25 Bristol restaurants to visit in 2025
A restaurant for every occasion
You know what makes January a little less depressing? Booking restaurants. Below you’ll find enough to keep you going for the whole year, at a rate of one good restaurant every two weeks.
When you want to travel without travelling: Dongnae, Chandos Road
The second opening from the Bokman team focuses on Korean barbecue, but that doesn’t mean you should skip the banchan, injeolmi, or anything else on the menu. It’s only been open three months but is already earning national acclaim. Read The Bristol Sauce review.£££ | Booking advised | Weds - Sat, lunch & dinner | dongnae.co.uk
When you want to feel like a kid again: Other, Cannon Street
The talent that Zak Hitchman refined at places like Ynyshir and Casamia shines through every bite in Other. It’s just brilliant. So much so that I made the sheep fat doughnut my dish of the year. Read The Bristol Sauce review.££ - card only | Booking advised | Weds - Sat dinner, lunch Sat only | otherrestaurant.co.uk
When you need to reconnect with nature: Chez Candice, Boiling Wells
Chez Candice is a bonkersness of a spot; a converted horse-box on a farm that serves one of the best lunches in Bristol. If you’re lucky enough to visit on a day when there’s tart on the menu, order it. Read The Bristol Sauce review.£ | Can’t book | Thurs - Sat, breakfast & lunch only | instagram.com/chez_candice
When you want inspiration: The Scrandit, Christmas Steps
With a different pop-up every week, you might not know what you’re going to get at The Scrandit but you can guarantee it’s going to be good. The transitory home of Bristol’s most innovative and interesting food. Read The Bristol Sauce review.££ | Bookings only taken for groups of 6+ | Thurs - Sun, lunch & dinner | instagram.com/thescrandit
When you want a dinner at 2am: The Mayflower 2.0, Broadmead
Following their eviction from the Bearpit, Bristol’s most beloved and longest-running late-night Chinese restaurant is making a comeback and will be reopening in a new spot in Broadmead in 2025.££ | TBA | TBA but we’re expecting it to be open ‘til late | mayflowerbristol.com
When you want to try something new: Prime by Pasture, Redcliffe
Admittedly we don’t know much yet about Prime by Pasture. What we do know is that they’ll be serving burgers, they're opening in 2025 and it will inevitably be great.Burgers so unlikely to be very expensive | TBA | TBA | instagram.com/prime_by_pasture
When you want to try the newest place on the block: Clouds, St Werburgh’s
When the team behind Ah-Ma’s Dumplings announced they were opening a dim-sum restaurant in St Werburghs, you could hear the intake of breath across Bristol. Early reports suggest it lives up to the hype.
££ | Booking advised | Weds - Sun dinner only | cloudsbristol.co.ukWhen everything has to be perfect: COR, North Street
If we ever had to pick a restaurant to represent Bristol, we’d pick COR. It’s cosy, it’s neighbourhood, it’s inventive, it’s got some of Bristol’s best cocktails. The food is sensational. Has anyone ever said a bad word about COR? Unlikely.£££ | Booking advised | Mon dinner only, Tues - Sat lunch & dinner |
correstaurant.comWhen you want out of your comfort zone: Authentic Hotpot and Hand-Pulled Noodles, Redcliffe
Home to Bristol’s best noodles, AHAHPN (come on, I’m not writing that out again) is perhaps the only place in our glorious city you can watch your dinner strung out in front of you and then have it dumped straight in your hotpot.
££ | Can’t book | Mon - Sun | instagram.com/authentichotpotWhen you want the best food in Bristol: Wilsons, Chandos Road
Bristol’s best restaurant and one of our most sustainable too. The Wilsons team grow most of their produce on their nearby small holding and then turn it into the most innovative, super-seasonal tasting menu. Read The Bristol Sauce review.£££ | Booking advised | Weds - Thurs dinner, Thurs - Sat lunch & dinner | wilsonsbristol.co.uk
When you want to take your own booze: Jean’s Bistro, Gloucester Road
Bristol’s best Thai restaurant. If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, it’s also BYOB. Don’t miss the whole fried fish and the roast meats.
