There’s an old Yorkshire saying: “Hear all, see all, say nowt; eat all, sup all, pay nowt”, and while Yorkshire folk may be famously careful with their money, the dining scene in York proves that some things are worth loosening the purse strings for.
Behind the medieval walls and Gothic spires, this historic city has quietly transformed into one of Britain’s most exciting food destinations, where talented chefs are writing new chapters in York’s two-thousand-year story through their menus.
The city’s culinary landscape stretches far beyond the traditional tearoom offerings that once defined it. Today, you’ll find everything from refined tasting menus showcasing Yorkshire’s exceptional produce to bustling wine bars, neighbourhood bistros pushing creative boundaries, and even AVPN-certified Neapolitan pizzerias.
In the narrow Snickelways and along the cobbled streets, ancient timber-framed buildings now house restaurants that wouldn’t look out of place in London or Copenhagen. Yet there’s something distinctly Yorkshire about it all – a refreshing lack of pretence that keeps the focus squarely on what matters: the food.
But in a city where every alleyway seems to hide another promising restaurant, and where new openings appear as regularly as tourists at the Minster, the challenge isn’t finding somewhere good to eat – it’s choosing between them. We’re here to help with that; here are the best restaurants in York.
Roots
Ideal for farm-to-fork fine dining that doesn’t take itself too seriously…
The second act of chef Tommy Banks, this Michelin-starred venture doesn’t just serve food – it serves a sense of time and place. Housed in a Victorian pub where patterned rugs soften wooden floors and natural light pours through tall windows, Roots presents the Banks family farm (over in Oldstead, where the mothership Black Swan sits) in edible form.
It all reads a bit pretentious when we write it down, but what a pleasure it is to eat this expression of Northern British seasonality. Head Chef Will Lockwood and team work with ingredients that tell stories: vegetables that spent months in the ground at Oldstead, wild foods foraged from hedgerows, preserves that capture seasons past and gluts enjoyed in jars and bottles.
The Core Menu (£95) serves as your introduction to this philosophy, while the Signature Menu (£145-165) goes deeper and longer, both featuring ingredients that have been coaxed into new forms through months of preservation. A palm-sized scallop is served halved and anointed with brown butter sabayon. It sits on a tamari sauce made, not from soybeans but rather, fermented black squash.
The headlining hogget is the star of the show, a study in whole-animal cookery, featuring both roasted saddle and belly. The saddle, bathed in garlic butter and thyme, shares the plate with its transformed belly counterpart – a testament to time and fire, braised and barbecued before being glazed with a compelling black garlic vinegar caramel. Morels, butter-roasted and cleverly stuffed with lamb faggot mix, bring an earthen depth alongside twin purees of sheep’s yogurt and green onions that have been kissed by fermented onion juice. The dish speaks to both tradition and innovation, crowned with a rich hogget sauce that makes the most of every part of the animal, from bones to trim, all enriched with herbs and lamb fat. Christ it’s good.
Desserts are particularly intriguing, a marriage of both savoury and sweet, and last year and this. A recent sweet course of roasted chicory root turned crumble and ice cream, was paired with Charlotte potato custard foam and sea salt caramel. It was as intoxicating as it sounds.
The drink pairings show similar thoughtfulness. The Experimental & Adventurous might pair your course with a Polish Solaris or South African Cabernet Franc, while Grand & Classic stays closer to fine dining traditions. The non-alcoholic Soft & Inventive pairings prove zero-proof can be just as compelling as their spirited counterparts. At Roots, it’s the most enjoyable drinks pairing we’ve had – nuanced and complex, drawing on the restaurant’s library of preserved ingredients.
The yacht rock soundtrack reminds you that even Michelin-starred food doesn’t require hushed tones. Was that Steely Dan we heard meandering across the dining room? We like this place even more…
The kitchen hums Wednesday through Saturday, with dinner service nightly and lunch adding another layer of possibility on Fridays and Saturdays. Getting a table here requires the same patience needed for their slow-food philosophy – but like their aged beef and preserved vegetables, good things come to those who wait.
