Fast, friendly and convenient. Not the greatest selection of anything from the vegetable kingdom,…read morebut if you're looking for essentials, you've found the spot.

Decent quick tiny grocer in Edinburgh. 4stars only bc they were out of many items we wanted. 2…read moretimes we went .

Nestled in amongst all the tourist tat on The Royal Mile, Supermarket is what it says it is... a…read morevery small supermarket. Rather than selling purely Scottish items, it's more of a British supermarket as it stocks solely British produce. Walkers crisps, Marmite, HP, Heinz, Pot Noodles, Tetley teabags etc. It's really cool and it mad me realise how much I love all of the above items. When I was living in Germany I couldn't get any of the above things and boy, I missed them so badly. I don't even like Pot Noodles but I found myself craving a Chicken and Mushroom probably just because I couldn't get one. I came home for Christmas and went back with a suitcase full of Walker Crisps. I need my crisps, I usually eat about five bags a day, I know that's terrible but I actually couldn't survive without crisps. Unfortunately, when I moved away I realised that Britain is the only country in the world where crisps are a HUGE thing, the only flavour of crisps available to me in Germany were Paprika... not great. Interesting for tourists to see various condiments and other food produce that us Brit's just can't get enough of.

It was a Sunday evening, nothing else around was open, and that's how I ended up here. By the time…read moreI'd reached the back of the shop, the owner was in a shouting match with someone at the counter and if I thought I could have managed a quick escape then, I'd have done that, but I had a suspicion that he'd call me out on not buying anything. The shelves weren't particularly well-stocked that evening. It might have been the time of day, day of the week, who knows. I picked up a couple of things and headed to the front where the owner proceeded to shout at me about Scottish independence (this was before the vote). After I paid, I said "Thank you" and he picked up on my accent immediately. "Which of the f***ing colonies are you from?" he asked. "Oklahoma," I responded. He went on ranting about politics and I somehow managed to exit the store without incurring any more of his wrath.

This Marks and Spencer Simply Food location is in a good location, inside Edinburgh Waverley…read moreStation, so it can be a useful stop to grab a quick to-go food or drink item before getting on a train, or essentials while passing through the station or city centre, with the larger, main Marks and Spencer store on Princess Street nearby shutting rather early at 7 pm, the fact this store is open until 10 pm adds a couple of hours to get essentials in the evening. The store is reasonably small, and the stock isn't great, I wasn't able to find the particular type of milk I was looking for but was able to seek a reasonable alternative. The checkout area was straightforward and easy, with a staff member on hand to help at the many self-service checkouts, it is disappointing that this store does not support Marks and Spencer's mobile scanning and payment, which would be particularly useful, due to being a travel location, where shoppers would want to get in and out quickly to catch a train. 3* - The location and service are both good, while the stock is the bare minimum and could be better, but still one of the better places to get a small selection of groceries in the evening compared to alternatives nearby.

When you're cold and wet and you have a 4 hour long train ride ahead of you... The last thing you…read morecan think about is WHERE TO GET DINNER... Which is how I ended up at Marks & Spencer's... I was anticipating just getting a premade salad and then adding cans of fish to the leafy greens but I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find that they offered pre-grilled/poached/cooked meats and fun anti-pasti toppings! I grabbed a clean, and huge, bowl of mixed greens that also included radish, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and large leaves of romaine lettuce... And then I also selected a package of plain poached salmon and a package of lemon her grilled salmon (2 fillets per package)... On top of that I also got some marinated artichoke hearts and more cherry tomatoes... Hey what else am I going to do on the train, right? Well, even though I wasn't all that hungry when our train finally left the station, I still chowed down, finishing every little bit. The amount of food I could certainly could have fed four people, but ha, not when my chompers are in the picture! I wound up finishing this meal in about 25 minutes and I have to say, it did help the train ride go by a bit faster! (Or maybe it was thanks to the rather entertaining drunk people?)... Any who... A lot of people don't realize that a GROCERY STORE can offer just as fast, if not faster, FAST FOODS than say... The Burger King next door... And might I add 80000x healthier?!? I highly recommend you get CREATIVE with your dining options! Oh and BY THE WAY... Fiancé got 2 portions of marinated and grilled chicken and he didn't put a stink at all, in fact, I do believe he quite liked what he got. Perhaps he's FINALLY REALIZING my BRILLIANCE when it comes to "fast food"?! Well, maybe not but I can only hope! LOL. PS: don't forget to ask for utensils if you plan on eating the food right away... PSS: I'm not a smoked fish fan, but there is a hint of smokiness on the salmon... Which can easily be hidden by adding a little salt (grab some salt packets from Burger King if you're a salt lover like myself!)

Quick easy convenience store in Wales. Carries most items but I prefer Aldi or Adsa in Wales.read more

Oh! I thought this was a Metro. It's so much bigger and better-stocked than its little cousin down…read morenear my house that I just assumed it must be. (What world is this that I am able to make unconscious assumptions about the kind of Tesco I'm in? Ugh.) Anyway. It's bigger and better-stocked. That's why I thought it was a Metro. It's also pretty tidy most of the time and last time I went in, there was a nice young man from Stoats giving away free samples, which was fun. The tills are fairly well laid-out... I don't really know what else there is to say. It's a Tesco, and just a Tesco, and it's got nothing particularly out of the ordinary to recommend it, but it's juuuuuust fine.

