The Knapton Lion in York

We both had the turkey sandwich with roast potatoes followed by the apple, date & cinnamon crumble and they were excellent. We also visited around two months ago and had the fish sandwiches which were outstanding. A whole piece of battered fish beautifully cooked in a soft ciabatta roll. We’ll definitely be back.

December 2024 - this was our 3rd visit and we enjoyed our experience again - it ticks all the boxes for us:- warm welcome, good atmosphere/background music, varied menu/good food served by polite and obliging staff. Thank you.

Lovely and warm as we stepped inside...very thoughtful staff...my husband is disabled and they were very helpful. Best food I have tasted in a long time. Will definitely be returning. Margaret from Huntington

Delicious food Lovely atmosphere Visited with family for an evening meal and a friend at lunch time Will be going back

This was a great midweek experience. The food was not cheap, but it was really great quality and tasty. For a little pub in a small hamlet, the Knapton Lion is a real hidden gem.

Ex work colleagues catch up. Was beautiful food (little disappointed only one prawn which was the garnish in the fish pie). Lovely girls serving and nice atmosphere didn’t feel rushed.

Superb Sunday lunch finished off with a sticky toffee pudding that was simply the next level. Thank you

Cosy little country pub with a nice relaxed atmosphere. The food menu is varied with classic dishes done well (only saw what was on other people's table, we didn't eat). A wide selection of beers on tap and a good wine list. Varied spirit offerings too. Warm and welcoming staff

Tom, Nicky and team provided us with a superb birthday celebration for 35 friends. Nothing was too much trouble and the food, atmosphere and service were top class. Would recommend to anyone whether for a group or just a couple.

Enjoyed a midweek meal with a friend. The staff were friendly and attentive. The food was delicious, we ordered the monk fish curry & beef featherblade. Both the pub & restaurant were busy, but it still retained a relaxing atmosphere. Will definitely visit again 10/10

Lovely food, 3 out of the 4 of us had the Fish pie from the specials menu, could not fault it. Staff were very attentive and friendly. Would definitely recommend this gastropub.

Excellent food and service; good value - and a lovely atmosphere. First visit but I’ll be back,

Lovely home-cooked food and great service. The fish cakes were special.

Excellent food & experience I hope people will frequent these disappearing icons. Smiley pleasent staff always a winner

Excellent food, friendly family atmosphere and brilliant service. One of the 2 best pubs in York😜

Lovely Sunday lunch. Service was brilliant and very quick. See you again soon!

Enjoyed a excellent business lunch for four food fantastic actual 'Real chips' service was just as good.. Definitely returning.... Return now at least twice per week Tom & his team are fantastic... Great pub, food, drink just go you will not be disappointed.

Absolutely fantastic from arranging a table to leaving Tom and staff were fab. The food matched the service. Highly recommend

Fabulous Sunday dinner. Staff were great. Recommended to book.

Had Sunday lunch here. Food and service both really good. Reasonable prices too. Would definitely visit again.

Lovely Sunday Lunch , food was amazing, staff are always attentive, nothing is too much trouble. Highly recommend

All lovely, we will definitely visit again if we're in the area. One minor grumble is no baby change facilties, and I didn't see any disabled toilets either. The only quibble on the food we had was that the brownie wasn't in the style we prefer, being more like a cake and perhaps a touch overdone. Everything else was lovely, and the portion sizes were appropriate to the price point. The dishes we tried were - Veggie strudel; fish pie special; chicken and ham pie; children's sausage, mash and yorkie pud; white choc ginger brulee; kids' brownie with ice cream; coffee with truffles; coffee with mini brulee. All except the brownie we would definitely have again, though we would probably all go for the hot drink with a mini pud as that size was perfect for us. Having been fitted in at short notice on a Saturday evening, it would be rude to complain about the table being cramped for 4 adults and 2 children and I noticed when we left it was relaid for only 4 adults, so I don't think that is a fair criticism to level, though I did find the space a little tight whilst we were there. Staff helpful, friendly and attentive

Nice pub and on our first visit it was good food but I thought the dessert portion was small and expensive.

Excellent friendly efficient service from Tom and the Team. All our meals were excellent as usual. Highly recommend the Knapton Lion

First visit but will definitely return. Food was excellent and staff friendly and attentive.

Lovely pub!! Staff were very friendly and welcoming and the food was delicious - especially the fish pie ! Would recommend a visit 😊

Food and service were fantastic.

