I’ve compiled my 30 favourite restaurants in Bristol and organised them by location, so that you can easily access my top recommendations all in one blog post. This is a much-needed update to my Ultimate Bristol Food Guide, which I published in January 2022! I’ve collated restaurants only, places where you could eat lunch or dinner, so if you’re after coffee or a lighter bite then take a look at my post on Bristol Cafés. I’d like to write an updated post on brunch spots too, so keep an eye out for that.

The locations I’ve covered are as follows: Old City & Centre, Cotham & Redland, Whiteladies Road, Wapping Wharf, Gloucester Road & Stokes Croft, Clifton, Southville & Totterdown, Elsewhere. If you visit somewhere on this list I’d love for you to let me know!

Old City & Centre

• Dangun – a relaxed, unpretentious spot tucked away on St Nicholas Street, serving casual Korean dishes. The fried cauliflower, gyoza and Korean fried chicken are all excellent.
• Dhamaka – our go-to Indian restaurant for both dine-in and takeaway, all the dishes are cooked really fresh (they’re great at handling allergies). There’s a great range of small plates, house specials, Indo Chinese street food plus all the curry classics.
• Under the Stars – serves delicious Spanish tapas in a charming setting, with a lovely outdoor terrace for food and drinks on a sunny day. And it’s on a boat!
• Eatchu – a long-standing favourite of mine with some of the best gyoza about, my preferred accompaniment is the dressed rice. They’ve recently expanded their St Nick’s menu, with new dumpling, rice and noodle flavours, and the option to go Half & Half with your gyoza fillings! Their St Nick’s Market location has outdoor seating only, but they also have a small restaurant on Clifton Triangle and serve their food at Lupe Bar on North Street too.
• Cotto – a delightful Italian from The Bianchis Group, who consistently deliver top quality food across all their restaurants along with friendly service. Their sister restaurant Pasta Ripiena next door specialises in excellent fresh filled pasta.

Dangun

Cotham & Redland

• Muiño – very delicious elevated Mediterranean small plates. Particularly lovely on a warm summer evening when the windows are opened onto Cotham Hill.
• Little Hollows – serving some of the best pasta in Bristol, if you walk past this restaurant during the day you’ll likely spot their pasta being freshly handmade in the window! It’s the recipient of a Michelin Bib Gourmand which recognises high quality food at great value.
• Dongnae – authentic Korean cooking at its finest. You can choose between a tasting menu or a la carte, which the servers kindly go through in detail. The bulgogi beef was a standout item, which you load into a lettuce leaf along with various banchan and ssam – delicious! They’re listed in the Michelin guide too. Their lovely sister restaurant Bokman sadly suffered a fire from an electrical fault in late December, so these guys are definitely in need of some extra support.
• The Kensington Arms – this gastropub offers a fantastic Sunday Roast, which I’ve experienced both in the regular restaurant space and in their upstairs private dining rooms for birthday celebrations. They also have an indoor bar area and a small outdoor terrace.

Muiño

Whiteladies Road

• Pizza Workshop – our local pizza place of choice, this cosy restaurant has a satisfying numbering system for all of their sourdough pizzas. At lunchtime they also serve boccas, which are hot sourdough sandwiches. Yum!
• Low and Slow – beautiful slow cooked meats with all the trimmings, and amazing smoked barbecue flavours. The brisket is my favourite. They also run a popular stand in St Nick’s Market.
• Pazzo – catch the infamous pork belly carbonara when you can, but no matter what’s on the menu at this charming Italian restaurant you’ll be in safe hands. Part of The Bianchis Group.

Pazzo

Wapping Wharf

• Seven Lucky Gods – this Japanese inspired restaurant serves a wonderful mix of small sharing plates and sushi. The dishes are well thought through and full of flavour, and there’s always a great buzzy atmosphere.
• Squeezed – smashed burgers with plenty of fun flavour options. I recommend getting the meal deal which includes burger, fries and fresh lemonade, then enjoy it sat on the edge of the harbourside.
• Root – flavourful vegetarian small plates using local ingredients. One of several fantastic restaurants in the South West from Josh Eggleton (he’s also behind The Kensington Arms in Redland). Recipient of a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
• Bertha’s Pizza – serving truly delicious sourdough pizza, along with tasty handmade gelato for afters. They’ve also created a frozen pizza range stocked all over Bristol which I need to try!
• Gambas – traditional Spanish tapas overlooking the harbourside.

Bertha’s Pizza

Gloucester Road & Stokes Croft

• Tuk Tuck – this casual spot serves some of the best bao in town along with delicious curries and bibimaps. The same team are behind Dangun in the Old City.
• Pizzarova – sublime sourdough pizza with at-home kits also available. They have restaurants in multiple locations around the city.
• The Viet Kitchen – this delightful eatery serving authentic Vietnamese food truly transports you to South East Asia. The summer rolls were fantastic along with everything else we tried. There’s another branch on Cotham Hill.

Tuk Tuck

Clifton

• Izakaya – an underrated gem, serving an extensive range of fantastic Japanese tapas and sushi at reasonable prices. They have another branch on College Green.
• Bristol Lido – this restaurant is in a stunning setting overlooking an open-air pool, and serves lovely Mediterranean inspired food. It’s also listed in the Michelin guide. Pair a two-hour swim session with dinner in the restaurant, or pop by for a relaxing coffee or small plates in the poolside bar.
• Little Bagel Co – delicious freshly baked New York style bagels with a range of fillings and seed toppings to choose from. They have a second location on Baldwin Street and also offer event catering.

Little Bagel Co

Southville & Totterdown

• Oowee Diner – my go-to spot for fried chicken burgers and waffle fries. If you’re feeling indulgent then I highly recommend the Biscoff milkshake!
• Bank – so far I’ve sampled the Sunday roast, where the meat is cooked beautifully and served with delicious sides. The beef and the broccoli gratin in particular had a lovely smokey flavour from being cooked over fire, which is Bank’s speciality.
• Sonny Stores – excellent Italian food. Every dish is creative, thoughtful and well executed.

Sonny Stores

Elsewhere

• Wangs, Montpelier – a lush neighbourhood spot offering a great range of Chinese sharing plates, I particularly enjoyed the crispy soy chicken, the turnip cake and the pork belly. Everything was really fresh and full of flavour.
• Pasture, Redcliffe – this acclaimed steak restaurant lives up to the hype. The quality and the cooking of the steaks is impeccable, paired with excellent side dishes. A blackboard lists all the daily steak weights available which gradually get crossed off, so go early for the best choice, and there’s also a wonderful Sunday roast available. Their other restaurant Prime by Pasture serves delicious burgers and brunches.
• Old Market Assembly, Old Market – serves a fantastic roast at good value. Have some food before seeing a show at the The Wardrobe Theatre, and in the summer enjoy the lovely outdoor rooftop terrace upstairs.
• Asado, Christmas Steps – delicious burgers with thick patties cooked on a traditional wood fired asado grill with South American flavours.

Pasture

So there we have it, 30 wonderful restaurants all collated in one place. I’ve also got a few notable mentions, mostly for places I’ve either only been to once or it’s been a few years since I last visited:

• Milk Bun, Clifton – burgers
• Little French, Henleaze – French cuisine
• Caper and Cure, Stokes Croft – Sunday roast
• Snobby’s, Redland – Italian
• Bravas, Cotham Hill – Spanish tapas
• Nadu, Stokes Croft – Sri Lankan and Tamil food
• Wing’s Diner, Small Bar, King Street – fried chicken
• Danny’s, Fierce & Noble, St Werburgh’s – smashed burgers
• Poco Tapas Bar, Stokes Croft – seasonal small plates

Little French

The observant among you may have noticed that I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, though I’ve heard great things about Chido Wey in Old Market and Cargo Cantina in Wapping Wharf. I chose to exclude fine dining from my list above as I feel that’s a separate category, but if this is what you’re after then Wilson’s Restaurant in Redland (recipient of a Michelin Star) and Box-E in Wapping Wharf (recipient of a Michelin Bib Gourmand) are both truly excellent.

If you’d like to dive deeper into different cuisines and categories then have a look at the following posts: Asian | Burgers | Cafés | Celebratory | Italian | Pizza | Sunday Roasts.

Lastly, the places top of my list to try in 2026 are: Other, Clouds, Cor, Souk Kitchen, Ragu and Lapin.

Happy dining!

Alexa

Header photo: Muiño