York is known for its old, characterful pubs and restaurants that are steeped in history. With original wood panelling, slightly higgledy-piggledy structures, atmospheric low lighting and old world-style decor, York is the city to go to for feeling like you’ve just stepped back in time hundreds of years. However, that’s not all the pubs in this historic city have to offer – they can also be relied on to serve up a whopping Sunday lunch.
You really can’t beet a good Sunday roast – whether you fancy succulent chicken, melt-in-the-mouth pork, tender lamb or roast beef with Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings. There is nothing quite like sitting down with the whole family over a delicious Sunday dinner. To that end, we have put together a list of the best Sunday lunches in York in 2023. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and discover the best places to go for a Sunday roast in York.
Make sure to also take a look at the best cocktail bars in York and the best coffee shops in York.
8 Best Places for a Sunday Roast in York 2023
The Whippet Inn
15 North Street
Subtly nestled down North Street, within York’s historic walls, this hidden gem of a pub will lure you in with their slightly left-field decor and outlook. Tucked away from the popular tourist sites of York, this rustic pub offers a cosy and welcoming atmosphere within fashionable surroundings. For a Sunday lunch in York, the Whippet Inn tempts you to try their sumptuous Sunday roast menu which comprises only the very best of fresh, fine Yorkshire fare. This restaurant/pub is a great option if you want a posh Sunday dinner in York with all the trimmings.
Specialising in steak, the Whippet Inn sure does known how to cook up a mean roast. With a set menu, you can opt for 2 courses for just £19.50 or 3 courses for £23.50. For starters, I would recommend the crispy fried whitebait with sweet chilli mayo and charred lime or the grilled black pudding with soft poached egg, Bois Bourdin sauce and watercress. Moving onto the main attraction when it comes to a Sunday roast, you can choose from a selection of roast peppered rump of British beef or brandy butter poached chicken breast, both served with garlic and herb roast potatoes, honey and fennel roast carrots, sautéed spring cabbage with lemon and garlic, lightly spiced cauliflower and cheese gratin and balsamic roast onions. For your Sunday dinner desert, you have the delicious choice of classic sticky toffee pudding, iced dark chocolate parfait or strawberry cheesecake pavlova. To compliment your York Sunday lunch, the Whippet Inn provides an extensive wine list, with an array of changing vintages displayed on their blackboard. So, go ahead and take a look at their Sunday lunch menu.
Find out more here.
The Rattle Owl
104 Micklegate
One of York’s best independent restaurants, The Rattle Owl is housed within a beautiful 17th-century building on one of the city’s most historic streets – Micklegate. This elegant casual dining spot takes advantage of the region’s abundance of fresh produce to create one of York’s best Sunday lunches. The team at The Rattle Owl offer an unfussy menu that doesn’t overcomplicate the classic roast dinner.
Choose from their sweet but simple Sunday lunch set menu – opt for 2 courses for £28 or, if you’re really hungry, go for the full 3 courses for £34. Pick a light but delicious starter, such as their broccoli veloute, ham hock ballotine or cured trout. Then, choose a hearty main, with a choice between honey roast duck served with apricot chutney, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; mutton rump with confit neck and mint fritter, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; and roasted cauliflower for the veggies with Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower puree, roast potatoes, Summerfield’s cheese fritter and cheese sauce for the veggies. Finish off your incredible York roast dinner with a peanut butter parfait, York Cocoa House chocolate delice or a cheese board. View their Sunday dinner menu to see the full range of what they have to offer.
Find out more here.
Guy Fawkes Inn
25 High Petergate
The 1-AA-Rosette-awarded Guy Fawkes Inn is undoubtedly one of the best places in York to get Sunday lunch. Step inside and immediately be welcomed by the by-gone atmosphere of wooden floors and rooms lit by candle and gas. Feast in the Elizabethan-style pub where the menu has a nostalgic touch with items that will take you back in time.
The chefs at the Guy Fawkes Inn add different dishes to the Sunday lunch menu every week to keep the options new and fresh. You can sample delights that seem as though they are from a completely different time period – think while roasted quail, prime 35 day aged steaks, garlic and thyme chicken breast and mushroom wellington. You can start off your Sunday lunch in York with homemade soup of the day, Thai fishcakes, a warm salad of seasonal vegetables or the chef’s homemade black pudding scotch egg. For your main course, choose from staple dishes, including roast beef fed and reared in the Yorkshire Dales; Nidderdale roast chicken breast; loin of Yorkshire reared pork or a vegetable nut roast for the non-meat eaters. If you’re opting for a desert as well, then you will be spoilt for choice with classics like sticky toffee pudding (along with a vegan version), jam roly poly, coconut and mango panna cotta or a selection of British cheeses. Take a look at their Sunday roast menu to see what you fancy.
Find out more here.
Roots
68 Marygate
Roots is the best place to go for a modern take on the Sunday roast in York. While the roast beef, the Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes might be the highlight of most people’s plate, Roots put a contemporary twist on the traditional Sunday dinner that can’t be beaten. The Roots York Sunday lunch menu is a tasting menu experience, like the rest of their menus, that adapts throughout the year to reflect the changing times of year – whether that be The Preserving Season, The Hunger Gap or The Time of Abundance.