Had a wonderful meal with my friends this week. Have always loved all Tom and his family pubs and so no hesitation in recommending. Food is delicious and the staff are wonderful. It’s a lovely pub to sit and have a drink too. Thank you

Wonderful Sunday dinner, loved my time here.

We really enjoyed the lunch set menu. The food was lovely and it was good value for money. We were only in the area for a fortnight and managed a return visit. Staff and manager all very helpful.

Perfect! Fantastic food, great atmosphere and friendly, attentive staff - what a find! Highly recommended. It was our first visit, with friends from Gozo (Malta). So often these days, we're disappointed with establishments serving poor food at inflated prices. Nothing is cheap nowadays but the Lion's prices aren't bad and you do get amazing food.

Great place to have food with lots of different people , good food and friendly staff in the small little village. If not fancying a whole fish and chips , ask for a small one instead

Booked The Knapton Lion after 2 recommendations and wasn’t disappointed,wonderful food we all had roast beef.The service was excellent from all the staff.

Amazing Sunday dinner great staff great atmosphere

Sunday lunch was fantastic 😊 as usual, brought a friend along who was most impressed, we will definitely be back very soon

I would like to thank Tom and all the staff for making my birthday celebration lunch very enjoyable. All our requests were carried out to a very high standard and nothing was too much trouble. The food was excellent and served promptly so the food remained very hot. We were nor rushed which enabled us to chat. Thank you Tom for spending time with the elderly gentleman it meant a lot to me.

Had a lovely Sunday lunch. The food was excellent and the Yorkshire puddings were huge. Great value. Couldn’t resist the desserts either 🤣

Excellent food, drinks and atmosphere. Staff very friendly. Highly recommended.

Brilliant pub , warm welcome , great service , not rushed , lovely atmosphere, beautiful food, will be booking again ! Thanks Tom & the team

I’m not local so found this on Google with good reviews. Amazing food !! Great service and a great atmosphere. Corn chicken was fab, and one of our party had the lamb pie that was bursting with meat. This coupled with the free wine on Wednesday made it taste even better.

Perfect Sunday lunch, very welcoming staff and excellent service Will we go again...... Absolutely

Always enjoy good food and a nice pub, would highly recommend it.

Fabulous food!! Every time I have been it never fails to deliver. Well done you guys.

Had Sunday lunch today and I can highly recommend it the food superb waitresses very polite and efficient will definitely be back

Really enjoyed a two course lunch off the afternoon menu, and at £19.50 pp it was great food well prepared and served. Could have had a third course for an extra £4 but none of us had room for it. Thanks for a good meal and being able to book online was a real bonus. Will be visiting again soon.

Lovely meal as always, great service and staff never stopped on what was an extremely busy evening with all tables full! 🥰 Tom wasn't there but the staff were fantastic and found time to answer any questions with a smile despite being so busy! The only problem was we were really hot but maybe that's us as we didn't notice others with fans, and it'd been a hot day! The ice cream dessert was perfect to cool us down! I lost an ear-ring and was in the carpark when I got a call to say it'd been found! Great that they bothered to let me know and came outside with it! Cannot recommend highly enough! I'll be back soon.

Best pub meal we have had for years

First time there, lovely pub. Food was excellent, pricey but worth every penny

Superb Sunday lunch. Very friendly staff. Will definitely be back again

The staff were absolutely excellent. The atmosphere is missing something, perhaps some soft background music? I know you chefs love al dente veg but it would be great if the veg could be offered less firm

Tried Sunday lunch here and was not disappointed. Lovely meal with good sized portions and excellent beer/wine, what more could you ask for!!! Service was good, nothing was too much trouble, had to wait 10 mins for our table, but this was explained and handled well.

Great night at the Knapton Lion this week. Imaginative dishes, so tasty. I had the sea bream with crab arancini. Tom is an excellent host & waiting staff are friendly & efficient. Took advantage of the free bottle of wine offer for Wednesday & Thursday diners, brilliant.

Excellent food, service and hospitality every time we come here. Highly recommended.

Our first visit to the restaurant and overall we were very impressed with the food and service. I ordered the beef wellington, which personally I found slightly under done as the very middle of the fillet was still raw. For dessert, we had the creme brulee, which personally we found to be thick, not smooth and creamy as it should be. Overall satisfied with the food and service and we would visit to eat again.

I booked a table for 7 family members & we had a fabulous afternoon,the food as always was superb,beef,chicken roast dinners & the monkfish curry,the starters and desserts were excellent too.service impeccable by Tom & his staff,lovely atmosphere,we all had a great time!

The beef shin pie was out of this world! I have a rubbish appetite but this knocked my socks off. Beautiful pastry, good quality ingredients, and perfectly cooked veg. Absolutely outstanding. And as for the Eton Mess....jeeez....this is the stuff of dreams, A great foody pub, nice atmosphere, fantastic food and great service.

Another excellent meal with a free bottle of wine! A regular customer.

We’ve heard so many good things about this place so decided on an impromptu visit. We were horrified that the bowl of chips I ordered for a lunchtime snack were cooked in what looked and tasted like beef dripping as this isn’t mentioned anywhere on the menu. Being vegetarian I couldn’t eat them and had to wait until I got home to have lunch. The chef/patron should take note that menu items ought to be accurately marked (I think it’s reasonable to expect that chips are vegetarian unless otherwise stated). We would not bother returning for this sole reason.

Our meal was delicious (as always) and the service was very friendly and helpful. A lovely place to relax with friends and enjoy good food. Would definitely recommend.

Welcoming staff as soon as we came in, shown to our table, drinks arrived lovely beer, food orders taken promptly and the food arrived very quickly hot and fresh. Would highly recommend this pub.

We had a lovely meal. All the food was cooked perfectly and enjoyed by all in our party. It was our second visit since the pub reopened and I'm sure it won't be our last.

Delicious food, beautifully presented & the waitresses were excellent! Thank you so much, we had a great evening. We wondered if you would look into offering dairy free cream/ ice cream with your dessert menu...one of our group is dairy intolerant so was unable to enjoy one of your lovely puddings!

We had a delicious meal at The Knaption Lion, and the service was excellent too! We are both gluten intolerant, and this was catered for… not just on the menu but with care and attention from the staff. We would definitely recommend this place!

A delicious meal was enjoyed by all. Particularly liked the option of a small dessert with coffee.

Visited for my wife’s 60 th birthday Staff where attentive and friendly Relaxed environment Food was delicious Free bottle of wine on a Thursday was an absolute bonus We will 100% visit again well done to everybody

Excellent Sunday lunch. Our table of six was very happy with the quality and quantity of the meal. Service was excellent.

Excellent top quality food well worth the extra few pounds you pay. Decent wine list and a good pint of beer. Went for midweek lunch. It was quite busy. Bit short of vegetarian options which we pointed out when we paid at the end and were asked if everything was ok with the meals. It was only then that we were told that there was a vegetarian menu. Quite why this was not offered on arrival or incorporated into the main menu baffles us. Only one of us (a couple) does not eat meat but the meat eater also enjoys vegetarian food. Hopefully management will look into this oversight before we return.

Nice pub to drop into on an evening while walking the dog 🐕 👌. Friendly staff . Allow dogs which is fantastic 😀 👌

Just popped in for a quick pint (which was very nice) and will be booking for food soon.

Friday fish and chip lunch. Huge flaky haddock in a lovely crispy batter, great chips and mushy peas. Service was excellent, prompt and very friendly.

Attended with friends to celebrate a birthday. We had a wonderful evening. We were made to feel very welcome by the staff and the food was excellent! Thank you!

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening here. The staff were very friendly and efficient and the food was delicious. It was the best sea bass I have had, beautifully cooked and a a really well put together and presented plate (as was my husband’s stroganoff) We would definitely recommend, it’s a shame we were on holiday and don’t live nearer!

I recently visited The Knapton Lion for dinner and had an absolutely fantastic time. The food we ordered was incredible. My steak was cooked to perfection and the peppercorn sauce was to die for. My friend ordered the sea bass fillet which was just bursting with flavour. We would return just for those delicious beef dripping chips! This lovely little Yorkshire gem has a great selection of Yorkshire beers and a lovely variety of wines. We cannot wait to come back soon.

Really nice food, great service…thank you…

Lovely pub. Food and service excellent. Have been three times in as many weeks and it's fast becoming a favourite. Mushroom arancini is wonderful, as is Whitby Crab and the mushroom Wellington.

Nicely redecorated, lovely food and friendly helpful staff.

Absolutely perfect! That's how my Seabass dish was! The staff are lovely and very attentive. I was dining on my own but I was made to feel very comfortable and very well looked after. Will definitely go back . Thank you

Great range of hand pulled beer

Very flavoursome food. Very good service. Atmosphere was a bit lacking as we were in the side room. We will come again.

