House Of Trembling Madness in York

Madness is right, obviously very popular and full of charm and queens. Good range of drinks and the food looked good from what we could see and the prices reasonably good.

Breakfast on way to station to catch our train home. Lovely building, friendly staff and good menu. And really good quality biscuits with the hot drinks

Honestly I was so disappointed. After spending maybe 20 minutes wandering around looking at menus because I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for, we reached this place, had a quick look at the menu outside and thought it looked good. Went in, went upstairs to find a table, after a couple of minutes, we cleared a table which was the right height to actually sit and eat at (some were too small for 2 people, some were quite low down) no matter. Had a look over the menu, decided what we wanted and my partner went down and put the order in - 40 minutes wait for food. Seemed a bit excessive given it wasn't busy but we had nowhere else to be so were happy to wait. 40 minutes came and went, no food. At the hour mark, we asked for an update, "well it's about a 45 minute wait for food" ok, but we're past that now. Server goes and checks, comes back is 'next on the ticket'. Great stuff. A few minutes later, sure enough, we get our food. I think my first criticism (second if we count the absurd waiting time) would be that they really need to have description on the burgers. I was not expecting black cheese with my burger. Turns out charcoal cheese is a thing, I just thought charcoal kickass cheddar was a catchy name. Don't get me wrong, absolutely delicious, would highly recommend. Given that we had already waited over an hour for food, we would have expected it to turn up piping hot and have to leave it to cool down. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Burger gone within 5 minutes and the chips weren't eaten because they were hard and cold. I would have loved to have been able to recommend this place but given that it was 1pm and not busy, with a waiting time of an hour, I dread to think what it would be like on a weekend or an evening at what would actually be considered a busy hour. I will say the cold platters looked delicious and I wish I had ordered them because other than the same waiting time, it would have been fine if it wasn't warm.

Cant fault it. The guy behind the bar couldn't have been more helpful. Craft dtuff was spot on.

Love this place super, always great food and friendly staff.

Would have given it 5 stars for the food but the soup was warm it's a lovely pub tho Would go again

This was our first visit to the house of trembling madness, and we were very impressed. There is a wide variety of beers, larger and cider, including hand-pulled cask conditioned real ales and a wide choice of craft ales. The beers we sampled were excellent. Even though it was very busy, there were plenty of seats as it is a massive pub. Spread over four floors, there are lots of cosy rooms with interesting art and taxidermy around the place. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. it is a unique place with great beer. Next visit we will try the food.

What a shame! Started with really great beer in a nice, interesting building but finished with some of the worst food I’ve had! The kind of food that gives the UK a terrible reputation abroad. Quite simply I would be ashamed to serve the junk that came out. Ashamed and embarrassed. Especially as the wait was nigh on an hour!

Regular visitor several times a year when in York. A favourite of the family. Dog friendly Thanks again

Once outstanding Now merely good Used to be one of the best bar/pubs in the country Since new owners beer choice has gotten a little worse, food has gotten a little worse, tapas dishes have disappeared, music has gotten a little louder It's still decent enough but just another "good" bar now The love has gone

I can't remember ever given a negative review for any establishment let alone a pub but unfortunately this one deserves it. We came to York for the weekend before New year's and I had a list of pubs that I was looking forward to visiting. I was looking forward to visiting the house of trembling madness as I'd seen it on a couple of youtube craft beer channels and the selection looked really good. We went to the pub (the Lendal one) with our friends and our teenage children to finish off a busy day sightseeing with a ghost walk (the deathly dark tour was excellent by the way) on the Sunday evening (29/12/24). I spoke to the bar man to check that kids were allowed, and he said they were. The rest of the party (7 of us in total) came into the pub and went to find a seat upstairs (there weren't any downstairs), it was 9.45pm. I went up, dropped my coat off and asked what everyone wanted and returned downstairs to the bar. I queued up behind a couple of people who were being served and asked for a pint only not be told by the same barman that he had just called time and the person in front of me was the last person he was serving. He had said not 5 mins before that kids were allowed and watched us all come in and go upstairs to get seated without saying a word before announcing it was time at 9.55pm? I said he could have told us this, but he arrogantly ignored me and carried on busying himself behind the bar with his co-worker who was just sitting on a stool at the bar repeating that he had called time (obviously while I was upstairs). I have never known a pub that calls time before 10pm even if it was 10.30 closing (it actually says 11pm on the website) We had no choice but to go back upstairs and tell everyone that we couldn't get served and left. As we were outside, we saw the barman topping up someone's beer who was already in there, so his time announcement was obviously selective. I've never been treated in this way in any pub I've visited and can now see why there are a lot of negative comments about staff on trip advisor. There are some fantastic pubs in York, the golden fleece, Guy Fawkes in and Valhalla being three and how a competitor can be so poor compared to them is unfathomable. Unfortunately, the previous negative comments are all fully deserved. They seriously need to look at who runs their bars, we certainly won't be returning.

