The Knowhere Guide

Eating and Drinking in Harrogate, North Yorkshire*

Harrogate, North Yorkshire Pubs, Cafes, Coffee Shops and Restaurants

Food

• Pizza Parada 2 for 1. Supper AND breakfast!
• gravelies chips oposite harrogate theatre!
• jack fultons near mcdo
• subway,the cafe @ the theatre, macy ds,
• er... dixy chicken
• Maccy D's and next to there Jack Fultons. All the junk you'll ever need for less than a pound..
• Damn Yankee's is the best!!! They do lots of veggie options so don't be put off by the steaks and burgers. Also, Horoscope Chinese, Cattleman's Association, The Noodle Bar, Thai Elephant (pricey) and Est Est Est are all good for restaurant type foods. For lunch there's loads of pubs in the town centre that do food. China Garden on King's Road is a good Chinese takeaway place and Chico's is always a good option for post drinking binges (they're pizzas and kebabs are about as good as you'll get in Harrogate!)
• B.E.D Burnsey Eat Drink. U cnt visit Harrogate wivout goin 2 Bed!!!its sooooo nice!!!!!its nica an relaxed and its rly rly nice!!!
• If you like Sushi you cant beat Ichiban (which also does yummy Malaysian and chinese food too). Its next to Zizzi's on cheltenham parade.
• The Chinese opposite Olivers (can't remember the name) is excellent. Lovely food, curteous and friendly staff who don't hover, and value for money.
• brios, just luk at the fit waiters!!
• Skewers for really really hot fried gorgous chips. Joe rigatoni's for tasty italians and food too. Dixxy chicken, rip off of KFC but nearer than starbeck. Sqwinting cat just past rossett school serves really nice pub food 2 for price of 1.
• Chez La Vie... The BEST French Onion Soup! Need I say more?
• go to chico's and ask for chips and cheese and curry sauce. yum yum yum. or two-for-one pizza at pizza parada. there's a few curry houses, bu nothing special. many nice restaurants of all different prices and kinds of food.
• Horoscope Chinese is absolutely fantastic, also like William and Vic's for a gorgeous meal. Headley's is good but pricey. New Wetherspoons is OK for a glorified MacDonalds I suppose.
• The Rajput curry house-JUST EXCELLENT
• Salsa Posada (near Asda) is THE BEST Mexican restaurant EVER and well worth a visit. Pinnochio's - exciting twinkly stars on the ceiling but a 50% chance of food poisoning. Chilli Peppers food is crap and the service ain't up to much either.
• the horoscope chinese
• Simon's Sandwiches (somewhere behind the Victoria Gardens shopping centre) sells the biggest, nicest, cheapest sandiches in the world. The sort that leave mayonase and all sorts of other gunk down the front of your shirt. It's the only choice. Go there!
• Hogshead - the place to be during the day - hang out for hours on the setees!!
• The old Lotus on Leeds Rd was/is great and I love a bit of Joe Rigatoni's calzones
• The Cattlemans Association just up from the conferece centre do the best steaks in the country, avoid if youre vegetarian. Try the big steak challenge!!!!!!Ian
• There are eating places that cater for everyones taste. Italian, Asian, Pseudo-american, Tapas, French and even English. Most places will deliver food to your home for a minimal charge. Betty's Tea Rooms are legendary.

