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The Best Places to Eat in York

The Best Places to Eat in York

Jan 23, 2025

Planning a trip to York? Beyond its stunning architecture and rich history, York offers a thriving food scene waiting to be explored. Seeking a romantic dinner, a casual lunch, or a quick bite? Our guide to the best places to eat in York will help you work your way around the cities amazing food scene.

Discover York through a Food Tour!

Explore York at your own pace with our self-guided food tour! Discover hidden gems, local favourites, and delicious treats as you wander through the city's charming streets. Our self-guided York food tour provides a curated culinary experience, with recommendations for must-try dishes and local hotspots, all at your own pace.

Find out more about a York Food Tour here

Brunch and lunch

Flori Bakery
If you're gathering a list of the best places to eat in York, Flori Bakery deserves a spot at the top. This artisan bakery prides itself on using high-quality ingredients and traditional baking methods to create exceptional pastries and breads. Known for their cinnamon buns, our favourite has to be the caramel pear custard danish - a description of this wouldn't do it justice, you'll have to go and try for yourself! Everything about this place is special, the love that goes into every single one of these bakes is what makes Flori so so special. 


Image taken from @flori.bakery

Partisan 

An independent restaurant, cafe bakery AND art space rolled into one, Partisan was the place that kept cropping up each time we asked for recommendations in the city, before launching our food tour. As much as it is 'Instagrammable', we can't tell you how much more than that it is. Their ethos and their owners story around zen cooking, focusing on quality, locally sourced ingredients means it's an experience, not just a meal. Highly recommend their huevos vaqueros!

best_places_to_eat_York_partisan

Robinsons

With backgrounds in Michelin Starred restaurants, Robinsons are a neighbourhood cafe offering breakfast, brunch and lunch. The food is known to be that good that they're known for having a queue, but for a good reason. They've got a variety of brilliant egg dishes, including Mexican eggs, Turkish eggs and steak and eggs, with a special shout out to their sourdough bread, this stuff is GOOD! It feels like a really great spot to start your morning/day off the right way.

best_places_to_eat_York_robinsons

Brew and Brownie 

Providing home baked goods, Brew and Brownie are a popular brunch spot in the centre of York. If you're a pancake lover, get yourself here! Four fluffy pancakes; choose from apple compote, brown butter, pecan and mascarpone, amongst their other options or even create your own! It goes without saying that they make a very good coffee and their brownies are totally indulgent and not too sickly.

best_places_to_eat_York_brew_and_brownie

Betty's 

Quintessentially British, Betty's is a family company based in Yorkshire. Founded in 1919 in Harrogate, Betty’s is a traditional tea room best known for Fat Rascals, Afternoon Teas and grand dining rooms. If you're from Yorkshire, you've either visited or have long known about Betty's, if not - you'll see it crop up on a lot of the best places to eat. Their York branch often has long queues, so be prepared to wait! Betty's have a shop, usually in the entrance, where you can purchase teas, cakes and baked goods to take away.

best_places_to_eat_York_bettys
Image taken from @Bettys // @emmyhamilton


The Block

When two historic cities collide, you get The Block. They're in the centre serving typical Roman pizza slices and have been doing since 2018. Known in Italy as 'pizza al taglio' aka pizza by the slice, all dough and sauces are made in-house with a range of meat, veggie and vegan options. It's roughly around £5 (ish) for a slice and they've got a great list of beers, cocktails and spirits to pair with your pizza.  

best_places_to_eat_York_the_block

Image taken from @theblockyork

SPARK: York

We first tried SPARK around five years ago after hearing so much buzz online around the food vendors and the vibe of the place. It's an outdoor community space, hosting some pretty incredible independent food and drink venues. There are nine food spots and four bars, and they're genuinely all great. Our top two food spots have to be Clucking Oinks; fried chicken, and Sarras which is Indian/Gujarati street food. SPARK is always the spot to be on the weekend, it's one of the best places in York to meet with friends and enjoy some fantastic food.

best_places_to_eat_York_spark
Image taken from @sarrasstreetfoodyork
Vi Coffee and Wine
Arguably this lovely spot in the evening section too, and we couldn't not recommend it as every time we're in York Vi Coffee and Wine is packed with people, notably at Christmas everyone loves it that much they had people sitting outside in the cold - dedication! If you're lucky enough to get inside they have the most wonderful minimalistic scandi design throughout - as we like to say; considered design 
Vi's hold wine clubs on a monthly basis open to all knowledge levels on the humble glass of vino, it's around £25pp and you get five glasses of wine to try, a fab deal if you ask us!
best_places_to_eat_York_vi_coffee_wine
Image taken from @vi__coffee

Evening

Brancusi
Brought to us by the owners of Partisan cafe, Brancusi are a new venture specialising in uncomplicated, fresh quality produce food. Their evening menu is relatively small but it packs a punch in the variety and flavour offering, with a charming offering of vegan, vegetarian, meat and fish dishes. This place is well thought of, and for good reason - it's an intimate spot to catch up about the week with friends, or take your partner to for a cosy date night. There's a recent demand of people are craving this kind of dining over the last few years and we're so here for places like Brancusi giving this fresh, relaxed, but very top quality food offering.
best_places_to_eat_york_brancusi
Image taken from @Brancusi
Fish and Forest
Recognised for a fifth year in the Michelin Guide, Fish and Forest's focus is the sea, the forest and the Yorkshire countryside. They've got a seasonal menu and they recognise themselves as a neighbourhood bistro offering food from as close to York as possible. 
Their dishes perfectly pair with their drinks offering, select wines, cocktails and spirits are available at the bar and servers are able to offer recommendations on what to drink depending on your food - which is always a plus!
Their sister bar Notes Wine Bar is worth a visit too if you're in the area.
best_places_to_eat_York_fish_forest
Image taken from @fishandforest_york
Wine Stories
The name may say otherwise, but this is a wonderful restaurant in York offering authentic Greek food at an exceptional price. Wine Stories offers platters of grilled meats, whether that's gyros, souvlaki and traditional Corfu stuffed sausages with pittas dips traditional dips and olives.
The owners of Wine Stories also own Ambrosia in the Shambles Market if you're on the look out for more of an on-the-go bite to eat, their pork souvlaki is one not to miss!
best_places_to_eat_York_wine_stories
Image taken from @wine_stories_york
Ambiente Tapas 
How could we not mention Ambiente when they've got three in York? We initially discovered this in our home (over in Leeds!) where we enjoyed a dinner for two, sharing a delicious plate of Spanish cheeses, meats and preserves, but the stand out tapas dishes we've had here runs a common theme; slow cooked ox cheek in a rich tomato sauce, and the cod cheek special - someone would think were cheek fanatics over here!
The vibes in here are great; friendly staff, good service and even better food. They often have mid-week deals on so keep your eyes peeled if you fancy a mid-week trip to the Spanish borders!
best_places_to_eat_York_ambiente
Image taken from @ambientetapas

Georgia Landi

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