Looking for the best restaurants in York in 2026? From Michelin-starred dining and inventive small plates to historic dining rooms and independent neighbourhood gems, these are the restaurants defining York's flourishing food scene.

Even more so than most other British cities, York has history in abundance: medieval walls, crooked timber-framed buildings, an ancient Minster and enough ghosts to keep the tourism industry busy for another thousand years.

*Tommy Banks, flying the York flag high*

Wandering hordes of Romans, Vikings and Geordies alike have all made their way down its cobblestone streets, and not without good reason – it’s a fantastic place to spend a weekend, and the kind of city that haunts you, in the best possible way, for years after you leave.

*Copious vibes. All the flavours. York 2026*

Discovering the Best Food York Has to Offer

As is the case in other grand cities such as Bath and Edinburgh, for a long time York’s restaurants didn't quite match the setting. Too many visitors came for the architecture and ate somewhere convenient before heading back to the hotel and eventually home.

It’s more than fair to say that this is changing, and it’s changing fast. In fact, York now has one of the most interesting restaurant scenes in the north of England, from Tommy Banks' Michelin-starred Roots to inventive small plates at Skosh, Greek cooking at INOS and the remarkable new Black Wheat Club. As if more proof was needed, The Michelin Guide – still something of a sacred scroll for those who want the assurance of a fascinating feed – currently lists ten York restaurants, while the Good Food Guide has already singled out Black Wheat Club as one of Britain's best local restaurants in 2026.

So, whether you're planning a weekend in York or simply wondering where to eat once you've had enough of the Shambles, here are twelve restaurants worth knowing about.

Roots, Marygate

For a gastronomic pilgrimage north

If York has a restaurant worthy of travelling for, it is Roots. Tommy Banks' Michelin-starred restaurant takes the idea of Yorkshire produce seriously, with much of the cooking shaped by ingredients grown at the Banks family's farm in Oldstead.

The menus change with the seasons, preserving and fermenting ingredients along the way to make the most of what the landscape provides – and the landscape of Yorkshire provides delectable delights ranging from cabbage with salted rhubarb and nasturtium to aged sirloin, root vegetable French toast to strawberry dishes boasting black squash miso and sweet cicely.

There is plenty of technique, but little of the theatricality that can make fine dining feel like an examination you haven't revised for. Indeed, Roots is ambitious without being intimidating; the food is inventive, but the pleasure always, always comes first. For anyone coming to York primarily to eat, this is the obvious place to start.

Legacy, The Grand York

For dinner with a sense of occasion

It’s been said a thousand times before, but some hotel restaurants offer little more than somewhere to eat simply because you're staying upstairs. Legacy – with its collection of triple AA rosette-winning tasting menus – is a whole lot more ambitious, and we just can’t get enough of it.

Inside The Grand York's former railway headquarters, the restaurant combines grand surroundings with contemporary British cooking and a tasting-menu approach built around seasonal ingredients. It’s a love song to Yorkshire, and diners will fall head-over-heels for dishes including lobster bottoni and veal sweetbreads, lion’s mane mushroom creations and the iconic Grand Honey dessert.

The building does a considerable amount of the atmospheric heavy lifting; an enormous, handsome piece of Victorian architecture, originally built for the North Eastern Railway, it feels considerably more glamorous than most places where people once went to discuss timetables. The food, however, is more than tempting enough on its own.

Skosh, Micklegate

For small plates with imagination

Yes, we know – there are now enough small-plates restaurants to make the phrase slightly exhausting. Skosh, however, is one that makes us more than happy that the trend hasn’t completely exhausted itself, simply because the format allows for a sense of fun and discovery you simply don’t uncover with other types of menus.

Chef-owner Neil Bentinck's menu pulls influences from around the world, with dishes designed to be shared and combined into a meal at your own pace. It is playful without being gimmicky, and sophisticated without becoming solemn. Dive headfirst into ‘drunken’ guinea fowl with satay cream, snaffle the Whitby lobster dumplings, fight over the last curry leaf fritter and marvel at the fire-licked cauliflower chaat, and you’ll quickly get why it’s one of York’s most loved restaurants in 2026.

*Sensational pork steak, Black Wheat Club*

Black Wheat Club, Fossgate

For York's new generation of foodies

As is so often the case on these lists, the most exciting restaurant in York in 2026 isn't necessarily the one with the grandest dining room or the most elaborate tasting menu, but the one that packs in the most soul.

