York Restaurants: The Best Places to Eat

If you want the restaurants with the strongest public record, start with Roots on Marygate, which holds York’s only Michelin star; Skosh on Micklegate, the city’s Bib Gourmand; Black Wheat Club on Fossgate, ranked 10th in the Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants of 2026; and Melton’s, cooking on Scarcroft Road since 1990. Every entry below was checked against the venue’s own website on 23 October 2026.

We have not eaten at these places for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry sets out what the restaurant says about itself, what it publishes about prices, hours, booking, dogs and children, and what the public record adds: the Michelin Guide, the Good Food Guide, AA Rosettes and the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. All 13 hold the top hygiene rating of 5.

The award winners

Roots, Marygate

Roots is chef Tommy Banks’s York restaurant, which describes itself as “Michelin-starred dining” combining “innovative cooking techniques with one-of-a-kind ingredients”. The Michelin Guide calls it “the only restaurant in the city with a MICHELIN Star”, with produce from the Banks family farm. It serves two tasting menus: the Core Menu at £110 and the Signature Menu at £165, plus a Sunday Feast from £75. Through October and November the Signature Menu costs £110 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Friday lunchtimes. Dinner is Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm, lunch Friday to Sunday from noon; closed Monday and Tuesday. Book online. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 24 September 2026). 68 Marygate, YO30 7BH. Our listing.

Skosh, Micklegate

Skosh calls its food “contemporary British cooking with an international influence”, served as snacks and small plates from an open kitchen, with a menu that changes often. It holds a Bib Gourmand, Michelin’s award for good food at good value; Michelin’s inspectors wrote that “all cities should have a Bib Gourmand in their dining scene”. Open Wednesday to Friday 12:00 to 14:00 and 17:30 to 22:00, Saturday 12:00 to 22:00. A card secures a booking, with a £20 a head charge for cancelling inside 24 hours; tables top out at 12, and the bar takes walk-ins. The restaurant says it has an accessible toilet and wheelchair access on request. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 10 October 2025). 98 Micklegate, YO1 6JX. Our listing.

Black Wheat Club, Fossgate

Black Wheat Club describes itself as “an independent modern bistro & microbakery”, with brunch and bakes in the day and seasonal sharing plates and wine in the evening; it says everything, down to the sausages, is made in house. In July 2026 the Good Food Guide ranked it 10th in its 100 Best Local Restaurants and named it the best restaurant in Yorkshire and the North East (YorkMix). Daytime is 9am to 3pm (4pm Saturday), closed Tuesday; evenings Thursday to Saturday 6pm to 11pm. Only evenings are bookable, with groups of five or more by email and eight the maximum. Dogs are welcome. The ground floor is wheelchair accessible but the toilets are upstairs, and the kitchen says it cannot safely serve anyone with coeliac disease. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 10 March 2025). 52 Fossgate, YO1 9TF. Our listing.

Melton’s, Scarcroft Road

Michael and Lucy Hjort opened Melton’s in 1990, and the restaurant says head chef Calvin Miller has worked with Michael for more than 15 years. It is in the Michelin Guide, which calls it a neighbourhood restaurant, and it gained a third AA Rosette in September 2025. Three courses cost £85 a head including canapés and bread, with some dishes carrying a supplement; Lucy runs the wine list of more than 150 bottles. Bookings are taken for lunch Wednesday to Saturday, 12:00 to 1:45pm, and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, 5:30 to 8:45pm. It sits just outside the walls in South Bank. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 11 December 2024). 7 Scarcroft Road, YO23 1ND. Our listing.

Fine dining inside the walls

Arras, Peasholme Green

Arras is in a brick former coaching house on the edge of the centre, and the Michelin Guide singles out its bread, which comes from its own bakery, Little Arras on Goodramgate, along with a wine list with a strong English showing. The restaurant’s own words: “exquisite, modern and relaxed”. Lunch is Wednesday to Saturday 12 to 2pm and dinner 6 to 9.30pm. Card details secure a booking through ResDiary, tables of six or more are booked direct, and dietary needs require 48 hours’ notice. Children are welcome; there is no children’s menu, but dishes can be adapted. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 24 September 2026). The Old Coach House, Peasholme Green, YO1 7PW. Our listing.

The Bow Room at Grays Court, Chapter House Street

The Bow Room is the restaurant of Grays Court, a hotel in a Jacobean house beside the Minster, with the city walls bounding its gardens. The hotel says it holds three AA Rosettes and a place in the Michelin Guide 2026, and that head chef Ian Doyle previously worked at Noma in Copenhagen and at Oaxen Krog in Stockholm. Fruit, vegetables and herbs come from its own half-acre garden. The restaurant site lists a tasting menu Wednesday to Saturday at 7pm and à la carte sittings at 6:30pm and 7:30pm; a lighter lunch is served daily from 12 to 3pm in the Long Gallery. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 28 January 2026). Chapter House Street, YO1 7JH.

