Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms - Harlow Carr in Harrogate

Always a delightful place to eat Friendly staff and lovely food. Coffee is good too

It was the first time I visited this traditional and famous tea house in Harrogate of Yorkshire. The atmosphere and decorations are simple but decent. The food and tea quality is excellent which gives customers authentic British taste and aroma. At the same time, you can also visit its store next to the restaurant and purchase high quality products like tea, coffee, cakes or biscuits. Highly recommend!

If I could have given more stars for the review I would have. The meal was delicious. All the staff were so friendly and welcoming. I sat outside on the terrace for my meal which was a real treat. I had haddock and chips and a gin and tonic and it was superb.

It was a joy and a treat to be served a Grande breakfast at Betty's at RHS Harlow Carr. The staff were delightful, views to die for whilst we enjoyed the food. We would recommend unreservedly. Thank you Betty's 😋

I wouldn’t have expected any less, but everything was great! A lot of my family history is in Yorkshire, so it was nice for my family members to reminisce about Betty’s and taste their Yorkshire treats again. Like the Yorkshire rarebit, and Yorkshire curd tart. I would definitely come back for a special treat, as it’s a lot easier to visit with a disabled family member than the other venues.

We queued for around 15 minutes to get in, which compared to some of the waiting times in the review is pretty good. Staff were lovely and very accommodating for changes to items on the menu for those who had food allergies. Food was tasty and the cakes were delicious.

Excellent place to eat & be served in style. Love it there!

Took my mum for afternoon tea. Thankfully the weather was lovely so it made for a decent afternoon. However, the food was very disappointing and underwhelming. If you’re going to charge £30pp at least fill the sandwiches with a decent amount of filling and increase the size. I think Bettys trade on their name and ‘reputation’, but they need to do better. Wouldn’t recommend.

Service was impeccable! We couldn’t put up with the queue for Betty’s in Harrogate so we come to RHS Harlow Carr instead. Nice shop to mooch around. We just had tea and cheesecake and a soup. The service is good standard! And they really silverware for serving tea. The view outside is not bad as well. We didn’t book. We just popped in. All good.

Sensational. Lovely service in a beautiful place.

Such a pleasant surprise to find a Betty's at the RHS site. So accommodating to pull together a table for 8 over bank holiday. Lovely tasty food (and delicious cakes to take away too). I opted for the Wensleydale Quiche of the day today but was tempted afternoon tea...Staff friendly and talkative. Will definitely return!

Lovely view, relaxing atmosphere, attentive staff, spacious restaurant, delicious food.

I am so disappointed with my experience with 'Betty's ' . I spent a lot of money to surprise my father with one of Betty's birthday cakes, and when it arrived, it looked cheap and unappealing. It was also no bigger than the palm of my hand. When I complained about the poor quality, I was told I was wrong. No thought to how much of my hard earned money I'd spent or the embarrassment caused by this tiny cake for my father's 70th. Some companies really don't care and are clearly happy to rip people off, living off an outdated reputation. Very upsetting experience. Never again. I'd recommend going elsewhere. Photos of what was expected v what arrived. When the cellophane came off, the whole cake fell apart, too. So disappointed.

The best scone my husband had ever tasted, eaten with butter, jam and cream!

Far to expensive and not value for money also people in there taking silly pictures for social media means it lacks class to anyone with actual real class

The hot chocolate isn’t what it used to be. In the hot chocolate caddy box there were the usual chocolate shavings, but this time only in the top layer. Below it was cheap chocolate powder, maybe 90% of the contents, which is not what you expect when you buy a premium product for £14. Well below the mark. I won’t be buying this again and I’ll inform my friends who have been fans up until now.

Could do with a rain cover for the queue outside. Also ceiling sound reducing panels as its pretty noisy inside. Nice food but very expensive.

Since moving the entrance to the rear exit door the restaurant is freezing cold. The building was not designed to have this door constantly opened and they must be wasting a lot of energy with the heat being let out. Being so cold really impacted the experience of eating there. Lots of people sat in coats and scarfs clutching hot drinks to try and get warm.

Thoroughly deserves its excellent reputation I particularly like their Yorkshire curd tart and toasted teacakes Warning:tempting to over indulge there and buy lots in bakery to take home!

