Nottingham Food Guide
Looking for the best restaurants in Nottingham? This Hey Lolly guide rounds up the places actually worth booking - from date-night dinners and long lunches to small plates, brunch spots, proper pubs, hidden gems and special occasion restaurants.
Curated by Hey Lolly
Tried, loved and properly edited.
From Hockley to the city centre and beyond.
Date nights, brunch, Sunday lunch and celebrations.
The places you’ll actually want to go back to.
Start here
Skimming before you book? Start with the mood. Nottingham is brilliant for cosy date nights, lazy lunches, tiny wine bars, small plates, brunches and big occasion dinners.
Romantic restaurants with low lighting, good wine and proper atmosphere.
☼ Long LunchesRelaxed places where lunch quietly becomes the whole afternoon.
✦ Small Plates & TapasSharing plates, wine, snacks and “one more dish” energy.
☆ Celebration DinnersSpecial occasion restaurants worth dressing up for.
🍺 Pub FoodRoasts, pies, pints and proper comfort food.
☕ Breakfast & BrunchCoffee, pancakes, pastries and lazy Nottingham mornings.
⌕ Hidden GemsQuieter favourites and local spots worth finding.
🎭 Pre-Theatre FoodEasy city-centre restaurants before a show.
Hey Lolly pick
If you’re starting with the best restaurants in Nottingham, think about the kind of meal you want first. Nottingham does low-lit date nights, relaxed Sunday lunches, small plates, neighbourhood favourites and properly polished celebration dinners beautifully.
Date night dining
Nottingham has no shortage of restaurants trying to feel romantic, but these are the ones that actually manage it — low lighting, good pacing, strong wine lists and the sort of atmosphere that lets you settle in properly.
Quietly elegant
A softly lit Hockley restaurant with refined seasonal menus, excellent wines and the kind of calm confidence that makes a date night feel properly considered.
Best for: intimate dinners, slower evenings and quietly impressive dates
Big-night energy
Polished, glamorous and grown-up without feeling cold. Cleaver & Wake is one of the best restaurants in Nottingham for date nights that deserve a little effort.
Best for: anniversaries, dressing up slightly and impressing somebody
Italian mood
Warm Italian small plates, excellent wine and candlelit conversation. The kind of Nottingham restaurant where sharing food feels romantic without trying too hard.
Best for: second dates, pasta, wine and long conversations
Fun date night
Not every date night needs candlelight and tiny portions. Sometimes it needs tacos, margaritas and a room buzzing loudly enough to make “one drink” become several.
Best for: fun dates, spontaneous plans and margarita-fuelled eveningsLong lunch energy
Long lunches are one of the best ways to enjoy the best restaurants in Nottingham properly — slow plates, good wine, easy conversation and absolutely no rush to leave.
Relaxed tapas
Easy, generous and made for sharing. Baresca is ideal when lunch wants to feel relaxed, sociable and full of “order another one” energy.
Visit restaurant website ↗
City favourite
Warm, reliable and properly enjoyable. Bar Iberico understands pacing — plates arrive steadily, drinks stay topped up and conversations stretch out naturally.
Visit restaurant website ↗
Mediterranean mood
Calm, light and quietly stylish. Alora brings soft interiors, seasonal Mediterranean plates and that slow-afternoon feeling that suits a long lunch perfectly.
Visit restaurant website ↗
Polished classic
Dramatic interiors, velvet banquettes, cocktails in the middle of the afternoon and lunch that immediately feels more like an occasion.
Hey Lolly review Read my full Ivy Nottingham review Visit restaurant website ↗Small plates & tapas
Nottingham’s small plates scene has become one of the strongest reasons to explore the best restaurants in Nottingham beyond the obvious chains. These are the places for sharing food generously, ordering too much and cancelling any sensible plans afterwards.
Cult favourite
Tiny, buzzy and properly loved. Kushi-ya is one of Nottingham’s strongest small plates restaurants, with Japanese skewers, fried things and a room that always feels full of people who know exactly why they booked.
Creative cooking
Seasonal, playful and genuinely interesting. Piccalilli feels built for people who love discussing every course properly, without the food ever feeling gimmicky or overworked.
Pasta & wine
Warm lighting, natural wine and handmade pasta that makes everything feel a little softer. Pici is one of the best restaurants in Nottingham for slow Italian comfort and sharing everything.
Neighbourhood energy
Modern, warm and cool without being try-hard. Mesa is made for seasonal plates, wine-heavy evenings and ordering one more dish because the table has already lost all restraint.
