Pavement Vaults in York

Nice place but needed cleaning as there was too much spilt beer on the bar and it wasn't busy.

Would not recommend. Served raw chicken and when we questioned it waitress said it was normal due to it being smoked chicken. This wasn’t the case as it was pink the whole way through. Then asked for the bill and wasn’t seen to for 20 minutes before we walked to the bar to pay where said waitress looked at us and walked away for someone else to serve us. Was offered a drink or dessert but declined. I understand smoked chicken can appear pink but this was obviously undercooked.

Just here for drinks but great atmosphere for a meet up with friends !

Simple nice atmosphere. Good service and delicious food.

Called here for a drink while visiting York. This place has a great atmosphere, amazing variety of drinks & cocktails availiable, although we didn't eat here the food did look really good! Although it was really busy we did manage to get a seat, service is quick & professional. Prices are good for a City Centre. Toilets are downstairs but there is a disabled toilet availiable on ground level which was great for me as I am disabled! Fantastic location close to everything!

Amazing platter! We opted for the beast & it was so tasty. Good beers & vibes.

Its over priced even by Yorks standards !

Great place. Good beers. Food fab. Slow cooked pork rib absolutely fantastic. More than enough on a tray to feed two, so becomes good value for money. Deffo go back.

Perfect ice cream. You must try.

Popped in recently for a couple of drinks whilst in York. Good selection of beers. Place was pretty full and also serves food

Nice place for a simple pub meal. Menu a bit overly complicated

We had a booking for 8PM on a Saturday night, which had a £10 per person charge for not showing. Upon arrival, the bouncer tried to refuse us entry and say that there's no bookings at the time and no more entry despite the place being close to empty. It was only when we showed our email confirmation that we were allowed in. Once in, the food was nice but the place was very quiet

Top class establishment in the centre of York. Well worth trying the BBQ food. Excellent selection of drinks and well worth a visit

Just popped in for a lunchtime beer good value comfy seats and excellent service

Fantastic food and service, although it is very expensive. Sadly no option of brisket, or burnt ends etc.

Nice place for a quick pint and good dirty fries.

The food looked amazing when we popped in the day before we wanted to try it out on arrival the staff where impeccable the atmosphere was not bad but the food was not great the chips tasted like fries to go (microwave chips) my partner got the chicken burger and the chicken was amazing but the beef that u also get in the burger was soggy and plastic cheese the pork smelt awful and it didn’t taste grate and the bacon was not bad not a bad word to say about the staff as they where always checking in on the other customers and very friendly rubbish selection of drinks no Guinness Stella etc not real Malibu as u can taste it’s a knock off

Decent food, beer selection average, nice staff

Great BBQ and friendly service.

We went for the XXL Beast tray (x2) which was a great way to try a lot of the menu (buttermilk chicken being my highlight). Also loved the Mac and cheese and blooming onion. Great selection of beers on tap and the waitress was lovely!

It's a nice place to sit, friendly attentive staff and a good range of drinks. The food was extremely expensive (£17 for the cheapest burger) and my chicken burger had been fried for so long that it was solid. We were in a rush and hungry so I didn't send it back and just ate what I could. I'm guessing it's not always like that.

We came in here for our first drink after arriving in York. The bar man was knowledgeable and helpful. The drinks were quite expensive though.

The speed in which our food was served was amazing. The staff are friendly and welcoming. Would highly recommend 👌

Went there with my friend who was really disappointed with the rib eye steak. Questions are being asked if it was actually rib eye. It was tough and chewy and some parts were inedible. I had the Notorius p.i.g which was great. Juicy patties l, cooked well nice fries. Really enjoyable for me not so much for my friend. The rum and apple juice was good. In terms of price I won’t complain about the price as the food for me was on point. I defo think they need to up their steak game. My friend has been disappointed all day as he is on a protein kick.

No atmosphere felt dull and lacking warmth small range of drink no Guinness no pink gin over priced for unpopular drinks .bar furniture not appealing disappointed looks nice from outside ...