Busy team rooms beside a lovely garden, hot chocolate was good

A truly wonderful place to come for morning tea or lunch. There is an amazing range of cakes, drinks as well as lunch stuff. The service is very good and the cakes are delicious! The hot chocolate is one of the nicest I've tasted. Can be a que at busy times.

Great food,beautiful view over RHS Harlow carr. Staff always very helpful 🙂

Excellent menu for lunch, beautifully cooked and served. Quite a while since we last went and the service system has altered. No allocated server any one of the young males or females who spots you waiting can come along and help you. This actually worked well but not a single server smiled, made eye contact or showed any interest in us or what they were doing. Soulless would sum up the experience.

This review is of the outside cafe within the gardens on 4/10/23. The food and drink is served in paper cups and plates which blow away off the table in the wind. I felt that I had to beg for enough butter for my fat rascal. The price is way too high for a paper cup of tea. The children's hot chocolates were 50% froth. There were rats running around the tables looking for food and when we lifted the lid of the recycling bin, there was a rat in there too. Betty's is trading on its elite branding and seriously failing to live up to its name.

Very nice tea and cake. A little pricey, but you notice what you pay for

Betty's has a reputation of serving top quality food and the Harlow Carr tea rooms staff display the level of customer service that is expected. The only nit pick I have is the prices, but you get what you pay for I suppose.

a must visit while in Harrogate xx

Paying through the nose for average food in small quantities. £30 per person for four small triangle sandwiches, one scone and three small cakes is absurd. The staff were friendly. Definitely feels like you're paying for the Betty's brand rather than the food or the experience. I wouldn't go here or to any other Betty's again.

Overall a good experience, I was expecting the food to be a notch above, but to be fair, I ordered the Salmon Salad, which is hard to notch up, although presentation of salad and condiments may have help with the overall taste.

At around 10 10.30 we stopped at the Betty's takeaway. We were served by Ann who was a joy and made us feel very welcome. A kind word and an engaging smile coupled with professionalism helped make our day. I do not know Ann or am in any way related to her. ( I had to ask for her name)

Lovely place to experience old fashioned with a smile enjoyed every moment for a pot of tea and chream scone

Lovely tea room in a beautiful setting. Service was polite and helpful. Cake and coffee was delicious. A little pricey, but a real treat. Would recommend.

Sat outside with the amazing view of the gardens. I recommend the latte Latino- it's like an indulgent mocha with cinnamon. Lovely place

Wonderful service and beautiful food. The queue moved fairly quickly.

Wonderful lunch with friends on the terrace. Amazing food - all the staff made us feel very special, nothing was too much trouble.

Chose fish and chips. The chips were fine but there was more batter than fish. Certainly not worth the price

Overall quite disappointing, but you are a bit of a captive audience. Waited for a table of five. Service was slow and other people who were seated after us had orders taken first, despite the fact we had kids who were clearly hungry! Kids menu doesn’t have a great selection and is really expensive when lots of places are offering low cost kids meals this summer! Disappointing Betty’s! Food arrived, but hot drinks were forgotten and then wrong. Quality of the food was very good, hence three stars.

We had the most delightful customer service for a takeaway. Beautifully packaged and beautifully sold. Customer service like this is very hard to find and both my 9 year old and I were amazed a how kind and wonderfully helpful they lady in tne black suit was! Perfect. On top of that the hot chocolate was amazing as was the food!!

Many years of first class performance on all counts

Good cup of tea and scones, service also good

I’d heard a lot about Betty’s and always saw people queuing to get in. It’s not my thing to follow the crowd but we had to try it. So we went today. We ordered afternoon tea, coffee, hot chocolate, kedgeree and a rosti between 3. Portion sizes were good and the flavours were incredible. Genuinely incredible, full of flavour. When the afternoon tea arrived, I was disappointed by the small portion size (for £30 I expected more). But the flavours were incredible: the nicest afternoon tea I’ve had to date. The service was first class. The friendliness, helpfulness and decency of the staff was a joy to experience (they made a call to their York branch on our behalf and took time to answer my questions about the elusive Betty). I’m a Betty’s convert now. I can’t recommend highly enough. Although I would like more sandwiches and another scone with my afternoon tea…

Fantastic array of cakes, macarons in shop. Bit of a wait for restaurant 20-30 mins. Not expected on a Monday but free entry for NHS? Brollies handed out to queue. Love a clean table! Had rosti bacon cheese - had on last visit. Salmon sandwich & chips. Served ketchup & mayo. Drinks brought, pimms! Then kindly returned to take our food order. Lovely toilets. Visit.

