Best York Restaurants and Best Places To Eat In York

Red and white boats on the river in York

Jump to:

Best restaurants in York
Foodie neighbourhood in York
Foodie experiences in York
More of the best restaurants, cafés and food shops in York

olive's 10 best places to eat and drink in York

For a banging brunch: Partisan
Impressive all-dayer: York Minster Refectory
The hot seat: Skosh
Rising bakery: Cosgriff & Sons
For a wine bar with excellent food: 22 Yards
For a cut-above casual: Los Moros
For proper pizza: Cresci
Big night blow-out: Roots
A local legend: Coconut Lagoon
Street food stars: Spark: York

Best restaurants in York

Partisan

Simultaneously an impressive bakery – its gorgeous cake counter visible from the street – and, behind that, a vintagestyled café and art gallery serving memorable plates of, for example, shakshuka, eggs benedict and seasonal french toast variations. In particular, don’t miss the scrambled Persian spiced eggs with spinach, caramelised onions and Medjool dates. Last year, a sister restaurant, Brancusi, was opened nearby. Unlike daytime-only Partisan, Brancusi also serves an evening menu of modish small plates. partisanuk.com

York Minster Refectory

Renowned Yorkshire chef Andrew Pern runs two attractive York venues: The Star Inn the City on the River Ouse, and the Refectory, located in a former school by York Minster. Whether drinking in the view from the terrace, grabbing a takeaway sandwich or lingering over elevated plates in the restaurant, it is a class act. Befitting Andrew’s fine-dining heritage, broadly Anglo-French dishes (say, a torched mackerel niçoise, or housecured pork belly bacon with celeriac fondant, confit egg yolk and smoked apple) are full of clever details. yorkminsterrefectory.co.uk

Skosh

Good fun in a way few ambitious restaurants are. The buzzy vibe is warmly informal and chef Neil Bentinck’s globetrotting small plates are clever, creative crowd-pleasers. In its classic hen’s egg cheddar mousse (flavoured with, for example, mushroom and PX sherry syrup), fried chicken with gochujang or tandoori octopus with lime pickle, Skosh – extended in 2024 to include a new bar area – is a restaurant that will both thrill foodies and win over those who don’t ordinarily do fancy food. skoshyork.co.uk

Cosgriff & Sons

York has many exciting bakeries – see Little Arras, Flori, the new Heppni Bakeri, etc. Chef-turned-baker Paul Cosgriff is in that movement’s vanguard. Visit for stellar breads, innovative pastries filled with seasonal jams, custards and crumbles, and a short, daily menu of sandwiches served on a hybrid sourdough focaccia. Creative fillings such as aubergine schnitzel, baba ganoush, mint ricotta and pomegranate, excel. @cs_sourdough

22 Yards

This relaxing space smoothly blurs the lines between wine shop, bar and restaurant. Wine lovers will geek-out over the list (more than 70 wines by the glass) and purr over chef Grant Todd’s well-executed dishes of beef tartare, mackerel crudo or sole in a lemon caper butter. Alternatively, graze on charcuterie, cheese and local Haxby Bakehouse sourdough. 22yardswine.com

Los Moros

Chef Tarik Abdeladim’s Los Moros made its name on Shambles Market, where it still has a stall, before opening this Grape Lane restaurant. Artisan skills are central to its modern North African menu, with everything from chermoula to merguez sausages (served with mint cucumber cacik and urfa oil), made to Tarik’s specifications. Large plates range from chicken tagine with saffron potatoes to grilled octopus with a hazelnut take on the sweet-spicy roasted red pepper dip, muhammara. losmorosyork.co.uk

Cresci

A slice of wood-fired magic on Piccadilly, Cresci is one of the few UK pizzerias certified by Naples’ Association Verace Pizza Napoletana. Slow-fermented, lightly digestible and beautifully swollen at their cornicione rims, Cresci’s pizzas are dressed in intelligent combinations from, for example, buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes, to fennel sausage, friarielli greens and lightly smoked provola and pecorino. crescipizzeria.com

