Leeds' Swine Bistro and Bavette feature in Good Food Guide's 100 Best Local Restaurants 2025
Two celebrated Leeds restaurants have been named among the best in the country as this year’s prestigious Good Food Guide for 2025 is unveiled.
The latest edition of the 100 Best Local Restaurants round-up, published earlier today (July 15), celebrates the best foodie hotspots in the UK that are loved by their communities.
This year, it features two city-based institutions: The Swine Bistro in Headingley, and Bavette in Horsforth.
The Swine Bistro, on Otley Road, was praised by the guide for its affordability and flair. Formerly known as The Swine That Dines, it relocated in April from North Street in the city centre to its new and improved site. The move saw the team double their covers to 35 and expand both their menu and drinks offering.
The new venue - funded by a successful £42,000 crowdfunding campaign that smashed its original £25,000 target - has allowed the team to stay true to their roots while broadening their offering.
Reacting to the news, co-owner Jo Myers said: “It’s absolutely massive. We’re only on week 13 here at the new site. We’d hoped that this might happen next year once we’d found our feet, but to be on the list so soon after opening is amazing.”
Signature dishes like terrines, black pudding, homemade sausages and traditional pies remain central to the menu, while the expanded wine list now features natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines, alongside craft beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
The guide highlighted the bistro’s two courses for £20 deal as a standout example of affordability.
Meanwhile, Bavette, a French bistro in Horsforth, is the other Leeds venue featured in the list - and it’s no stranger to accolades. This time last year, it was named the best local restaurant in Britain by the same guide, and since then it has continued to impress both diners and critics.
Opened in spring 2024 by couple Sandy Jarvis and Clément Cousin, Bavette has drawn praise for its ever-changing menu and classic French fare such as steak tartare and comté croquettes.
It also boasts a Michelin Guide recommendation and a glowing write-up from renowned food critic Jay Rayner, who wrote in the Financial Times that it’s a place where “effortless charm is the currency”.
The Guide’s 2025 review of Bavette is equally enthusiastic, recommending the “pork and prune pâté en croûte with the house mustard for an inimitably Gallic appetiser experience”, and calling the “speciality bavette” dish “the kind of sturdy main course that won’t let you down”.