Busy city centre bar. The food was good and there was a good vibe.

Greatc service, nice food and would recommend booking as it gets busy. The bbq beast was very nice but couldn't finish.

It's great. Food is quick. Portion sizes are huge. And it's reasonably priced. We came.in with our friends who live in York and they said this is a good spot to eat as a walk in. We had kids with us and it was a good atmosphere for that. We had pulled pork burger which came with chips, a nachos which was huge, and the fish tacos. Plus a beer and 2 glasses of prosecco which came to £70. I'd definitely recommend a visit.

Did not eat here but the craft beer is very nice. Great location and you can watch people walking by whilst having a drink.

We've been wanting to come in after the refurb and we weren't disappointed. The menu has changed slightly, but the offerings are still top notch. We had: the blooming onion, pulled pork with coleslaw, buttermilk fried chicken, chicken wings and beef chilli loaded fries. This was more than enough for two of us and we managed to do it justice. Special mention to the chefs, not only for their epic food (habenero sauce - special mention) but also for letting me watch the penalty shootout. I'm still on the fence about the Swiss.

Good choice of drinks ( worth trying the pineapplecider) staff were friendly. Nice and cool and open space. Felt relaxing

Fantastic food. If you are a meat eater you won’t be disappointed. One of the best burgers I’ve had in ages. Great service too.

What more can I say? The food is amazing, I had the Jacobs ladder beef ribs, and they were to die for. The selection of beers is amazing, and the service for stay was extremely attentive and, at no point, intrusive. Highly recommend this place if visiting or even if you are from York.

Great burgers, can't fault the place

Love BBQ food, loved this place - would recommend if you like this style of food. Great portion sizes and brilliant service. Everyone enjoyed their meal and left full & happy.

Yes very good Really tasty would definitely recommend But should be good for the price.

Great service really pleasant staff. Not even phased when I spilt an entire drink all over floor.

Great beers on draught, amazing BBQ. Really cool setting in central York. Definitely worth a visit.

The bar has recently been renovated and I'd now rather quite nicely decorated. Good range of drinks and the staff were quite friendly. It was a little pricey for drinks but that's what you have to expect for the centre of York. Nice for if you want the experience of going out.

My partner choose this place for the meat platter, As a vegetarian this is not the best place to eat. I had cauli-cheese & chips. My partner really enjoyed his food & the cauli-cheese was nice. They didn’t do regular names larger so had to go on the recommendation of the bar staff. We went just before it closed for refurbishment & the place had a great atmosphere.

Amazing and serves food late in the week , we had an amazing time and would definitely return

What a meal. The food was amazing. We both just loved the variety of choice on the menu too. Great atmosphere and the staff are lovely

Can't comment on food as only dropped in for a drink after dinner, service was quick, staff friendly, nice range of beers and ciders, seems nice place for a night out

Absurd prices for below average food. At least the staff are nice.

The XXL Beast Tray was disappointingly average. The chicken wings were of poor quality, and there was simply nothing beastly about it. For £68 I expected much much more

Finally found a delicious BBQ. I'm from Leeds and since the BBQ popularity has died down, the restaurants there have either shut down or become a shade of their former selves (looking at you, Red's). So glad I found this place. All the meat was perfect. We got the big beast tray to share between 3 of us after the server kindly warned us 3 individual trays would probably be too much. I think she'd have been right. This was plenty and oh, so tasty. My only constructive feedback would be to offer some proper Texas Toast, we all agreed that this was a sorely missed component to a true barbecue tray. Maybe some bbq beans too. Service was top notch, restaurant was nice and clean and the toilets were a pleasant surprise. Well maintained and not the afterthought a lot of other restaurants seem to think they are. Overall I highly recommend this place if you're looking for some delicious, proper barbecue. We'll definitely be back.

