Lil's Bar & Bistro

We'd booked a table for 12.30 as we were travelling in to York to see The Osmonds Musical that afternoon. Unfortunately, we hit traffic and were running late, but a phone call later and it was all sorted. The lady was lovely and understanding, and held our table for us. Due to our delayed arrival, we just had a jacket potato and salad, each with a different topping, and it was lovely. The staff were all very nice and friendly, service was good and they even offered to fast track our desserts if we wanted any. Although they all sounded delicious, unfortunately we didn't have enough time, as we had a date with Jay Osmond(!) However, we'll definitely be back next time we're in York. It's a lovely place and right on the waterfront too!

The hotel room was clean and everything worked properly, the staff from the bistro restaurant was super friendly and helpful and the place was cozy and not to mention the hotel is super well located

Went tonight before the theatre, staff were lovely, food outstanding only downside too many steps if your elderly or unsteady but apart from that just 👌

Lovely cocktail bar near the waterfront, cocktail offers were available in the week, and they had a special offer on creamy banana cocktails which we all definitely had a few of! lovely staff so would recommend stopping in and enjoying the views if you're near!

We had a meal here on the 23rd December this year on our way back to our car.What a brilliant little place,service was very good and the food was excellent value. Great little family business would recommend this place to eat.

Very nice staff serving this afternoon. We just had cakes and coffee and a wine all really nice . The 2 ladies serving outside very friendly and welcoming brilliant . Good/ great location we will return breakfasts looked nice . Bit expensive, it's York, not London, but the location was worth it .

Popped in after arriving from Manchester on a late Thursday afternoon without doing any research. It was very quiet which is good for us. Service was fantastic and the food was good. It is pretty small so could be a problem on busy days. A good place to stop off before any cruise trips.

Visited during Restaurant Week and enjoyed an amazing steak and ale pie - home cooked. Chips were a little overcooked

The room was spacious and the bathroom generous; we've been travelling for ten weeks and this kind of thing makes a difference. But, no bar fridge in the room which is cheap and easy and would also have made a difference. The food is pub food, well done but short uninspired menu. But, again, a truly great location right on the river, walkable to everything. The riverside outdoor bar was a blast. Good service from all staff but particularly Sammy. Recommended!

A quiet place that is dog friendly, both inside and outside. Right on the water front, so minimal traffic and a view of the river. Plastic glasses are used outside. Food wise, nothing spectacular. Had steak and caramelised onion sandwich. The steak was fine, although there weren't any caramelised onions to be seen. Instead were some softened onions in some sort of creamy sauce.

My wife and I were visiting York in September 2024. Having just spent many minutes navigating the downtown parking options we were in dire need of refreshment and sustenance. We ambled about for a bit and came upon the river embankment, and Lil's looked like the best option for lunch. It should have been an indicator when we were clearly looking for some assistance and the staff just brushed past. Nary a "can I help you?" in sight. Eventually I grabbed a waitress (can we still them that) to try and get seated. I was told we just seat ourselves. My bad, my telepathy was malfunctioning that day, or their non-existent signage was. The location is perfect. Top-notch. I guess thats why their staff can get away with acting with such ambivalence to their guests. People come for the river view, not the charm or courtesy. Once seated, it was no guarantee we would get our order taken. It took a minute. Finally our order in, our drinks did come out pretty quick. At least we weren't sitting there like thirsty idiots at an empty table. Also, you pay up front here which was a bit weird for table service, but I guess it being outside dining it's to prevent people not paying. The food, when it came, was great. We split a charcuterie board between us and it was lovely. But, it took 30 mins to deliver some sliced cheese and bread. And it wasn't even that busy. I can't imagine how inept these girls are when all the tables are full. So, like others here have noted, 5 stars for ambience, 4 stars for food and drink, 1 stars for service.

Staff friendly but that was it , our food order took an hour to come out after having to ask were our order was.( 2 sandwiches) filling cold , salad looked sad and chips just warm. Not a great experience.

