Christmas Day lunch in York from £66.95 at Ye Olde Starre Inne to £195 at The Grand, plus December menus from £24.95: 10 places with 2026 prices and rules.

For Christmas Day in York, most people look first at Ye Olde Starre Inne on Stonegate (£66.95, the cheapest Christmas Day menu here), the Fat Badger under the Minster (£135), the Whippet Inn on North Street (£140, six courses) and The Rise at The Grand (£195). For a festive meal earlier in December, the Whippet’s lunch menu starts at £24.95. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 29 October 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the price on the venue’s own 2026 Christmas page, what that price includes, when it is served and the booking rules, plus the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. Christmas Day menus are almost all pre-order and pre-paid, and the popular sittings go first, so book early.

Open on Christmas Day

1. Ye Olde Starre Inne, Stonegate

Greene King, which runs the pub, says it dates from 1644 and is believed to be the oldest licensed premises in York. Its Christmas Day page offers three courses for £66.95: starters such as black tiger prawns or a twice-baked cheese soufflé, then a traditional turkey dinner with pigs in blankets, beef cheek carbonnade, sea bass or a root vegetable tart, and Christmas pudding to finish.

Its Festive Fayre menu runs from 29 October to 3 January.

Price Christmas Day 3 courses £66.95, kids' menu £32.95; Festive Fayre 2 courses £25.95, 3 courses £30.95
Booking Christmas Day £10 deposit per adult and per child, paid in full with menu choices by 11 December; after 18 December phone the pub; Festive Fayre £5 per person deposit
Address 40 Stonegate, YO1 8AS
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 2 October 2025
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/north-yorkshire/ye-olde-starre-inne/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for children's menu, vegan main, courtyard

2. The Fat Badger, High Petergate

The Fat Badger is the pub with rooms at the top of High Petergate by Bootham Bar, part of the Fat Badger Group. Its Christmas Day page promises “beautifully roasted turkey with all the trimmings” alongside other seasonal dishes, and says there are private dining rooms for bigger groups.

The menu is linked from the same page; bookings start with an enquiry form.

Open Christmas Day sittings 12pm to 4pm
Price Christmas Day £135 an adult, £67.50 under-12s
Booking £20 per person deposit; full payment by Monday 16 November 2026; all payments non-refundable; pre-order for every diner
Address 2-4 High Petergate, YO1 7EH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 5 November 2025
Website thefatbadgeryork.com/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for private dining rooms, children's price, by the Minster

3. Guy Fawkes Inn, High Petergate

The Guy Fawkes Inn stands on the site where Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, a few doors down High Petergate from the Fat Badger and run by the same group. Its Christmas Day page describes “roasted turkey with all its glorious trimmings, joined by seasonal dishes woven from the finest local fare”.

Prices and terms match the Fat Badger’s, but here there are two sittings rather than a window.

Open Christmas Day sittings at 12pm or 3.30pm
Price Christmas Day £135 an adult, £67.50 under-12s
Booking £20 per person deposit; full payment by Monday 16 November 2026; all payments non-refundable; pre-order for every diner
Address 25 High Petergate, YO1 7HP
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 17 April 2026
Website guyfawkesinnyork.com/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for historic building, children's price, by the Minster

4. The Whippet Inn, North Street

The Whippet is a steak-led restaurant on North Street, and its Christmas page calls the season “Christmas in The Dogs House”. On Christmas Day it serves a six-course menu for £140, with “limited availability”.

From 27 November to 23 December it opens daily from 12pm to 11pm, with party menus for groups of eight or more and the full main menu for smaller tables. On Christmas Eve only the main menu is served.

It is closed on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Open 27 November to 23 December daily 12pm to 11pm; Christmas Day open; Boxing Day and New Year's Day closed
Price Christmas Day 6 courses £140; festive party lunch 2 courses £24.95, 3 courses £31.95; festive party evening 3 courses £48
Booking party menus for pre-booked groups of 8 or more
Call 01904 500660
Address 15 North Street, YO1 6JD
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 6 November 2025
Website thewhippetinn.co.uk/christmas-new-year
Listing Our listing
Good for steaks, group party menus, open New Year's Eve

5. The Rise at The Grand, Station Rise

The Grand occupies the Edwardian former headquarters of the North Eastern Railway, built in 1906 and listed Grade II* (Wikipedia). Its festive dining page offers Christmas Day at The Rise, the hotel’s brasserie, with a welcome drink and a five-course menu “combining Christmas traditions with a modern Yorkshire touch”, overlooking the city walls.

Legacy, its three AA Rosette restaurant, runs a £190 tasting menu on Christmas Eve, and a £110 Boxing Day Wellington feast follows.

Price Christmas Day £195 an adult, £95 aged 5 to 12, £55 under-fives; Christmas Eve at Legacy £190 (wine flight £110 extra); Boxing Day £110 an adult, £55 under-12s
Booking by phone
Call 01904 380038
Address Station Rise, YO1 6GD
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 21 March 2025
Website thegrandyork.co.uk/festive-dining
Good for five-star hotel, children's prices, Boxing Day too, festive afternoon tea from 12 November

6. Malmaison, Rougier Street

Malmaison’s York hotel is on Rougier Street, close to Lendal Bridge, and its restaurant is Chez Mal Brasserie. Its York Christmas page offers a Christmas Day feast at Chez Mal for £125, including a glass of Champagne.

Through December there are festive lunches at £35, with a Chef’s Table of hors d’oeuvres, salads and seafood followed by “classic roasts”, and a Celebrations menu from £39.95.

Price Christmas Day £125 including a glass of Champagne; festive lunch £35; Celebrations menu from £39.95; party nights from £62.50
Address 2 Rougier Street, YO1 6HZ
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 24 June 2026
Website malmaison.com/locations/york/christmas
Good for Champagne included, private dining, party nights with a DJ

7. Hotel du Vin, The Mount

Hotel du Vin is on The Mount, outside Micklegate Bar, and its restaurant is Bistro du Vin. Its York Christmas page offers a four-course Christmas Day lunch at £134.95, “including a glass of Champagne”.

From 18 November to 24 December a three-course Celebrations menu runs at lunch and dinner from £39.95. A festive Sunday lunch at £34.95 runs every Sunday from 22 November to 20 December.

Price Christmas Day 4 courses £134.95 including a glass of Champagne; Celebrations menu from £39.95; Sunday lunch £34.95; group package from £62.50
Booking the £62.50 package is for a minimum of eight guests
Address 89 The Mount, YO24 1BL
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 18 February 2026
Website hotelduvin.com/locations/york/christmas
Good for Champagne included, private dining rooms, outside Micklegate Bar

Festive menus through December

8. Middlethorpe Hall, Bishopthorpe Road

Middlethorpe Hall is a red-brick country house built in 1699, owned by the National Trust since 2008 and run as a hotel (Wikipedia). Its festive season page offers a festive luncheon “in the warmth of this elegant country house” from Monday to Saturday throughout December.

Christmas Day itself is for residents on its three-night Christmas House Party break. A festive afternoon tea runs from 1 to 30 December, and two carol lunches with the York Minster choristers are on 9 and 16 December.

Open festive luncheon Monday to Saturday in December, from 12.30pm, last sitting 1.45pm
Price festive luncheon 2 courses £44, 3 courses £55; festive afternoon tea £40; carols and lunch from £71.40
Booking through reception, info@middlethorpe.com
Call 01904 641241
Address Bishopthorpe Road, YO23 2GB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 20 November 2025
Website middlethorpe.com/festive-season
Good for country house, National Trust property, carols with lunch

9. The Ivy, St Helen’s Square

The Ivy St Helen’s Square is across the square from Bettys and is part of The Ivy Collection. The collection’s Christmas set menu runs in its main restaurants from 4 November to 29 December for groups of up to 12.

A grilled fillet steak costs £6 more. The group says prices and dishes are subject to change, so confirm with the York restaurant.

The page does not give a Christmas Day price for York.

Price Christmas set menu 2 courses £55, 3 courses £65
Booking set menu for groups of up to 12
Address 2 St Helen's Square, YO1 8QP
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 25 April 2025
Website ivycollection.com/restaurants/the-ivy-york
Listing Our listing
Good for city centre, groups up to 12

10. Bosun’s at The Riverfront, Bishopthorpe

Bosun’s is the restaurant at The Riverfront, on the Ouse at Bishopthorpe. Its Christmas page says the festive set menu runs from Friday 20 November to Saturday 19 December alongside the à la carte.

Mains include a turkey roulade with pigs in blankets, salmon, mushroom ravioli and a fillet steak Rossini (£8 more). Bosun’s opens as normal to 20 December, then again on 29 and 30 December from 5pm, so it is not a Christmas Day option.

Open as normal to 20 December; 29 and 30 December from 5pm
Price festive set menu 2 courses £38, 3 courses £48; steak Rossini £8 extra
Booking online from the Christmas page; optional 10% service charge
Call 01904 439739
Address Ferry Lane, Bishopthorpe, YO23 2SB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 9 January 2026
Website theriverfrontyork.co.uk/christmas-at-bosuns
Good for riverside, free parking, vegan options

How we chose

These are the York pubs, restaurants and hotels people book for Christmas, chosen on what can be checked: a 2026 Christmas menu with a price published on the venue’s own site, and a Food Standards Agency hygiene rating of 3 or more. We left out places whose Christmas pages still showed an earlier year’s menu. Every price comes from the venue’s own Christmas page or the menu it links, read on 29 October 2026. Menus and prices can change before December, so confirm when you book.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@theyorktimes.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@theyorktimes.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

For more locally, see things to do in York, what’s on in York this month, York Christmas Market 2026 dates, the Christmas lights switch-on, our guides to York pubs, restaurants, Sunday roasts and afternoon tea, and the York business directory.

Frequently asked questions

Which York pubs and restaurants are open for Christmas dinner on Christmas Day 2026?

On their own websites, Ye Olde Starre Inne (£66.95), Malmaison (£125), Hotel du Vin (£134.95), the Fat Badger and the Guy Fawkes Inn (both £135), the Whippet Inn (£140) and The Rise at The Grand (£195) all publish a Christmas Day 2026 price. Bosun’s at Bishopthorpe and Middlethorpe Hall’s festive luncheon do not run on Christmas Day.

How much is Christmas dinner in York in 2026?

Christmas Day menus in this guide cost £66.95 to £195 an adult. A festive menu on other December days is much cheaper: two courses from £24.95 at the Whippet Inn at lunchtime, three from £30.95 at Ye Olde Starre Inne, £35 for Malmaison’s festive lunch and £48 for three courses at Bosun’s.

How much is Christmas dinner for children in York?

The Fat Badger and the Guy Fawkes Inn charge £67.50 for under-12s on Christmas Day, Ye Olde Starre Inne £32.95 for its kids’ menu, and The Grand £95 for children aged 5 to 12 and £55 for under-fives.