The is a handy and ubiquitous convenience store chain we saw throughout Scotland. The best thing…read moreto me is that their ATM's had the best rates for ATM cash. Their rate was the current 1.35 USD/GBP exchange rate plus only a 3.95 GBP charge. Other ATM's I tried at the airport and at a bank wanted about a 1.55 USD/GBP exchange rate which equates to a ridiculous 15% fee! Otherwise, we like convenience stores like this during our travels for items like bottled water and such.

Sainsbury's on West Port, not too far from Chalmers Centre, in Edinburgh was the first grocery…read morestore I went to in Scotland. On my second day, first morning, in Scotland (6 July 2019), I was looking to get a few food items for the day before picking up my rental car and was aware of this store as I passed it the evening before on foot when going to get dinner. The store was bigger on the inside than it looked like on the outside. Sections were well set up and easy to navigate and peruse. I was particularly impressed with a bakery/fresh-baked breads section at the back of the store. In the United States of America, the stores of an equivalent nature might have hot dogs or donuts available, but not fresh-made bread. I got a few items and went through self check out. It took me a couple tries to get the payment right, but everything worked. Worker(s) were friendly.

I really, really wish I lived closer to this little shop! I walked past it today and couldn't…read morebelieve my luck, it looks like a tiny little village shop selling produce from all the local farmers at really good-value prices, until you realise that you're actually only about 2 minutes walk away from George Street. Location aside, that description is true. They stock everything from fairy liquid to fresh fruit and free range eggs, ad not only was it really cheap but it was also really good quality. Let me elaborate... Tesco: 4 "ripen at home" (aka totally unripe) nectarines for £1 and apparently that's them giving you a special offer. Here, I got a punnet of 10 perfectly ripe ones for only £1.79. Moreover, the guy who served me in here didn't look like he hated his job so much he was about to kill himself. I even got a smile and a hello, followed by him telling me to enjoy my day on my way out. We need more little shops like these!

It's the best and onle wee cornershop worth thinking about if you at the cannongate, calton area,…read morehotels like the travel lodge and premier inn are less than 5min away. Everything's reasonably priced considering you'd have to walk a lot further to get the same groceries this place sells. Staff are wonderfully people, feels like a wee family community shop for me and my partner. The guys are great for a chat or laugh too.... open on a sunday too. They can sometimes get stuff in for you if your a regular and like a particular brand etc. Stephen & Dee. We'd be lost without this wee shop, it's away from the hustle and bustle of the bridges.

Because of its location in one of the best retail spots in town you know in advance that this place…read moreis not going to be knocking out unbelievable deals from every possible piece of shelf on offer. As it is the prices are fairly dear, but that is really to be expected. One area that is a bit confusing is the price labelling and it can be fairly confusing in terms of working out how much each item costs and this can be a bit of a challenge. When the shop is busy you hardly want to be asking the shop keeper how much everything costs every twenty seconds. Despite all this, I do come to this shop every time I'm in the area and in need of a quick drink or bite to eat as it is the most accessible outlet in the area. It doesn't offer anything special, but it does get the job done.

Conveniently convenient. This Tesco larger on the inside with multiple aisles containing items…read moreranging from produce to biscuits.

Was a last chance for me to grab some favorite UK snacks - like Ribena and Twirl and marmite before…read moreheading home. Also love the self-check out so prevalent in most UK grocery shops.

Stopped off here to pick up some groceries and snacks. It has a decent variety of food but not the…read moremost orderly store and the employees seemed grumpy which was unusual given my experience with others in town.

This Sainsbury's Local store is in a useful location on Shandwick Place, just off Princes Street in…read moreEdinburgh city centre. The selection is mixed, they have a great to-go food and drink section, which includes a Costa Express machine, however, the stock of essentials and groceries wasn't too good while being at the usual inflated convenience store pricing. The layout of the store was easy enough to follow, but due to the presence of security gates, you will need to go through the checkout area even if you don't buy anything, which can be a pain, especially if there's a big queue and the item you wanted to purchase is out of stock. There are a couple of hotels nearby, so this can be a great stop to get a couple of things to take back to your room, without having to travel far, but better alternatives for sure around the city. 3*

Almost by default, Irvine's is my newsagent of choice on the Royal Mile, as on principle I refuse…read moreto put up with old misery guts that works in The Scottish Grocer just a few doors down. It's exactly as you'd expect from a newsagent, stocking papers, mags, sweets, drinks and fags. There's also a few Scottish bits and bobs for sale, but it doesn't appear to be the main focus. It's a very small shop, so there's not a huge amount of choice, but the friendly atmosphere keeps their noses in front of the rest.

As Gavin has already mentioned, Irvine's isn't the largest newsagents around but boy to they know…read morehow to make the most of the size and it's full to bursting with goodies. I popped in here the other day for a magazine to read on the train and some chewing gum and I also noticed that this place has a really nice friendly atmosphere. As far as newsagents goes, this one is pretty darn good!