££ - cash only | Booking advised | Mon - Thurs dinner, Thurs - Sat lunch & dinner | jeansbistro.co.uk
When you want great food for less than a tenner: Desi Dera, Stapleton Road
This small Pakistani joint is perhaps our favourite place to eat on Stapleton Road. It’s dirt cheap, utterly delicious and the chicken wings are among the best in town. Read The Bristol Sauce review.£ - cash only | Can’t book | Mon - Sun lunch & dinner
When you want a top-notch pastry: Hilda Bakery, Whiteladies Road & BAWA Sports Filton
Alright, it’s not a restaurant, but we couldn’t leave this lovely little bakery-on-wheels out. Hilda was one of my favourite finds of 2024.£ | Can’t book | Tues - Sat mornings | instagram.com/hilda.bakery
When you want a night out on King Street: Pizza is Lovely upstairs at Renato’s, King Street
Some of Bristol’s best pizzas can be found upstairs in Renato’s, a pub on King Street with a long and rich history of slinging Italian slices. Here though, the pizzas are inspired by Detroit and all the better for it.££ - card only | Booking advised | Thurs - Sat dinner | renatosbristol.com
When you’re trying to show someone that Chinese isn’t just chow mein: Wangs, Montpelier
News of Montpelier’s newest Chinese restaurant has spread across Bristol quicker than you can say ‘pan fried turnip cake’ and for good reason. The small plates are a triumph.££ | Booking advised | Tues - Sat dinner | wangsnoods.com
When you’re trying to get your five a day: Souk Kitchen, North Street
An oldie but a goldie, Souk has been lighting up North Street with food in every colour of the rainbow since 2010. Join them next year to celebrate their 15th anniversary and experience Bristol’s best mezze.££ | Booking advised | Mon - Tues dinner, Tues - Sat lunch & dinner |
When you’re sick of getting lunch from Pret: Nice Spice, Denmark Street
Good luck finding better Chinese roast meats in Bristol than those hanging in the window at Nice Spice. No bells and whistles here, just plastic stools, laminated menus and a whole lot of crisp skin.
£ - cash only | Can’t book | Mon - Tues, Thurs - Sun | instagram.com/nice_spice18
When you need cheering up: SunRa, Nelson Parade
Falafel wraps that come with free entertainment, what more could you want? Don’t go to SunRa unless you’re prepared to get stuck into a conversation with Dom over one of Bristol’s highest-rated wraps. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
£ | Can’t book | Tues - Sat, lunch & dinner | instagram.com/sunrakitchenWhen you’ve got the day off: Juliet, Stroud
Okay, okay, it’s not in Bristol. But it’s less than an hour from central Bristol and in the kitchen you’ll find William Rees of Wilsons and The Clifton fame. Plus, Stroud is lovely.£££ | Booking advised | Mon - Sat all day | julietrestaurant.co.uk
When you want the best burger of your life: Squeezed, Wapping Wharf
You must go and eat a Squeezed burger as soon as possible because after announcing his plans to become a teacher last year, we don’t know how long Bristol’s best burger maker Alex Hayes will be around.
£ | Can’t book | Thurs - Sat, lunch & dinner | bristolsqueezed.co.ukWhen you want to impress your friends with your knowledge of the underground food scene: Zara, St Jude’s
This little Ethiopian restaurant might not look much from the outside, but inside you’ll find the best injera in Bristol. Take some friends; it’s a sociable affair.
£ | Booking optional | Mon - Sun lunch & dinner | zarahabesha.uk
When you need a romantic date night: Native Vine, Redfield
You can hardly move for restaurants offering small plates with nice wines but Native Vine does it better than most. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
££ | Booking advised | Weds - Sat dinner | nativevine.co.ukWhen you need to show visiting relatives that Bristol is great: Root, Wapping Wharf
Bristol’s famed vegetable-led shipping container continues to make lists like these for very good reason. It’s some of the best cooking in Bristol, whether you’re an omnivore or not.
£££ - card only | Booking advised | Mon - Weds dinner, Thurs - Sat lunch & dinner, Sun lunch only | rootbristol.co.ukWhen only dim sum will do it: Fresh Bakery, Fairfax Street
Is this the best dim sum in Bristol? Quite possibly. It doesn’t get much more authentic than this. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
£ | Booking advised | Mon - Sat all dayWhen you want the opposite of health: Fat Dads at Industry Bar and Kitchen
One of Bristol’s best burger slingers is setting up shop in Industry Bar and Kitchen on Gloucester Road. Expect truly dirty smash burgers and even filthier fries.
£ | Booking optional | January Fri - Sun, February onwards Weds - Sun | industrybarandkitchen.co.uk
Now share this with your friends so you can start planning your first stop. You’ve only got 12 months!
Nice range of reviews, Meg - we SO lucky here in Bristol ( & Stroud too, obs ;-)) ps have you tried The Long Table on the way in to Stroud? Nice vibe, nice food. https://thelongtableonline.com/
Perfect 🌈🌈