Dinner in a house built in 1633
Three panelled dining rooms looking over the gardens, a kitchen that cooks everything to order, and a dog-friendly bar with gins, spirits and real ales. Open to everyone, hotel guest or not, seven days a week. Free parking at the door.
Cooked here, served without fuss
Head Chef Matt Rush writes menus that change with the seasons, with the month printed on them, and enough choice that you can eat here three nights running, vegetarian or vegan included. Yorkshire ingredients chosen for flavour, beef dry-aged for thirty or sixty days, bread and ice cream made in the kitchen. In winter the fires are lit in the Stone Room; in summer the doors from the bar open onto the gardens and the Colonnade Courtyard.
It is a restaurant in the old sense: a proper dining room, a serious wine list, dishes that taste of what they are and are not trying to be clever, and service people remember, from people who have worked here for years.
Finalists, Deliciously Yorkshire Taste Awards 2026Best Yorkshire Dining Experience
Service times
8am to 10am weekends
plus chef's specials, every evening
Online bookings for up to six. Larger tables and private rooms: 01422 240024. An optional 10% service charge applies to parties of six or more.
Three rooms, something interesting everywhere you look
The restaurant is three adjoining rooms on the garden side of the house, each with its own character, features and atmosphere. Ask for the one you prefer when you book.
The Stone Room, a little more bustling, plenty of art on the walls
The Panelled Room, private and candlelit
The Mullioned Room, with its large warming fireplace
The à la carte
Starters, mains and puddings built round what is good in autumn, a choice of dry-aged steaks, and a selection of sides. This is September's menu, and on top of it the kitchen writes a short list of chef's specials every evening, from whatever came in that morning: ask when you sit down. The dishes below are a taste; the menu on the table will have moved on with the produce.
Lunch, and the long afternoon
The Garden menu runs from midday to 5:30 PM in the bar, the restaurant and (when the weather allows) the gardens. From sandwiches with fries or a pizza selection, to our beef and bone marrow burger, beer-battered haddock or a sharing board of Yorkshire cheeses. It suits a working lunch in Halifax, the end of a walk on the Bronte moors, or an early dinner before a Piece Hall summer concert.
The eight-course tasting menu
Eight courses from the current menu, served at an unhurried pace: an amuse bouche, four savoury courses, two puddings, then coffee and petits fours. £95 a head, with a wine flight for £65 chosen to match each course, or wines by the glass if you would rather pick your own. