Barkers Cafe Bar in Ryedale

Disappointed, the only bread option for every dish was white ciabatta, scrambled egg was microwaved and my husband’s sandwich consisted of bland, cheap sausages which the dog enjoyed. Lovely location but not worth a return visit when there are so many quality eatery options in Helmsley.

Lovely little hidden gem, the staff are so friendly and extremely helpful. The food was delicious and tasty - and although big portions it didn’t lose its flavour or appeal. I only gave four dots as unfortunately we witnessed two staff members fuss a lovely little dog but one staff didn’t wash his hands afterwards he went straight back to making drinks unlike the girl who went straight to the sink and rinsed her hands.

As a group of girlfriends we stopped in Helmsley on the way back from a weekend at the east coast. After browsing round the lovely gift shops we chose to have lunch at Barkers and sat outside in the sunshine. The food and drinks were very good and the service friendly, attentive with some good banter with the gentleman at the front of house. We’d definitely return if stopping off in Helmsley again - if he’d have us! :)

Just popped in on a very wet miserable day when you think buisness would welcome your custom .There was empty tables but because there was only two of us and a little dog we were told there was only outside seating available. As far as I'm aware there was no reservations on the bigger tables .So we will not be coming back and certainly won't be recommending the place to anyone.

There’s a wide choice of eateries in Helmsley but Barkers seemed a good bet. And so it proved. We bothe had flat white coffees, I had a cheese burger and my wife had a ham and beetroot sandwich. Our only complaint was the size of the portions, we struggled to finish them. The staff were all greatly

Lovely place to relax chat and eat. It’s a busy little place with a lovely atmosphere, the staff do a great job and are very helpful and attentive even when under pressure. The food is excellent and great value for money. Excellent coffee too. A definite must visit when in Helmsley.

Always great service and wonderful food. The specials change regularly and even the variety of scones too.

The food was ok but one of the staff were very rude and said they had brownies but then proceeded to say they were only for display

We enjoyed it and the prices were reasonable and very friendly staff

Fantastic cafe, coffee and iced coffee were lovely also the blueberry and lemon cake was delicious. Fantastic service from the staff and I must say toilets were outstandingly clean. Would highly recommend 😁

Ok, ordered panini's and a side of fried potatoes. Panini's were average but ok the potatoes were raw and swimming in oil. We requested a door closed while we ate due to the wind which was done, but with an awful attitude from the manager which spoilt the meal - shame.

Looking for lunch we came to this place as it advertised gluten free options. We ordered burgers each and drinks. Though busy service was good and the staff were doing their best to help everyone. Lovely day for sitting outside and nicely tucked away from the busy square. Good was excellent and portions sizes were spot on.

The man working there was unbelievably rude and abrupt. We waited over 50 minutes in the hot sun for food which was fine but I was feeling lightheaded so went inside and politely asked if I could have my can of pop while waiting and he shouted ‘No everyone is waiting for drinks, we have a system!’ I apologised and explained I thought I could be helping them by coming inside to collect them and explained I was feeling unwell he continued to shout, rant and rave directly at me! Awful, upsetting experience really rude man. I wonder why people like that work in customer service.

Lovely cafe with outdoor space providing awesome portions of freshly prepared snacks.

Fantastic little café. Lovely friendly staff and very helpful. Food was lovely, great selection and suitable for multiple allergies and or diets. Gluten free, diary free, Vegetarian, vegan etc.

We popped in for beakfast on our visit to Helmsley. This was our least favorite eating experience of our trip. When we (family of 3) arrived, a man asked us if we were eating or drinking, which was odd. We said both and were directed to sit at a table tucked in a corner next to a wall. It was like we were being hidden. There was only one other table occupied in the entire place and we should have liked to choose our table and sit in front near the windows in the nearly empty cafe, but we did as we were told. The food was ok. The full English was good. We ordered tea, which was also good. It just didn't make sense that we were a) told where to sit when there was no table service and b) put in a corner, the least desirable spot in the place when it was nearly empty. It appears other reviewers had the same experience with even larger parties than ours. We would not visit again, unfortunately.

