22 Best Restaurants in Yorkshire, England

Diners at this chef-owned country inn 5 miles north of Skipton in the hidden hamlet of Hetton often make it hard for anyone else to find parking, such is the reputation of this highly regarded, Michelin-starred gastropub set in an early-18th-century building with contemporary decor and views across the Dales. Its three-course fixed-price menus for lunch (£85) and dinner (£95) feature beautifully prepared roast lamb, beef, and seafood dishes. The ancient stone barn conversion across the road has five well-equipped guest rooms. There are also six bedrooms above the restaurant and another four in a more modern building.

With a Michelin-starred chef whose family farm is right down the road, this former drover's inn has a high reputation among foodies that belies its Yorkshire village location. Dishes feature unusual combinations and esoteric ingredients based on what is available from the nearby garden or can be foraged locally—even cocktails include fruits and herbs made into alcohol, with wood sorrel replacing garnishes of lemons and limes. The 12-course dinner tasting menu changes daily but might include mains like barbecued langoustine tails brushed with pickled and salted rhubarb, scallops in a wild garlic and girolle sauce, or lamb sweetbreads, and desserts like crab apple with dark chocolate. Pescatarian and vegan items are also available. There are no à la carte options but there is a smaller lunchtime tasting menu on Saturday. You can stay over in one of the nine comfortable bedrooms, although only single-night bookings are available.

With one seating a night and one fixed-price menu that changes seasonally, dining in this six-table, family-run restaurant is more like eating in someone's home. If you get tired of Whitby's ubiquitous fish-and-chips, Ditto offers fine-dining alternatives like pork belly with potatoes Anna and butternut squash or pan-fried chicken breast and rolled chicken thigh in a truffle cream sauce. Desserts include burnt Basque cheesecake with fresh strawberries. Be sure to book well in advance.

This unpretentious restaurant prides itself on not being trendy, but it is, nevertheless, popular—considered one of the best in Yorkshire if not in all of Britain. Although the menu changes, it always includes elevated versions of Italian meat (perhaps oxtail stew with chickpeas) and seafood classics. Opt for seasonal specials incorporating white truffles or game (October through February) or locally sourced vegetables. With only 30 seats, it books up quickly.

Seafood is the draw here, and although the long menu includes freshly caught Whitby crab, salmon, haddock, halibut, cod, and lobster, the crowds come for the outstanding traditional fish-and-chips. Fans say a meal here is worth the wait, which can stretch to an hour on busy nights.

Perfectly positioned at the bottom of the village, this friendly retreat dating back to 1828 looks out from atop a seawall to dramatic views of the North Sea (if you can get a coveted window table), with a warming open fire in winter and a sunny terrace in summer. The reasonably priced menu leans towards well-prepared traditional pub grub, including fish-and-chips or shellfish like Whitby scampi or crab and lemon salad. There are three B&B rooms upstairs.

The welcoming interior of this celebrated Yorkshire tearoom—which began life in Harrogate in 1919 when a Swiss restaurateur brought his Alpine confections to England—has changed little since it first opened, and its extensive array of teas has changed not at all. Omelets, quiches, sandwiches, and pastries are all on the menu, which also has items that take you from the Dales (sausages) to the Alps (rösti). Betty's is famous for its traditional afternoon tea, but there's an even more elaborate afternoon tea, complete with a pianist, served in the Imperial Room Thursday through Saturday (reservations required).

Bettys has been a York institution since 1936. The decor—inspired by the Art Deco ocean liner the Queen Mary—the dessert trollies, and the solicitous white-aproned staff all contribute to an impression of stepping back into a more genteel era. An excellent afternoon tea is served in the downstairs café; breakfast and light lunches are served in the upstairs Oak Room, where you can see the mirror inscribed by the RAF air aces who dined here during WW II. An in-house store sells a range of specialty coffees and teas, plus pastries and old-fashioned sweets like rose and violet creams.

This handsome pub combines a cozy traditional wood-paneled bar with a restaurant in a contemporary glass-and-steel extension that specializes in traditional Yorkshire cooking. Using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, options might include Chicken Supreme with asparagus, peas, and black garlic aioli; Seafood Thermidor with locally caught salmon, cod, and monkfish; or a homemade steak-and-ale pie. There's also a good-value two-course lunchtime and early bird set menu (£16.95).

This cozy independent restaurant receives rave reviews for its hearty Eastern European fare. You'll find primarily Polish dishes, including favorites like pierogi, bigos (a hunter's stew made with cabbage, wild mushroom, and sausage), pancetta-wrapped rabbit leg, and schnitzel, as well as vegetarian options. It's popular, so it can get noisy and reservations are suggested.

Originally a watering hole for foundry workers, this lovely old inn is now a welcoming gastropub, with industrial-chic exposed brick, wooden beams, flagstone floors, and open fireplaces. The menu changes daily, and the unfussy, reliably good dishes—noted for their use of fresh, local ingredients—might include beer-battered haddock with triple-cooked fries or pan-roasted sea trout with spring onion potatoes and tender-stem broccoli in a butter sauce. In summer, you can sit in a sunny courtyard with a glass from the varied wine list or a pint of local ale.

