Best Pubs in Yorkshire
Published 05 November 2025

With forested hills sloping onto fields of grazing sheep and the Gothic remains of Byland Abbey towering over the entrance, this pub with rooms is a dream ticket – no wonder it was snapped up by chef Tommy Banks (the Black Swan at Oldstead is nearby). Inside, there’s a little bar with a snug for those wanting a drink, but the main action takes place in the three dining rooms, one of which is the former piggery – an expansive room with beams, giant flagstones and a double-facing log-burning stove, all illuminated by a conservatory-style skylight. The mood is relaxed and staff stay on top of their tasks, while cute details in the handsome finishes speak of Tommy Banks’ pedigree.

The food also makes a connection to the Banks family farm (without labouring the point), and chef Charlie Smith serves up a procession of seriously appealing, modern pub-style dishes – an incredibly original Dexter steak tartare, perhaps, cut into uniform nuggets resembling translucent rubies decorated with grated wild horseradish, fermented peppers and smoked bone marrow. Elsewhere, there might be a light, elegant plate of smoked Pablo beetroot with ewe’s curd, preserved Yorkshire rhubarb and linseed crackers for texture. Some of the meaty main courses such as a pork rib chop with fermented mushroom béarnaise could do with a little finessing, although fish dishes hit the spot – judging by a pitch-perfect serving of cod with a splendid mussel cream sauce and purple-red potatoes on the side.

Everything is executed with flair, professionalism and a deep respect for local ingredients – and that extends to the dazzling roasts served for Sunday lunch (check out the rare-breed Berkshire pork and Herdwick lamb from the family farm, just two miles away). If you're looking for real value, however, order the mighty Dexter cheeseburger with fries, plus a pint of Yorkshire-brewed ale and a shared dessert – say a soft-serve sundae topped with Douglas fir, blackcurrant and white chocolate. Aside from real ale, drinks include seasonal cocktails, homemade libations and a short but decent selection of wines with plenty by the glass.

With pubs closing week on week, you might wonder why Tommy Banks would take on a tired old roadhouse between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge and transform it into a modern inn for the 21st century. But Banks has form: in 2005 he took his local village boozer, the Black Swan at Oldstead, to stellar status in just five years; later, he bought a mock Tudor tavern in York and made Roots a destination, and recently revived the beautifully located Abbey Inn at Byland.

The General Tarleton is the first restoration in Banks’ new group, Jeopardy Hospitality, and good money has gone into the smart makeover. The homely bar with old-style oak tables and Windsor chairs is dedicated to drinkers, while the sunlit atrium is a fresh, modern space filled with light ash tables. Beyond is ‘the barn’, another dining room with attractive beams and exposed stone walls.

The tight menu is packed with pub classics: oozing Scotch eggs and twice-baked cheese soufflé to start, then pork schnitzel with a fried egg or fillet steak with fabulous triple-cooked chips. There are Dexter beef burgers and handsome pies too, laced with Black Sheep ale and served with 'baked potato' mash. Dishes are refined and carefully executed, as in a snow-white fillet of cod with deep-fried cockles and a roast onion or a chocolate pot with sour cherry, miso and almond.

This is elevated pub cooking, so don’t expect average pub prices, but there's also a terrific-value three-course set menu at £30 (available most sessions).  Bar snacks of pork crackling and Old Winchester croquettes go well with pints of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Knaresborough’s Turning Point on tap; there's also a strong selection of wines by the glass, including some New World highlights. If this is what it takes to keep a village inn thriving, they may be onto something.

The team behind the Empire Café reopened this much-loved neighbourhood boozer in spring 2025, and its new guise is respectful of its heritage, ticking all of the proper pub boxes: dark walls and velvet curtains creating a cosy atmosphere, a polished wood bar dolled up with shiny brass accessories, plus a tray of oysters on ice at one end waiting to be shucked to order. The interior of the flatiron-shaped building is lined by a continuous burgundy-leather banquette, encouraging chat between tables of regulars and first-timers. It’s a pub for and of its community. One fan marvelled at the balance of serving 'world-class food' while 'maintaining an air of working-class Leeds'.

The menu nods to pubs of all stripes, from chophouses to Desi to sandwiches-on-the-bar boozers. Bone-in sirloin steaks from Sykes House Farm are ordered in inch-thick increments, cooked on an eight-foot woodburning grill that fires the kitchen – custom-built to fit into a former fireplace – and served with a lick of peppercorn sauce. A dish of smoked mussels in a Pernod-spiked shellfish bisque atop fire-toasted sourdough, has been highly commended, as have Sunday wood-fired roasts of half-chickens or whole beef rump served pink.

A separate selection of bar snacks is enough to tempt anybody – half-pints of shell-on prawns, sausage rolls baked to order and served warm on a paper doily with homemade brown sauce, slices of ham carved off the joint and warmed through on the fireplace with butter-brushed dinner rolls, presented alongside a dedicated mustard menu. And everyone praises the grown-up versions of Black Forest gâteau, brûléed banana split, and other nostalgic puds.

The bar features well-managed cask ales, perfectly poured Guinness, local keg brews and a fridge of Belgian beers, as well as a dozen rotating single malts (all served from optics) with prices ranging from post-work sharpener to post-meal extravagance.

