Best Restaurants in Bristol 2024 | Where To Eat

1 York Place

Bristol £££

Jam-packed local bistro from the team behind Littlefrench

A buzzy addition to Clifton's restaurant scene, this neighbourhood bistro from chef Freddy Bird (of Littlefrench fame) is already a big hit with the locals – so we suggest booking well ahead to guarantee a table. Inside, it'… Read more

1 York Place, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1AH

Adelina Yard

Bristol £££

Tucked away along a cobbled street in Bristol's historic harbour district, Adelina Yard is every inch the modern city restaurant. An on-view kitchen, filament lighting and rough-topped tables set the tone, and the food arrives on … Read more

3 Queen Quay, Welsh Back, Bristol BS1 4SL

Best Sunday Roast

MEMBER PERK

Bank

Bristol ££

Smoky open-fire cooking in a cool, modernist diner

Readers love the ‘imaginative, beautifully presented food’, excellent service and ‘exceptional value for money’ on offer at this cool, independent sharing-plates diner, adding that it's a ‘welcome add… Read more

107 Wells Road, Totterdown, Bristol BS4 2BS

Bertha's Pizza

Bristol

Chewy sourdough crusts with imaginative toppings cooked in the eponymous white-domed, ground-floor oven make this hip Neapolitan-style pizzeria a perennial local favourite. Loud music, slick service and limited starters, sides and… Read more

The Old Gaol Stables, Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6WW

Bianchis

Bristol ££

With a warm welcome and classy cooking, this neighbourhood Italian honours the family behind Bristol’s successful and ever-growing Bianchis restaurant group. The unpretentious and relaxed dining room has a laid-back, lived-i… Read more

1-3 York Road, Bristol BS6 5QB

Bokman

Bristol ££

Original and entertaining Korean eatery

A quirky red and white storefront tucked away at the end of a steep cul-de-sac off Stokes Croft marks the spot, but don’t be fooled by the setting: Duncan Robertson and Kyu Jeon's modest Korean restaurant has a big reputatio… Read more

3 Nine Tree Hill, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3SB

Box-E

Bristol ££

Tucked behind Root on the first floor of Cargo (Bristol's shipping-container foodie mecca), this chipboard-clad micro-eatery has more than doubled its covers since converting its terrace to an outdoor dining area. Although&nb… Read more

Unit 10, Cargo 1, Wapping Wharf, Bristol BS1 6WP

Bravas

Bristol £

Now into its second decade, this little slice of Spain off Whiteladies Road is a Bristol institution. 'The best seats in the house are the ones you can't book,' advises one regular, so arrive early to bag a countertop stool by … Read more

7 Cotham Hill, Bristol BS6 6LD

Bristol Lido

Bristol ££

Mediterranean diner overlooking a charming Victorian lido

Part of a delightfully restored Victorian swimming baths turned private lido, this glass-fronted first-floor restaurant is fairly described as ‘a magical setting’ (complete with views of aquatic scene). It’s a st… Read more

Oakfield Place, Bristol BS8 2BJ

Bulrush

Bristol ££££

Don't let the muted sign and slightly scruffy interior fool you, chef-owner George Livesey's Cotham bolthole is a must-visit for any serious foodie. Occupying a former greengrocer's, the main dining area is long and thin, wit… Read more

21 Cotham Road South, Bristol BS6 5TZ

Best Local Restaurant

MEMBER PERK

Caper and Cure

Bristol ££

‘Cash chemists’ proclaims the 1920s mosaic tiling at the entrance to Caper and Cure – a reminder that the site was famously a pharmaceutical drop-in where poorly folk could procure their remedies without prescrip… Read more

108a Stokes Croft, Cotham, Bristol BS1 3RU

CLOSED

Casa

Bristol £££

* Casa is currently closed until further notice.* Rising phoenix-like from the ashes of Casamia, and harking back to its roots, this contemporary Italian restaurant from Peter Sánchez-Iglesias still has the ability to wow,… Read more

