6 Best Restaurants in Leeds, Yorkshire

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.

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.

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.