Award-winning chef, Tommy Banks, and his team source their seasonal produce from the family farm in Oldstead. The Sunday Feast menu comprises a weekly assortment of dishes that take the humble Sunday roast to whole new heights. A little pricier than some other Sunday lunch options in York, the tasting menu costs £50 per person – however, the exciting flavours and unique combinations might just make it worth the higher cost. When we visited, our sample Sunday dinner menu consisted of 5 courses – first, we started with a selection of sour bread, seed crackers, chive butter, Hafod cheddar and Oldstead onion; next we sampled the smoked salmon served with fennel and buttermilk; then for the main event we were treated to sourdough-glazed chicken which consisted of a buttermilk chicken thigh, caramelised cauliflower puree, Hasselback potatoes, glazed kimchi, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire pudding and a selection of Oldstead vegetables. Finally, not forgetting desert, we finished off with an Oldstead artichoke sticky toffee pudding and black trumpet madeleine. Take a look at the Roots sample Sunday lunch menu and be taken on a culinary trip to absolute food pleasure.
Find out more here.
Tomahawk Steakhouse
26 Lendal
One of the best places for a Sunday roast for someone who really loves their meat. Quietly situated in a corner of the beautiful St. Helen’s Square, Tomahawk Steakhouse is a fabulous restaurant wit a huge menu, including some incredible options for a meaty Sunday lunch in York. The restaurant itself is massive – much larger than I expected, with 6-seater booths so you can get the whole family around one table. Although this Sunday dinner spot is a little more modern than some of the other places on this list, in true York style, it is housed within an old building, kitted out with bare wooden beams, brick walls and low lighting.
The Sunday lunch menu consists of roast beef “wagyu” topside, garlic herb marinated chicken breast or belly pork served with crispy crackling. All these cuts of meat are served alongside pork and herb stuffing, beef dripping roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire pudding, braised red cabbage, seasonal vegetables and a rich 24hr red wine gravy. Not satisfied with this pile of food? If so, you can add some extras – creamy mash, cauliflower cheese croquettes, cheese and bacon potato dauphinoise, bacon and cream peas, broccoli tossed in spicy chimichurri or even an extra Yorkshire pud. If you can’t choose between the three meat options on the menu, then why not go all out and order their ‘Sunday Sharing Board’, consisting of a selection of all three meats, served with all the usual trimmings for just £16.95 per person. See all that they have to offer on their complete Sunday roast menu.
Find out more here.
The Judge’s Lodging
9 Lendal
Enjoy AA Rosette award-winning food and excellent, friendly service in one of the best places for Sunday lunch in York – The Judge’s Lodging. Housed in a listed Georgian restaurant, with both indoor and outdoor dining space, this is the ideal venue for a family Sunday roast. For snug, relaxed eating, the cellar bar offers an escape from the bustling streets of York. With vaulted ceilings and grand mahogany details, this venue has an exclusive atmosphere flowing through it. Alternatively, you could take a seat in the spacious outdoor courtyard and watch the world go by as you tuck into your traditional Sunday dinner.
As well as the setting, the Sunday lunch menu adds to the impressiveness of this stylish restaurant. With an extensive menu, this is a great place to go for Sunday lunch if you have a wide range of taste to cater for in your group. For starters, you can choose from plates including Yorkshire pudding and gravy; seasonal soup with homemade bread roll; duck liver parfait with beetroot, date chutney and toasted brioche; goat’s cheese crottin with summer salad and charred caramelised onion; or ham hock terrine with green salad. Onto the mains – you have the extensive choice of roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken breast or butternut squash for the veggies. All these Sunday lunch options are served alongside a Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, cauliflower cheese and gravy. Alternatively, if you’re not in the mood for a classic Sunday dinner, The Judge’s Lodging also offers other meal options on a Sunday, including pub classics like beer battered fish with chips and minted crushed peas; classic beef burger; chestnut mushroom, pearl onion and leek pie; chicken burger; or chickpea and bean burger. So, when I say there is plenty to choose from, I mean it! Finally, moving onto deserts – that is, if you have enough room left. Why not sample their homemade sticky toffee pudding, rich chocolate brownie, refreshing lemon posset or their selection of local and regional cheeses? Explore their entire Sunday lunch menu now.
Find out more here.
The Botanist
15-19 Stonegate
Get away from the hustle and bustle of York city centre and relax in the chilled ambience of this trendy Sunday lunch spot. A concept like no other in York, you can feast on all your usual Sunday roast delights in this secret garden. While The Botanist might be better known for it’s adventurous cocktails than it’s plates of delicious food – they really do know how to do a good Sunday lunch.
The menu is huge, so you will be spoilt for choice, and the options certainly aren’t boring. The Botanist have taken your everyday Sunday dinner items and given them a whole new lease of life. Choose from an extensive array of Sunday lunch meats, including roast sirloin of beef; roast chicken, pot roast lamb shoulder, slow roast honey glazed pork belly and celeriac, mushroom and pearl barley wellington. All these mains are served with maple glazed carrots, roast potatoes and minted greens with almonds and gravy – you can even add an additional Yorkshire pudding for just £1. If you’re not totally satisfied with the trimmings that come with the set Sunday dinners, then you can choose from a selection of sides, such as Shorrock’s Lancashire cauliflower cheese, creamed cabbage, pork, sage and onion stuffing balls and pigs in blankets. Make sure you save enough room for pudding though as their collection of deserts are to die for – strawberry and rhubarb crumble, Nutella croissant bread and butter pudding, cookie dough, lemon tart or dark chocolate and peanut butter pot. All of these delicious Sunday lunch options can be enjoyed alongside bottomless drinks for an extra £15 per person. Go ahead and check out their full Sunday dinner menu.
Find out more here.
That rounds up our guide to the best Sunday lunch in York in 2023. For more York inspiration, go ahead and check out our list of the best cocktail bars in York.
Techno-Mads 
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