Pavement Vaults in York

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

We visited this fine establishment today. The food was absolutely amazing and a very big portion. Katy and Becca made a five star service. I highly recommend to walk in for a meal or drink. Thank you Katy for creating an energetic and welcoming atmosphere. Thank you for the Viking looking chef for the great food we received ☺️

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

Lovely evening with great service from Will - went out of his way to make sure we got what we wanted! Amazing food - make sure you're hungry!

Fantastic burger, for my loyal followers, it might make it to my top 'best burger in York ', sorry Burgsy's! I had the double bacon and cheese. And today was the blue bull, with pulled beef and Yorkshire blue cheese, delicious. Uniquely they also make their own brioche buns!

Really good food as always, this time the St Louis. Generous portion size, excellent service and a great atmosphere. I would note that, understandably, prices have increased a bit over the past year or two and Pavement Vaults isn't cheap (St Louis and a pint...

We stopped in for drinks on a Wednesday night. Was very quiet, got a seat no problem. Staff were helpful. Drinks were fine.

I had the Naughty Doris and my partner had the fish tacos. Be aware that the fish tacos, as with most things here, are a decent sized portion. The "small plate" label is definitely not applicable here! (Which is a good thing)

One of the best meals I've had in a very long time, it's just a shame we live such a large distance away to keep coming back. The in house bbq sauce was amazing!

I think we caught Pavement Vaults on an understaffed evening, the food was delicious, the beers fantastic, it was just that once we’d ordered our food it was as if the staff has moved on and forgotten about us. We waited ages for anyone to...

We were staying in york and we came here for tea. We had ol'smoky and beast pit tray. Portions were big! We left stuffed! The meats were cooked and marinated really good. There's was a lot of chips!! The beast pit tray could have been...

Called last minute for a table and we squeezed in with the dogs. Busy early evening but quietened down 7pmish. Great atmosphere. Staff friendly. Food was amazing! Big portions and reasonably priced.

One is being generous. Food was bordering on unedidble. The drinks were a more pleasant experience. But please don't be fooled. Food came out cold on cold plates. I asked pleasantly to reheat as it was stone cold. The young lady looked at me with...

Brilliant service and recommendations. The food was amazing, we ordered the blue bull burger and the vualts schnitzel. Both were incredible and the sides left wanting more. Will definitely return well done to the service and cooking staff!

Always a lovely place to have a drink, always clean and a great atmosphere. The food is Ok but nothing to write home about

wanted a small bite so pop in here as per a recommendation form a friend, the portion size of the fries is quite big too, as a side and part of the burger meal. If we had known we would shared the fries. The food...

On holiday in York, and found this place for lunch. Very friendly staff, we had our dogs with us and they were given first star treatment, with a water bowl, treats and alot of fuss. The food was great, and proper portion sizes, not just...

Found this place looking for a dog friendly pub!! Really busy when we arrived at 18:30 but much quieter within an hour. Oh my word. The food was so good. Couldn’t finish it so brought it home for later!

Amazing food and the selection of beers is good , pilsner was perfect

I occasionally stop in here for a pint whilst waiting for the bus home as there's always a good range of keg and cask beers on offer. Many from Yorkshire so keeping it local. Chatted with the friendly barman, who was new, to establish which...

Group of 8 of us wanting to eat out last minute - found a table for us and it was simply amazing! Thanks you so much for going out of your way and also providing for our two little ones as well! Plus the other two too!! Excellent food and service. Definitely recommend this place!! 👌

Food was delicious and the staff were very friendly. The only drawback was unfortunately being close to the bar, in which there was a party of very loud people who ruined the atmosphere, although this isn't the restaurant's fault. Would recommend eating here.

Great atmosphere, great staff. I did the reaper burger, nicely spicy. would recommend.

Great Food and Drink..with excellent service, staff very friendly and helpful.. Lots of drinks to choose from and food is always freshly cooked..

Expensive food, service good, ambience good.

Disgusting place. Absolute rip off prices and rude arrogant staff.

Trouble service, rude and arrogant staff. Bog standard drinks with extremely high prices compared to the quality. Rip off tourists.

The food was great, a little pricey but you certainly get what you pay for. I had the "Fear and loathing" burger. It came with all the trimmings and I jibbed trying to pick it up and eat it and resorted to the knife and fork. Service was non pushy and we were not rushed. The waiting on staff were friendly and welcoming. Inside, the atmosphere was calm and relaxing and the decor was as to be expected with a city centre pub diner. I can only make one criticism and that is regarding the gargantuan portion sizes. We felt over faced with the amount of food presented and felt guilty sending back so much waste. This was echoed by comments from the next table. You can't say you didn't get enough to eat but I think the Pavement Vaults would benefit from reviewing their portion control and would be able to make savings.

If you’re eating go in with an empty stomach! Portions, certainly on the burgers, are filling to say the least! Can’t fault the place on any front and try the Tom Collins cocktail. Best I’ve had! Nice pint of Veltins as well. Brill for people watching too.

Absolutely amazing! First class from the guys here, Alex the chef was fantastic! We came back here as the first night was too good we had to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Alex personally came to greet us as we enjoyed the food that much! Tommy on front of house was a real gent, true asset of the pavement vaults. Amazing food and atmosphere, absolute must for anyone passing by!

Absolutely insane food! Alex the chef personally came to see us. An absolute asset to the business. Tommy the waiter looked after us massively, friendly and attentive and you can tell he enjoyed the job. The best steak and ribs we have ever had! We visit York every year and will be back for sure.

