Nick Watkins of Glasgow’s favourite burger restaurant El Perro Negro said they had been looking for the right Edinburgh location for a while, and that the prospect of “joining the Bonnie & Wild family was a brilliant opportunity, and too good to pass up on”.
El Perro Negro has won a string of culinary and business accolades in recent years, including UK’s best burger in 2021 and in 2019. The popular eatery has a restaurant in Glasgow’s Woodlands area.
Now the popular burger restaurant and takeaway has today opened up its first Edinburgh outlet at Bonnie & Wild’s food hall, which hosts a variety of exciting chef-led food businesses including Chef Jimmy Lee’s Salt & Chilli, Gary Maclean’s Creel Caught and The Gannet, which last month won Best Restaurant at the annual SLTN awards.
Fans of El Perro Negro were given a hint of the new move over the weekend when the burger business published a cryptic post on their social media channels announcing the move to Edinburgh, but keeping quiet on the location.
El Perro Negro’s founder Nick said: “Opening in Edinburgh is a massive milestone for El Perro Negro, and both myself and business partners Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein are delighted to head east and join such a fantastic line-up at Bonnie & Wild.
"The support from customers over the past seven years, since we started out as a small pop-up in Glasgow has been overwhelming and we can’t wait to welcome everyone at our newest location.”
Offering a selection of meaty masterpieces, El Perro Negro will be serving up its spectacular Top Dog burger, twice winner of the National Burger Awards, which made with bone marrow and Roquefort butter, double bacon, caramelised onions and black truffle mayo.
Nick, who recently hosted a cook-off event at Bonnie & Wild in partnership with resident butcher MacDuff 1890, added: “All of El Perro Negro’s beef is sourced from small farms in the UK. Always grass-fed and always dry-aged.”
Bonnie & Wild’s Director of Operations Ryan Barrie said: “I’ve over the moon that Nick and the El Perro Negro team are joining Bonnie & Wild.
"Nick’s focus on high quality and responsible sourcing really chimes with Bonnie & Wild, and we’re delighted to be welcoming the El Perro Negro team into our Scottish Marketplace, where they’ll be joining the likes National Chef of Scotland Gary Maclean, The Gannet and Chef Jimmy Lee, as well as local favourites east PIZZAS, CHIX and Joelato.
"I can’t wait to get my hands on one of their Top Dog burgers.”
Since opening in July, Bonnie & Wild has served more than 150,000 guests and attracted businesses such as Bowmore, Naked Malt, Bruichladdich, Virgin Atlantic and Scotland Food & Drink for product launches and other high-profile events.
As well as El Perro Negro, its food stalls include Creel Caught by Gary Maclean, Chef Jimmy Lee’s Salt & Chilli, Erpingham House, east PIZZAS, Joelato, CHIX, The Gannet East, MacDuff Butcher, Broken Clock Café & Patisserie and the Inverarity Morton boutique bottleshop.
El Perro Negro is open now and customers can visit at Bonnie & Wild, located in St James Centre, Edinburgh 7 days a week.
