The place has served as a cinema, a nightclub, and a live music venue in its past.
The Caley Picture House in Edinburgh ranked third overall in the UK and was named the best-rated Wetherspoons in Scotland(Image: Tartanqueen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)
A historic Edinburgh landmark has been named Scotland’s best Wetherspoons. A new study analysing customer reviews from more than 800 pubs across the UK has picked out the top-rated bars in Tim Martin’s empire.
Known for their affordable pints, unique names, crazy carpets – and long walks to the toilets – JD Wetherspoons bars can be found throughout Britain. While some people may turn their nose up at a ‘Spoons’, others are more than happy to nip in for a cheap pint or two.
And if you’re keen to see the best of what Scotland has to offer, according to the research by Suomicasinot, then you’ll need to head to the capital. The Caley Picture House in Edinburgh was our top-ranked Spoons, also claiming third place in the UK-wide list.
The analysis found that 57.82 per cent of its Google reviewers awarded the former cinema a full five stars, Express reports.
Built in 1922 on Lothian Road and opened on New Year’s Day 1923 with the film Game of Life, the Caley Picture House has long been a fixture of the city’s cultural life.
Originally designed in the Beaux-Arts style by architects J.S. Richardson and J.R. McKay, it seated 900 patrons in its early days.
A major expansion followed in 1928, led by James McKissack of John McKissack & Sons. He added a wing parallel to the road, shop units, and an ornate new entrance featuring a stained-glass window.
Opened in 1923, the Caley Picture House was built in Beaux-Arts style and originally seated 900 people(Image: The Caley Picture House, Lothian Road, Edinburgh by Robin Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)
The auditorium, given an Art Deco makeover, increased capacity to 1,900. With a grand 50-foot-wide proscenium, the venue was well suited to become the first cinema in Edinburgh to show a CinemaScope film when The Robe starring Richard Burton opened there in February 1954.
In the 1980s, the curtain came down on its cinema days. The building was sold in 1983 and closed the following year. In 1986, it was transformed into a nightclub known as Century 2000, later Revolution, before falling into disuse.
It was revived in 2008 as a live music venue called The Picture House, then rebranded as the HMV Picture House shortly afterwards.
Huge acts like Queen, AC/DC, Rory Gallagher, Hawkwind, Gentle Giant, and Uriah Heep all performed under its roof during its heyday. JD Wetherspoon took over the site in 2014, and after careful restoration, reopened it as a pub on December 13, 2016.
Despite the change in purpose, many of the original features and the building’s grandeur remain, offering visitors a pint in one of the most atmospheric settings in the city.
Suomicasinot’s study ranked pubs by the percentage of five-star Google reviews. The Bishop Blaize in Manchester topped the list with 60.34 per cent, followed by the Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate with 58.48 per cent.
The Caley Picture House came in third at 57.82 per cent, comfortably ahead of the next-best-rated Scottish venue.
Meanwhile, the bottom of the list included The Atrium in Birmingham, which recorded just 20.19 per cent five-star reviews. The Albany Palace in Trowbridge and The White Swan in London fared only slightly better, at 31.76 per cent and 31.86 per cent, respectively.
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The top 10 highest-rated Wetherspoons in the UK
- The Bishop Blaize, Manchester (60.34%)
- Royal Victoria Pavilion, Ramsgate (58.48%)
- The Caley Picture House, Edinburgh (57.82%)
- The Greenwood Hotel, Northolt (57.80%)
- Stick or Twist, Leeds (57.13%)
- The Golden Beam, Leeds (56.71%)
- The William Adams, Gorleston-on-Sea (55.53%)
- The Prense Well, Heswall (55.40%)
- The Velvet Coaster, Blackpool (55.07%)
- The Buck Inn, Northallerton (54.97%)