The General, Lower Guinea Street, Bristol BS1 6FU

Cor

Bedminster, Bristol ££

At the hip end of North Street, this cool but relaxed small-plates diner has created something of a tidal wave of enthusiasm since opening in October 2022. It feels like a breath of fresh air, with a spare, white interior and larg… Read more

81 North Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 1ES

Cotto

Bristol ££

A cosy bolthole with a great atmosphere in the centre of Bristol, this wine bar and kitchen feels more informal than sister restaurant Pasta Ripiena on the same street, while offering impeccably sourced, beautifully cooked Italian… Read more

29-31 St Stephen's Street, Bristol BS1 1JX

Little Hollows Pasta

Bristol

Chris Davies built up a business selling handmade pasta at local markets, as well as delivering pasta boxes to people’s homes. A dream of opening a little restaurant/bar was finally realised when he opened on Bristol's Chand… Read more

26 Chandos Road, Bristol BS6 6PF

Littlefrench

Bristol ££

Populist French cooking in a good-looking brasserie

Carefully sourced, self-assured French cooking in a relaxed atmosphere is the enticing deal at Freddy Bird’s good-looking Westbury Park brasserie. The busy, welcoming dining room with its petrol-blue banquettes, marble table… Read more

2b North View, Westbury Park, Bristol BS6 7QB

Marmo

Bristol ££

Neighbourhood restaurant and wine bar that delivers on all fronts

Enveloped in the restaurant quarter of Baldwin Street, a few metres from one of the river crossings, Marmo has been making waves with cooking that takes Italy as its base, but glides into effortless orbit from there. Shared tables… Read more

31 Baldwin Street, Bristol BS1 1RG

Muiño

Bristol

Visitors are greeted like old friends at this intimate neighbourhood tapas joint offering a compact menu of Spanish and Moorish-inspired nibbles and sharing plates with a home-cooked vibe. Get stuck into a hearty portion of, say, … Read more

32 Cotham Hill, Bristol BS6 6LA

Best Local Restaurant

MEMBER PERK

Noah's

Bristol £

All aboard this upmarket ark-shaped eatery for seriously classy seafood

Replacing much-loved greasy spoon Lockside (immortalised in Only Fools and Horses as Sid's Café), this upmarket yet down-to-earth fish and chip joint (with add-ons) deserves to inspire just as much affection. Wood… Read more

1 Brunel Lock Road, Bristol BS1 6XS

Paco Tapas

Bristol ££

Housed on the ground floor of the Grade II-listed former Bristol General Hospital (now an upmarket apartment complex), Peter Sánchez-Iglesias’s high-class harbourside tapas bar aims to transport you to Spain. The thic… Read more

3a The General, Lower Guinea Street , Bristol BS1 6FU

Pasta Ripiena

Bristol ££

Intimate and informal, with small, closely packed, square wooden tables ranged along either side of the dining room, this cool, modern Italian offers a short, daily changing menu of fresh stuffed pasta dressed in moreish sauces. T… Read more

33a St Stephen’s Street, Bristol BS1 1JX

Pazzo

Bristol ££

Modern Italian cooking with a few global twists

Housed in the Tardis-like basement of a Whiteladies Road townhouse, this is the latest and largest venture from the Bianchis Group, replacing the much-loved Pasta Loco round the corner. Aficionados of Loco and its sister Pasta Rip… Read more

89 Whiteladies Road, Redland, Bristol BS8 2NT

MEMBER PERK

Root Bristol

Bristol ££

Co-owned by Josh Eggleton, this on-trend shipping-container eatery is bedded into Bristol’s waterfront Cargo development. Pared-down Scandi-style interiors give way to alfresco tables with views of the docks and the local sc… Read more

