Squinting Cat in Harrogate

spacious carpark, flaming grill chain pub, greenking beers, free wifi, dog welcoming, friendly. order to table via app speedy friendly service.

Our server was Neve, and she was amazing. She was so friendly and helpful, and nothing was too much to ask. The portion size was good, and Sunday dinner was cooked well. Prices are very reasonable. Would return and definitely request Neve as our server.

Fantastic service ,friendly staff will go again

We come here on a Sunday every month and we’re always impressed with the food and customer service! Tried the steak flatbread today and it was delicious, steak cooked to my liking! My sister had the chicken wings and she would highly recommend them also.

4 of us had a lovely meal , brilliant price and service

3.70 for a can of vimto disgusting price !!!

First visit today , ...loved it, ... lovely foods at amazing prices, our dog was welcome .... friendly and helpful staff ....we will be back very soon. Linda & Peter Robertson & Dolly the Border Terrier ........xx. Cannot fault this pub ..... lovely clean loos, & big carpark. 👍

Turned up with friends and children to play and eat, there were numerous spare tables but we got turned away due to bookings arriving in 30mins... no alternative offered, manager (man) was rude

A good soft play area. Food is decent pub food!

many thanks to Damian kitchen manager very friendly and professional, polite and welcoming Much obliged. Ryan

Welcoming Staff. Had Beef Rib Sunday Roast for reasonable price. Large car park

Really lovely staff, great service. Very tasty food the lasagna was one of the best I have had! Will be back 100%.

This is a superb place , Very friendly.Staff ara Amazing.Dog friendly, Highly recommended to all families,I've read reviews and these are not my view.Superb place #greenking Thank your management.Best service, Food.I travel from Leeds to eat here .

Been several times since the long standing landlord left. What a transformation, Friendly, efficient really nice atmosphere. personal service from Sam the landlady could not have been better

Excellent food and lovely staff very helpful also it's a very cosy pub nice a relaxing to chill out in and have a drink definitely will be returning there

Went with my family to celebrate my 60th birthday, both the food and service were excellent, even one of my daughters who is vegan enjoyed her meal. Will definitely go back, can't recommend this place highly enough!

Showed up and was fully booked for the day … should at least leave a few open spots for walk-ins …

friendly staff great atmosphere would 100% recommend and will return

Lovely meal staff very friendly and accommodating nothing to much trouble.

Lovely new people's running the pub and great food , very pleasant staff , can not complain at all. We will be returning.

Been a couple of times now since the new owners have taken over and very happy each time. Friendly and welcoming, good choice of food and never had issues with the food. Good choice of drinks. Clean and smiley staff which is really good. Good play zone for the kids and nice pub to go in afterwards, it's become one of our favourites again since this new take over 😀

Lovely cosy friendly environment for a family meal, grate food at a reasonable price! Amazing drinks cold every time and little one loved it! Will be a regular spot for our little family. :)

A lovely family friendly spot, lovely food and a brilliant team! Great for after soft play at the wacky warehouse or for a nice quiet meal and a drink, lovely atmosphere!

It's a cool place for the kids to play, but please stay away from the food! it's absolutely disgusting, horrible, shocking bad

Play area great and not too packed .wasn’t attended though but waitress explained you were short staffed. Otherwise good place for young kids. Food good too and pleasant staff. Good value for money. Great parking. Pub itself nice.

Went today and also last week could not fault the food absolutely excellent .

Brilliant Sunday lunch, amazing value, a hearty plate of tasty food, the food and service is always consistent since Sam took over, see you next week guys, your doing a great job

Had the most wonderful Christmas dinner! Everything was cooked to perfection and the staff are so welcoming and helpful. The jelly doughnut shot was absolutely amazing. Always a blast when me and the family come here.

Closed at 10pm New Years Eve! Despite website saying it was open until midnight……‘come and celebrate with us’!! We prebooked but nobody bothered to tell us. Very disappointing

Nice pub on the outskirts of Harrogate usual food made better with blue light card beer on the upside of price brilliant on a warm sunny day

Very clean. Warm welcome and friendly staff. Extensive menu and reasonably priced

The visit was enjoyable, food / drinks were great, This meant the family Birthday meal went very well.