We visited Barkers a few days ago looking forward to a nice relaxing lunch. We have been there many times with our dogs with no problems. We sat down at an outside table with our 2 dogs putting a mat under the table where they settled down.The courtyard area was very busy with people browsing the shops with their dogs. During the fifteen minutes after we ordered food our dogs were well behaved except for two separate occasions, when owners allowed their dogs to approach ours whilst they were settled under the table. To warn them away our dogs barked at the other dogs each time lasting for a of seconds until the owners took control of their dogs. Just after this our food arrived then suddenly a very irate person who must have been the owner came out from the café ranting aggressively at us to keep our dogs under control and threatened to make us leave saying we were disturbing other diners. We felt very intimidated and his aggressive attitude towards us really stressed my wife out. I apologised to other diners around us who commented it wasn’t our dogs fault and in general they were behaving very well, also other dogs had been barking in the courtyard. We accept that our dogs were barking for a very short time on two occasions which may have upset a diner. If that was the case all that was required from the owner was a quiet word asking for us to keep our dogs quiet which would have given us a chance to explain the situation. Although the food and service from the staff was good our lunch was totally ruined by the rude aggressive outburst of the owner. Looking at other reviews there are quite a few about the owners rudeness and bad attitude, although he always disputes the facts. No doubt he will do the same to this review. However his unnecessary bad attitude was witnessed by everyone sitting outside and a couple next to us commented on his bad behaviour. It doesn’t matter how well behaved dogs are if they feel threatened by other dogs they will bark so If you have a dog that may unexpectedly bark do not use this cafe.

Called at this cafe for lunch earlier this week. The food that came was average but it wasn’t what we ordered. The food was brought to the table by the chef and when we questioned one of the orders the chef insisted, twice, that we were in the wrong. His attitude was ridiculously rude and spoilt our lunch. The young girl and boy were nice enough but we will never visit this cafe again!

Lovely breakfast. Helpfully staff made welcome.

Just had a coffee, staff very friendly.

Great experience, visited twice whilst stopping in Helmsley, family breakfast and a brunch. Friendly staff and venue, great menu options for all of us, vegan to meat and dog friendly to boot.

Visited this place whilst on holiday. Fabulous menu. Lots of options including a good selection for vegans and vegetarians. Dog friendly. We both had halloumi and portobello mushroom burgers - delicious. If this place was local to us, we'd be regulars!

Lovely small cafe for drinks and bites. Didn’t eat (see menu/prices) there but coffee was nice. Ask for it extra hot ! Geared up to use card for payments ….they don’t seem to carry mush change for cash. Clean surroundings, friendly staff.

Superb cafe/ coffee shop. Great food and very friendly service.

Lovely friendly cafe with great food. It was busy when we got there but we were greeted quickly and staff were helpful. Good menu with lots of choice for all including large vegan menu. Cafe is screen free which was refreshing.

Lovely staff, wonderful vegan options and dog friendly. Perfect

Excellent gluten free sausage and bacon sandwich.

I had a very nice breakfast very we cooked and presented tea was great thank you very much

Lovely little cafe bar, very comprehensive menu and so reasonably priced for a good quality establishment in Helmsley. Great service, pet friendly and even details like bathroom essentials available free (very thoughtful) in the very clean and spacious loo! I had the burger, excellent and my wife the falafel, also excellent. Worth a visit if in Helmsley.

They said when we ordered 40 minutes waiting but no the got the food out quicker than that n it was good quality, aswell I really wanted to ask where there burgers was made ects but I thought it be a bit rude, onions 🌰 was strong in the slaw, but we was treated well with the service, thanks guys x

Called in here for lunch, lot of vegan choices on the menu, you can also take your dog in. Plenty of seating inside and out. Had to wait over half an hour for our food, when we asked where our food was we were told they had a big order on,but no apology. Food was very basic and customer service poor. We were all very disappointed. Will not be going here again.

Sandwich’s were poor, took ages. I wouldn’t recommend nor would I go again. Value for money was poor as well. And to cap it all their manner made me feel like nuisance rather than a customer.

Been here a couple of times now and been so pleased with food and service 😀

Called in here today for a cappuccino which when they eventually arrived were barely warm. We politely mentioned this to the two male staff who were extremely rude. This is somewhere we will definitely not be returning to and would definitely not recommend it to anyone.

Staff are so nice here and I would recommend the scrambled eggs on toast. Very nice

Doesn't allow you to use any screens in the café. Drinks were good though, but poor selection of snack food

Visited twice this week, and the staff was very accommodating with our labrador. Soup of the day was chicken and veg very tasty

Lovely cafe great choice even for vegetarians. Friendly staff. Well worth a visit.

We visited today, with our dog Mia. Such a lovely warm welcome as if we were regulars, it was our first visit. Excellent chocolate cake & vanilla cheesecake which were both delicious, A pot of tea & a latte. We will definitely call again next time for either breakfast or lunch 😋

Amazing dog friendly cafe! Stopped in here for some lunch and it was great, super friendly and plenty of gluten free options 😊 Will definitely be back!