Cargo, Gaol Ferry Steps, Wapping Wharf, Bristol BS1 6WP

MEMBER PERK

Sonny Stores

Bristol ££

A ray of Italian sunshine in Southville

You wouldn’t guess it from the name, but Sonny Stores is a charming neighbourhood Italian, set in a former corner shop amid the terraces and bay windows of Southville. Out front, a blackboard advertises takeaway pizzas, but … Read more

47 Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1QS

CLOSED

Tare

Bristol £££

*Tare is due to close permanently in June 2024, so that the owners can concentrate their efforts on the nearby Tare Bistro (watch for a review coming soon).* Naming a restaurant after the ‘tare’ (or unladen weight) of… Read more

Unit 14, Museum Street, Wapping Wharf, Bristol BS1 6ZA

Best Local Restaurant

CLOSED

Tare Bistro

Bristol ££

Hip micro-restaurant in a converted shipping container

Bespoke eateries offering locally sourced, sustainably produced, seasonal small plates in Bristol's Cargo shipping container complex are not hard to find, but Matt Hampshire’s recently re-branded offshoot of the origina… Read more

Unit 25, Cargo 2, Museum Street, Bristol BS1 6ZA

Best Local Restaurant

The Clifton

Bristol ££

Unpretentious but ambitious food-focused pub with a wood-fired grill

Not to be confused with The Clifton hotel nearby, this revamped pub and restaurant opened in July 2023. It’s the third venture from Sarah and Tom Watts-Jones (owners of two successful south Wales dining pubs) and is ‘p… Read more

16 Regent Street, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4HG

Tomo No Ramen

Bristol

A neighbourhood eatery that does one thing very well, this no-nonsense Japanese noodle bar offers six varieties of ramen and a handful of lip-smacking sides. Service is slick and turnover fast inside the narrow dining room with it… Read more

55 West Street, Bristol BS2 0BZ

Wilsons

Bristol £££

Terrific value at one of Bristol's shining stars

Locals wandering down Chandos Road have become accustomed to Wilsons' stained glass sign adorned with stylised cauliflowers, leeks, onions and peppers – their colours glowing vividly whenever the Redland sun shines. The sign… Read more

Locals wandering down Chandos Road have become accustomed to Wilsons' stained glass sign adorned with stylised cauliflowers, leeks, onions and peppers – their colours glowing vividly whenever the Redland sun shines. The sign is, in fact, rather old: a family heirloom inherited by current owner Mary Wilson, rescued from a restaurant of the same name that operated in west London some decades ago. Nonetheless, it serves as a fitting mission statement for the modern establishment it now advertises, with the emphasis on bright flavours, bright ideas – and, above all, fresh produce.

Wilsons has grown steadily in stature since 2016 – thanks in part to its smallholding, which sits under the flight path to Bristol Airport, and now supplies all vegetables and herbs for the restaurant. Meanwhile, the small, whitewashed dining room is sparsely adorned, apart from a blackboard listing the chalked-up tasting menu and a pair of antlers mounted over the kitchen – where head chef Jan Ostle's own creativity takes flight.

Our visit opened with a tiny, tangy portion of rich red mullet and clementine soup, swiftly succeeded by bread from Wilsons' bakery next door, accompanied by moreish buttermilk pheasant and light-as-air taramasalata. There was the faintest foretaste of spring in a dish of sea bass with parsley, labneh and wild garlic ‘capers’, and midwinter comfort in the standout serving of lightly cooked monkfish, grilled celeriac, onion and fig leaf. Punchy, gamey flavours predominated, not least in a ‘very red’ combo of perfectly cooked mallard, beetroot and rhubarb, all half-hidden beneath a January King cabbage leaf.

A few pilgrims come for Wilsons’ sublime signature dessert of tarte tatin with bay-leaf ice cream, but many more are attracted by the prospect of a neighbourhood restaurant that delivers against so many metrics: affable staff, green credentials and a thoughtfully assembled wine list – plus a kitchen that knows precisely when to surprise and when to satisfy its customers with value as well as quality.

24 Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol BS6 6PF

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