Fantastic service lovely and friendly Excellent food thankyou

first time we have been i will be back again with friends and family, the food was lovely everyone enjoyed it

The restaurant was buzzing when we arrived, great atmosphere and very popular. So glad we had booked in advance. The food was well presented and tasted great. Thank you Tom and team for a great night.

We have enjoyed both Sunday lunches and weekday meals in this excellent local pub. The service was exceptional, with waitresses showing initiative and great personal attention to the customers. The ambience was perfect, without the need for loud music. The food was so tasty and hot, with enough variety to suit everyone and all the drinks were popular too. Highly recommended.

Very good a la carte Sunday three-course meals with very generous quality portions. Service not included on bill.

Absolutely amazing pub/restaurant. Great staff and owner. Food was lovely. Would recommend

Superb food and great service, very accommodating for small kids.

3 generation went for a joint birthday meal, we have been before under the previous ownership (which was dreadful), this was our first visit back under the new ownership and it didn't disappoint. We had the Beef, Pork, Chicken Sunday lunch and Fish n Chips. All were fantastic. I like that there is a few other options if people don't want the Sunday lunch. A few of us who had room had desserts - again really good. Think the pricing is right as well for the quality of food. Service was great, nice beer, definitely gonna try the lunches and mid week offering. One thing I would say and a few places do this, they serve the beef a little too thick, slice the beef a little thinner, its gonna be easier to eat, but that's just me. Deffo be back, :)

Lovely Sunday lunch and nice beer

I had the chicken and my other half had the beef and both were delicious. We also loved that the vegetables included cauliflower cheese within the price of the roast and an extra jug of gravy so thought it was really good value. We both had the ginger and rhubarb creme brûlée for dessert which was the best I’ve had and the shortbread on the side was also delicious. The service was also great and our food arrived very promptly. We’ll definitely be back for another visit!

A delicious Lunch for two, after walking the dog from Knapton to Harewood Wood, and back. I had a really delicious roast beef sandwich, with slightly rare beef, Thick cut chips, Very tasty Stock, and unusually a very tasty side salad. I found out that it was the pickled red onion that made it. Watching MasterChef at the moment, I think they would call it, balanced with the extra acidity! My partner had the brie salad and thoroughly enjoyed it too. The staff were very friendly, and looked after us very well. We were able to take our dog who rested on her blanket in our corner. There was Another group opposite Enjoying their food as much as we did. It was round the corner in the dog, friendly area, just as we would like it,so I’ve given it five stars, for dog friendly atmosphere. Looking forward to going back again.

Would highly recommend the Sunday lunch. Excellent food, friendly and attentive staff the Knapton Lion offers a cosy and warm welcome.

Fabulous meals with a superb selection of drinks. Had the battered haddock triple cooked chips mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce which was outstanding. Excellent service from the friendly team. Was full on Wednesday evening and I can see why. Everyone in my party of 5 thoroughly enjoyed their meal and we will definitely be back soon. Highly recommended.

Went to the knapton lion today for lunch , first time we have been and definitely will be returning, the interior is superb with a nice atmosphere, the staff were top notch very polite and friendly the food itself was absolutely superb couldn’t fault it in any way , some of the best food my wife and I have had and very reasonably priced in our opinion We will definitely be returning to sample the evening and Sunday lunch menus I’d highly recommend a visit keep up the good work

Excellent service. All meals were so tasty. Lovely busy atmosphere. Will return.

It was our first meal at the Knapton Lion under the new ownership. We loved the warm welcome and lovely decor and ambience. We opted for the steak and ale pie and the daube of beef and were so impressed by the presentation and the quality of food. Looking forward to a return visit next week.

Excellent turn around with Tom and the family! Amazing pub with excellent beer!

Fabulous pub and wonderful food. Thank you too Tom and all the staff. Compliments to the chef!

This is a busy, vibrant place but clearly expertly run by the owner and staff. The food was first class and service excellent. It was always a good restaurant a few years ago when it was the Red Lion but this was just as good if not better. The sea bass with risotto was wonderful and sticky toffee as good as I have ever tasted. Highly recommended based on our experience.

Great British pub with great British food

Went to the Knapton Lion last night for the 1st time since Tom took over. It was absolutely brilliant, just a good as his other pub The Lord Nelson in Poppleton. The food was gorgeous and great service, they are such a lovely family and work so hard they deserve every success. Thank you