I really like this place. Great beer selection, some nice food, and unique decor.

Delicious mulled wine and comfy seats

Beer good choice, although ran out of 2 beers we wanted. Food looked nice but limited choice.

Lovely pints! Fantastic food and great service. A really interesting setting with lots of cool art to look at. A must visit in Jorvik ✌️

Cracking bar with a great selection of crafty beverages! Interesting decor which works!

Great quirky bar in the heart of the city. Some very weird stuffed heads in this bar and some lovely craft ales as well. Great city great bar

One of the best pubs ever. Kieran was great

Nice surroundings, good atmosphere and dog friendly. Little bit expensive (two G n T's was £23.60) so would not go too often but nice for a change.

An amazing venue, great beer, great atmosphere, great music playlist 😁

Lovely bar with great decor and location. Good choice of drinks but we sat in the upstairs bar and the girl serving was unhelpful bordering on ignorant or it would have been a 5 star review.

Wow this venue has really changed. Poor beer choice. Std beers on both floor taps. Food - basic dry served on wooden platters not easy to sterilise. Music not background. Tables not cleared, A shadow of its former self

Lovely spot for drinks and good but I would recommend getting here early - we parked on our first floor table at around 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon and it was already busy at that point and never really quietened down which must be the sign of a popular place! Ended up staying for some food as well which was very nice for the price and came really quick - would 100% recommend, and some of the below negative reviews have surprised me as we didn't check on here before going so had a unbiased initial view.

Hoped for a chilled drink on a Sunday lunchtime but the bar person upstairs must have been having a bad day. Bottles thrown loudly into the bottle bin, cutlery also thrown loudly into the sink. Couldn't stand the noise so left after 1 drink. Please have a bit of consideration for your customers!

Sorry but editing my review from my latest visit. Eaten here previously and the food was amazing. On return last weekend we were disappointed. According to the staff member, the pub has new owners. Well shame on them. They have ruined what was a brilliant menu ! Come on guys, at what point did you sit down and think that a chicken schnitzel goes with mashed potato ? To make things worse , gravy ? Gravy ? Come on now, stop it ! Platters used to be beautiful and worthy of being called a sharer. It's now like something that belongs on the kids menu. Disappointed! Whoever revised the menu these ' new owners ' is in desperate need of some personal revision. Ridiculous.

21/11/24 First time I have visited these premises. I didn't realise there are three floors, two rooms on each floor, that you can have a drink in. Recommended

food was good. the gents' toilet was especially nice

Visited on a Monday at about 12 midday. The food tasted fine however was served on a cold plate so was only luke warm. We had already waited about 40 minutes for it so just tried to eat it quickly and finished half. We did tell a staff member and the owner who said they would inform the kitchen staff but didn't seem that bothered. Overheard that they had run out of 2 items on the menu (sausages and steak pie) by 12.30! However they still allowed new customers to sit down with a menu to browse, only telling them they hadn't got those items when they returned to the bar to order. Disappointing.

Good bar, staff friendly and polite. Seating a bit limited, but overall a great bar.

Rudest waitress we have come across in a LONG time.........!! Having ordered-(and ,unfortunately, paid for on arrival....)-only three Cappuccinos, we waited ..and waited. Thinking we had perhaps been forgotten, my friend -perfectly politely- went up to enquire- expecting a...."Sorry,won't be long...." Some chance. But a few minutes later,the drinks arrived- with a surly, sarcastic....-"We DO have other coffees to make-and my colleague was on her own....." The three of us looked at each other in disbelief-we've all been waitresses,- and we would have apologised for the delay without reservation. Shame we had pre-paid-or we would have left immediately.But we won't be returning...Shame,as the coffee was quite good !

Amazingly weird art. The barman was a really nice guy, however, why he's serving drinks and not walking down a catwalk or something, I don't know.

You will be trembling and mad when you leave this abysmal pub.

The actual place itself is easy on the eye and comfortable, it’s just a shame the staff have to be so rude, allowing people to push in at the bar and being very abrupt when asked about particular beers, poor attitude from both behind the bar who seemed to be competing for the award for worst attitude, they should take a leaf from their namesake around the corner who have a much better work ethic, first and last visit here…. Not impressed at all !

Great place, great food, great decor. Only down side was a piss up man fell backwards of his stool directly behind my mates seat and the 3 girls behind the bar didn’t say ought to him … the pregnant waitress came over and told them to drink up and leave. Thought it was odd the girls stood at the bar closest to him didn’t say ought and woulda let him stay most likely. A - why was there still being served? Clearly needed to go home a while back B - why did it have to take the pregnant ladies to come over and move them on? Maybe train the other girls up more? This was about 5pm October 30th

Good beer selection, more of a classic pub vibe than the original one

A coolpub in a good location. Love the interior. Great range of drinks and looked like food was good. Definitely eill revisit when return to York.

Great drinks and atmosphere, it’s nice the music is in the background which is not overpowering. They also offers food with Daily Specials. Currently it’s the ‘Bangers - Pork & Apple’ and ‘Taps’ with 3 dishes: Beef & Chorizo, Beer Sausage Stew and Cauliflower Curry.

We were on a family break to York and noticed the Octoberfest advertised in the pub window. As all four of us love German beer from Munich we decided to have lunch there. Noticing that Bratwurst was on the menu and that is my German sausage of choice I ordered it along with a pint of Hofbrau. Imagine my disappointment when my Bratwurst tuned out to be some kind of Bockwurst in a soggy roll filed with something that i think might have been saurkraut. If you cant get Bratwurst please dont advertise them on your menu. The sausage was nice as was the beer. The roll and filling..ugh

Excellent ale and atmosphere - but a lot of steps as it is over several floors.

Terrible service waited 35 minutes for food which was delivered by waitress who had spent her time picking her nose. Customers who ordered after us were served 10 minutes before our food arrived. We paid but didn't eat anything 🤯

Good selection of beer, live a cherry one 😋

We liked the service and vibes here but let's say that the food and beer looked better than they tasted. Perhaps it's just a matter of taste preferences.

I have been coming to this pub at least once a week for a year and have always loved it with no issues. When they had an offer for York restaurant week, me and my girlfriend booked the time off work to have a meal at our favourite pub - seemed like a no brainer with a meal for a tenner. However when we arrived at 7 we were told that they didn’t have enough customers and had shut the kitchen early. We called earlier in the day and this wasn’t even communicated as an option. We were both left disappointed. The staff were apologetic, but at this point our plans were ruined. A real shame.

Don’t eat here. The food is awful. Feels like a tourist trap compared to the smaller pub above the bottle shop. Very disappointed.

2 fantastic venues each with their own vibe. From a cosy version of a Munich beer hall to a spacious 3 level venue with a stately home feel. Nice beer on tap and friendly staff. A must visit venue in York. And try the warm pretzel when you can! Can't wait to come back early morning for their breakfast offerings!

Another great find and quirky place to have a drink. Spread over 4 floors with quirky and interesting decor, this place is well worth a visit. Be prepared for an x-rated visit to the gents loo !! Again let down by some of the staff who clearly struggle with working in hospitality and can’t be bothered with a simple friendly welcome. I hope it’s just not rife across the rest of the staff as the place has a lot to offer.