Had an amazing cream tea here today - beautiful scone, jam and cream. Proper tea poured from a teapot. Thoroughly recommended

First, the positives. The food is always good - good quality, tasty and well presented. The selection of teas and coffee are good. Service is usually good. I say usually because most waiters and waitresses are polite, patient and prompt. However, there have been a couple of instances where service was poor - we were treated gruffly and the vibe given is that you are nuisance. I’ve knocked off two stars because of management. Over the last 3-5 years changes have been made that have made our customer experience worse. Moreover, these changes feel like management does not view us (I am including you, the reader) as not valued and appreciated customers paying for a quality experience, but mere lowly ‘cash cows’ to line the pockets of management. The previous entrance, which was where the shop is and is now the exit, was better. There was more space, more seats (important for those who struggle standing for long periods of time) and you were indoors for part of the wait. Now, you must queue outside the entire time, exposed to the elements, with a narrow corridor and currently there are only two benches outside. Extremely inconsistent to the elderly, those with children and those with mobility issues. We actually witnessed one elderly gentleman faint and knock his head against the stone wall.

We were pleasantly greeted by Sue who was very kind and welcoming. The experience was head and shoulders above anything we’ve had prior and we will certainly return again.. and again! 5 stars!

People can't go Harrogate without going to Betty's staff are polite and helpful and decor is stunning including the toilets prices are not bad either I had a herbal tea and partner had Vanilla slice and Latte and was around 13.00 but with table service and the experience of grandeur well worth it

2 lattes 1 flat white all superb.Excellent service.

Very good food, service and views from cafe.

Cracking atmosphere and food Great service and bakery

Udually has a long queue, Over priced, pretentious, slow service. Food is OK.

Betty's never fails to be an enjoyable experience. Great visit

Superb breakfast. Great menu choices. Great teas. Lovely views over Harlow Carr gardens.

I called in for some cakes and bought three pieces of the white almond cake that was on display ( not sure of the name) and two florentines, seeded fitness loaf. The lady that served me was very nice ( hair in a bun). The cakes were a disappointment, very dry. The florentines weren't how I remembered them, instead, they were very well done and tasteless. M&S is a fine example of how florentines should taste. The bread was very nice. All for just over £20 takeout. Disappointed to say the least.

Closed despite saying it’s open on the website. Very disappointed. No notice on door as to why

Fantastic experience. Yes we had to wait to be seated, but it was so worth it. I must mention Sue and Lucia, as they were amazing, a great credit to the business. It was my wife’s birthday, and several staff members wished her happy birthday and presented her with a small cake with a candle, off their own back which was such a lovely touch. We had tea for 2, full English and eggs florentine, oh and had space for Yorkshire curd tart and fruit tart. I will definitely return. It was meant to be a treat, and turned out even better than expected.

A brilliant place. Always lovely food, service excellent and great views of RHS Harlow Carr.

A very nice, special experience! We queued to get into the cafe, but it was worth it as the food and coffee were very flavoursome and there was a positive atmosphere inside. It topped off a nice day out.

Yesterday I was served with the worst haddock and chips that I have ever experienced in Yorkshire. The fish portion was minute, the chips average though the peas were excellent. I can live with paying premium prices occasionally but in return I expect a premium product and this fell woefully short. The ambiance, service and staff were excellent.

They Always have amazing breakfast and lovely staff and polite. I highly recommend this lovely place.

Excellent customer service and very polite staff. I ordered the pea soup and salmon sandwiches. I asked them to swap out the lemon mayonnaise with plain and they were happy to oblige. The meal was delicious. Please read my other reviews to see how other Betty's tea rooms compare.

Eggs Royale beautifully presented and very tasty Not sure about the Torte couldn't taste rum and was a little dry.

Betty's at Harlow Carr need to make access to the cafe more welcoming. A locked door with a notice saying 'wait outside to be called' is not a pleasant welcome. Unfortunately the two coffees we had were too strong, Americano and cappuccino. Betty's Northallerton and Harrogate are our preference.

Visited today with my wife and 83 year old Mother. As expected the food was pricey but the service from Lucy made the visit worth every penny so thank you!

Wonderful selection of food served in lovely surroundings

Always a treat at Bettys The only reason this isn't 5 star is that, despite being the only people in the queue, we were left outside in the rain, with a baby, while the table was prepared.

The quality of the food and the level of service is incredible!! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit for breakfast!

Amazing staff and the whole cafe itself is amazing!

The staff are super helpful and efficient. The food was excellent and the cakes are spectacular as always. Thanks Betty's for another fantastic visit.

Betty's is great everywhere, but the conservatory feel of this one takes the teacake for me. Plus the garden walk from downtown Harrogate makes for a lovely afternoon. Staff is lovely and the nibbles delectable. God, those Swiss potato hashbrown cakes are something special.

A welcome retreat!! Gorgeous surroundings. Sumptuous food & marvellous staff. A special thanks to Meghan & Darcy for making my trip memorable & very special❤️❤️❤️

Had to queue to get in .. won’t bother again. £19 for 2 scones & 2 cups of tea! One scone was tiny and cold. Butter not delivered with larger scone as stated. Cups of tea not delivered and had to ask for them. Tea pot lid so hot it burnt my finger. No skimmed milk .. several ladies toilets out of service. If your thinking of going I wouldn’t bother you get better service / food at a little cafe or Neros.

Very pleasant surroundings but extremely expensive.

Betty's Tea House. Nice location with plenty of bench seating available, but Flat white coffees were most disappointing. My wife and I bought two flat whites at £3.50 each, very small coffees, not very hot and not the best tasting coffee, poor value for money.

Beautiful place and the location. The food it’s so basics and overprice .

Wherever we go to get into Betty’s there is always a queue. There’s a reason why it’s so popular. It’s so good. The service is excellent and the taste and quality of every dish I’ve ever tried does not disappoint. Yes you pay for this excellence, but worth every penny.

We had high hopes as we usually go to the Betty’s in York but this time we were visiting Harrogate and there were 7 of us. Unfortunately, for 4 of us, the food came out while the rest waited patiently. Since we were hungry, we asked the rest of the group to start hoping the rest of the lunch would come soon. We had ordered late lunch options and also the afternoon tea but it seems that half of the lunch order was forgotten. So, by the time it had come, the rest of the group had already started their afternoon tea so it was a mess. We did get a discount so it wasn’t all bad, but it did mess up the atmosphere quite a bit. Anyways, the food was good and I may consider going again because I know that this was a mistake and that can easily happen. Food-wide, everything was delicious!

Outraged! . I was treating a long standing Betty’s fan, an elderly relative not yet in need of a wheelchair but walks with a stick and is obviously very frail. The attitude was appalling! No offer of a chair or assistance during the 20 minute wait for the table and then on leaving, told to walk through the length of the shop in the opposite direction to the car park to exit.Not good enough Betty’s! The toasted tea cake was nothing special either. Overpriced and over rated will not be returning.

The tearoom is so lovely and the food was excellent. I have a certain fruit allergy and the staff went to great trouble to check for certain that it wasn't in the ingrediants before I was served their extremely lovely trifle.

Gorgeous as always! I had the Swiss breakfast routine and a mocha which were delicious! Staff were 10/10 and so attentive

Silverware that's actually made of silver and prices to match! With the other tea house inside the gardens closed, this was the only option for lunch/ tea. That said, the food was superlative, even if the service was slow.

Really lovely place, the food was wonderful, I am gluten free and their gluten free afternoon tea was amazing. Everything I could have asked for in a afternoon tea. There is also a beautiful garden and really nice shop.

Really lovely visit, nice food but eye watering prices. Enjoyed the experience but not worth the money have had just as good elsewhere for far less money and for that reason I wouldn’t return.