Food was mediocre for the price and a very long wait We was told the 2 meals for 27 was inside only, despite the sign not specifying that (it should say or be the same price in/out) the meals we had at £17 each should have been £10 - £12 at most, had better food at wetherspoons and cheaper/better quality fish & chips at the seaside One of the waitresses kept dropping food not sure if she was new or not but thats not an issue, a male waitor was constantly standing over our table which made us uncomfortable the entire meal This was by far our worst experience in York, there are far better experiences in the area which is a shame as the spot has so much potienal and we unfortunately left disappointed and let down, it was our American friends first time having Fish & Chips and it was a poor experience

Ordered the steak and ale pie which came with chunky chips peas and carrots. The pie crust was inedible and resembled pottery. It was 5mm thick and l was unable to cut it with the knife provided. It seemed like it had been left under the heat light for days. The steak in the dish, beneath the headstone, actually tasted ok. Service was good.

Staff were very friendly but that's the only positive besides the location. Unfortunately there was a very long wait for food. People who arrived ages after us were getting served before us when we only ordered basic meals. Food was very average. I wouldn't return. A shame seeing as the manager was a nice lady and it has good potential.

Not a great experience here. Food took an hour to come out and when it did we had to send it back as it wasn’t cooked. They apologised by way of a free round of drinks though. Was saved from a one star by the free round of drinks, beautiful setting and the fact we wasn’t in a rush!

Had afternoon dinner on Saturday. Prices seem reasonable but the food was very average. Service was ok but the wait was long. Partner is vegetarian and was very disappointed with her veggie burger, and even her fries were below par. I has steak pie and chips and I'll be generous and say it was ok, but certainly no frills. I don't think I'll be returning there for food. The choice of beers is small, no draught beers, so I doubt I'd return for drinks either.

Great location, lovely staff. Food was okay. Bad management: We ordered and paid for a cider, it had just ran out so she ordered a wine spritzer instead. They brought the wine and then (without any warning) came back with the card machine for the 50p DIFFERENCE!! Been to many bars and never seen anything like that. Not going to matter to them but it was for my mother in law who's an OAP and this was their fault. The waitress was lovely and explained it came from the manager and that the till wouldn't balance at the end of the night?? Manager should have came out and told us that utter stingy nonsense themselves. Such a shame - would say avoid this place.

Having taken a boat trip, we stopped here for lunch, mainly due to the location. The food was average, to say the least. And massively overpriced compared to other places in York. The only plus point was the young guys and girls serving. Great service

Didn't stay at the hotel. Location amazing, food ordered and brought in covered in foil, then served to us. Don't know where the kitchens are. Staff laying on the couches on their phones. Dirty plates left on the table for some time, even though we both went the loo, still there. Nit the cleanest of places I've been. Food was goid though

If you want a cheese lamb burger ? Better go to Tesco ans buy a frozen burger and some cheese.. On top of that they don't care about customer. 3 times to ask the cheese they suggest me to order for 2 pounds more. And after I said I was not happy with the beautiful cheese they ask us to leave as soon as we finish the food .. Please never go there

It’s confusing where to leave a review as the seating area and pub is simply called “The Waterfront” but anyway, myself and my partner ordered food, but only my main abs side came out… we waited, and waited, shared the side… waited… eventually I managed to get hold of a member of staff to ask where my partners main was, she immediately apologised and rushed off. Eventually this salad turns up around 30-40 mins AFTER my food!!! As the waitress placed the food down she asked if their anything she can do for us, so I said yeah some free drinks would be nice - to which she replied she couldn’t do that!!!! If I hadn’t of already paid then I wouldn’t of, simple as that. It’s really not acceptable to not offer some kind of good will gesture, especially as we’d also bought a few rounds of drinks already. I totally get that it was busy, and mistakes can be made, but c’mon make it up to the customer! The food was ok, Garlic mushrooms were excellent actually but we wouldn’t dine here again. It’s our hard earn’t money, you should expect to be treated right.