Lovely beer, but toilets a higher climb than everest, don't go unless you are fully fit

What a great place, super quirky and the artwork definitely gives you something to talk about. Drinks were good, staff very helpful with lots of info about the beers. Would definitely return next time I'm in York.

Quirky yet cool bar with great beers. The ground floor smelled like a toilet, but the upper floors were fine.

There used to be a time when a Pub was warm, friendly and inviting. This place was none of those Saturday 12th October. Freezing cold with no heating on, most customers had their coats on, not a single smile from any of the disinterested bar staff, no drinks menu, just a pointed finger at the gin bottles. A hi res TV screen showed the draught, but the pumps were too far away to read without binoculars. Where has the passion gone in places like this? It wasn't too busy for the staff to engage with me and ask what kind of 'beer' I liked and offer advice.

Always worth a few visits due to its beer range as well as its atmosphere especially on the second floor which at night is very atmospheric. We ate one of their daily special stews on one night which was lovely, and well worth the money. Well-recommended.

AVOID! Absolutely disgusting food. Ordered burgers. The meat was poor quality and overcooked, I suspect it was made of cheap frozen beef of very poor quality. The patties were very slim and had an overly ground texture not like a nice hand made patty you normally get. The bun was awful and so were the chips. Did not finish the thing it was just so vile. Can't believe this place has 4.7 stars on here looking at reviews now it's probably based on older reviews and not reflecting the current poor state of the kitchen. I'm really surprised I didn't get food poisoning.

I could have stayed there all day. Great choice of beers and a great atmosphere.

Worst food I’ve had ever since I arrived to England. Peas tasted like plastic, mashed bland and tasteless and the pie was to cry for, hoping I got a bad dish I ordered another thing on the menu, sausage pieces that were swimming in fat came with stale bread and a slice of butter after which I just had some beer to kill the hunger and make me feel better. Could have gotten a nice Yorkshire pudding wrap in the neighbourhood and go here to drink the 40£ I wasted on prison food. Atmosphere was great and the waitress lovely but don’t make the mistake of ordering anything other than drinks at this place.

Called in by accident (thought I was next door!) Full of Catholic quasi religious icons and imagery...bleeding heart ♥ Jesus on the bar. Might not appeal to all tastes, but I loved it. Bring on the bells and incense...oh and a large G & T for the school of Cardinals when they're next in town 🙏🍷🍷 super ambience, good gin and good beers. Quirky decoraation, not sure the "gash" pictures in Gents (2 stories upstairs from ground floor bar) are necessary.

Unfortunately the new owners have ruined this pub. It used to have a world class beer selection. Now, it's boring and generic. The food is a shadow of its former self... no more tapas. Such a shame.. one of the best beer pubs in the country reduced to average at best.

Amazing food, burger was huge and delicious, the chicken and bacon salad was the best salad I have ever had, tons of chicken and packed full of flavour & finally the steak pie was immense and stuffed full of meat served with lots of mash & gravy. Really quirky place with great food and drink.

My mate Si says this is smaller than the other one! Si is often wrong, this is bigger than the other one!

Having frequented since it was first opened I am disappointed with the new ownership and food . They have stopped doing hot sandwiches and all day breakfast you can now only get these until 12.30. Tried the tapas (which were always very tasty and authentic) however today's were very mediocre and the beef was very chewy. Prices have also increased which is fair enough if quality is good but I think the 6 of us will be eating elsewhere in future! Range of beers still very good so worth visiting but I would not recommend eating there anymore!

Came here for lunch on a Saturday, staff were friendly but overly busy. Table wasn't cleared simply because the waitress was constantly bringing orders for other tables. Food was good but bread was a little dry/dense for my taste. Drinks were good with good selection.

Good place for a beer always busy, getting ready for a refresh

Excellent place to try a new bear.

Second time here for lunch, had The Madness platter to share between two of us. Both agreed it was tasty & filling. Everything on the menu sounds good & there is not too much choice to make it difficult! The staff are very helpful. Plenty seating over 3 floors. Will definitely return another time to try something else on the menu.