Booked for six tonight since it was close to Xmas. Normally just pop in with family and always get seated. Tonight's food was brilliant. The 8oz sirloin steak was cooked to perfection, the 4oz kiddies steak similarly. This Was already sliced a nice touch. Steak and ale pie never lets you down. The stand out dish was the sizzling gammon. Best I've ever had. Good size and not piggy tasting. All the food was piping hot including the crispy chips. Presentation of the food was pleasing and the service and attention of the staff was commendable. The drinks were reasonably priced and the desserts went down a treat. The total cost for six was less than the pizza, mac cheese and two small Coronas we had in Miami the night before. So overall the Squinting Cat is highly recommended. Many thanks.

Neeve today went above & beyond here today. By herself she nabaged the soft play room which cane with a few challenges to say the least. Great member of staff 👏 👍 👌

We booked online for 4 people, arrived on time and the pub was empty. We ordered and our meals came out within 5 minutes. The food was revolting, clearly leftovers reheated. None of us finished our meals. The pub then started to get busy but we were offered deserts, so we ordered 4 deserts. 40 minutes later they hadn't arrived. After queuing at the bar for 10 minutes we had run out of time and had to leave. We asked for a refund on the deserts and received it. My children were vwry upset. The staff looked worn out, there were only 3 people there in total which were never going to cope with the demand. Its simple, if you don't have the correct number of staff to cope with the demand then don't take the bookings!!! We have been to the Squinting Cat on numerous occasions, but we won't be going back. Utter shambles!

Stop here on a regular basis in motorhome food is good staff are excellent it does get busy on a weekend book table in advance and chill out bearing in mind they are kind enough to let you stay for free, just ring in advance stay in overflow car park and relax and spend money in the bar/restaurant-love this place♡

Really was a shame this place could be really nice with a good clean enough staff and a decent chef. Food took ages to come out and when it came kids could eat there's as was deep fried to death rock hard nuggets and sausages and the chips were empty inside fried so long and also rock hard the other two meals were cold. It was kinda busy especially kids plays area with ONE staff member only bless her she didn't stop running round doing her best listened and was polite when i complained and asked for things and did her best to see to our needs and wants despite not being nice to deal with and my son slipped on large puddle of water on the floor badly bruised his back side! Need to focus on staffing levels big time and if not evaluate whether safe to open plat area if don't have the staff to manage this. Despite all this did tip the young lady who struggled alone for her hard work Neve I believe her name was well done! Fantastic customer service despite your challenges love

The food was lovely, hot, well cooked and nicely presented. We came with our dog and this wasn’t a problem. Staff were attentive and welcoming. What a lovely place we will be back again soon !

Attended to have the festive menu with family, staff were lovely and friendly - can’t fault their attentiveness and hospitality however the food was inedible. Not entirely sure how a restaurant could ruin anything as simple as a roast dinner - the turkey was essentially shredded newspaper, the Yorkshire pudding had the texture of a warm wet flanel and the best part of the meal being Iceland quality frozen roast potatoes - not a single thing appeared freshly made. Wouldn’t recommend the festive menu for this reason unless you have the pallet of a dog with no tongue.

Been out with the family for a lovely, yummy meal.

Firstly, I find it quite rude when a review is removed after the establishment has replied ! Try again. Quick dinner for 4 of us on Thursday. Place was freezing, heating off, hand pull beer now removed. I am aware of the GK policy, but if you sold local beer, not southern beer it would sell. The staff were telling people that food choices were not available due to a road closure. Not correct at all. Please advise customers correctly. We chose different choices and the food was delivered hot and promptly, so no issues there.

i’ve been coming here years and at time it’s been such a let down . but just wanted to leave a review for a member of staff who works in the play area and on the last couple of times i’ve been she’s gone above and beyond! her name is Melissa/Melanie i do apologise if i’ve got the name wrong but she definitely needs a mention! nothing is a bother to ask her ! such a lovely friendly girl!! such an asset to place !!!

Festive food menu was spot on recommend the xxxmas burger all the staff were really welcoming and helpful especially Chris, Matty and Owen

Lovely countryside pub with great food and drink. Staff very attentive and friendly.

Our first festive meal of the season, we were not disappointed. The table was set when we arrived and the staff couldn't do enough for us. Especially Chris, Melissa and Marissa, they were friendly and very accommodating. The food was hot and extremely tasty. Good value for money. I was very impressed with the crackers, I will actually use the content, and not be thrown away like previous years.

Really enjoyed our meal today. Very friendly staff, which couldn't do enough for us. The food was delivered in a timely manner, was hot and very tasty. Looking forward to returning for our Christmas day lunch.