Black Wheat Club is a small bakery, café and wine-led bistro on Fossgate, founded by Polish couple Tomasz Mlynarski and Marta Obuchowska. Bread, pastries, ferments and other ingredients are made in-house, while the evening menu moves into seasonal sharing plates and carefully chosen wines. It all feels handmade in the best possible sense, and thanks to my recently-discovered adoration of Polish-inflected food, it’s one I’ll happily go back to time and time again. The Good Food Guide clearly feels the same, as In 2026, it named Black Wheat Club its Best Local Restaurant for Yorkshire and the North East, while placing it tenth in its national 100 Best Local Restaurants.

*Exactly what it says on the tin. Fish & Forest*

Fish & Forest, Grape Lane

For the best of land and sea

Don’t you just love a restaurant that takes a proper Ronseal approach to naming? Fish & Forest – as you might expect – brings together seafood, fish, game and vegetables in a menu that changes with the seasons and nods enthusiastically to the incredible produce available on its doorstep. Good ingredients are sourced carefully and then treated with the respect they deserve, which is all we really ask for in a dining experience nowadays.

Fish & Forest boasts the kind of precision that makes simple food look deceptively easy, and its Michelin recognition reflects the quality of the cooking on show. Indeed, the evening menu reads like a seductive letter from a brand new lover – there’s a dish of cod collar with burnt lime chimichurri, a hand-dived scallop flatbread with taramasalata, venison haunch, skate wing and pollock with beurre blanc on the list. You can also get four exceptional scallops with a pint of Guinness for £20, which sounds exactly like my idea of a very good time.

*Precision cooking with real pedigree, Melton’s*

Melton's, Scarcroft Road

For a proper York institution, done right

It’s easy to get distracted by the new, the shiny and the bright when it comes to the world of dining. Every week, there are brand new chefs, brand new concepts and headline-grabbing openings, promising to redefine something that was probably perfectly fine to begin with.

Melton’s on Scarcroft Road presents a masterclass in ignoring the hype, and steadfastly doing what they do best: elevated seasonal British cooking, local ingredients and sticking by the (occasionally unfashionable) belief that consistency is a virtue. The result is, as you might expect, a very good feed delivered with a style that’s both thrillingly contemporary and utterly timeless. Need proof? Just look at their current trio of main courses: Yorkshire lamb with madeira, Cornish cod with pike roe and girolles, and kohlrabi fondant with a comte custard. What more could a gastronaut wish for?

*Michelin-recommended flights of foodie fancy. Arras*

Arras, Peasholme Green

For food that hits the high notes

While Roots has the star, Legacy has the grand hotel and Skosh has the reputation for playful cooking, Arras simply gets on with the job at hand… and achieves near-perfection with plates that fly the flag for cooking with real distinction, effortless style and a keen eye for artistically tempting plating.

Housed in the Old Coach House, the restaurant serves contemporary food built around (what else?) seasonal ingredients and precise technique. There’s a witty take on an all-day breakfast, showing off Yorkshire’s incredible knack for outstanding pork husbandry and butchery. Market fish comes with seaweed gnocchi for a satisfying taste of the northern coastline, and a quince pudding with tonka bean custard proves there’s some serious attention to detail when it comes to the sweeter side of the menu. The setting is intimate and the approach is polished, and Arras impresses with a quiet confidence that’s never less than stunning.

The Star Inn the City, Museum Street

For relaxed dining by the River Ouse

We’ve said on multiple occasions to be wary of restaurants with a view, but the terrace on the River Ouse outside The Star Inn the City is the kind of exception we’re always willing to embrace. The team believe in one thing above all others: putting excellent Yorkshire produce at the heart of a modern British menu, and the quality of the dishes put out throughout the day more than justify keeping things as local as possible.

*Chilled out dining, riverside. The Star Inn the City*

The Good Food Guide has highlighted the restaurant's combination of food and location, and it is easy to see why: chargrilled Yorkshire pork chops come with chorizo jam, Yorkshire Wolds chicken is joined by a soft herb pesto and homemade green ravioli, and grilled sardines – always a green flag on a brasserie menu – are lifted with an irresistible crab remoulade. It’s the ideal place to indulge after a morning exploring the city’s sights, and there are few places in York better to enjoy a relaxed pint and a hearty lunch when the sun is shining.

