mid-afternoon stop with prams in tow, with branches also in Corstorphine and the Old Town if the shoreline is out of the way. Walk in expecting a warm, busy room and a counter of cakes that does most of the persuading with children. Reserve at the weekend, ask for a table with space for a pram, and split a children's afternoon tea between two if portions look generous.
Book the Mimi's Bakehouse Leith site; the children's afternoon tea is the weekend draw.
6.Pizza Geeks
A pop-culture pizzeria with films on the big screen and an arcade. Book Haymarket for a fun, low-pressure family night.
Pizza Geeks runs its Haymarket Mothership as a pop-culture pizzeria where the menu reads like a comic, with themed pies such as The Mario and the Chorizard, plus films on a big screen and an arcade that keeps children busy between courses. A new menu launched at Haymarket and Easter Road in April 2026, and the family options sit alongside the artisan pizzas the kitchen is known for.
This is the booking for a fun, low-pressure family night where the entertainment is built in, with further sites on Easter Road and Commercial Street in Leith. Walk in expecting Marvel, Star Wars and anime decor and a young, relaxed crowd. Reserve for the weekend, let the children pick a themed pizza, and keep a couple of arcade coins back for the wait between ordering and eating.
Book the Pizza Geeks Haymarket site; the themed pizzas and arcade do the entertaining.
7.Mary’s Milk Bar
A Grassmarket gelato window under the Castle, all made daily by Mary Hillard. Add it on for the spaghetti sundae.
Mary's Milk Bar is the dessert add-on every Edinburgh family meal should end with, a gelato window on the Grassmarket under the Castle where Mary Hillard has made every batch fresh on the premises since 2013. The rotating flavours, the dairy-free options and the showpiece spaghetti sundae make it a treat children remember, and the dog-friendly window suits a walk afterwards.
This is a stop rather than a meal, with no seating, so it works best after lunch in the Old Town or as the reward at the end of a Castle morning. Walk up expecting a queue at peak and a chalkboard of flavours that changes by the day. Come early in the afternoon before popular flavours run out, let the children choose from the board, and eat it walking through the Grassmarket.
Walk up to Mary's Milk Bar in the Grassmarket; the spaghetti sundae is the children's order.
Not for the kids
A tasting room, not a family table
The Kitchin. Tom Kitchin's Michelin-starred room in Leith runs tasting menus from £130 to £180 a head and is built for a quiet, grown-up occasion. It is a superb restaurant and the wrong room for young children; save it for a date night and book one of the seven above for the family.
Welcoming at lunch only
Timberyard. The Radford family's room near Lady Lawson Street holds a Michelin Green Star and welcomes children at lunch, but the multi-course dinner service is built for adults. Take the family at lunch if at all, and keep the evening tasting for a child-free night.
How to dine out with kids in Edinburgh
Book the first sitting and you solve half the problem. The good family rooms, Dishoom and Civerinos especially, fill fast and get loud, so an early table means shorter waits, calmer service and a room that absorbs noise rather than amplifying it. For the no-booking options, The Pitt and Mary's Milk Bar, come early before the best stalls and flavours sell through, and build the meal around a walk so restless children have somewhere to go.
Match the room to the age. Toddlers do best where the format is forgiving, Wahaca's small plates, Civerinos' shareable slices or The Pitt's order-your-own market, while older children get more out of the entertainment at Pizza Geeks. Check the practicalities before you go: The Pitt runs weekends only, Mary's Milk Bar has no seating, and Mimi's Bakehouse is the one set up with high chairs and pram space. Tell the room you have children when you book so they can seat you well.
Frequently asked
What is the best family-friendly restaurant in Edinburgh?
Dishoom off St Andrew Square is the marquee family pick, a Bombay-Irani cafe that runs a dedicated children's menu at breakfast, lunch and dinner and stays buzzy enough to hide a restless table. The bacon naan roll converts sceptical kids and the cooking is good enough that parents are not settling. Book an early sitting for dinner with younger children, and order the bacon naan and the black daal.
Where can you take kids to eat in Leith?
The Pitt on Pitt Street is the easiest family meal in Leith, a covered street-food market where entry is £2, children go free and rotating trucks mean every fussy eater finds something, with space to run and live music. Mimi's Bakehouse on the West Harbour Road shoreline is the calmer option, set up with high chairs and a children's afternoon tea. The Pitt runs weekends only, so plan around Saturday and Sunday.
Does Edinburgh have a good casual spot for families with different tastes?
Civerinos in the Old Town is built for it, with pizza by the slice, themed pies and a kids' menu of fish, burger, chicken and chips and brownies, so everyone orders what they want and shares. The bookable Hunter Square site is the family flagship, loud and casual enough that young children are no problem. Wahaca's Mexican small plates work the same way, letting the table graze rather than commit to one dish each.
Are there family restaurants near Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town?
Yes. Civerinos has a bookable site on Hunter Square in the Old Town, and Mary's Milk Bar sits on the Grassmarket directly under the Castle, making the gelato window the natural reward at the end of a Castle morning. Mary's is takeaway only with no seating, so treat it as a stop on a walk rather than a sit-down meal, and come early in the afternoon before the popular flavours sell through.
Which Edinburgh restaurants should families avoid?
Skip the destination tasting rooms with young children. Tom Kitchin's The Kitchin in Leith runs tasting menus from £130 to £180 and is built for a quiet, grown-up occasion, while Timberyard near Lady Lawson Street welcomes children at lunch but runs an adult-focused dinner service. Both are excellent restaurants for a date night; for a meal with children, book Dishoom, Civerinos or one of the casual rooms above instead.
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