Best restaurants in Yorkshire 2026: The five best neighbourhood restaurants in Yorkshire according to our critics
For the first time ever, The Yorkshire Post has asked its food critics to come up with a definitive list of their favourite restaurants they’ve dined at in the last year.
You can read the full list of the top 20 restaurants from their 2025 reviews here - but we’ve also dug a little deeper to highlight the restaurants of a certain type which hit the spot.
Because while restaurants such as Forge at Middleton Lodge - which has been named our restaurant of the year - often dominate these lists, we also wanted to give a shout out to the neighbourhood spots which deliver time and time again.
They may not all be Michelin-starred, fine-dining experiences, but they do give you quality food in a wonderful setting that makes you feel right at home. And what more could you ask for.
In our top five neighbourhood spots in Yorkshire, we have a burger joint on the coast, a Leeds culinary couple and South Yorkshire restaurant which started like as a taco truck.
There’s plenty to choose from in there, so what are you waiting for? In no particular order, here are our food reviewer’s top five neighbourhood restaurants:
The Nettle
17 Market Pl, Settle BD24 9ED
Our reviewer says: “But by far the star of the show is the pasture-fed beef dish, super modern and a beautifully balanced and generous plate of food - it’s a lovely looking thing, the meat pink and with roscoff onion, a pickled walnut reduction and tarragon, it’s sensational.
“Staff are lovely, clued up and welcoming, and there are many highlights to savour, so much so that time almost stops and it’s so good you almost stop talking.”
Swine Bistro
77a Otley Road, Headingley LS6 3PS
Our reviewer says: “The Myers have come a long way since the Greedy Pig, their little caff on North Street.
“They may have upgraded significantly with space for a proper kitchen, a room (in time) for private dining and the magical number of 40 covers, but they have not abandoned their original ethos of simple, unfussy food from a menu that Stu will tweak with the seasons and change regularly.”
Chainbridge, The Carrs, Ruswarp, Whitby YO21 1RL
Our reviewer says: “By the time we reached dessert the restaurant was rocking, with every table taken and nothing to absorb the noise bouncing off those brick walls. And if it’s generally considered unfair to review a restaurant on its opening night, I can only say the Waterside smashed it.
“Just as Pizza West brought a stylish new restaurant to Whitby, the Waterside looks like doing much the same for Ruswarp.”
8 Dyson Pl, Sharrow, Sheffield S11 8XX
Our reviewer says: “Antojitos (‘little cravings’) turn up in no particular order; we’ve ordered a number of tacos, and a soy and sesame cauliflower is first to arrive, and if it’s any indication of what’s ahead, it’s going to be a good night.
“The tacos are clearly recently made and have quite a strong tell-tale corn taste and these are beautifully soft, and stuffed with feather-light tempura cauli, and a zingy bright green avocado salsa for dipping – so simple, and delicious.”
Our reviewer says: “I have to stop myself getting lyrical about Mary’s. It is, after all just a sandwich shop that turns into a burger joint on Friday and Saturday. But … they are fabulous sarnies and brilliant burgers, and just as importantly they’ve created a place with such a sweet vibe I can’t stay away.
“Eating at place like Mary’s is fast becoming my favourite way to spend time. Of course I enjoy the theatre of fine dining now and again and a tasting menu is welcome when I can’t be bothered to choose.”