Had a wonderful lunch! The staff are lovely and are really considerate and welcoming ♥️ lovely vegan menu which was extensive - a hard find in North Yorkshire!

Wife loved her sausage onion and mushroom ciabatta and I really liked the bacon and sausage ciabatta, lovely soft bread and huge! Makes it all really good value. The staff were also really friendly and the young lad really conscious about the placement of cutlery and cups and handle positioning, so real attention to detail. Dogs allowed inside too.

We found the only unfriendly person in Yorkshire here! Two of our group of four were not ordering anything (partly due to complex allergies) so the two were told to leave the EMPTY cafe in case it got busy! The owner stood over us and spoke very rudely without an ounce of warmth. We stood speechless for a moment and walked out. We were almost glad though because the decor was dated and bland and did not reflect the character of this beautiful town. There is an abundance of other cafes and pubs in Helmsley, go literally anywhere else. They all looked beautiful. We ended up at Mannions. THAT was 5 stars. I hope someone with more suitable qualities takes over the business soon.

amazing food and value for money, really pleased with the overall custom however when it came to paying they wouldn’t accept Scottish money without any reasonable explanation as to why. when challenged about this at the end of our dine the person didn’t seem to bothered and no apology was given, in this day and age Scottish and English money are just the same and we felt as if we were being discriminated against. (would’ve left a tip but only had Scottish notes🤣)

Owner unfriendly and we were made to feel unwelcome. Cakes poor quality. Found another cafe at the other end of the spectrum namely the feather trail which was excellent. Won't recommend barkers cafe. Astonished £2 for hot water!

Brilliant sandwichs.meals and cakes at a reasonable price. Also dog 🐕 friendly.

First visit to Helmsley so after a wander round we decided on Barkers for lunch. 2 stars one for location and 1 for coffee. Service brought food out no return to see if all was ok or if we needed anything else. Food came out , didn’t look appetising maybe a few salad leaves and dressing would add flavour to very bland food. Tuna melt came with cheese non existent , tuna was cheap and nasty to n all both the panini and the tuna sandwich were bland and flavourless. Maybe if you can’t cope with a Bank Holiday crowd don’t open. Couldn’t recommend on todays offerings!!!

Excellent paninis and coffee with very friendly service. We always come here when we’re in Helmsley

Great service, friendly staff and fabulous food.

Went here today with my Mum and Dad for brunch. Great location in the heart of Helmsley town centre with friendly and professional staff and lovely food (I had the bacon ciabatta sandwich). Highly recommended! :)

Great selection of vegan options including vegan breakfasts and vegan cakes! Wonderful service by very welcoming and friendly staff. The best cafe for vegans in town

A excellent place for a light lunch, fish platter was excellent and just enough for two sharing, highly recommended place to visit when in Helmsley.

Such a nice little cafe. Staff were so lovely and helpful. Food was brilliant and very welcoming for the dog too!

Lovely bacon and sausage butty. Fair price

Good food,but one staff member rude, I ordered and was told wait out side we will bring your order, of which they did but not long after I was asked to go because he had not charged me enough to sit at the table outside, strange man I offered to pay extra but he said no , will not be returning, we often visit helmsley scooter and biker friends, I feel it will cost more in lost trade than a few pence to sit at there table

Great. I thought it was French themed, turns out it was Italian.

Pleasant atmosphere, friendly staff and an impressively large gluten free menu

Such a nice place. Have never been before but will definitely be going back. They are so friendly and welcoming. I can definitely recommend the deluxe hot chocolate it looked and was awesome.

Absolutely wonderful. Lovely little gem tucked away in Barkers yard. The staff were all welcoming and the food and drink hit the spot! Thank you!

Lovely place. 😍 Had the soup and it was amazing. My husband had a sausage onion and mushroom bun and he loved it. Will definitely go again.

Would really recommend this café - particularly if you are vegan and/or gluten free. As a gluten free cyclist, I often find it really hard to buy substantial/nutritious meals in cafes whilst I'm out riding (a portion of soup without a roll often doesn't last 5 minutes before it's burnt off - which is often the only GF option at a lot of cafes STILL). But Barker's have a whole menu of gluten free & vegan options (generous portion sizes too), at a really reasonable price. They had a safe space for our bikes (we were a group of 6 riders) and the staff were really friendly. Would definitely love to visit again if I'm in the area.