The Bow Room at Grays Court

For dinner adjacent to a wonder

Grays Court sits beside York Minster, within a house with more than a thousand years of history. Even for a city as overflowing with the accumulated centuries as York, that’s really quite something. Thankfully, The Bow Room makes a virtue of that extraordinary setting without relying upon it whatsoever. Dinner begins in the Long Gallery before moving into the restaurant for seasonal fine dining, with produce sourced from local suppliers and the hotel's own kitchen garden.

*Absolute elegance. Asparagus & Caviar at The Bow Room*

The atmosphere is decidedly old-world, but in all the best, most elegant ways… and the food on offer is the kind that calls for diners to take their time. There’s a seriously tempting nine-course tasting menu boasting hand-dived scallop, salt-aged lamb and bone marrow custard (be still, my beating heart!) as well as a refreshingly short la carte menu with a handful of similarly well-executed delights. Sophisticated, refined and utterly delicious, it’s a York gem that’s well worth uncovering.

INOS, Piccadilly

For a Greek escape in the heart of York

After Roots, Legacy and several paragraphs about tasting menus, you may be wondering whether anyone in York ever just eats dinner. Well, INOS provides the answer. This Greek taverna and bar serves dishes designed for sharing: souvlaki, moussaka, Greek salads, homemade breads and pitta, loukaniko, baklava and plenty of wine – which, myself included, is often exactly what the good people of York want at the end of another long day.

It is relaxed, convivial and refreshingly uncomplicated. A table covered in Greek food and shared between friends can be every bit as memorable as a tasting menu, and is sometimes more so; particularly when the evening ends with everyone arguing over whether another bottle is really necessary. And yes, it probably is.

The Cumberland, Cumberland Street

For natural flavours balanced with originality

The Cumberland represents yet another side of York's restaurant scene, and highlights a city marking itself as one of the UK’s best places to dine. Set in a Georgian building overlooking the River Ouse, The Cumberland combines the character of an old building with contemporary British cooking; seasonal ingredients and modern techniques feature prominently, and the team behind the scenes knows exactly how to please and surprise in equal measure.

The restaurant is known for its steaks – and if you’re on the lookout for a pitch-perfect ribeye or sirloin, it’s sure to tick all the right boxes. There’s also confit pork belly on the menu, a stone bass with lemon beurre blanc and The Cumberland’s take on a hearty boeuf bourguignon with bone marrow mash. Elegant and versatile, it’s the kind of place you’ll be happy to spend a relaxed lunch, a romantic dinner or a celebration… or simply a good meal when you happen to be nearby.

Delrio's, Blossom Street

For Italian food with personality

This long-established Italian and Sardinian restaurant on Blossom Street has built a loyal following by doing what good neighbourhood restaurants have always done: generous food, warm hospitality and an atmosphere that encourages people to stay longer than planned.

*Packed with personality (and personalities), Delrio’s*

There is no manifesto to digest before the pasta arrives – You simply sit down, soak up the copious vibes and eat, and eat, and eat. That makes Delrio's an important inclusion here. A city's restaurant scene isn't defined solely by its most decorated kitchens, but is also shaped by the places people return to, recommend to friends and associate with good evenings. The fact that Delrio’s serves some of the best gnocchi sardi this side of Cagliari doesn’t hurt, either.

York's restaurant scene is worth the journey

York has never needed help attracting visitors. The Minster does that perfectly adequately, as do the city walls, the medieval streets, the viking museum and the wonky pubs with names that sound as though they were invented by someone who had been drinking in them for several hundred years.

What has changed is that there are now plenty of reasons to come to York hungry. Roots and Legacy provide destination dining, Skosh and Fish & Forest demonstrate how adventurous the city has become, Black Wheat Club represents its emerging independent scene and Melton's proves that longevity can be considerably more impressive than novelty.

That, ultimately, is what makes York such an interesting place to eat in 2026. The history is already there, and it’s not going anywhere. The food is catching up at breakneck speed, built upon a powerful foundation of those willing to shout about Yorkshire produce from the crooked rooftops.

Long may it continue.

Need more city guides built around incredible restaurants? Check out our top restaurant recommendations in Cardiff, where to eat in Bristol, the best restaurants in Edinburgh, our favourite restaurants in Bath and the best new restaurants in London.

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