Celebration dinners
Some restaurants just understand they’re part of important evenings. These are the best restaurants in Nottingham for birthdays, anniversaries, big nights out and those dinners where the occasion matters just as much as the food.
Destination dining
A full-evening commitment in the best possible way. Restaurant Sat Bains is for milestone birthdays, anniversaries and once-in-a-while dinners that deserve proper ceremony.
Glamorous Italian
Confident, lively and unapologetically big-night-out coded. Casa is the Nottingham restaurant for pasta, seafood, cocktails and celebration dinners that need atmosphere.
Opulent Indian dining
Rich interiors, low lighting, Indian small plates and cocktails with proper evening-out energy. Passan’s brings the kind of drama Nottingham needs more of.
Michelin-starred
Hidden beneath the city streets, Alchemilla feels secretive before the food even starts arriving. Technical, ambitious and genuinely exciting for serious occasions.
Pub classics
Not every meal needs tweezers, natural wine or a menu that needs explaining three times. Sometimes the best restaurants in Nottingham are the ones serving proper roasts, excellent chips, cold pints and comfort food that knows exactly what it is.
Country pub comfort
Warm, relaxed and quietly much better than standard pub food. The Griffin is the one for generous Sunday lunches, proper gravy and escaping the city for an afternoon.
Historic pub
Part pub, part Nottingham history lesson, part cosy hiding place when the weather turns. Hand & Heart has cave-pub character most places simply cannot fake.
City comfort
Grand interiors, Sunday roasts, cocktails and comfort food in the middle of the city. Cosy Club is a reliable Nottingham choice when you want easy but still atmospheric.
Proper local pub
Busy but not chaotic, friendly without feeling forced and reliably good for generous pub food. A proper local with exactly the kind of energy every city needs.
Breakfast & brunch
For slow mornings, strong coffee, something eggy, something sweet and the kind of Nottingham brunch spots that make the day feel better before it has properly started.
Eggs & coffee
Bright, easy and made for brunch people. Yolk is a strong Nottingham breakfast spot for eggs, coffee and the kind of low-effort morning that still feels nicely planned.
Visit restaurant website ↗
Sweet brunch
Pancakes, puddings, brunch plates and plenty of comfort. The Pudding Pantry is best when you want breakfast to feel a little bit indulgent.
Visit restaurant website ↗
Cool café
Coffee, brunch and quietly cool interiors. Public is one of those Nottingham cafés that works for a solo breakfast, a catch-up or an accidentally long coffee.
Visit restaurant website ↗
City classic
Cosy, familiar and brilliantly easy. Fox Café is a Nottingham breakfast favourite for proper café comfort, good coffee and a gentle start to the day.
Visit restaurant website ↗Pre-theatre food
The best pre-theatre dinners should feel like part of the evening, not something squeezed in awkwardly beforehand. These are the best restaurants in Nottingham for dinner before Theatre Royal, Royal Concert Hall or a city-centre night out.
Easy city dining
Central, relaxed and broad enough menu-wise that everyone leaves happy. Bill’s is one of those reliable pre-theatre restaurants that keeps the evening easy.
Greek sharing
Warm, sociable and made for sharing. Yamas works beautifully before a show because the food feels generous without making the evening complicated.
Grand brasserie
Housed inside a beautiful old building, Browns gives a Nottingham theatre night a little more ceremony before you’ve even ordered.
Italian night out
Polished, lively and reliably good for pasta, wine and the kind of dinner that makes an ordinary evening feel a little more special.
Final edit
The best restaurants in Nottingham depend entirely on the kind of meal you want — a slow lunch, a candlelit date night, a big celebration, a proper Sunday roast or a tiny table somewhere quietly brilliant.
Save this guide, send it to the person who always says “you choose”, and start with the place that sounds most like your kind of evening.
Skein, Cleaver & Wake, Bar Gigi and Taquero are strong choices depending on whether you want refined, glamorous, intimate or fun.
Restaurant Sat Bains, Alchemilla, Casa Italian and Passan’s are all good options for birthdays, anniversaries and celebration dinners.
Kushi-ya, Piccalilli, Pici and Mesa are brilliant for sharing plates, wine, grazing and ordering far more than you planned.
Yolk, The Pudding Pantry, Public and Fox Café are all good Nottingham brunch spots for coffee, eggs, pancakes and easy weekend mornings.
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