Website: rootsyork.com
Address: 68 Marygate, York YO30 7BH
Skosh
Ideal for creative small plates that will surprise and delight…
Watching Neil Bentinck’s kitchen at work feels like witnessing culinary jazz – precise yet improvisational, technical yet soulful. Skosh really is something.
The recent expansion of this Grade II listed space beyond Micklegate Bar has added a proper bar, private dining room, and more counter seats, but hasn’t diluted the electric atmosphere that made the original so magnetic.
The name Skosh – Japanese for ‘a small amount’ – understates what’s happening here. Each plate may be small, but the ideas are expansive. Take their hen’s egg – a £4.50 masterpiece where Dale End cheddar, PX sherry and mushroom create something that lingers on diners’ palates all evening, such is the hit of umami at its core.
The kitchen moves effortlessly between culinary cultures without breaking stride: Whitby crab finds itself on tostadas brightened with clementine, while luscious, wobbly pork belly transforms into a vindaloo that would make both Yorkshire and Indian grandmothers proud. Their apple crumble soft serve – a playful collision of salted caramel and blackcurrant – proves that kitchens of real poise and focus can still have a sense of fun.
The staff navigate the menu’s global wanderings with the confidence of seasoned travellers (or, you know, experienced hospitality workers), helping you plot a course through both dishes and a wine list that favours character over convention.
Grab a counter seat to watch the kitchen’s choreography, or settle into the dining room for a more languid experience. They serve Wednesday through Saturday, both lunch and dinner. Even with the expansion, reservations remain as sought-after as summer sunshine in Yorkshire, and booking a week or two ahead is pretty much essential.
Website: skoshyork.co.uk
Address: 98 Micklegate, York YO1 6JX
Los Moros
Ideal for North African flavours that will transport you straight to the Yorkshire souks…
What began as Tarik Abdeladim’s market stall in 2015 has grown into something that defies easy categorisation. Still, we’ll do our best…
Behind the warm yellow walls on Grape Lane, traditional North African and Levantine dishes aren’t just reproduced – they’re reimagined through a Yorkshire lens that proves authenticity and evolution aren’t mutually exclusive.
The kitchen’s dedication reveals itself in quiet details: lemons preserved in-house, merguez sausages made daily (served with minty cacik and urfa pepper flakes, and keenly priced at £9), local ingredients transformed through ancient techniques.
The Algerian cassoulet is the headliner, and exemplifies this approach – giant butter beans and house-made merguez create a foundation for Thirkleby duck leg confit, while urfa-spiced whipped feta adds unexpected depth. Whilst £26 is a premium price in this part of town (or rather, in this part of the UK), it’s a massive, bottomless piece of work – Northern portions, indeed.
This commitment to locality runs deep – meat from the Yorkshire Dales, halloumi from Huddersfield, even their house beer comes from Brew York. Whether it’s dry-aged local lamb rump singing with ras el hanout and celeriac, or baked hake, landed off the coast in Whitby, finding harmony with coconut dahl, each dish reflects both its origins and its current home. The wine list travels further, sure, but still has a keen sense of place, featuring Lebanese bottles alongside European classics.
For those seeking Los Moros’ roots, their original street food stall still trades in Shambles Market, serving some of York’s most compelling lunch options. Open Tuesday through Saturday (12-2pm lunch, from 6pm dinner – earlier on Fridays). The restaurant’s popularity makes booking ahead wise.
Website: losmorosyork.co.uk
Address: 15-17 Grape Ln, York YO1 7HU
Melton’s
Ideal for special occasion dining that’s stood the test of time…
Some restaurants survive for thirty years. Melton’s, open since 1990, has done something rarer – it’s evolved. In this intimate Scarcroft Road space, Michael and Lucy Hjort created more than just a restaurant; they arguably laid the foundations for York’s current dining renaissance. Now, with Head Chef Calvin Miller at the helm after 12 years alongside Michael, Melton’s proves that longevity and a forward-thinking mentality aren’t mutually exclusive.