It's really unfortunate that I am leaving a not so positive review. The food here used to be really good, however the last two occasions have not been brilliant. Had chalked it up to being busy, and demand was high, so was understanding. Bank holiday Monday just gone in the afternoon, when it wasn't busy means there was no excuse. We had the Steak pie and the falafel burger. The pie had hardly any filling and the burger was burnt with luke warm chips, the coleslaw was nice. The previous occasion was the same pie, but the burger (vegan burger) was a little better. Really sad about this, as the beer choice is good, and the Tapas bar on the ground floor was good. (Has that not permanently gone, I hope not)

Good food choices. Good selection of real ale.

I really love the vivid interior concept and atmosphere here. The craft beer and cider flavors are amazing too. I visit this place every time I come to York 😍

Lovely pub which also has nice thought provoking art. Including in the bathroom.

We are long time customers of House of Trembling Madness and don’t really like the new changes. Food prices have gone up and time limits introduced on when breakfast items are served. Why? Then the time limits were incorrectly applied nearly depriving us of an egg and bacon sandwich! The place still looks lovely but there has been a subtle change in atmosphere. I wish it well but may not go there anymore. I should add, that we went to it more as a cafe than to sample the impressive array of beer.

On a slightly different level to the other trembling madness, but very nice, large with a good selection.

Lovely place . Good atmosphere and staff

Cool and unusual place. Quirky decor and paintings on the wall. Lots of exciting beers. York gin. Big food portions for the relatively low prices actually (I’ve paid more for less burger at other places if that makes sense.) - son says the steak in the pie was great. Several floors so don’t just sit downstairs without checking for upstairs and downstairs. Dog friendly.

We really enjoyed our visit to this bar earlier this week. Great selection of beers especially dark ales The smaller plate pie, mash and mushy peas was lovely and great value for money. Knowledgeable, helpful staff too 😁 x

Unfortunately this branch of madness has been taken over. The new owners have removed the tapas from on the bar and completely wrecked the beer menu. Madness doesn't need 6 house beers. It goes completely against the ethos of the pub. 2 lagers? Why? London black, meh, generic craft. A pointless cider. This was a craft beer pub. It was one of the best in the country. The new owners are changing direction, in a bad way. Diversity and variety was the point of madness. Sadly this is no longer a destination pub. It should change its name, as clearly the new owners don't understand the concept. I've sent many people here over the years, but unfortunately now I'll just be sending people to the original bar.

A busy little place, so get there early for the chance of a table. Great atmosphere with quirky decor. We had fruity ciders and "tapas-sized" pie and mushy peas with gravy. Actually they were perfect for dinner. Filling and delicious!

Great place, great beer, great atmosphere.

Great beer and really friendly service 😊

Good beer and service some may say it's a madness

4 bus passes for lunch. Busy ground floor bar so one person went upstairs to find that bar shut. Back down to order drink. 3 others joined few minutes later ,upstairs then had to go back down to order drinks and food. No,pies,no burgers, no platters no blue cheese….back upstairs to reorganise lunch order and back down to order. Up again after being told half hour wait. Attitude of the two bar staff was take it or leave it , basically only sausage and mash available. When it did arrive was ok . Staff shortages blamed and busy Sunday trade denuded kitchen . Other customers suffered same problems but 4 75 year olds left feeling dissatisfied and physically exhausted. Take care ….dont go here on Mondays.!

Cracking bar, loads of tables and Shed Seven's beer in cans.

Cracking bar, loads of tables and Shed Seven's beer in cans.

What an amazing place to chill and enjoy craft beer and some appetizers. IPA is really great. Tapas of the day (Pork + Chriozo is highly recommended).

Good selection of beers to choose from. The food was tasty and not too expensive. It was fairly quiet, so there was plenty of space.