Roots

Chef Tommy Banks’ restaurants, The Black Swan, The Abbey Inn and Roots, share a core DNA and heritage ingredients grown and creatively preserved at the Banks family farm at Oldstead. But each venue is distinctive. At Michelin-starred Roots, Banks and head chef Will Lockwood blend influences (hyper-seasonal Scandi, modern British, high-end fine dining) in deliciously original ways. Tasting menu dishes such as crab toast with a crab and caviar custard, seasoned with pickled parsley, or roasted scallops glazed with spruce honey in a fermented celeriac juice and brown butter sauce, are delivered by accomplished, friendly staff who create a convivial atmosphere. rootsyork.com

Coconut Lagoon

For a decade-plus this South Indian restaurant near York’s hospital has wowed regulars with its sensitively spiced work. There is a remarkable vitality and depth of flavour in its menu of dosas, dhals, fish curries and Keralan specialities, such as beef dry fry or roast coconut lamb curry, varutharacha. coconutlagoon.co.uk

Spark: York

This colourful shipping container venue is a crucial launch pad for local talent. For example, the York restaurants Tasca Frango and Fish & Forest (and F&F’s new wine bar, Notes) have roots here. From Clucking Oinks chicken burgers to RAD’s pizza and The Outpost, a bar collab with Knaresborough’s Turning Point Brew Co, there is always something tasty happening at Spark. sparkyork.org

Foodie neighbourhood in York

Many visitors to York never stray beyond its ancient city walls. That is a mistake – turn right past Clifford’s Tower, for example, and you will soon find yourself on Bishopthorpe Road (Bishy Road, to locals). This cute enclave of small indie businesses and pavement cafés is abundant with good food at next-level bakery Flori, brunch-lunch faves Robinsons Café and Pig & Pastry, Trinacria’s gelateria, coffee and cake stop Stanley & Ramona, or the Good Food Shop deli, whose lush salads and sandwiches are useful if picnicking in nearby Rowntree Park. Later, check out bar, Angel on the Green, home to RAD’s pizza and hip supper clubs; chill in charming wine shop slash bar, 2 Many Wines; or visit legendary fine dining restaurant, Melton’s, now in its fourth decade and enjoying a second creative life under head chef, Calvin Miller. The traditional Bishy strip is growing, too. Last summer, Dark Horse, already purveyors of excellent coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches at Shambles Market, opened a café a short walk beyond the Bishy’s Scarcroft Road junction. Want to get a true taste of York? Bishy Road is the place to start.

Food experiences near York

Mýse, Hovingham

Josh and Victoria Overington, chef and FOH wine ace respectively, made their names at York’s Le Cochon Aveugle. They now ply their delicious trade at Mýse, their one-Michelin star restaurant with rooms in nearby Hovingham. This is an artisan operation, with Josh’s team curing and fermenting in-house, and using high-grade British produce to put a contemporary spin on often forgotten, historic foods. Think broad bean porridge, confit ceps, fresh cheese and whey, or flambéed medlar cake with malted ice cream. Josh and head chef, Jamie Keeble, also run cookery courses, covering topics from fish butchery to foraging. restaurantmyse.co.uk

Brew York tour

York is a great beer city. It has a huge variety of vintage pubs and newwave bars (eg The Blue Bell, House of Trembling Madness, Rook & Gaskill) and, in Brew York, a dynamic modern brewery. Its indoor-outdoor, multi-roomed brew-tap is a must, to sample its beer and food from East Asian kitchen, Yuzu. Keen to explore the brewing process in detail? Guided tours are available Friday to Saturday, which explain beer from the malt and mash to the finished IPA. brewyork.co.uk

Malton

Increasingly on the map for its energetic, artisan-maker food scene, this Yorkshire market town boasts myriad retail attractions. Start with its monthly food market, then explore the stars of Talbot Yard, such as patissier Florian Poirot and his renowned macarons, the Rare Bird distillery, bar and gin school, and Roost coffee. Excellent brewery, Brass Castle, has a Malton taproom, York’s Bluebird Bakery a local outpost, and indie wine shop, Derventio, offers plenty of grape-based diversion. Elsewhere, Malton has various traditional fishmongers, butchers and delicatessens. visitmalton.com