The kitchen marries classical technique with contemporary vision. A cep and kombu custard arrives with barbecued maitake and beer vinegar, honouring the fundamentals of classical cookery whilst introducing more global elements. Even familiar dishes reveal new depths – halibut gains complexity from a truffle and hazelnut crust, while a recent, hugely satisfying blackberry and meadowsweet dessert shows a kitchen willing to play with de rigueur ingredients without detriment to pure pleasure.
Lucy’s presence in the dining room turns first-time visitors into regulars through genuine warmth rather than rehearsed hospitality. Her wine list (all personally chosen) deserves particular attention – not just for its depth, but for markups that suggest they’d rather you explore than play it safe. There’s even a wine from Yorkshire in there- a white from Lauren Vines in Driffield, priced at an eminently reasonable £26.60.
Choose between the tasting menu (£96) or à la carte, both equally accomplished. The dining room itself, with its distinctive murals and considered lighting, feels both special and comfortable – much like the restaurant as a whole. Tuesday through Saturday service (dinner only Tuesdays, lunch and dinner otherwise) still draws crowds after three decades.
Website: meltonsrestaurant.co.uk
Address: 7 Scarcroft Rd, York YO23 1ND
The Star Inn The City & York Minster Refectory
Ideal for special occasion dining in spectacular settings…
Andrew Pern has mastered the art of creating restaurants that feel inevitable – as if they’ve always been part of Yorkshire’s fabric. His Star Inn The City – sibling to the Michelin-starred Star Inn 20 miles north in Harome – transforms a former engine house into all-day riverside dining that makes you wonder how the building was ever used for anything else.
The Star Inn’s terrace captures that rare alchemy of setting and sustenance. Inside, red velvet banquettes and white tablecloths create an atmosphere that welcomes both special occasions and impromptu, booze-fuelled lunches.
The kitchen celebrates Yorkshire with honest confidence – a baked Tunworth arrives generous with salted hazelnuts and onion chutney (£12), while the Sunday roast sirloin (£24) delivers everything you hope for, including duck fat roasties that could start arguments over who gets the last one in lesser establishments. A proudly Yorkshire establishment of course delivers on a particularly proud Yorkshire pudding; this one is fucking massive!
Or, go in a different direction with their eight-hour braised ox cheek with winter truffle potato purée, which shows similar dedication to getting the basics exactly right whilst sprinkling a little stardust (or simply grating a shed load of truffle) along the way.
The wine list spans from accessible to ambitious (yes, that Ornellaia 2008 really is £815), while the cocktail programme adds theatrical touches – their smoked Old Fashioned arrives wreathed in woodchip smoke and tasting of it, too. You can, of course, just have a pint – the Star Inn The City is one of the only Pilsner Urquell Tankovna tank beer sites in the North of England.
Open from 11am weekdays (9:30am weekends), it’s equally suited to morning coffee or midnight digestifs. The dress code stays relaxed, but the cooking never does.
Website: starinnthecity.co.uk
Address: Lendal Engine House, Museum St, York YO1 7DR
Cresci
Ideal for authentic Neapolitan pizza that makes you forget you’re in Yorkshire…
Pizza certifications might seem like bureaucratic overkill, but the AVPN (Association Verace Pizza Napoletana) badge that Cresci earned isn’t just paperwork – it’s proof of Armando Imparato and Berardo Caggiano’s obsession with getting things right – nothing more, nothing less. Since 2020, their Piccadilly restaurant has been quietly showing York that Neapolitan pizza is both science and poetry.