Great beer, fantasticly decorated and lovely staff

This was our location for dinner on our last night in York with our family of 3. We had tried to eat at the Stonegate location but their tiny kitchen (it's an incredibly tiny establishment) was working 45 minutes behind so we left for this location instead. Go to this location if you're aiming to eat. The food was very reasonably priced and very generously portioned. My son got the meat board and was not disappointed. They were out of some menu items like the pickled chilli eggs and beer and cheese soup, so that was disappointing. But the falafel was great, as was the sausage and mash. The drink choice was excellent and affordable as well. We had way more food than we could eat and in the future would share a meal between two of us. We had a walkabout in the establishment after eating and there were many interesting spots and rooms to choose from. We ate on the first floor. The art was incredibly dark, quirky and interesting, which we enjoyed. Even the bathroom was interesting! The large windows were opened, affording breezes throughout. The staff was very friendly. They brought my son's meat board about 8 minutes before our food with apologies that the kitchen didn't realize we had also two hot meals on that same ticket. No worries. We ate some of his board. :-) The gin and tonic was delicious and concocted on recommendation from the friendly bartender. I would love to go back here if we return to York and would recommend it.

Quirky Place with Great Choice of Beers.. We didn't eat but the Menu sounded lovely!

Our new favourite pub! We visited on a recent trip to York and enjoyed it so much that we went back again the next day. Great selection of beers and very knowledgeable and friendly bar staff. The food is extremely good quality, we ordered a Yorkshire sharing platter of local Deli products which was delicious and went perfectly with a cold beer or two. The next day we both had the steak pie with mash & peas which was perfect comfort food on a wet and cold Summer(?) day. The music was great too, lots of Smiths, Talking Heads and XTC on the playlist while we were there. Had fun chatting to the team member behind the bar about our shared taste in all that excellent music - great service thank you, I'm so sorry we didn't catch her name! We will definitely be back next time we're in York. Oh and what a beautiful and historic building by the way, you can spend hours just admiring the decor on every floor..

I love this place. It my favorite bar in York. It serves craft speciality beers on draft and has a really good collection of speciality bottled beers from Belgium and lots of exotic gins. Prices are reasonable. Ambiance is really bizarre and pictures are freeky, but that is part of the charm. It serves food and prices are really good.

Just love this place. A wonderful sanctuary in busy York. Today I enjoyed a pot of tea served along with a couple of tasty biscuits ( a lovely touch, and much appreciated). Delightful staff, nothing too much trouble. Great place to chill on your own, or enjoy a meal with friends/ family. Popped in again on a wet summer's day and thoroughly enjoyed a quiet pot of tea again served with those tasty biscuits. My go to place! ☺️

Food was unreal and the pints speak for themselves. Will be back

Unbearably hot and only one cask on

Reasonable price for drinks. On the minus side the toilet were up 4 flights of stairs! And the hight of the banisters gave me vertigo!

Ploughman’s lunch. They didn’t have the Scotch egg with black pudding and I it told me some time after I paid, which was quite annoying. But when it came it was excellent and quite large. Well worth it, even if I did get a substitute pork pie.

Great pie and mash Great beer and lovely atmosphere

Always a favourite spot! Quirky, food is great.

I liked it, service good & the chorizo & and chicken tapas we had was superb!

Cracking place!!! Loads of craft options.

Only had beers this visit but can recommend the burgers

I’ve not eaten here, only had drinks. 1st visit 6 months ago was lovely. Coffee was well made with luxury biscuits to accompany the beverage. I e reduced the rating on the basis that my last visit was to meet with a potential landlord over hot chocolate. The wait was 15 minutes and when presented with the hot chocolates, they’d spilled all over the saucer, the hot chocolate was barely warm and we were told that was the best they came out as hence the wait. Poor guy I was with bought them and profusely apologised and I felt bad he’d suggested it. The server didn’t ask if we’d like to order something else as stated there were issues making the drinks. We didn’t have spare time to make complaint and order another beverage. So my experience has been 50/50. Will give another visit next time to decide I think. Atmosphere is cosy, intimate, interesting and industrial, curious Victoriana theme.

Always enjoyed drinking here and eating but you can tell there are changes. Used to love the thick yummy bread that came with the tapas but noticed that has changed. Hope there won’t be many more changes.

This is a beautiful and quirky bar with a great selection of ale and fun decoration. We stopped here for a couple of drinks on the way from the train station to our hotel and just managed to get a seat. A friend who lived in York recommended this place to me and we weren’t disappointed.