Fish & Forest, Grape Lane

“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do,” Fish & Forest says: fish is wild, native or ethically farmed and caught on day boats. It moved from Micklegate to Grape Lane in August 2024 (Restaurant Online) and is in the Michelin Guide. Small plates at lunch, à la carte in the evening; open Wednesday to Saturday, 12:00 to 14:30 and 17:30 to 21:00. Children aged 12 and over only, with no children’s menu. Dogs are allowed in the courtyard and garden but not inside, apart from assistance dogs. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 15 October 2025). 13 Grape Lane, YO1 7HU. Our listing.

Legacy at The Grand, Station Rise

Legacy is the fine dining room at The Grand hotel, which bills it as “A Celebration of Ingredients”, with each course built around one lead ingredient. It runs three seasonal menus, and Game & Wild is the one in season from October. Culinary director Kevin Bonello leads the kitchen. Michelin lists it as a selected restaurant, and its inspectors mention “efficient, knowledgeable service”. Reservations are Wednesday to Sunday, 18:30 to 20:30, through OpenTable or on 01904 380038. The menu is published as a PDF, but the page does not show a price. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 21 March 2025). The Grand, Station Rise, YO1 6GD.

Bistros and everyday favourites

Café No.8 Bistro, Gillygate

Café No.8 marked 24 years on Gillygate in July 2026, and the Good Food Guide lists it as a Local Gem: “small but perfectly formed”. The bistro’s current evening menu has mains from £23.50 (a wild mushroom and mascarpone filo parcel) to £32, and some dishes change weekly. It opens Wednesday to Saturday 5pm to 10pm and Sunday 12pm to 4pm, and in March it announced that dogs are welcome. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 18 September 2024). 8 Gillygate, YO31 7EQ, just outside Bootham Bar. Our listing.

The Star Inn the City, Museum Street

The Star Inn the City has been in the former waterworks engine house at the edge of Museum Gardens since 2013, and it calls itself “a taste of the countryside in the heart of the city”. Michelin describes it as “a big, bright brasserie” with Yorkshire produce. It is open long hours: 11am to 11pm Monday to Thursday, 9.30am to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 9.30am to 10pm Sunday. Tables are booked through OpenTable, and drinks-only visits are walk-in. Its menus and dog policy are published on the website. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 24 June 2026). Lendal Engine House, Museum Street, YO1 7DR. Our listing.

Los Moros, Grape Lane

Los Moros began in 2015 as Tarik Abdeladim’s stall in Shambles Market, and the stall still trades every day from 11.30am. The restaurant on Grape Lane describes itself as a “modern North African kitchen”. It serves lunch Tuesday to Saturday from 12 to 2pm, and dinner from 6 to 9pm Tuesday to Thursday, or 5.30 to 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday. Bookings by phone on 01904 636834 or online. Hygiene rating 5 for the restaurant (FSA, 18 September 2024). 15-17 Grape Lane, YO1 7HU. Our listing.

Ambiente Tapas, Fossgate

Ambiente is a small Yorkshire tapas group with two York restaurants plus Tabanco on Walmgate. Its Fossgate branch describes itself as “spacious, stylish and energetic”, with a stripped-back industrial look. It opens every day, 11.30am to 10pm. There is a Little Niños children’s menu and a Sunday deal of six tapas for £30. The restaurant says wheelchair access is to the ground floor only, where the accessible toilet and baby change are. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 8 January 2026). 31 Fossgate, YO1 9TA; the Goodramgate branch is at number 14. Our listing.

Ate O’Clock, High Ousegate

Ate O’Clock sits “down an arched alleyway draped in fairy lights” off High Ousegate. It has indoor rooms and a courtyard adapted for winter, and the restaurant says most of its food is made in house. The menu runs from steaks and burgers to traditional dishes, with separate gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan, and children’s menus. It says it is dog friendly. Open 12pm to 10pm, seven days a week, with the Social 8 lounge bar next door for brunch and small plates. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 29 July 2025). 13A High Ousegate, YO1 8RZ.

How we chose

This is a list of the restaurants people search for, chosen on records anyone can check rather than on taste: the Michelin Guide’s York listings, the Good Food Guide, AA Rosettes, how long a place has traded, and its Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. Nothing below a 3 was considered; in the end all 13 are rated 5. We checked every restaurant’s own website on 23 October 2026 for hours, prices, booking rules and any closure notice, and took the hygiene ratings from the FSA register on the same day. Prices and hours change, so check with the restaurant before you go.

For more days out, see things to do in York and what’s on in York this month, or browse every restaurant in our York business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@theyorktimes.co.uk.

Frequently asked questions

Which York restaurants are in the Michelin Guide?

Michelin’s York page lists eight: Roots on Marygate (one Michelin star, the only one in the city), Skosh on Micklegate (Bib Gourmand), and Arras, The Bow Room at Grays Court, Fish & Forest, Legacy at The Grand, Melton’s and The Star Inn the City, which are recommended without a star.

Which York restaurants allow dogs?

Black Wheat Club, Café No.8 Bistro and Ate O’Clock all say on their own websites that dogs are welcome. Fish & Forest allows dogs in its courtyard and garden but not in the restaurant, apart from assistance dogs.

What is the best restaurant in York according to the Good Food Guide?

Black Wheat Club on Fossgate was ranked 10th in the Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants of 2026 and named the best restaurant in Yorkshire and the North East, as YorkMix reported on 14 July 2026.