We went here last sat and I'm sorry but the food was rubbish for what it cost a burger and a few chips nearly 25 pounds is just ridiculous and he couldn't even eat it all because the burger was spicy or too much pepper in and the chips were cold . Wont be going again

Either their menu is out of date, or it's a huge bait-and-switch scam. Would not recommend at all

We went there on Sunday 28 April 2024, midday. Great place - clean and with a happy atmosphere. Really nice and very friendly staff. Between us we ordered tea, coffee, soft drinks, gin and beer - all very good. Food coming through looked very nice although we didn't eat as had booked elsewhere - we would have liked to. We'll be going back for sure.

So this isn't the first time we have been here to eat, however the food is always good an packs lots of flavours, I would recommend the mac an cheese along with your main was very nice. 😀

We had a really nice time here. It's not 5 stars from me, but I'm being really picky, yet I'd eat here again in a heartbeat ☺️🤤 The staff were great, it was busy, but they were really helpful and very friendly. The food was also really good and darn tasty TBH. Now why am I being picky? Only that I hoped this would be more of a traditional BBQ place 🤷‍♂️ And I use the word "traditional" in a "BBQ snobby" way. I like and enjoy cooking smoked low and slow BBQ food, but the only thing that tasted, even a little bit, smokey was the sausage 🤷‍♂️ So I was a little disappointed, but we left full of great food and happy.

Amazing food, loved it. Sharing XXL beast was more than enough for 2. Have a decent appetite before you eat here!

Great place to include in the pub crawl. The decor is cool, loads of seating and food if desired. Average prices for beers 🍻

Generous portions, delicious food, exemplary service. Wonderful beers as well. Heartily recommended.

Lovely selection of ales, great service and friendly knowledgeable staff. Great surroundings - airy and modern. Didn't sample the food.

A pub offering a good selection of food, if slightly on the expensive side (although this is York so expect to pay more). Service was good, staff friendly.

Great place, food and service was outstanding

Ordered from the light menu for lunch in the main pub area. Very impressed. Big selection of drinks too. Service very good.

Great place for BBQ food we just had one of there burgers as we was not that hungry but they are still plenty to eat great atmosphere and friendly staff

Ice cold glass for the veltins. Spot on.

Phenomenal plates of food and great atmosphere. We had the XXL plate to share between two and we were defeated. The ribs and the chicken were a family favourite but everything tasted great. Service typical of York - really friendly and helpful. Will be back!

Nice clean pub for a pint or meal, good selection of beers and non alcoholic beers if driving, the meal sizes are very generous, unable to fault prices or food quality, a very good service provided by kerry and Stephen

My wife & I booked a table here on the Friday at 6pm, but would have been able to do a walk in, as it wasn't busy, the staff here were remarkably friendly 10/10 for the American guy from Florida & the young lady from County Durham, I don't think I've ever met such nice wait on staff anywhere in the world, the food in here is generous in portion size & cooked to perfection, we got a platter to share, & didn't wait to long, you can see the food getting prepared behind the glass screen, very novel idea we thought, not a big choice of desserts, but probably the best chocolate brownie I've ever had, just a pity we went somewhere else the day before, as I would have had no hesitation in dining here 2 days running.

Me and my friend came to York for the day and by chance came in pavement vault,the food was excellent,Best we've had in a while!! Both had the chicken burger with fries and mac n cheese,the drinks were served quickly and the atmosphere was great. Will definatly be returning on our next trip and will be recommending to others!

Have used this bar previously Good choice of drinks. Did not eat here, had drink on way back to hotel.

If you want BBQ food as tasty as any (stateside) American smokehouse, come here. The best ribs I've ever had, pulled pork and BBQ sauce to die for. Amazing food and great beer. We shared a BBQ Beast tray and a side of Mac and Cheese, with a couple of pints and an amazing Pecan pie.

