Places to eat in Harrogate

With no fewer than seven restaurants included in the 2018 Michelin Restaurant Guide, and more than 300 restaurants to choose from in total, Harrogate delivers when it comes to top-quality food.

And with many restaurants focusing on locally sourced meat and vegetables, your food is as fresh as it can be. We’ve rounded up our favourites, spanning a wide range of cuisines and prices on our dedicated Restaurants in Harrogate page.

Bettys Café Tea Rooms rightly dominates Harrogate’s café scene, an institution for nearly a century. And with six outlets now across Yorkshire, it’s become a byword for culinary quality in the region. But there are plenty of other high-class options in town, including Fodder Café next to the Great Yorkshire Showground, a 10-minute drive from our Harrogate South hotel.

Part deli, part butchers, part café and all incredibly tasty, they rightfully boast that over 85% of their produce comes from local farmers and growers. The deli stocks over 40 different Yorkshire cheeses, while the on-site butcher will talk you through each cut of meat and even tell you which farm they came from. The café maintains that same high quality, offering breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea menus, as well as plenty of gluten-free options. The food is all freshly prepared, and while they can’t compete with Bettys on brand name alone, their homemade scones with clotted cream, strawberry jam and butter run Bettys very close indeed.

Launched in 2013, Hoxton North in Royal Parade is the spot for some serious coffee appreciation. They cater to vegan, dairy- and gluten-free customers and offer over a dozen different coffee blends and single-origin beans from around the world. The design and atmosphere is definitely on the hipster side of cool, with a unisex toilet and friendly, attentive service, while the food – especially their weekend brunch – comes highly recommended.

Rounding out the selection is Zinc Café, an independent café and wine bar in John Street that serves up a lip-smacking array of cakes, tarts, soups and sandwiches. Perfect for a refuel on a sightseeing trip or for a lunchtime stop, they also serve an almost-too-good-to-be-true set-course bistro menu at the weekends.