Roots York

Verdict

Roots York earns its Michelin star on most nights, but the decision to book hinges on which menu you choose and when you go. The Core menu at £95 per person is where the value case is strongest; the Signature at £145 is harder to justify unless you are already a Tommy Banks devotee. Sunday lunch is the leading entry point for explorers who want the full Roots experience without the full tasting-menu commitment — and at a fraction of the weekday dinner price.

What to Expect

Roots sits on Marygate, a quiet stretch beside York's city walls, in a converted Victorian inn whose Arts and Crafts exterior gives little away. Inside, the room is warmer and more relaxed than the building's rather austere frontage suggests: kilims on the floor, Scandi-style chairs, oak tables whose legs are a tangle of metal roots. It is not a grand dining room, and that is the point. Tommy Banks and his family run this as the urban counterpart to L'Enclume in Cartmel is to its own rural region — a city-accessible address where serious cooking is delivered without ceremony. The room seats a small number of covers, which keeps service focused but also means availability is genuinely limited, especially midweek.

The kitchen operates on a philosophy of radical seasonality. Produce comes from Banks' parents' farm in Oldstead, a kitchen garden, and a tight network of regional suppliers. The menus are framed around three seasons: the Preservation Season, the Hunger Gap, and the Time of Abundance , meaning the dishes you eat in February bear almost no resemblance to those served in August. For a food enthusiast, that cycle is the draw. Tasting menus evolve naturally as ingredients become available, and the cooking leans on fermentation, preservation, and techniques that make ordinary produce do unexpected things. Diners' poll feedback describes the kitchen as transforming "humble and not so humble ingredients" into dishes that are deceptively simple in presentation but offer real depth of flavour. The Telegraph's William Sitwell, reviewing in May 2025, called his meal "heavenly" , a verdict from a critic not known for generosity.

The wine list is a genuine asset. Everything is available by the glass, food-matching packages are offered, and the Banks Brothers wines-in-a-can format gives the list an accessible, informal edge that suits the room. Cocktails draw on foraged herbs and pickings, consistent with the kitchen's ethos.

Not everyone is convinced at the higher price point. A meaningful minority of diners in annual polls flag that the environment does not match the bill, and some find the food "good-only" rather than the revelatory experience the prices imply. That dissent is worth taking seriously. If you are spending £145 per head on a tasting menu, the room needs to carry some of the occasion , and by the standards of, say, Moor Hall in Aughton or Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Roots is a modest space. Book it as a restaurant, not as a special-occasion venue, and you will not be disappointed.

Sunday Lunch: The Smart Move

The Sunday feast format, with sittings at noon and 4pm, is the most interesting offer at Roots for an explorer. It begins with a sequence of small seasonal dishes , charcuterie, pickles, cured salmon with whipped buttermilk, duck liver parfait with rhubarb jelly on sourdough, a croquette of Old Winchester cheese and coppa , before moving to a monthly-changing roast (chicken, pork, or rib of beef at a supplement). The accompaniments are treated with the same care as the tasting menu: duck-fat roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese with Tunworth and mustard, carrots glazed with spruce and tarragon, charred hispi cabbage with wild garlic and parsley crumb, and a Yorkshire pudding that can be filled with braised ox cheek and caramelised onion for a £7 supplement. For anyone curious about what Banks' kitchen does with British tradition, Sunday lunch makes the argument more convincingly , and more affordably , than the Signature tasting menu does.

Awards and Standing

Roots holds a Michelin star and ranks #443 in the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in Europe (2024), improving from a recommendation on the OAD Leading New Restaurants list in 2023. Google reviewers rate it 4.7 from 606 reviews. For the broader Modern British tasting-menu category in the north of England, it sits in credible company alongside Moor Hall and the Banks family's own Black Swan at Oldstead, and holds its own against London benchmark addresses like CORE by Clare Smyth in terms of critical recognition, even if the experience is deliberately less formal.

Practical Details

Hours: Wednesday and Thursday dinner only (6–7:30 PM last seating); Friday and Saturday lunch (12–1:30 PM) and dinner (6–7:30 PM); Sunday lunch (12–3:30 PM, two sittings). Closed Monday and Tuesday. Budget: Core tasting menu £95 per person; Signature tasting menu £145 per person; Sunday lunch is a more accessible alternative , supplement charges apply for certain dishes. Reservations: Booking is rated Easy, but the limited seats and narrow operating hours mean you should not leave it to the week of your visit. Weekend dinner and Sunday lunch fill fastest. Dress: No formal dress code is stated, but the Michelin-starred context and price point call for smart-casual at minimum. Getting there: 68 Marygate, York YO30 7BH, a short walk from York city centre and the city walls.

For more dining options in the city, see our full York restaurants guide. If you are planning a stay, our York hotels guide covers where to sleep nearby. For drinks before or after, see our York bars guide.

Pearl Picks Nearby

• Skosh , Modern British, ££, for a lower-commitment tasting experience in York
• Bow Room at Grays Court , Modern British, ££££, for a more formal special-occasion room
• Melton's , Modern British in York, a longer-established neighbourhood option
• Legacy , York restaurant for a different take on the city's modern dining offer
• Fish & Forest , York, for produce-led cooking at a different price point

Frequently Asked Questions

• What should a first-timer know about Roots York? Book the Core menu at £95 rather than the Signature at £145 for a first visit. The cooking is technique-led and ingredient-focused, rooted in Tommy Banks' farm in Oldstead , expect seasonal tasting menus that change with what's being harvested, not à la carte. The room is relaxed rather than grand; arrive expecting a serious restaurant in a modest space, and you will leave satisfied. Sunday lunch is an excellent lower-cost alternative if the tasting menu price gives you pause.
• Is lunch or dinner better at Roots York? Sunday lunch is the better choice for most first-timers. It offers a different format , a procession of small seasonal dishes followed by a changing roast with serious accompaniments , at a more accessible price than the weekday tasting menus. Friday and Saturday lunch run the standard tasting menu format at the same price as dinner, so the only advantage there is a daytime slot. If the full Signature experience is your goal, dinner on a Friday or Saturday is the right call.
• Can Roots York accommodate groups? The restaurant is small, with a limited number of covers, which makes larger group bookings challenging. For a party of more than four, contact the restaurant directly well in advance , no phone number is listed publicly, so use the booking system on the restaurant's website. At £95 to £145 per head before drinks and supplements, groups should also factor in a substantial total bill. Sunday lunch sittings, with their fixed noon and 4pm structure, may be easier to coordinate for small groups than the tasting-menu evenings.
• What should I wear to Roots York? There is no stated dress code, but smart-casual is appropriate given the Michelin-star setting and the price point. The room is relaxed , kilims, oak tables, Scandi chairs , so you do not need to dress for a formal dining room. Think of it as a well-considered restaurant rather than a black-tie occasion. Overdressing will feel out of place; underdressing will feel disrespectful at £95 to £145 per head.
• What are alternatives to Roots York in York? Skosh is the most direct alternative for produce-led Modern British cooking at a significantly lower price point , better value for money if you want quality cooking without a tasting-menu bill. Arras sits in a similar price bracket (£££) and is worth comparing directly. Bow Room at Grays Court (££££) offers a more atmospheric special-occasion room if the environment matters as much as the food. For the wider Modern British tasting-menu category nationally, Hand and Flowers in Marlow and hide and fox in Saltwood are credible comparisons at a similar award level.