The best burger and fries I’ve ever had! Service was fast and friendly, our server checked on us every time she passed and had a little joke. Dark and moody vibes with candlelight made it feel very cosey but still got us in the mood to go out for the night! Have already recommended to friends visiting soon

Snacksy street food. No chef standard but lovely snacks and nice atmosphere

Visited York at the weekend and Pavement Vaults had been recommended to us for a meal. We went along without a booking and the team were able to get us a table within about 5-10 minutes despite how busy it was. There was a great range of drinks at the bar and the menu had a decent range too. The food came in good time, all cooked fresh and very tasty. While I’ve definitely had better burgers, this was still great and overall good value for money. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.

We visited for some lunch whilst visiting for my birthday. We were quickly greeted and sat down promptly which was good. The environment was pleasant and inviting. After a very short time (about 2/3 minutes after getting the menu!) we were asked if we wanted to order, we asked for a bit longer. After about a further 20 minutes we stopped the single passing waitress and asked to order as we hadn’t been approached again. We had been here for 40 minutes by now and still hadn’t received our drinks, so I asked the waitress if we could have our drinks. She did apologise and immediately went to get them which was good, just a shame we had to ask again. Our food arrived sometime later and it looked fantastic. Generally speaking it was good although there were far, far too many Jalapeños which spoilt it and the blue cheese was far too strong and spoilt the whole meal for me. Based on my experience I wouldn’t visit this restaurant again.

Excellent food, service & drinks

Great City Center eating & drinking venue. serving great BBQ / meat feasts & awesome craft beer.

Great atmosphere, great food and great service. Was so impressed. The staff were there when you needed them even with how busy it was

Amazing food, nice staff and environment. Split the tray meal plus a side and it was enough food. Everything was great, fried chicken was the best I'd had. Beer was very good too. Booked the table via Google maps and it was ready for our arrival.

We stumbled on the Pavement vaults in 2016 and been making dedication trips up every year from Essex when we get a couple of nights off from the kids. Every time to date the restaurant, food and atmosphere has been fantastic. Unfortunately on Friday it did fall below what we expected. They were clearly understaffed meaning we had long waits for table service. When our food did finally come (the XL with the odd side) it looked great but unfortunately it just didn't live up to past experiences. The meat didn't taste as fresh as we'd normally expect and some we had to leave. The pulled beef was far too salty to eat and the pulled pork was like mush. Then the chicken. We had a couple of extra bits of the he buttermilk but struggled to eat one, it just didn't taste right. We put it down to our taste being off but both felt pretty groggy the next day. I just want to manage others expectations. Would I go back, yes. Am I happy with outlr meal, no. In all fairness I didn't mention it there as I felt a bit off and just wanted to get out. it's the first bad experience and hopefully is a one off. My biggest gripe off the back of this is I've tried calling, emailing and Facebook messaging but haven't been able to flag my issue. All that said, despite it setting me back £92.50ish for the two of us (very steep, especially under the circumstances) I'd still say give it a try

First class in every way, excellent food (well beyond expectations), attentive and helpful staff without being intrusive, and very reasonable prices.

Visited on Saturday and really enjoyed. Great that they could fit us in on a Saturday evening without a booking as it was quite busy. Food was amazing, portions really good size, neither of us could finish it! Will definately return next time we are in York, thanks.

Wow ! Incredible food, sensational experience… some of the best food my wife and I have eaten anywhere in the world. Absolutely belting. Portions were on the large size, but that aside the quality, the cooking, taste and eating was stunning. We’ve not had ribs like this anywhere, ever. If you want quality food of this kind, you will struggle to beat it I think, anywhere, not just in York. If you like ribs and BBQ food, pop this place right at the top of your list, but book ! Simple to book on line…. But avoids disappointment. Staff super attentive, orders were spot on, nice for staff to listen and bring what you’ve asked for. Thank you.

It's quite a nice atmosphere inside but at over £16 for two medium glasses of wine is bit steep. Other places you'd get four glasses of wine for that! There were some Norwegian chaps in and they were causing no bother, just talking about football but occasionally talking a tad loud. We sat next to them and had no problem at all. The doorman threatened to throw them out as he'd told them to keep the noise down - bloody jobsworth!!! So Pavement Vaults I won't be visiting again in a hurry.

Loved it here! Great quality and amount of food and I would suggest ordering the pulled pork burger

Lovely place, staff were very attentive and had good recommendations on drinks and food, very thorough with allergy checks and making sure everything was right when ordering, the food was absolutely beautiful, we had the XXL tray and couldn't finish it there was so much and they didn't once let our glasses get empty which is always a good thing. Reasonably priced aswell honestly can't recommend this place enough 10 out of 10!

Amazing food and great service. My girlfriend had the bbq pulled pork, literally dripping down her chin! She absolutely loved it. Will 100% return

Lovely feel. Pleasant staff. Quiet venue....no wonder at £17.40 for 2 pinot grigio. Won't be back unless offers on drinks

They didn't allow us to sit with the dog on the ground floor, so we had to go to the -1 floor (without windows). However the food was great!

Great food, the pulled pork was godly. Service was spot on. Kids enjoyed their meals, the ‘half rack’ small plate was not small but heartily devoured.

Went in for a drink very busy great place

A great venue , easy to get to. The food was brilliant and the menu was extensive and made us want to return to try more of the dishes There was plenty to eat and the staff were lovely.

Fabulous food and very attentive staff. We all thought that these were the best burgers we'd ever had. We would definitely go back again.

Food fantastic. Bar maid rude! Shame as it would've been a good experience otherwise.

Amazing food, fantastic waitresses who were not only great at the service but also gave us plenty of conversation and banter back. Can’t find any fault at all. All 9 of our group thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would highly recommend.

Nice food but terrible bar service. Husband asked barmaid who was polishing the tap if she was serving. She responded with a very curt no and carried on polishing leaving him standing there with no service! He gave it a few mins and was going to say to staff who appeared standing at other end of bar at which point she then asked them to serve! Not the kind of friendly service you would normally get in York! Shame cos food was good but her attitude definitely let the place down!

Personally, Food was excellent and the BBQ sauce ... some of the best I've ever had. Even cheekily asked to take some home haha

First time we have visited here while in the city. While we didn't eat (having eaten at the Christmas market), we did relax and enjoy a bottle of wine as we watched the world pass by. We will be back to enjoy food here after the Christmas time!  

Was looking for a nice place that served food without hassle and Pavement Vaults didn't disappoint as we were greeted courteously by staff members upon entering who were very pleasant and attentative. We enjoyed our meal of The smoked Vault burger and Wild Boar burger and chips and the lagers we chose were tasty too. Highly recommend this place if you're in York for the night and need a bite to eat.

Dined here on a busy Friday evening Escorted to our table straight away and weren't disappointed with the one given us, having our dogs in tow. Drinks orders were taken quickly and arrived within minutes. I chose fish tacos, which were amazing, full of flavours and hot. The rest of our party had chicken steak and burgers and everyone was impressed. Our server was polite and attentive to us and our dogs. Highly recommend Thank you all.

Met a friend for drinks here and ended up staying for dinner. They have great gluten free options including two beers on tap and food options. The burger I had was amazing and my friend said his ribs were delicious!

The portion sizes are MASSIVE! If we knew how big they were, I think we would have shared either dishes between the two of us. The meat fell off the bones. Flavours for the meat and fries were great!

Unfortunately the service left a bit to be desired. Long waits for us to place an order and then to receive drinks event though it wasn’t busy after another fairly long wait our food arrived. As I tucked in I found an extremly long hair in my chips! I did bring it to the attention of a member of staff who offered to replace my meal. Despite the downsides the food was delicious and the portions hearty. Definitely the place to go for barbecue food as long as you don’t mind the odd hair in it!

Great food, great atmosphere and great service, if you love authentic bbq/smokehouse food then you should give this place a go!

Absolutely gorgeous food, staff were helpful and friendly , atmosphere lively , booked in advance luckily as they were having to turn people away