Best Local Restaurant

Best Local Restaurants in the North East 2023
Published 07 July 2023

Food at Homestead Kitchen, Goathland - North East Best Local Restaurant Award winner. Credit: Ryan Hunter Media

Our Best Local Restaurant list celebrates the places that are the beating heart of communities around Britain. Using reader nominations as a driving force, we inspected a great number of restaurants in the North East to decide which ones deserved a place in the 100 Best Local Restaurants 2023. Some are old favourites, others are new to The Good Food Guide, all are brilliant places to eat.

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Considered one of the most beautiful, exciting and thriving places to visit, England’s North East region is fast becoming a key player on the UK restaurant scene. Nominations have put Hull back on the foodie map, with much praise for Hearth (bakery by day, restaurant by night) and the unassuming Spanish tapas bar, The Hispanist. Further afield, Orange Bird in Sheffield has wowed with its smoky homage to the South African braai, and we were as delighted by Ophelia’s classy take on a French bistro as the appreciative folk of South Gosforth, in Tyne & Wear. However, it’s back to Yorkshire (surely England’s most foodie county) for our stunning regional winner. Readers voted forcefully for the Homestead Kitchen in Goatland (located in the heart of the North York Moors National Park), a thoughtful opening from a talented couple who give every sign of being in it for the long haul.

Best Local Restaurant: North East

Peter Neville and his partner Cecily Fearnley with their children outside their restaurant Homestead Kitchen in Goathland, North Yorkshire - The Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurant in the North East of England 2023.
Peter Neville and his partner Cecily Fearnley with their children outside their restaurant Homestead Kitchen in Goathland, North Yorkshire - The Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurant in the North East 2023. Credit: Jessica Lathan Photography.

Homestead Kitchen

Goathland, North Yorkshire

Peter Neville and Cecily Fearnley’s relaxed, low-key farmhouse, with its ‘fantastic commitment to the world of locally sourced food, community and sustainability’, is the ‘perfect fit’ for a regional award, thought our inspector. Just add fabulous views, unpretentious, very seasonal cooking and service that has ‘the knack of making you feel you are the most important person there’. All things considered, it’s no wonder grateful customers have named Homestead their favourite.

A Good Food Guide Reader said:

"The food is outstanding. Well-thought-out menus using local seasonal produce, often grown on-site or reared in the local village. The dishes are imaginative without being fussy or over complicated. The atmosphere is exactly what you want after a walk in the countryside - warm, welcoming and relaxed."

Owners Peter Neville and his partner Cecily Fearnley said of the award:

"We are absolutely thrilled to have won Best Local Restaurant in the North East. Having opened in November 2021 amidst the pandemic, it was a huge leap of faith to make this move to Goathland and realise our dream. Thanks have to go to our incredible small team, who have worked so hard to make the Homestead Kitchen what it is. We must also of course mention our fantastic customers, who are our biggest cheerleaders, and fill our space with connection, community, and happy memories."

Read the Homestead Kitchen Review


The Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurants in the North East of England 2023

Congratulations to all the restaurants in Scotland that have made it onto our list of Britain's 100 Best Local Restaurants 2023. Explore the tiles below to discover who made the list and to read their full reviews in The Good Food Guide.