Tucked away in a remote valley in the southwest corner of the North York Moors National Park, Hawnby is an estate village of mellow sandstone, with a church, a pub and a village store. John Wesley visited here in 1757 calling it ‘one of the pleasantest parts of England’ – and we agree. Surrounded by forest and the heather-covered Hawnby Hill, it is a beautiful spot attracting walkers and shooting types who pay handsomely for a day on the estate’s grouse moor. The Owl (a former drover’s inn) sits at the top of the village and gives a commanding view over this stunning countryside.

Here Sam Varley, who previously ran Bantam in Helmsley, has created a welcoming retreat, a place to come for unfussy food and a comfortable bed for the night. Whether you eat in the stone-flagged bar in front of a warming stove, the dining room or the splendid terrace on sunny days, you'll find crowd-pleasing dishes such as chicken, leek and bacon pie or pork T-bone with roasted peach, green beans and pine-nut vinaigrette. Back in the day, cheap monkfish was often passed off as scampi; nowadays it’s a luxury fish and Varley’s monkfish scampi with curry mayo is fabulous.

Also expect devilled kidneys on toast, piles of hot, melting cheese gougères and cracking Sunday lunches – generously sliced aged sirloin of beef with horseradish cream, rolled shoulder of Yorkshire lamb or game birds in season (red-legged partridge or pot-roast grouse, perhaps). Puddings might be a refreshing grapefruit and Campari sorbet or a homely rhubarb sponge and custard. To drink, there are hand-pulled Yorkshire ales, while low-intervention wines figure prominently on a list that offers plenty by the glass.

Located in an impossibly charming village about an hour's drive east of York, this delightful inn has been home to James and Kate Mackenzie since 2006, and it has gone from strength to strength over the years. Happily, the owners have never lost sight of their original vision of an informal country pub dedicated to impressive cooking with a local accent – ‘not fine dining but brilliant consistent food,’ according to one fan. There’s a commitment to Yorkshire’s bountiful larder, the same menu is served in the bar (no bookings) and restaurant, while afternoons bring sandwiches, soup and savouries. They even look after your children nicely with a sensible menu of roast chicken, sausage and mash, risotto and lots more.

James Mackenzie doesn't trade in dolls-house portions or superfluous smears; instead, his dishes are hearty and substantial – as in a generous serving of Dales lamb (BBQ rump and a crispy croquette of belly meat) alongside a delicate tartlet of spring vegetables and Yorkshire Fine Fettle cheese, plus nettle and mint purée, beer and barley jus. Our springtime visit included grilled asparagus served with a dressing of Yorkshire’s own chorizo, followed by a substantial dish of cider-braised rabbit topped with a wild garlic crumble containing pancetta, black pudding and cannellini beans. Asparagus turned up again in a special of wild halibut with Jersey Royals (doused with seaweed butter and served in a mini copper pan). Desserts are hard to resist, especially the exceedingly lemony, lemon curd parfait and meringue ice cream. And if you just fancy a little sweet something, try the ‘treats’ – a trio of macaroons or mini salted caramel doughnuts, hot from the pan and rolled in sugar.

The thoughtful wine list is a fine match for the food, with plenty by the glass and half bottle (including a Pomerol and Margaux at £38), plus a selection of ‘fine and rare’ vintages; there's also a selection of Thomson & Scott non-alcoholic tipples. Five luxurious bedrooms are located in the pub and a further four are close by in the village.

Synonymous with ‘true Yorkshire hospitality’, Andrew Pern’s country inn sets the benchmark for hostelries hereabouts. Pristinely re-thatched and restored, it still hides more than seven centuries of history behind its thick stone walls, while its warren of beamed rooms is home to a collection of hand-crafted furniture from Yorkshire's Robert ‘Mousey’ Thompson.

All-comers receive the warmest of welcomes here – no wonder villagers still proudly use the place as their local, dropping by for pints of local ale and solid sustenance from a ‘pub menu’ that never loses sight of its Yorkshire roots (think peppered swede soup followed by calf’s liver with a fried egg). Sunday roasts are also ‘an absolute joy’ with their creative use of local ingredients. However, the serious culinary action takes place in the restaurant extension, where seasonal North Country produce reigns supreme. Here you will find ‘levain-fed’ bread, honey from Harome’s hives, moorland game, Swaledale lamb, seaweed from Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby lobsters and the occasional interloper such as salt-cured skrei cod. 

The justly famous ‘rich man, poor man’ starter of pan-fried foie gras sandwiched between roundels of grilled black pudding is rightly renowned as a signature dish, although the carte and 10-course taster are stuffed with fulsome, richly flavoured delights and surprisingly creative combinations. Consider sticky braised ox cheek with Yorkshire blue cheese raviolo alongside Marmite-pickled radish and Lindisfarne oyster velouté or a seafood bonanza featuring North Sea turbot and a supporting cast of poached langoustine, crispy calamari, Shetland mussel ‘sauce matelote’ and fennel rouille. After that, carefully matured and truffled cheeses are arrayed on a bespoke ‘Mousey Thompson’ trolley, while desserts range from seasonal riffs on Yorkshire rhubarb to baked banana soufflé with Libations double-aged golden rum syrup and a dollop of Pontefract cake ice cream. 

Wine pairings have been thoughtfully chosen to match the food – an Austrian Beerenauslese, Domäne Wachau with that soufflé, for example – and the full list includes ample drinking by the glass.