Wonderful food. The man went out of his way to be gracious and the young bar lady was nice. However. I think I overheard the chef moaning in the bar because I was early. I explained to the guy I was early. It wasn’t a problem on my side. I was happy to have a drink and wait. They’d moan if you didn’t turn up. Spoilt by rowdy old ladies who seemed so full of themselves. Listening to their life stories. Pig ignorant.

Good food, good location and good staff. Dealt mostly with Owen & he couldn't have done more to help.

We came here for a quick, easy lunch and had a lovely meal today, and the service was amazing. Can’t thank the team enough for making the experience enjoyable. Thanks to Lou & Chris especially for there lovely service.

While away in our caravan we called to this pub 1st Nov for Dinner . Food was lovely and staff could not do enough for you . Very friendly we where served by sam and Owen and spoke to lou and leah all very helpful and friendly . Food was great value .

Absolutely amazing service and food . Sam Owen leah and lou are doing a great Job . We called because it was dog friendly and it did not disappoint . Keep up the good work guys .

Food was fab! We,ll be returning waitress was lovely. The place was spotless and we spoke to the head chef(lottie) about how good her food. We were well impressed by everything very very enjoyable lunch.

The Squinting Cat was underwhelming. Service was just okay, and the atmosphere felt flat. The food was mediocre at best—bland and uninspired. I’d recommend looking elsewhere for a more enjoyable pub experience.

great food , lots of options staff are lovely and the softplay is helpful

This place is now fantastic,new people fast service very clean Sam and Chris are a scream.Dog friendly got a wacky warehouse for kids.Very reasonable priced for meals.Please try and you won't be disappointed.im booking for Christmas

WeTook dad out for lunch , lots of tables we wanted to sit at were reserved although no one turned up on 4 people in the place when we left, ordered lasange there was none, ordered steak pie there was none, settled foe 3 main courses, the first meal arrived gammon should have come with tomatoes it didn't, the egg was crispy and yolk was hard, seccond meal arrived after a few more minutes hunters chicken, had obviously been sat a while as the sauce had dried up and it was very well done rubbery chicken, as my husband and dad tucked in I waited and waited, eventually mine arrived just as my husband was finishing his, the waitress was very apologetic it obviously wasn't her fault she seemed to be on her own, so disappointing, the place did start to pick up, but seems to have gone right back down hill again, hate wasting money

Awful service, one member of staff too concerned about telling customers tables already booked than serving!! Shame, lovely looking pub, lovely settIng. Would we go again, no!

Visited here twice in two days so that must speak for itself! So impressed on the first day we went back again! Lovely friendly pub. They do a Seniors special two courses for £.599 but anyone can have it and it is well worth it. Excellent value. The portion sizes were good and the food very tasty. The waitress was very friendly we had a nice chat and friendly banter with her she was lovely. On the second visit she wasn’t there but there was a very friendly bar man and he was also very friendly sorry if we were a bit “loud” for four old uns! lol but it is a lovely relaxing place to eat and we had a lovely time. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. We couldn’t fault the place. We would definitely go back again if we were in the area.

Nobody in on a Friday night so atmosphere wasn't really a thing. Food was presented well. Staff were very good. All in all a successful visit.

We eat here regularly & always receive great service. The food is spot on, it's dog friendly too which is a bonus. The new management are lovely & we wish them all the best with it. Would highly recommend 😎👍🏼

Popped in here today had the two course senior special for £5.99 excellent value. Lovely food good portion size for the price. The waitress was lovely very friendly couldn't fault the place would definitely go back when in the area. Would definitely recommend this place

brilliant staff and food hot good tasty food with lovely staff just called in on the off chance but will definitely be back

Visited on a quiet Wednesday. We were quickly served & the food on arrival was piping hot & very tasty. Excellent service from a great team.

We have today had our daughter’s birthday party at Wacky Warehouse and the whole thing was a brilliant success! I’m SO grateful to Melissa and Jaimee who were both just such brilliant hosts. They were so attentive, helpful, approachable and brilliant with the kids. It was honestly the easiest party we’ve ever done - all we brought were balloons and cake! We would definitely have another party there. Thank you also for easily accommodating the two dietaries in the party - DF and Vegan. They were very happy! Thank you very much Melissa and Jamiee ✨ xx

Nice place , food was better for some but not others , Staff pleasant, wanted to go in the Whaky warehouse but said it was closed in an hr so was a little disappointed

It was quality time with my grandparents, and a word of advice I can grant is to prebook in advance in case it gets busy, especially during school holidays and weekends. So go during a weekday in termtime

Nice venue, good soft play for the little ones, good menu options and friendly staff. Plenty of parking and nice spacious seating. Will be back!