Great little spot to stop off for some food and a coffee. Nice varied menu, accommodating of dietary requirements and really friendly staff. Highly recommended!

Always enjoy a chiabata sandwich roll for lunch

Staff were really nice, food is well priced and they have a veggie/ vegan menu which was good 😊 also do decaf coffee tea and plant based milks too.

They had us with their name when we saw it was dog friendly, and walked past the competition to go there. Seats available inside and outside in tented areas. The toast was lovely and crisp, not sure what type of bread it was, almost like a thinly sliced bap with thin flaky crust to one side. I'd give the veggie breakfast 5/5 and the regular breakfast 4/5. The sausages seemed a bit generic and the texture was that of a paste, like a Richmond's, and the bacon was unsmoked. I'd be happy to return next time I'm in the area.

Very impressed with the wide selection of vegan food offered at this cosy and friendly cafe. I had a vegan cheese and red onion panini which was one of the best I've tasted anywhere.

Popped in for cup of tea to warm up on a rainy day. Will certainly be back to try the food as some delicious looking platters were being served. Very dog friendly and he was even given some doggy treats 👍🐕

Waited about half an hour for a cheese toastie and pitta and hummus. The latter was £4 and consisted of one hard pitta bread and hummus slopped into a coffee mug. We had to sit outside in tents that weren’t tied down so kept flapping into us.

Called in for coffee. Felt the staff were uninterested. Many other coffee shops in Helmsley to choose from in future.

Nice clean cafe, with polite friendly staff. Good tea and coffee and the lemon blueberry cake was really delightful.

Nice food very friendly and efficient

A friendly and busy cafe with some very tasty meals (including good gluten free, vegan and vegetarian options). We loved sharing the charcuterie and seafood platter with glasses of the house wine. Comfy seats, super cuisine, a quality cafe in a quiet corner

Everything we could have wished for

Really nice food and very friendly staff who even though they were short staffed were going out there way to help customers. Lots of seating inside and outside.

Nice little place however poached eggs were more like boiled eggs so no runny inside to seep into bread so was very dry. Butter too hard to spread on not so warm toast.

Visited 5th June. Not a great breakfast. Everything was under cooked. Snotty eggs, anemic sausages and far from crispy fat on the bacon. Disappointed.

Very polite and professional staff.

Excellent breakfast. Friendly staff, will definitely return next time we visit Helmsley

5 of us went here, very happy with the food, drinks both wine and coffee, very good, good prices and great staff. We will go again, can reccomend highly!

Really good breakfast! The whole menu was available in Gluten Free and Vegan options, which is very hard to find usually. The gent serving us was very friendly.

Second visit in 10 days and very impressed. Great place for a coffee or lunch stop. Wide range of freshly made sandwiches and a good brew served by friendly and attentive staff. A cracking spot!

What a lovely find and a hidden gem. I had a day trip to Helmsley with the wife and found a beautiful cafe hidden away with a sun trap of a courtyard. The staff were so friendly and efficient and the coffee to die for. There were a large amount of vegan options on offer and I have to say the lemon roulade was out of this world. We will return ! Thank you

My wife and myself called in at this cafe today 12th may 2021 because it said freshly cooked food.our first encounter with the waiter,I presume he was the waiter as know owner would be so unpleasant.my wife went to assist him with drinks and he curtly announced leave it I have the balance.after 40 mins we were served our drinks shortly after I asked if the food would be long as the drinks were going cold to which he added look at the menu you have to wait if they are busy.the food was deplorable small amount of chicken with pesto that gave me severe indigestion.the so called salad consisted of red onion with Mayo .to cap it all he called out to us as we left in a very patronising Manner.I left him a tip of one penny and that was too much.I think this cafe is out of its depth and are playing on coronavirus to serve poor quality food and service

excellent service brilliant food a great place to go the deserts are fantastic I really appeciate this establishment

