3 Best Restaurants in York, Yorkshire

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 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.

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.