With its oak-paneled, candlelit dining room and open fires, this traditional inn is an inviting rural dining spot. Old favorites such as duck breast in a port reduction, crispy pork belly with black pudding, or traditional Sunday roasts are served with vegetables fresh from the kitchen garden. There are also eight comfortable rooms that continue the traditional theme (£125 per night). Dogs are welcome and in fact have their own menu. The inn is 10 miles north of Skipton in the town of Grassington.

The Harvey Nichols department store's roaring success is partly due to the lure of this stylish café, a standout for food, city views, and dramatic, high-tech design. The well-crafted Modern British menu changes bimonthly but is sure to have imaginative dishes like pan-fried sea bream with a lemon and mixed seed mousse, potato cake, and marinated zucchini or charred lamb leg with a Greek salad. There's also a separate plant-based menu. Irresistible desserts include cherry and whipped milk chocolate ganache with a mille-feuille, The three-course set menu that includes a Rosé Spritz (£35) is a good deal.

Everyone visiting Scarborough has to have fish-and-chips at least once, and this harbor-front spot is a classic of its kind. Choose an upstairs window table for the view, and tuck into freshly fried, lightly battered, locally caught cod or haddock. Fresh fish pie, oysters, crab, seafood casserole and lobster, plus  sausages and steaks, all locally sourced, are also available.

This 16th-century building with two magnificent stone fireplaces is now a welcoming pub, and the friendly and efficient service gets high marks. The menu is full of hearty old favorites, with mains like steak and ale pie or grilled chicken breast with bacon, melted cheese, and barbecue sauce, plus an assortment of salads, burgers, and homemade kebabs. Craft beers (called "real ales" in Britain) are a specialty, and there are two B&B rooms upstairs if you wish to stay the night.

This gastropub's weekly changing menu emphasizes seasonal ingredients, with meats sourced from local small farms' rare and native breeds (much of it cooked over a Josper charcoal grill) and fish delivered from nearby Hartlepool. With its wood paneling and open fire, the downstairs bar evokes a snug Georgian tavern, while upstairs, the elegant dining room of the same period features several antique clocks made by John Barraclough, clockmaker to the Brontës, who lived in this building. There are special vegan and children's menus, too.

This bright, modern Yorkshire take on an American steak house emphasizes locally sourced ingredients for its slow-roasted rotisserie or grilled meats. Specialties include options like sizzling teriyaki beef with peppers and onions or baby-back barbecue ribs, as well as classic steaks and burgers. Fish eaters and even vegetarians are accommodated with dishes like seafood linguine or a superfood salad.

Set in what was once a Victorian shop, this family-run restaurant uses locally sourced produce to create its seasonal, highly imaginative takes on Modern British cuisine. Selections include a girolle tartlet with barbecued sweetcorn and truffle, Yorkshire lamb in a Madeira jus, and confit carrots with sea buckthorn and cashews. Dishes are available as a five-course tasting menu at lunch and dinner, with a vegetarian version available (£96), or a three-course fixed-price dinner menu (£78). A 10-minute walk from Clifford's Tower, Melton's also has an offshoot French-influenced restaurant called The Chopping Block, on nearby Walmsgate and above a traditional bar called the Walmsgate Ale House, which specializes in local cask and keg beers.

On the outskirts of town, in a Victorian textile mill that's been transformed into a live-and-work complex for artists, this family-friendly, café-cum-coffee shop has been winning fans with all-day healthy breakfast and brunch dishes like a veggie version of a Full English (smashed avocado, Halloumi, egg, beans, tomatoes, and toast) as well as breads, cakes, and pastries baked fresh on-site. When you've finished eating, check out the exhibitions in the complex's 3,500-square-foot art gallery. Buses 16 and 508 can get you here from the center.

This book-lined, below-ground bar–restaurant serves well-crafted pizzas, homemade burgers, and superior pub grub like steak-and-ale pie or haddock and chips. There's a quiz night on Wednesday and a DJ on Friday and Saturday.

On the first floor of a shopping center, in what is known as Trinity Kitchen, you'll find a changing (bimonthly) lineup of six pop-up restaurants featuring the offerings of top food vans from around the country installed next to permanent options serving burgers, gluten-free-pho, Indian, Mexican, gyros, or pizza. Recent temporary vendors have included Yoi Fried Chicken (a spicy pan-Asian take on chicken bao); Hong Bao Asian Street Food (vegetable tempura, pork skewers, curry dishes); Yard Dog (hot dogs and mac-and-cheese); and Burgerati (smash burgers).

Claiming to date from 1715, this narrow, atmospheric bar in a quiet alley off bustling Briggate retains 19th- and 20th-century features, like beveled mirrors, copper-topped tables, Art Nouveau stained glass, and mosaic tiles. It serves superior pub food with an emphasis on the local and seasonal, like a grilled eggplant tabbouleh or homemade beef-and-ale pie. Beers from local microbreweries are featured, and the prices are friendly. There's also a pre-theater fixed price (£25) menu.