Royal Oak - 18 Goodramgate

Excellent food and drink, Matt and the staff couldn't do enough for you. Highly recommended .

Went with some ladies I used to work with for the first time to the Royal Oak. Very friendly staff, cosy atmosphere and really enjoyed the food 👍 Went for the £13:50 meal deal with a drink. Had a five oz gammon with egg and pineapple and chips, food was lovely. My friends had crab fishcakes and all commented on how lovely they were. Would thoroughly recommend this pub for food and atmosphere. Will definitely go back.

Just around the corner from the Minster, this place is surprisingly local and friendly. The barroom was full of regulars enjoying pints with the newspaper or a book (and even a dog). The fire was going. Had a tasty plate of bangers and mash to to enjoy with a pint of cask ale. They had several solid handles along with the trusty Landlord. A couple different rooms with different vibes and a really nice dining room upstairs. Menu was all quality offerings. Bar staff were friendly. Great pub!

+6

Brilliant old vibrant York pub. Very well decorated and excellent upkeep, unlike a few other old pubs nearby! Food smells great but I'm yet to eat here. Good choice of beers. Love having a couple of pints here. Staff are really friendly and chatty.

Fantastic pub with a good range of well-kept cask ales, plus excellent value food. We visited at lunchtime and so took advantage of the £13 'meal including a drink' offer. There are plenty of food and drink options to choose from and every member of our group was impressed with their choice.

We hadn't booked but were warmly welcomed and given a choice of areas to sit in. We went for the 2 course set menu at £17.50 and the quality of the food and the portion sizes were excellent. After a full day of exploring York the Royal Oak provided a warm, cosy place to relax and unwind with fabulous food and drink. Highly recommend.

Came for a sunday roast, it was incredible. Ebony's service was great and super quick for everything. Can’t recommend the roast trio enough. Excellent value, we left very full and very happy!

Visited this lively pub for a beer ahead of a meal at Little Italy. Nice old place with a lot of character and history - memorabilia and esoterica on display. The beer was Moretti. Lager for the people. I think this is more of a real ale pub though and I noticed they have Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, which always seems to be popular with ale-drinking types. Sat in the smaller bar to the front, other customers a mix of tourists and locals. A traditional pub then. Decent place to sup a drink and chat.

We stopped here for lunch and it was so so good!! Got the lunch deal (smaller portions) and had a delicious sticky toffee pudding

This is a beautiful listed property, built in the 17th century with quirky seating areas and huge appeal... Nestled in the busy streets of York (town center) amongst the many shops and boutiques this pub offers some really great looking food... I never ate here but I saw what others had ordered and it did look really good. Gareth has been landlord here for many many years, very welcoming and hospitable... Thank you 👍 Upstairs is an additional seating / eating room which can be used as a private function area... ( The Video shows this room ) A great place to eat and drink if in York for a visit. No parking as in the town centre 😎

Lovely pub with such friendly and welcoming staff! The food was absolutely delicious. Great atmosphere too.

Fantastic!! Rump was tasty, great Yorkshire pudding, peppercorn sauce gravy awesome. Tomahawk pork chop special was delicious, perfectly cooked. Chicken ham hock pie was really good. Great service, nice for families or for adults, great little niches for everyone!

In my many visits to York I must have been here but Madge forgot my list. A pleasant pub with the main drinks room to the left on entering.Snug to the right. Lovely proper pub room with bench seating and roaring log burner. Four real ales. Madge told me to have the Great Newsome Sleck Dust golden ale. She had a half of Moretti. Not the best choice for her. ( dash..had Cruzcampo on back bar.) The background music made up for it..Kinks, Cat Stevens, America, early Bowie etc. Lovely dining room to the year. Tiny rear patio. Cask Marque pub.

Possibly the best fish and chips I've had in my life. Server was really friendly

Exactly what I was looking for in my short time in York. A traditional pub serving hearty meals. The food was exactly what you want if you searched for "pub grub" and it does well to steer clear of every other pub in the area's plan of serving traditional meals with a haute cuisine flair by keeping it simple. If what you're looking for is decent food at reasonable (for York centre) prices. This is the place to visit.