Lovely tea room, extremely tasty afternoon tea and the other food options on the menu looked nice. I would say it's quite a smart place so dress up nicely. There is also a small gift shop which will sell the tea they serve and other various treats. The original betty's opened sometime during the 1930s and it's still in the same building.

This is our favourite Bettys! (We like all of them but this one is very special)

Overpriced and extremely disappointing. We bought four cakes for the children and ourselves this afternoon to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. When we got them home, we realised that two out of the four were inedible. The bumble bee cupcake was stale and rock hard; the cream in the chocolate éclair was on the turn. Tried to call to speak to a manager but the recorded message explained that customer services are closed today. Incredibly frustrating outcome to what should have been a really special afternoon tea....

My favourite out of the two Harrogate Betty's cafes (nicer veiws and don't feel like you're in a goldfish bowl with the queue looking at you) the breakfast Rosti is my go to favourite, the staff are amazing. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area

Good quality food, however, staff are hit and miss. Some are grumpy and a little rude. One waitress (possibly supervisor) in black jacket looked right at me and just walked past me, treated me like I was a nuisance. Not attentive to customers - there were long periods where we were waiting to order, same with table next to us. Teapots and cups in the shop are mediocre quality and vastly over priced for what it is. Also, please note, Betty's is very disable unfriendly. Who in managenent decided to move the disabled parking further away and replace it with bicycle parking? Was that an oversight or just a way to discriminate against disabled and the elderly? Moreover, there are usually long queues right back to the door (with limited seating - indeed there are no seats until you reach the front of the queue). Betty's is not very health or environmentally friendly. For example, all products from the store are not 'home made', if you check the ingredients you will find they are full of preservatives. I don't like the use of cheap bleached paper tea bags or cheap plastic pyramid teabags (assuming they are the cheaper non-biodegradable plastic pyramid teabags). Boiling water + plastic or bleach is not very health friendly (not to mention, gross, if you really think about it) and for the prices they charge - why? There have been many better alternatives around for years now.

Love this place. The staff are excellent and the manager goes above and beyond- food is always up to standard - I love their cakes!

Smashing place. Very friendly staff and pleasant environment. Food and drink excellent.

Had to queue outside for about 30 minutes, but it is always worth it for an afternoon tea. Food always great and service exceptional. The shop is also worth a visit on the way out

Absolutely fantastic food and service.

It's a pretty standard Betty's but with a lovely view of the gardens. The reason for the loss of a star is the unacceptable wait time. 50 minutes to get into a cafe is ridiculous. The place just isn't big enough for the location. It needs to be about three times the size, or some competition needs to be opened up on site to give customers some choice.

Unfortunately the last two visits we have had we waited over an hour outside in the cold before we gave up the ghost and went and bought a takeaway sandwich and coffee to eat in the car . It’s an 80 mile round trip and a big part of the day is a visit to Betty’s so very disappointing after a lovely walk around the gardens to be let down by the que . The take away was lovely but not what our day out is about .

It's Betty's, but in a beautiful garden. Stop reading reviews and get yourself down to this Yorkshire institution, I'm sure you've earnt your cake mate!

Not prepared to stand in the rain 15- 20mins waiting to be seated, either you have a table or you do not.

Hard to beat Bettys at Harlow Carr. A favourite start to the day. Tuesday visit. Arrived at 0900 (when it opens) and by the time we left an hour later the place was full. Tables nicely spaced.

Went with my parents as a treat, was busy and there was a small wait for a table. However the staff were attentive, excellent service was given in a really nice location with a fabulous view. The food was lovely, I had the haddock and prawn rosti with a breadcrumb topping and it was very tasty. Also the stem ginger cake is definitely worth it! Thank you to the staff for making it a nice experience alongside the fab food.

We visited on a Friday morning, we had to wait a while for a table but it was 100% worth it! The staff are excellent and the food is so tasty. We ate from the breakfast menu and it was wonderful. Wasn’t rushed and enjoyed our brunch. Bought fat rascals to take home which warmed up lovely in the oven the next day. Highly recommend Bettys!

It's Betty's what's not to like lovely people great food and very good service ..

Excellent champagne gluten free afternoon tea, would definitely go again