Hoardings go up at the former New Look store as it is converted into all-day steakhouse restaurant

The first restaurant to submit plans for a presence on Edinburgh’s famous shopping street is on track for a Christmas opening, its owners, Whitbread, have confirmed.

Branded hoardings for the new Princes Street Bar + Block Steakhouse, featuring images of what’s in store at Edinburgh, have been installed at the former New Look store on Princes Street this week.

Work is well underway on the conversion of the ground floor of the former retail store (121 Princes Street) into the destination all-day steak restaurant as part of an extension to the popular Princes Street Premier Inn hotel next door.

On opening, the restaurant will be the second Bar + Block Steakhouse in Scotland and follows the opening of the first restaurant on St Enoch Square in Glasgow in June and the 18th to open across the UK, all of which are located adjacent to Premier Inn hotels.

John Underwood, Construction Project and Programme Manager for Whitbread, said:

“It is a privilege to be leading the development of one of the first restaurants to open on Princes Street. It is a complex project as we are building a 60-bedroom extension and delivering a new restaurant in a busy shopping area at the same time. The location is superb and Bar + Block’s all-day flexible trading format, from breakfast through to dinner, lends itself to the location. I am confident that we will have a busy restaurant on our hands.”

Bar + Block Steakhouse boasts a menu that puts the spotlight on high quality 30-day aged steaks in a variety of cuts and sizes, hand cut to order, at an accessible price point with the signature ‘Butcher’s Block’ offering limited time only rotating steak specials.

Also on the menu are fresh burgers ground on-site, salads, grills and grazing plates whilst an express menu, served in under 10 minutes, is available for £10 Monday to Friday. Drinks include creative cocktails and craft brews.

Whitbread has been expanding Premier Inn across Scotland this calendar year with new hotel openings at the west end of Princes Street, St Enoch Square in Glasgow, Hamilton town centre and Thurso in the Highlands. Together, the new openings have added 566 Premier Inn bedrooms to its network of hotels in Scotland.

The Bar + Block Steakhouse was the first planning application for a new restaurant on Princes Street to be approved following revisions to planning guidance on Princes Street by the City of Edinburgh Council.