The Criterion

You'll find The Criterion wedged into South Street's best stretch, where the university crowd meets locals who've actually been coming here for years. It's the kind of place where the bartenders remember what you drink and don't make a song and dance about it — they just make it properly. The drinks list takes itself seriously without being insufferable: classic cocktails done right, a genuinely thoughtful whisky collection that goes beyond the tourist-trap stuff, and the sort of beer selection that suggests someone actually cares. The vibe sits somewhere between proper pub and proper bar, which is exactly where St Andrews needed something to land.