Arrived to take advantage of the motor home stopover facility. Although the kitchen had just officially closed, Chris, in making us most welcome, arranged our chosen menu, which was cheerfully and swiftly delivered by Chris's cheerful young assistant. Both meals were excellent, tasty and very hot. The motorhome facility gave us a very quiet night's sleep. Meals were excellent value and the camping free with Britstop. A big thank you to Chris, his assistant and the chefs.

3rd visit in the last couple of months. The food and service has improved massively recently. Everytime we have been our food has been well cooked and presented. Both food and drink are great value. Try and beat 2 cocktails for £6.99 on a weekend! We will be back ( regularly)

Awesome food lovely pub and friendly staff and cheap enough very enjoyable food was wonderful

Wonderful Sunday Roast. The traditional turkey roast was delicious! Beautifully prepared and presented.

We have come here as a family for a couple of weeks since it has changed hands. The staff are so friendly and absolutely love our dog (Italian greyhound) Muffin so much. Well done and keep up the good work Emma, Tom, Felix & Muffin.

Quite on arrival but soon others arrived. Was greeted by lovely friendly staff. Food and drink ordered. Arrived promptly Was very good indeed . Well presented. Tasty and lovely and hot..had chat with staff .very polite and friendly and attentive. Valuefor money ??? Absolutely .will return with family and grandchildren to give the play area ago .Hazel & Ron

Popped in with the family today for the first time, what can I say. Brilliant place, Chris is fantastic. Very accommodating and nothing was too much. There was 8 of us, we were made to feel welcome and offered us more space. He has a great sense of humour, all the staff were friendly and helpful. The food was great and plentiful, and very well presented and perfectly cooked. We will definitely be back.

Popped in for lunchtime food yesterday with my brother. Ended up picking the the bbq meat sharing plater. One of the best things I have eaten this week. Meat was falling off the bone and filling too. Will definitely be back for more. Friendly waiting staff on hand to. Guy behind the bar was funny, with a bit of banter thrown in for good measure.

Chris was very welcoming, and the food was fantastic. We will definitely be back.

My wife and I have been visiting this pub/restaurant for several months up to twice a week. It meets our needs totally - good food, relaxing and enjoyable. Chris the manager is a typical host circulating among the customers and chatting. We originally found the Squinting Cat for a family meal of up to 20 people in a party atmosphere. This went extremely well as we were allocated a self contained area. We have kept with them for our private meals since. The pub itself is on the edge of town and needs a car for access but has a large car park. The food is their own version of a typical family menu. The ratings are given recognising the type of establishment it is - perfect for its purpose.

First time visit for me. My sister has been before. We decided on the Flamin' BBQ Meat Platter. Beautiful the meat just fell of the bone. Perfect sharer for two. We finished it off with deserts. Plus it's available on the AA app, for discount codes. Allowed us to use Two. For the seperate purchases. The gentleman behind the bar was very welcoming, loved the little bit of banter while serving. Look forward to a second visit....highly recommended!!

Great meal Very quaint place but very busy. Staff are welcoming to a point but could be a northern thing. Either way! Fab time and fab food

What a let down, I'm here on holiday, ordered drinks and food and admission to the play area, nearly 100 total, 40 minutes later, they come tell us the food we've ordered and paid for isn't available, so now at 7.15 we're having to find somewhere else, baring in mind my dad's diabetic, wouldn't refund the drinks that we wouldn't have bought in the 1st place and tried fobbing us off with vouchers for the wacky warehouse until I insisted on a refund, just from start to finish a real let down, not something you need with a diabetic parent and a hungry 8 year old, one things for sure, I'll never enter a greene king or any of it's associated pubs/restaurants again,

Very nice place, with a large indoor play area for children. We stayed overnight in our motorhome, the staff were very helpful. Although we didn't eat, the food we saw being served looked delicious. We will come back.