Do not get an ‘Aperol Spritz’ or you’ll be left extremely disappointed with half a glass of soda water with an added splash of a aperol and ice…. and £14 out of pocket (for 2). Sent the drinks back, for them to be returned as the manager said ‘they had been made as they always do’. Then I took them back in myself and was meeted with a very inhospitable and rude lady saying there was nothing wrong with the drinks and no one else had complained so they must be ok. Although being the manager, she was adamant she could not make another drink as it would leave them out of pocket. Ive never been confronted with this type of service in another establishment and I’m the not usually the type to complain unless there is something very wrong. After a long frustrated discussion another member of staff agreed to show me how they make them and it started well… then they stood there adding soda water for an eternity. When I kindly advised them it was only meant to be a splash of soda water they said they didn’t want feedback from me.

I went to the bathroom after placing my drink order, when I returned from the bathroom my drink was blown off the table I was met with “do you want to buy another we don’t control the weather” Appalling attitude from the waitress wish we had. Read the reviews before taking a table!

Shocking room supposed to be a delux room it smelt of drains the walls were all marked and chunks out of the plaster and the lamp was smashed and curtains ripped it wasn’t worth £80 and nobody was around to check out. 20 mins we waited and just had to leave the key on the bar. It spoilt our stay in york

I’ve never reviewed before, service can be poor, food can be poor….. but this place was the worst experience I’ve had. I was told that the food wait for a burger was a half hour, but nothing arrived after 60 minutes so I asked what was going on to be told that the order would be a further 15 minutes. It all seemed to be a bit disorganised and reliant on under experienced staff. Sorry

What can you get wrong with a sausage and a sausage and egg sandwich?...well the sausages were barely cooked and nearly cold and the egg was hard and overcooked...sent them back to recieve attempt 2....sausages slightly better cooked, but still very pale and only luke warm and egg was hard and overcooked again. Very poor. Young and seemingly inexperienced waiting staff too. Would not return for anything else if they cannot get 3 sausages and 2 pieces of bread to the table in some sort of enjoyable edible state.

The front of house staff were lovely and I have nothing but nice things to say about them. Everything else however was comically bad. Food took absolutely ages. The burgers were either flavourless or stupidly over seasoned. The fries were like leftover Maccies fries from the night before. Desserts were okay but obviously from a packet. Custard was half water half lumps. Music was like somebody's teenage breakup playlist. The highlight was being sat next to the kitchen where we could hear every word of the staff, primarily two people arguing so aggressively that it ended with someone saying they quit and are suing. As of writing, one of us has thrown up. Absolutely hysterical time, do not go.

£11 for a breakfast and a cup of tea which was absolutely a waste of money and the hottest thing on the plate was the butter and waiting 40 minutes for your breakfast to arrive. Which was feeble and small on a very large plate. At no time was sanitizer used on any tables or seating before customers arrive or leave (had plenty of time to watch this while waiting for breakfast) no wonder York is rife with Covid!!! do not recommend keep well away from the place.

£9.50 for a luke warm pathetic 'full' English breakfast that wouldn't fill my 7 year old. The whole thing could fit on a side plate and didn't taste very nice at all. There was one small sausage, an oil saturated mushroom and a tiny portion of beans. There are better places to eat in York.

Nothing but a nice view!!! Atrocious cocktails?! We were told we couldn’t go in as there was a private function so didn’t qualify for 2 cocktails price of 1? So had to pay full price sit in the cold and were served v sweet and barely alcoholic drinks. We ALL left them !!! I felt for the waitress as she was friendly and doesn’t make the rules …but avoid this place simply cashing in on their river view. We had just had street food and amazing spritzers at SPARKS so I would advise anyone to go there and avoid this rip off bar at all costs!! Very disappointing !!! We could have sat on the riverside for free with the same view!??

