Review - Lendal Cellars
Updated review now online, here’s the summary:
Lendal Cellars is definitely one of our favourite bars in the City; I even had my engagement party there. With a recent refurbishment adding a shiny glossiness and sparkly chandeliers to keep the look and feel of the pub up to date there’s been a few changes to the layout; mainly their outside area is now accessed at the rear of the third vault. Passing up surprisingly modern stairs and some new simple toilets it opens up onto a large and beautifully kept courtyard, which with the surrounding old church and plenty of seating this must be one of the best in the City. The main bar has a wonderful ambience and charm, with plenty of seating and striking ancient cellar décor. There are three main vaults with a two bars serving a wide selection of real ale supplied by Greene King, and the price is good for such a central bar, making it a great place to linger on a night out. The historic feeling of being tucked away from time really gives you the full York vibe either in the bar or the courtyard. So even though the toilets by the entrance aren’t great and access can be a little tricky this is a very highly recommended pub!
For further details and full scores see the main page.
Updated Review - Lendal Cellars
Updated review now online, here’s the summery:
Lendal Cellars is definitely one of our favourite bars in the City; I even had my engagement party there. So it was with great anticipation that we looked forward to the big reveal from the recent refurbishment. Unfortunately other than the addition of some sparkly chandeliers there was little more to see, most work was obviously done upstairs for the forthcoming Jamie Oliver restaurant and not really anything to do with Lendal Cellars. The other bad news is that this has meant the serious reduction in size of their courtyard outdoor space, which is a real shame. But that aside the ambience and charm is retained, with plenty of seating and beautiful ancient cellar décor. There are three main vaults with the bar in the middle serving a wide selection of real ale supplied by Greene King, the price is good for such a central bar and it makes a great place to linger on a night out. The historic feeling of being tucked away from time really gives you the full York vibe. So even though the toilets aren’t great and the opportunity to redesign the entrance area was missed, this is still a highly recommended pub!
For further details and full scores see the main page.
Exclusive Lendal Cellars News
Having just spied a series of photos on a colleagues desk I launched into some investigative juro style nosing and have discovered some details about the changes being made to Lendal Cellars.
Firstly my initial worries about the pub becoming a Restaurant Bar for Jamie Oliver’s Italian are put to bed. The pub is clearly remaining very separate from the Restaurant, in face the entrance to the Italian is to be down the side alley (the part which used to act as a beer garden with a covered roof), that roof has also now been removed, opening that area up to a lot of light.
As we are only updating some signage at our work I didn’t see much else. But I can say that the pub is getting a bit of a refurbishment too, as well as some of the signs, and that it will remain under Greene King, only sharing the alley for access and obviously the restaurant in the building above it.
A great relief that one of our favorite pubs will soon reopen, within weeks not months I’m told. I can’t wait to get back down in the cellar and update our review!
The Future of Lendal Cellars...
Having just had the rumours confirmed that the upstairs of Lendal Cellars is indeed to be turned into a Jamie Oliver Restaurant I’m actually more concerned with the future of the pub itself. All this report mentions is that the pub is to remain as part of the Restaurant, not very clear. Also no mention of the fact it’s owned by Greene King, have they sold it all off to Oliver?
Lendal Cellars has always been one of our favourite, well priced, authentic and pleasant pubs that the City has to offer, I even had my Engagement party there, and to be honest I’m a bit worried that all this is going to be ruined by turning it into a Restaurant/Bar. I’d really like more clarification on the developments, but I guess with an opening time round July, it’s going to be a while coming. And really, doesn’t York have enough Italian Restaurants already! I won’t be best pleased if such a nice pub is ruined by these developments.
The Jamie’s Italian branch will be next to Guildhall, over two floors in an unused part of the building that houses the Lendal Cellars pub. The pub will remain as part of the development.
Construction work is currently taking place on the Grade II-listed building and the restaurant is scheduled to open in July.
He said: “York is such a beautiful city – I used to go there on holiday as a kid and I’ve wanted to find the right site there for a while.
“We’re in a fantastic location and it’s really going to be a wonderful place to eat, one of the jewels of the Jamie’s Italian collection.