More of the best restaurants, cafés and food shops in York

Fish & Forest, Grape Lane

It’s incredibly exciting when you find a restaurant that makes you feel so at ease you forget you’re not sat round your dining table at home. The serving staff are so knowledgeable and friendly that you feel totally comfortable letting them help you choose from the menu and, as the dishes come out, their recommendations are proven correct every time. This is, presumably, made easy because each dish is made with care, skill and excellent produce. Fish & Forest specialise in seasonal and sustainable fish, game and forest foods. With sustainability at the heart of the restaurant and a menu that’s written out by hand on a chalk board every day to give the chefs the flexibility and freedom to change daily to suit the seasons, you can rest assured that you’ll have a wonderful meal with the health of the planet considered at every turn. The coley was cooked to perfection and served on top of a stunning miso broth flavoured with the freshest of spring veg. Finishing dinner with a pavlova topped with Yorkshire’s famous rhubarb, Chantilly and a ginger crumb makes for a very happy ending. fishandforestrestaurant.com

Whole Megrim sole with red pepper sauce, fresh samphire, pickles, crispy onion

Cafe No.8 Bistro, Gillygate

This tiny bistro on Gillygate is the kind of place only the locals know about. Take a table in its hidden garden to enjoy the likes of slow-cooked lamb, home oak-smoked salmon fillet or fresh fig and blue cheese salad in the shadow of York Minster. cafeno8.co.uk

Mannion & Co, Blake Street

A European-style café and deli, Mannion’s specialises in platters from the deli counter. Yorkshire produce is paired with expertly sourced charcuterie, cheeses, olives and artichokes from France and Italy.

The café’s suntrap courtyard is a tiny oasis where you can enjoy a pork pie, homemade piccalilli and salad grazing platter. Or take away your sarnie of choice made with bread baked fresh on site every morning. Super-light scones piled with jams and clotted cream, patisseries and home baked brownies make perfect pairings for Jeeves & Jericho loose leaf teas and wood-roast artisan coffee from Ue Coffee Roasters. mannionandco.co.uk

Betty's

Betty’s is far from a secret; the queue of tourists peering into the room of scones, tea and fat rascals is a giveaway. Stick a pinkie out with a bone china cup of Betty’s delicately floral Assam and Darjeeling blend and take your pick from the immaculately presented cake trolley (the chocolate swiss roll is, unfathomably, rich and light all at the same time).

Coffee and cake at Betty’s is always a treat but the Lady Betty afternoon tea is even more so. Miniature savouries include Yorkshire pork and Bramley apple pies, smoked salmon and dill roulade, and succulent roast Yorkshire ham and tomato pâté sandwiches. A traditional silver cake stand bursts with aromatic Yorkshire lavender scones, sweet 'n' sticky toffee-apple macarons and a light choux pastry with whipped coffee cream. bettys.co.uk

A close-up exterior shot of Bettys Café Tea Rooms in York — © Tony Bartholomew /07802 400651 PICTURES PROVIDED TO TAYLORS OF HARROGATE/BETTYS FOR USE IN PRESS RELEASE,PUBLICITY,AND IN -HOUSE,WEBSITES,BROCHURES, ANNUAL REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS

Love Cheese, Gillygate

Locals Harry and Phoebe Baines have sourced cheeses from near and far to create an award-winning counter. The selection covers continental as well as British cheeses but this is your chance to taste some of the county’s best, and most unusual, varieties (try the Ribblesdale smoked goat’s cheese, Botton Creamery cheddars or intense Yorkshire blue).

There’s also a small café on site. Sit on a picnic bench on the terrace at the back of the shop and sip a Huddersfield-roasted Dark Wood coffee while you wait for a toastie. As you might expect, toasties here are a step above the norm (though try our toastie recipes for serious comfort). We liked ours made with Haxby Baker granary and filled with mature cheddar and spiced tomato or manchego with chorizo and chilli chutney. lovecheese.co.uk

For more information visit visityork.org/adventure and be sure to get hold of a York Pass for free entry to attractions in and around York, with discounts at cafes and restaurants.