Shopping trip with friends, wanted a relaxing drink. Asked for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and glasses.. was struck dumb when told price. We all walked out and went to nearest basic friendly pub where similar bottle was one third the price!

Had a lovely time then had some food what was out of this world.thank you for my food will visit again for sure

Basic food for high end price. Not good

Didn't try the food. Nice ambiance toilets a little hard to find at the back around a corner and down the stairs. We'll placed.for a drink when visiting the area around MNS and where the stalls are for winter etc.

We can’t visit York without coming here! It’s been nearly 2 years since our evening at The Vaults and the menu has changed a bit, but the quality certainly hasn’t. From old favourites (the beef short rib 🤤) to new additions (smoked game sausage &...

We popped in a couple of times while we visited york its a lovely little place and the staff are all so very friendly we only had a drink so could'nt comment on the food

Where to start...positives first. Food was pretty good, ribs were excellent, pulled pork and buttermilk chicken among the best I've ever tasted, fries on the other hand were a slight let down, and the chicken wings a tad dry. Overall it was decent. Time for the reasoning behind 2 stars⭐️⭐️. The year is 2023 and we paid damn near £100 for a couple of drinks and an obscene amount of food. Not once were we asked "Are you sure you want all of that?" as we assumed, like every other smokehouse/restaurant/bistro/pub/eateries we have ever been to, that we could doggy bag and take away what we didn't eat. What we didn't eat was around half of our original servings, so about £40 worth of food. Apparently, Pavement Vaults policy is to not allow paying customers to take a single morsel home with them, let alone half a full meal. So the final outcome is that the huge pile of food left on both mine and my wife's plates would be tipped in the bin. YES...tipped in the actual bin! I was genuinely shocked, asked the manager for a second time and was met with disdain and told that she doesn't make the rules. Shocking! Well, we won't be going back there, and will be advising friends and family alike not to go too. Cost of living crisis, people starving on our streets, post Covid motto of 'be kind' and their policy is to launch full meals in the litter bin. Truly appallingly, whoever made this policy should be ashamed... Also, the restaurant was freezing (I'm usually 1,000° and even I was cold), my wife had to put her coat on during the meal as did a lad on the next table. To make matters worse, I had to get up to find someone to order a second drink and again to pay the bill. Poor form...

I went with my husband whilst on a mini break for our anniversary. The Food: The baby back ribs were lovely, tender, juicy and fell off the bone. The house 'slaw was good however I found the smokiness a bit too much. When I've been...

Great food, good beer and friendly staff

We only visited for drinks but great value, fantastic atmosphere and the food looked and smelt amazing so will return.

Paid for a platter which my wife and I could not finish. When I asked for a box to take the remaining food home was lied to by the waiter that they did not have a takeaway licence (the licence does not exist) I later questioned the waiter about the licence to which he admited that he was not aware if the licence existed. Having spoke to the bar manager he explained that it is their own policy that they do not allow customers to take left over food home despite having paid for it......disgusting policy and will not be returning!

Only had beer and wine. Expensive and not that good.

Good variety of drinks in a good setting

Our third visit to Pavement Vaults and it was great as always. The menu has changed slightly with pitmaster trays no longer including 2 sides and prices being higher but this didn't put us off as it is still good value for the portion size...

Good areay of ales and I suppose the food is good if youre omni but dont have high (or any) expectations if you're veggie as the jackfruit burger is bad.

Visited at 8pm and there was food all over the tables that were empty and all on the floors with no staff clearing up for the first twenty mins of our time there - just as we were finishing our first drink (we’d decided not...

I just want to start off by saying that the food was amazing, we had a short beef tray and a wing and rib combo. Both were great. Atmosphere and decor in the restaurant was lovely, but the reason we won't be returning again is due to their 'policy' of not being allowed to take your leftovers home, I have never in my life heard of such policy, I did ask the waitress a few times because I thought I got it wrong, but she multiple times confirmed that it is their policy they have in house. If I have paid for something, I should be able to take home what is mine. We paid £84 for our meal which is not cheap, and we left half of it due to the portion sizes, which we aren't complaining about, they were huge, but for that price, I would expect to be able to take home what we didn't eat, so really, it's just a heads up if you are visiting, we paid £84 for a meal, we didn't finish and couldn't take home with us to eat later. I am someone who does not like to waste food, so majority of our meal probably went in the bin, a meal we could have taken and finished at another time. For this, we are very disappointed, and will not be returning. Food waste is a massive issue not only for us, but globally, and this restaurant clearly has no issues with doing this which we can't support. So please take this into consideration when going, it was very disappointing knowing all that food, especially meat was just going in the bin.

I just want to start off by saying that the food was amazing, we had a short beef tray and a wing and rib combo. Both were great. Atmosphere and decor in the restaurant was lovely, but the reason we won't be returning again is...

Belting food and service. Thanks for finding my coat 😁 mtfbwy

Spent a pleasant couple of hours here with mates, but once outside, I started bumping into people and talking to lampposts. Excellent pub and beer.

I’d read a lot of reviews about this place so I thought it would have been incredible, it really wasn’t. My girlfriend could not eat her burger due to the dryness of the meat, not necessarily the chef’s fault but bad quality beef and when...

Great place to go when you're hungry. I had the half chicken, that came with 2 corn on the cob and side dressings and I had side order of fries, partner had BBQ beast. Meat really does fall off the bone. It's nice surroundings with...

Great lunch in York offering a full bar and smokehouse selections. The burgers were delicious and the mac and cheese exceeded expectations. The portions are very large.