Spent a lovely day in Helmsley today but my visit was spoiled by the attitude of Martin Davies the person who seemingly owns this cafe.Never in all the 60 years I have travelled around the UK have I met such an arrogant, offensive and obnoxious indictable purporting to be the cafe manager.His attitude was unreasonable, he would not listen to my explanation of events and when I had the temerity to answer him back he rudely pushed me towards the door stating that if Insat down I would be waiting for ever as he had no intention of serving me.The cause of the incident was that upon our arrival at the cafe, a recently vacated outside was not ready for use as it needed cleaning under COVID 19 precautions. My partner waited beside the table whilst I went inside to see what cakes were on offer before placing my order. I was not aware that two other customers had entered the cafe.The manager asked if I had a table and I explained I was waiting for one to be prepared but told him exactly which one it was. He asked if I was ready to order and I explained that I couldn’t do so until I had seem what cakes they had on offer and he gruffly said “You cannot wait inside if you are not ordering”. I said that as their cakes were only visible once inside the cafe, a comment that he took offence to. I turned to go outside and heard him say “ Alright that’s it” and it was at this point that he was pushing me in the back to the doorstep where he then said “ Don’t bother sitting down because he wasn’t going to serve me”.I turned to hand him the menu but he was so close to me that I could not turn and the menu hit his chest before falling to the flooor. As We were walking away he continued to hurl sarcastic comment at me and even had the nerve to say to my partner, “I feel sorry for you”, at that I responded by saying there were plenty more cafes in Helsmley where I could spend my money.Having read some of the responses to adverse comment my this man, I can fully understand how and why these people felt as they did.The fact that he finds it amusing to respond to customer comments with sarcastic puerile rubbish, is a clear indicator of the depth of his lack of customer care ability.PS. Mr Davies, don’t bother responding to this review, I have heard better comments from far better people than yourself.Perhaps it’s time you packed up running a cafe and take up a job more in keeping with your ability range.

We came here for lunch but all tables were taken. Outdoor seating only due to Covid. We were told to wait and when a table became free to stand near to it. Staff would clean the table before we would be allowed to sit down. We did as instructed and a table that had had a drink spilt on it became available. The male owner came out with a damp filthy cloth. He wiped half the table and one side of the menu. No signof any cleaning products and waved us to be seated. We waved Goodbye!! Absolutely disgusting.

Delicious cakes and good coffee

Lovely Latte . Very friendly staff.well placed.

Great vegan food and friendly staff. I had the best vegan sausage butty! Everything was tasty and fresh. Lovely sunny seating outside. Coffee was also tasty.

We visited just after the loosening of lockdown so I’m unsure whether the menu is always so limited. The food was ok, not great. The main problem were the chain-smokers at the next table who smoked throughout our meal and were only 2m away so we ate our meal, with our children, with people puffing away on cigarettes at the next table. This really impacted the enjoyment of the meal for us and as a result, we would not return.

Best bacon sarnies ever, lashings of bacon in a ciabatta roll, certainly fills the belly? Plus other sandwiches also very good? Great coffee too, at this time order inside and wait for cooked food and coffees etc and takeaway.....for now! Inside tables soon?

Really superb coffee, best I've tasted in a while.

Best Mocha in town. Full shot of espresso, real chocolate pieces and excellent service 🤌

Amazing cafe, wonderful food and excellent staff. Martin is lovely and made our day. Will visit again!

I found this place by accident, having met family in Helmsley.The menu looked great, and on heading inside, it didn’t disappoint. It’s nice to find somewhere which really supports dietary requirements, rather than just removing certain ingredients and calling it ‘gluten free’The gluten free options are extensive, with an entire shelf of fresh gluten-free cakes on display and a good choice of savoury meals, too. Quite a gem which I will be sure to make a ‘regular’ when in the area. Not sure if the gentleman serving was the owner, but I suspect he was. Very friendly and I hope he continues to do well!

Good food helpful and polite staff good covid 19 precautions would recommend

Absolutely love this place. Gorgeous food. And great menu options including gluten free AND even vegan! So hard to find such great tasty food in small market towns like this that are suitable to all dietary requirements. Great service. The manager is warm and welcoming and has a great dark & sarcastic sense of humour. But always welcoming. I always go here for food and drink when visiting North Yorkshire, as its 2nd to none. Oh and the hot chocolate and coffee is out of this world. Very impressed. Set in a very cute market town of Helmsley.

Absolutely love this place. Gorgeous food. And great menu options including gluten free AND even vegan! So hard to find such great tasty food in small market towns like this that are suitable to all dietary requirements. Great service. The manager is warm and welcoming and has a great dark & sarcastic sense of humour. But always welcoming. I always go here for food and drink when visiting North Yorkshire, as its 2nd to none. Oh and the hot chocolate and coffee is out of this world. Very impressed. Set in a very cute market town of Helmsley.

Great food (especially for people with dietary requirements), lovely atmosphere and very COVID-19 safe!!

Own gluten free menu with lots of choices! Sandwiches and panini were all good sizes. Reasonably priced. So many gluten free cake options I was very surprised!! Staff very friendly. Would definitely recommend.