Pubs

• jack and danny's is no more, neither is beeky's. neither, indeed is the vodka bar, it's now DV8, a gay bar. much nicer inside than it ever was. we now have a revolution, which is very trendy, but the cherry cola is superb. for better music, nicer people and yummy cocktails, go to monteys.
• Where do you start??? BRB is great, Wetherspoons, Edwards OK, Rat and Parrot (quieter than it used to be but fantastic value!), Lloyds if you don't mind queuing for 20 minutes to be served. Pitcher, VNU, Merchant Stores all look the same but are nice if you like that sort of thing
• Most are full of the towns bueatiful people. Lots of Toni & Guy hairstyles and £2.50+ a pint. The exception being Edisons which wouldn't look out of place in Gipton!
• There are about 10 new bars a week opening at the moment which is ace but the the place to be seen at the moment is Bar Med (in the new Royal Baths complex) Its is bloody expensive for bottles and stuff and takes ages to get served at the weekend but is still worth it cos the atmosphere is really good. Also a goo place to chill on a Sunday afternoon as they have live jazz from 12 - 4! Other ones to give a go are P&P (don't listen to all the crap about everyone being up they're own arse in there its really not that bad), Lloyds (for the Cheap drinks) And Montey's on a Sunday night.
• Congratulations to the Bell - not only for taking over Farrahs old shop but turning it into a non-smoking area of this excellent pub. You get to taste the Black Sheep and Landlord along with the good food And for the smokers-the good old Coach and Horses - ace Tetleys and more Sheep
• Slug and Lettuce is OK as is the Hogshead, but most places are more or less the same - Pitcher and Piano type places - BO-RING. The Blues bar is chilled if you like that sort of thing. (I do).
• Best bars- The Rat and Parrot, Merchant Stores, Lloyds, The Lounge, Planet Vodka, Pitcher and Piano, Hogshead, Monteys and Edwards...Honest Lawyer good for cheap drinx!!
• Whoever said The Vodka Bar is full of totty is obviously unsure of the age of consent. No mention of the hallowed and cheap Lloyds. Escobar isn't too bad either but bottle only.
• All of the pubs in Harrogate are crap and overpriced. We got thrown out of Yate's and refused entry to the Coach and Horses. The landlord in the coach + horses is a tosser. The 1 pub that did make us welcome and had a good atmosphere was SCRUFFY MURPHYS Irish Bar.
• I lived in Harrogate for a year and learned to hate almost all of the pubs. The one on the corner, just opposite the conference centre was alright though.
• The Harrogate Arms at the top of the Valley Gardens seems to collect an unusual mix of hardened bikers and alcopop afficionados. Saturday nights downstairs used to feature fairly good Goth/Alternative nights, nice if the Jimmy's crowd turn your stomach.
• Freshed face bunch in Franks bar and occasionally Beeky's. Avoid the poncey ones - Pitcher and Piano and Lloyds Crabtree's is pretty good and the Milepost and Coach&Horses are decent too.
• Theres plenty of Punani in Pu Na Na's, luvely jubbly,ay ay savaloy get your gaffnies out for the lads!!! She could poke someones eye out with them.
• The Vodka Bar is wicked with real cheap drinks and loads of gorgeous totty. Its next to the Hogshead which is also a top bar(bit swanky)
• blues bar- a spiritual home from home
• who can ever forget evenings spent at the Harrogate Arms before legally old enough!!!! The Real Macaw/West Park Hotel is also a cool place to be, although I'm sure the kids get younger every time I go in.
• What ever you do stay out of Edison's as this is a dive and noone but slappers and hairy arsed men would be seen dead in there.
• What do you mean avoid Franks and the Honest Lawyer? These are fantastic pubs, provided one is not a town centre trendy. Fret not, you don't have to be a crusty.
• Hales Bar is not only frequented by gay people, is incredibly cosy and the gas lit bar is handy for lighting your fags (no pun intended)
• Howcan you ignore the Coahc and Horses on the West Park? Any pub that sells Black Sheep has to be good anyway, but this is just such an "old Man's" pub that it has to one of the highlights of the town of my birth!!!
• • Harrogate Arms - Crag Lane (off Otley Road) Harrogate. Great place, open late on weekends, good music (indie / rock) good food.
  • Rasion d'Etre - New pub in the town centre (Princes Square). Similar to any trendy soho bar in London.
• What can I say? There are rock cafe's, blue's bars, Irish bars, up-market & down-market bars. The list is endless. During the last month three new bars have opened. The weirdest one was called Ned Kelly's, an Aussie bare with surf boards as the actual bars and the beers served in four or two pint billie-cans complete with enamel tin mugs. but it closed after arguments about noise
  By far the most popular bar is Jack & Danny's, a rip-off of rock cafe's but better. It serves good cheap tapas, has regular live music, and is always buzzing. Well worth a visit.

Cafes and Coffee Shops

• What I long for is to be able to go to a cosy cafe which is open during the evening, a bit like Central Perk in the "Friends" show. Not a pub, no alcohol, just a nice place to meet friends or sit alone. Know of any in Yorkshire (near Leeds preferably).
• starbucks, bettys
• Nope, just evil multinationals
• starbucks of course
• STARBUCKS! ooo.... frapacinos
• Loads of little cafes about. Starbucks has finally hit Harrogate but other than that there's everything from the Railway Cafe (cheap and cheerful, great if you like bacon butties) to Betty's (they charge a fortune for cheese on toast by calling it Welsh Rarebit!) Again, walk in any direction from the centre and you'll find loads. The one next to MacDonalds (can't remember the name) is great for toasted teacakes and ice cream shakes!!
• Indulge nr Habitat.Bettys nr da banks. Caffe Nero oposit Bus station. Cafe Milan nr stationary box+debenhams
• For good old fashioned food like your granny makes you can't beat the cafe in Sunwin House. Good value for money too.
• starbucks is evil!...evil i tell u! EVILLLL....MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• starbucks everytime, expensive but worth it
• Bettys, i make the sweet confectionary stuff,Abit over priced but if you can get chocolate brandy roulade! mmmm! i can easily eat 3 slices. mmmmnm OOOh starbucks for the fun of the hot chocolate making.
• oh, whatever happened to that dirty little caff on beulah street where you could nurse a cup of tea all day? these days there's starbucks and cafe nero and all that stuff, can't think of anywhere small and nice. apart from the world famous Betty's tea rooms, that is.
• Bettys- famous
• Milan's Coffe House opposite debenhams. Go upstairs to the room with the sofas.
• Oliver Twist cafe in the Victoria Shopping centre...great staff, great food...
• Bettys. Just great. Not really big on cafe's unless mum's visiting...
• Outside Cafe Rouge in the summer if you don't mind spending a fortune.
• the milan coffee house! best hot chocolate for miles and -really- comfy sofas

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Last updated: 2007-06-16