Visited around 1pm for lunch during ghost week, food was absolutely fantastic. Absolute steal at £12 for a lunch and a drink! The man who seated and served us was alone on the floor due to someone calling out and he was really attentive and absolutely smashing it! We enjoyed our meal so much, we came back the following day around 4/5 to try the dinner menu. 10/10

Food was excellent. Staff was friendly. The local brown ale was amazing. No complaints at all. Would highly reccomend

A traditional hostelry with an ancient, yet comfortable feeling, a convenient location for the city centre, York Minster and other city centre attraction and only 5 minutes walk from the market and main shopping area. There's a warm welcome, with a friendly smile. The prices were excellent and the lunchtime meal offer this week (just short of £8) included a beer, or soft drink. Wine was at a supplement. The meal was an excellent pub standard, and the host didn't bat an eyelid when we asked to change items on the standard menu (for health reasons new potatoes rather than chips, for taste reasons, cooked veg rather than peas). The puddings were excellent too (and spoilt our attempt at healthy eating - but worth it!). If you're looking for a pub for a lunchtime meal on a quick trip to York, with a pleasant ambiance, this is the place to be. It's good in the evenings too, with live music many nights of the week, and an equally hospitable atmosphere. I will certainly return.

Spur of the moment drop-in, really enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was very good. Will definitely return, but plan it next time!

We stayed at an apartment nearby and found the Royal Oak on our first night. Menu had plenty to choose from and the food we had was cooked to perfection. The only disappointment was that on our last night in York the kitchen was closed because they had no gas. If we go back to York we will definitely go back. Staff were friendly.

We have never been to York before, we stumbled upon this beautiful 17th century pub, the food was lovely and really good value 😊 The staff go above and beyond 😀 especially Matt he was friendly, professional with exceptional customer service skill. We found York both friendly and welcoming and we will be re visiting soon 😊

Above average pub fayre at really good value. E.g., starters: super calamari, mains: good steak and ale pie with proper crispy chips, dessert: Cartmel sticky toffee pudding. All (at time of posting) for about £22. Plus guests ales, and great historic vibe. It was the top rated Open Table pub food - for all of the above.

We went her sunday 26 october 2025 for sunday dinner. Absolutely loved the food, service and the atmosphere. Would definitely recommend coming here. York is a wonderful place and visiting Royal Oak made it better 👍

Wonderful pub that was very popular in our University days and it was lovely to return thirty years later during a reunion. Excellent food and cask ale, the Taylor's Landlord was on top form and the gentleman on the bar was extremely friendly and welcoming. Definitely recommend a visit.

Excellent roast beef and pork that were well presented with a generous serve of veg and gravy, and a traditional Yorkshire pud. Apple and raspberry crubble was a fitting finale. Friendly staff.

Ale was good, food was good, and I was placed not too far away from a warming fire. I think the server may have been relatively new, but they made me feel welcome and the service was faultless. The pie was good, but I personally felt the pastry was stodgy, perhaps slightly undercooked, but the meat was well cooked and tasty. Gravy was good and mash was nice, I’ve only marked them down because the pastry wasn’t quite to my liking, but still worth the visit.

We arrived earlier than our booking so we were able to sit upstairs and gave some drinks whilst we waited. We booked online. We sat in the bar restaurant. We had a table for four. We sat near another table but enough space between the two. It was a cosy pub. Staff were friendly. Clean environment. Toilets upstairs on third floor. The food was delicious. A nice variety of choice. All four meals were incredible. Recommend if visiting to York.

Had the lunch special fish and chips, good value for £13 with a drink…..homemade chips too Very dog friendly, ticked all the boxes for us :)

I would love to give a better rating. The pub itself has a great atmosphere however our meal chosen from the lunch menu was poor. The fish and chips was ok ....but where was the sausage on the sausage and mash...and the cottage pie was very poor. Whilst the cottage pie was removed from the bill there was no offer of a reduction for the lack of sausage on the other meal . It a shame because I really like the Royal Oak.

We visited the Royal Oak on Goodramgate today and overall it was pleasant enough, but a few things let the experience down. The main issue was service. Our waitress, Ebony, was clearly rushed off her feet and didn’t seem to be getting much support from her colleagues. It took an interminable amount of time for drinks to reach the table on two occasions , and when the food eventually arrived we weren’t asked if we needed any condiments by the male server. Serving spoons for the vegetable dishes were also missing, which made things a bit awkward. The food itself was fine but not standout. The beef was quite tough, the pork was good, and the turkey was pleasant enough. Nothing bad, just fairly average. On the plus side, the prices were reasonable and the quality of the beer was good, which helped balance things out. With better teamwork and attention to the basics, this could be a much more enjoyable place to visit.

