The Botanist

What's it good for?

The Botanist is good for gin, cocktails, an extensive bottled beer list, and quality food.

Where is it?

Located in Stonegate, one of York's most iconic streets, The Botanist is in a prime location on the corner to Little Stonegate, putting it bang in the middle of one of York's most vibrant areas for nightlife.

The interior follows the theme across The Botanist's chain of venues with distressed wood and ironwork throughout, dimly lit with lovely exposed Edison lamps.

Upstairs is a warren of smaller rooms including a fantastic covered terrace that would be ideal to hire as a party.

What's it all about?

Well, this is where things begin to get tricky for me. From the moment I started puboholic, I've struggled to define exactly what my challenge of "visiting every pub in York" would include.

I started with just traditional boozers like The Slip Inn, but quickly had to expand past just pubs and include 'bars' as well such as Chapter House because they were still serving a wide selection of drinks, just in a very different atmosphere.

Then there was The Walmgate Ale House & Bistro which certainly provides local ales and craft beers in the "Ale House", but then it's also a restaurant upstairs, but since there was a defined split between the Ale House and the Bistro, I decided to include it.

Then, in the end I decided that as long as there is a dedicated area set aside where you can just go for a drink and not order food then I'd include it. This is where The Botanist comes in. First and foremost this is a restaurant with the majority of the building given over to dining with just a small drinking bar at the front overlooking Stonegate.

The bar is quite small and I can imagine it will become crammed at the weekend, but midweek this might become a very enjoyable meeting place for a cocktail or to sample a few of the beers on offer.

What's on the bar?

The Botanist has gin at its core, with a wide selection available each paired with botanicals tailored to bring out the gin's natural strengths and an ever rotating selection of cocktails.

The bottled beer list is impressive with care taken over finding a wide variety including some wonderfully interesting brews.

There are handy beer tasting notes on all the tables and the staff are extremely knowledgeable and happy to help pair drinks to the food.

Do they serve food?

As mentioned, this is primarily a restaurant and the quality was very good - for a review of the food I'd head over to the York on a Fork review.

Is it accessible / allow kids / dogs?

Ground floor is accessible, also with ground floor disabled toilets. No kids or dogs.

Will you go again?

This review was based on a complimentary visit organised for the launch of The Botanist, but I'll be back under my own steam to try out the Sunday Lunch in my side-quest to find York's Best Sunday Lunch. I'm sure I'll pop in to try out a few more beers from the list from time to time as well.

Opening Hours