Not as Good As Previous Visit and Meal The last time we came here, albeit 3 or more years ago, we had a really good dining experience, but this time I was disappointed with the quality of my meal, the mini mixed grill, it was not very hot, the small gammon steak was well done on one side and only just done on the other (had it been pre-grilled I wonder) and the amount of rind fat was enormous, the chicken breast was nice but again it was very dry, the only items which I believed to be freshly cooked were the fried egg, grilled tomato and grilled pineapple. So yes, I was not as pleased as I thought I was going to be based on previous experiences, is this anything to do with the fact that the chain was bought by the Greene King group, I would rather pay a little bit more and get freshly cooked and piping hot food on my plate when I go out for lunch. The pub and decor remains the same, it has a nice atmosphere and there is plenty of outdoor space and a small children's play area. Read less

I’ve eaten here before, food is nice and service was good. Just a little disappointed that they wasn’t serving food in the children’s play area the other day, Had driven 25 minutes hoping the children could have a play whilst waiting for the food, but they wasn’t allowing food to be eaten in the children area, which isn’t ideal during the summer holidays.

Nice setting. Lovely outdoor area.. big car park..dissapointing food. Cold. Not cooked right. Rude very young staff.. 1 girl behind the bar didnt want to serve when asked by a coleague to take our order. No appology made to us..over all, glad we went. Showed us where to NEVER go again. Lessons in customer service necessary for all staff.

This could have been very good. The pub is semi-rural, with a large car park, in an affluent part of Harrogate. However, the menu is more inner-city flat-roof pub, the service indifferent and the tables sticky. Despite there being plenty of room, we were seated next to the toilets. My husband’s steak was well-done (he’d asked for medium-rare) and my scampi seemed of the chopped and shaped type. A pub in this location could do so much better.

Our very first visit and won't be our last. Had the Flamin bbq sharer and it was brilliant, everything was cooked well came piping hot and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Staff made sure tables were cleaned and always polite. No mixed grill which was dissaponting but thankfully the sharing platter made up for it.

Called in for some lunch today and was greeted by a very nice young lady behind the bar. We chose 2 from the $12.49 for 2 menu and 2 pints. The food was obviously freshly cooked and with care, arrived hot and sizzling. The quality was above what we were expecting and the service was excellent. Next time we are in the Harrogate area we will definitely return.

Came to celebrate my pops birthday, came with the kids too. Food was great as always, great customer service from Chris and the team. Always look forward to coming back

Great spot but more so Chris and James are like morecambe and wise sketch! Highly recommend!!! All staff very helpful especially Max. Again cannot recommend enough. Will be back soon.

Absolutely disgusting. Just arrived stated that food stops at 1930. It’s 1800. Pub was empty! Stated we couldn’t have a table. Family pub but against families using it. As you can see in the carpark. Absolutely empty! We have used this place many of times with no problems.

Good place to have a drink , unfortunately not close to Harrogate. Beautiful view.

Couldn't rate anything as pub was closed for essential maintenance.

Great place to meet up with family. Food was great too!

If you want to wait over and hour and a half for food then definitely go here. We were told 20 minutes when we arrived to order food, then told 30mins for the food to come out, after 40 minutes I kindly asked how long to then be told another 30 minutes wait. Spoke to the manager who was lovely that it would be about 10 minutes to then wait another 20 minutes for 2 out of 4 plates to arrive , the other 2 plates arrived 10 minutes later. The food ok, but some items where just out of the fridge cold. I know the England match was on but we arrived at 5pm and the pub was quiet. If we had been informed that the food was going to over an hour we would have gone else where. As we left I asked if they had loo roll to be told they had run out..... take what you want from this but we won't be returning.

Great couple of hours regularly spent with granddaughter

We visited the Squinting Cat for lunch after a ramble around the surrounding countryside. The staff were friendly and accommodating and the food was really good. The rib of beef fell off the bone and the steak was cooked just right. I would highly recommend if you are in the area The new team have certainly made a difference.

The staff was very rude but the food was excellent

Booked 6 weeks ago for father's day and they've just rang 2hrs before going to cancel our table. Absolutely furious. Edit- I asked at the time if we could be accommodated elsewhere in the pub and was told no fully booked

Went in on Father’s Day booked a table & as expected it was very busy. Regardless the staff were very accommodating and the food was spot on ! Big shout to Chris for going above and beyond for tailoring our needs and making the day amazing ! Even though they were short staffed every staff member there was polite and helpful even under the circumstances well done team. Highly recommended and will be recommending & returning again !!!

Thank you for such a good service. The chap who waited on us was so lovely with our kids and very helpful. Great food and clean. We loved the sign detailing the history of where the name Squinting Cat came from. My daughter is currently studying the history of witches at school, so that has come in handy! Thank you :)