The food is OK, the service is OK. Atmosphere not great but OK. Booked by my wife as we wanted some good pub food. Reviews are fair, but to be honest, I was a little disappointed. We arrived in time for our table, the place wasn't particularly busy and this made me question why. I think this place is more of a lunch dining place than your evening meal. It's not that the food was bad, but it's more of a good, hearty type of food than fine dining. We ordered our food and the starter was in the table before the drinks arrived. My wife asked if they were on the way, and the waiter brought them next. The table was tiny. We struggled to fit our plates in without them hanging over the edge. Again, please don't think it's a bad place. But be certain you want pub food. The food was tasty, and we did feel full when we left, so we couldn't complain. Limited selection of beer and the one I originally ordered was run out when they came back to us. I'm not rushing back, but I may possibly try at lunchtime next time.

The food in service at the Royal Oak is very good but our group was much too big for this place. We came with 13 people and while they did accommodate it and did the best they could, it's just a lot of people for this establishment. I would recommend groups no bigger than 10 if you want to have your own seating area. If you're in the bar and just mailing about it doesn't matter as much.

We had a Sunday evening roast. It was fine. The main problem was, if you didn't want to join the quiz - you couldn't escape it. The questions were loud over the speakers in all the rooms - so if you want a quiz, its brilliant, but if you want an atmosphere where you can chat with friends - avoid Sunday evening.

Great location with very ambient space. Comfortable seating and cool interior. The food looked great but did not taste the best. The roast beef was very over cooked and dry. The vegetables were also over cooked and chewy. The other food looked better but I can’t say for sure. All in all, not the best Sunday dinner but still an interesting building.

friendly staff, nice and cute interior. first time eating roast beef so dont know what it normally taste like, meat was not soft at all but great gravy and potato. lemon cheese cake was too sweet but still okay. beer was good.

Very disappointed. I have frequented this pub on many occasions in the past and I have experienced good service and good value. However last night 31 October this was not the case. My friend and I ordered a glass of wine (175ml) and a orange. To my amazement the price quoted was over £10! I had been in there about a week and a half previously with my husband and son and we were charged £5.75 for a glass of wine. I questioned the price as I thought that they had charged me for a 250ml measure. The bar lady said no and checked with the barman. I was not happy and went to sit with my friend in the front room to the right. Later to my disgust the barman walked past the entrance to the room and made a rude gesture and then went to the back room. My friend instantly got up and waited for him to come out that room. She confronted him and said how annoyed she was with what he had done. He answered that he was doing that to his girlfriend! His girlfriend was sat in the same room as us but given she had her back towards the door it was unlikely she would have seen it. I find it hard to believe that what he said was true. I also find it hard to believe the increase in the price of a glass of wine. I had an enjoyable good value glass of wine in the Black Horse for £5.50. I know that there are some pubs in York that charge a higher price for wine, so I never purchase them in there. The moral of the story is to confirm the price before you buy.

We were loyal customers, however question if we will ever return for food again. We had an aweful experience with our meal last night. We have left a review on trip advisor and only wish we had looked on there first as there are clearly issues that need addressing over food with customers. Credit to the waitress staff last night, professional, polite and a credit to you. Thank you.

Had an 18th birthday party here. The staff kicked out half my friends just for being 17 even though we were in a private room and none of them were drinking. We got ID'd every time we ordered something and one of my mates even got ID'd for a lemonade! They will say this is the law but thats bs since no other establishment in york does this and I felt like my party was ruined. Staff were pretty rude in general. Cannot recommend.

DONT GO!! 15/12/25- Arrived at 7.55pm and the bar was busy taking food orders. At 8.01pm we attempted to order food however was told that the chef had stated no more orders. The website states food is 12 till 9pm however the lady at the bar went and asked the chef twice and he refused for her to take our order. There was nobody else waiting and we had waited for the que to go down and were last but still refused! We left at 8.04pm. As a visitor to York would not reccomend! Whoever owns this pub seriously needs to review its staff and its chef your losing money and customers because of them. Terrible hospitality. Royal Oak York Monday 11am-11pm Tuesday 11am-11 pm Wednesday 11 am-11 pm Thursday 11am-11 pm Friday 11 am-12 am Saturday 11 am-12 am Sunday 12-11 pm Suggest new hours く Kitchen 12-9pm

Was closed at 3pm on a Tuesday despite having a lunchtime deal lasting until 5pm Monday-Friday. Advertisement about as reliable as soup in a colander. Get your stuff together.

Booked a table for 8 people at 8pm. After 20 minutes we were given menus. 10 mins later we were told that no starters could be offered as the chef wanted to go home early. Not happy but we went ahead and ordered. Food arrived quickly and was ok. We were then informed that no desserts we're available as chef had gone home. This was as problem as we had all ordered the 2 course menu. Absolutely terrible. Do not go to this pub. They need to go bust so that a competent manager can take over.