The bare bones space tells you everything about their priorities: wooden tables, walls lined with Italian products, and an open kitchen where the wood-fired oven commands attention like a theatre’s main stage. Each pizza base emerges with that distinctive Neapolitan character – a crust that’s both chewy and tender, soft centre maintaining its integrity. Their Margherita (judiciously priced at £9.50) demonstrates why simplicity requires perfection: San Marzano DOP tomatoes, fior di latte mozzarella, basil, and olive oil, each element given space to be heard. The Calabrese (a little more at £13, but still not that much) adds ‘nduja and sautéed red onions without losing that essential balance.
Even the starters show this attention to detail – their frittatina di pasta comes in both classic and cacio e pepe variations, while the Sicilian cannolo filled with goat’s ricotta and 70% Callebaut chocolate makes a compelling argument for saving room for something sweet.
Open daily from noon until 10pm without reservations – though the queue at peak times suggests that sometimes the best things are worth waiting for.
Website: crescipizzeria.com
Address: 20 Piccadilly, York YO1 9NU
22 Yards
Ideal for relaxed evenings where the wine list is as compelling as the food…
Cricket and fine dining rarely intersect, but 22 Yards – named for both a cricket pitch’s length and their dining room’s dimensions – proves that unexpected combinations often yield the most interesting results. Housed in a Georgian building facing York Minster, it’s created something increasingly omnipresent down in that there London but less so up north: a wine bar that takes its food as seriously as its cellar.
The menu walks a delicate line between sophistication and comfort. Orkney scallops with brown butter and truffle showcase the kind of technical precision that premium ingredients demand, while their slow-braised ox cheek with pecorino and herb polenta satisfies more base, carnal cravings.
The kitchen shows particular flair with game – their venison goulash with sauerkraut and crispy onions is a winner – a bowl you can get truly lost in until your partner actively becomes concerned. But it’s their charcuterie and cheese programme that truly puts the 22 flag in the ground. The 22 Yards Deli Board (£32) reads like a roll call of Yorkshire’s finest artisans: Wildman’s cured meats, Courtyard Dairy cheeses, house-made focaccia… Gorgeous stuff.
Their wine programme – over 150 bottles for retail and 70+ by the glass – reflects the same thoughtful curation as the food. The sommeliers bring knowledge without pretence, whether you’re exploring house wines priced in their mid-twenties or serious Burgundies that reach triple digits. Their pre-theatre offer (deli board and two glasses of English sparkling for £48) might be York’s smartest value supper.
Open from noon (5pm Mondays and Tuesdays), though weekend evenings require advance planning – word has spread.
Website: 22yardswine.com
Address: 21 High Petergate, York YO1 7EN
Read: The IDEAL all-British Christmas cheeseboard
Fish & Forest
Ideal for sustainable seafood that tastes like it was caught just moments ago…
It takes confidence to open a sitdown seafood restaurant 40 miles inland. After nomadic stints at Spark: York and the Gillygate pub, chef Stephen Andrews has found Grape Lane’s brick and timber the perfect backdrop for his ambitious vision. The Michelin Guide’s nod for sustainable gastronomy suggests that geography is no barrier to exceptional fish cookery. And let’s be honest; 40 miles isn’t really that far. We just needed something to say…
The weekly-changing chalkboard menu isn’t just practical – it’s a manifesto for the freedom of flexibility. One week might bring rich pulled mallard ragu with a tangy Yorkshire relish, the next could feature bream kissed by a Japanese Konro grill, accompanied by pickled mussels and samphire. Classical technique meets contemporary thinking, sure, but it’s in the latter where the kitchen really shines – witness their pan fried king scallops, with XO sauce made from dehydrated scallop roe, which packed an umami wallop and is the best thing we’ve eaten here by some margin.
While seafood and game lead the menu, vegetable dishes receive equal attention, proving that the restaurant’s sustainability chops extend beyond just fish. Earthy and humble, a recent carrot dish saw this root vegetable used in multiple ways, from smoky purée to crunch offcut crips, all centred around a perfectly roasted carrot, and crunchy crisps made from the offcuts. It was paired with mallard breast, vibrant carrot top salsa verde, and a rich mallard jus gras – a plate that was as delicious as it was sustainable, and the most carrot-y dish you’ll ever taste, even with a load of blushing wild duck on the plate.
They nail the sweet stuff, too. To finish, you might find a rich chocolate delice served with coffee cream, white chocolate mousse, and a crunchy salted almond brittle – layers of texture and flavour in every bite.
Front of house manager Yohan Barthelemy brings genuine enthusiasm rather than rehearsed service, matching dishes to wines from a list that prizes character over predictability. This is the type of bistro every neighbourhood should have.
Wednesday through Saturday service (noon to 9pm). Friday and Saturday evenings require forward planning – tables here are increasingly coveted.
Website: fishandforestrestaurant.com
Address: 13 Grape Ln, York YO1 7HU
Partisan
Ideal for brunch that’s worth getting out of bed for…
Some spaces defy easy categorisation. In a neo-Victorian building on Micklegate, Partisan blends café, gallery, and restaurant into something uniquely York. Owner Florencia Clifford, who refined her approach as a cook in Buddhist retreats, brings mindful attention to everything from their North Yorkshire farm’s herbs to the curated artwork on the walls.
The globally-influenced menu peaks at brunch. Huevos Vaqueros reimagines eggs in chipotle-spiced tomato sauce with black beans, while Persian Eggs marry slow scrambling with Medjoul dates and almond dukkha. Their Full English comes in three thoughtful variations (all £16), each built around house-made smokey beans and M+K herb sausages. The signature dish, though, is the scallop and bacon bun, which has earned (deserved) legendary status in York.
There’s a counter of delicious bakes, too, including ever-present sweet and savoury scones that change change daily according to the seasons. Elsewhere on the counter, you’ll find inventive bakes like crème brûlèe apple and cardamom cruffins, and sticky baklava buns. It’s all very nourishing indeed, if not for the waistline then definitely for the soul.
Beyond perfectly executed Monmouth coffee, their drink selection shows similar care – from creative spritzes to single-origin hot chocolates featuring bars from Venezuela to Madagascar (£3.50). The recent addition of their evening concept Brancusi suggests an operation still evolving.
Open daily 9am to 3pm, the consistent queue of locals and visitors suggests they’ve found a winning formula. Every piece of art and furniture tells its own story – and yes, it’s all for sale.
Website: partisanuk.com
Address: 112 Micklegate, York YO1 6JX
Arras
Ideal for imaginative British cooking that celebrates Yorkshire’s larder…
Some homecomings take the scenic route. After 15 years of refining their modern British cuisine in Sydney, Adam and Lovaine chose York’s Old Coach House on Peasholme Green to continue their story. The result is a restaurant that combines technical precision with the kind of warm hospitality that can’t be taught.
Their kitchen menu (from £85) reveals ambition tempered by experience. Venison tartare finds unexpected but totally right companions in smoked eel cream and beetroot, while a mushroom dumpling with garlic purée and confit carrot shows similar imagination anchored in an understanding of what works together.
But it’s their cheese trolley – a tradition carried from their Sydney days – that’s become legendary. Working with Yorkshire’s Andy Swinscoe, each morning begins with a debate about perfect ripeness and ideal combinations, turning cheese service into performance art. Or, if you’re after something sweeter, the ‘A Little Bit of Yorkshire’ dessert, featuring local strawberries and Yorkshire Tea marshmallows, captures the kitchen’s ethos: serious cooking that remembers to smile.
The wine list (200+ bins) mirrors this attention to detail, ranging from accessible to esoteric. Their Little Arras bakery nearby suggests an operation unwilling to compromise – the sourdough alone justifies the detour.
Open Wednesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, with their kitchen menu showing the team at their most expressive.
Website: arrasrestaurant.co.uk