Service was lovely. We had to wait an hour to get starters. Beef burger was greasy, dry and had no flavour. The lamb burger had very little meat and only tasted of pepper. The fries for all burgers were completely cold. The beef and ale pie had awful pastry on, the peas and carrots were cold and the filling was just bad. We could hear the kitchen loudly shouting at each other, music was solemn the whole time. It was lucky we went during restaurant as none of us would have paid the actual price for any of our meals. The meals have made everyone feel rather ill and one of us has physically been sick.

We had brunch here and the location is the only good thing about this place. Poached eggs were actually fried eggs and everything is pricey and not up to standards. The waiters were nice and polite but overall a bad dining experience. Do not come to this place to eat

If I could give zero stars I would. Absolutely shocking service. Waitress spilled an entire pint on my jeans and not so much as a free drink was offered. A simple sorry… I am not saying it fell on the floor. The whole pint went all over me and I was given blue roll which they then promptly took back. Nobody came over afterwards to offer any kind of apology or drink and once we had finished, they simply said thanks, bye. I cannot believe the complete lack of customer service or care. Avoid this place!

Want with the wife and kids. Has Philly cheese, chicken Caesar salad, pepperoni pizza, and a chicken sandwich. Philly had beef that was shriveled and tough almost no onions no peppers and processed cheese. Caesar had chicken cut in to 1/2 inch chunks and the croutons were not toasted just stale bread. Pizza looked like a pre cooked bottom and just had the toppings put on and warmed up until the oil slick started. The chicken was boiled and not even grilled to heat it up for some colour/flavour. Adde touches of toasted ciabatta buns not done eggs overcooked for the salad. Picky yes but for the price absolutely horrid.

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! Terrible place. We called up and booked a table, informed on phone we had a taste card. Made booking. Arrived, told the girl we had a taste card, seated, given a menu and told we could only order from certain pages as it was a Sunday. Anyway the food was good, but upon getting our bill we were told we couldn’t use the taste card with that menu, the one we were told to order from. Asked to speak to a supervisor who was very argumentative, asked for a manager, told none on duty, she sent a young girl in to take payment who had no idea what was going on, and instead of giving our offer, they had taken two bottles of coke off the bill, we refused and informed them that we had mentioned the taste card several times and we should have been told it didn’t apply to the Sunday menu. Eventually a manager turned up, again argumentative, (was told earlier there was no manager). She argued with us in front of other customers and had no service skills what so ever. Again she left and sent the supervisor back in to take payment who slammed the machine on the table, the picked it up and stormed out without saying a word. Also….. there was a private part going on downstairs playing very loud music which didn’t really create a good atmosphere, especially when the songs were dance music filled with swear words and yes there was kids in the restaurant. Avoid this place at all costs, they don’t know what customer service is

We chose this bistro for its pleasant location near the river. And that was its only advantage. The toilets were in a terrible state of hygiene. The food was absolutely disgusting. The fries were fried in the same oil as the fish; they were inedible. The gammon was dry and tasteless. The price for such quality food was exorbitant. Never again!

Took an hour and a half to get some chips, onion rings and garlic bread out after continuously saying it’ll only be 5 more minutes. Once the food came the chips were basically still frozen and the onion rings were cold. Would NOT recommend this cafe at all.

We had an hour for lunch before going on another experience which we explained to the waitress before we ordered and was assured that there was no wait on food. 45 minutes later ,we had to chase up the food ,it came and was really disappointing. Too much bread and not enough filling -salad was limp however chips were lovely. It was also extremely over priced for the poor quality of food. Toilets were disgusting too-such a shame

Do not go here the food is awful , sent back because it was cold after waiting one and half hours the two bar staff could not be bothered to apologise and when brought back had just been zapped so the pastry was to hard to cut . Customer service and politeness would not go a miss oh and the toilets are absolutely disgusting no hand dryer or paper towels just bits of toilet paper DISGUSTING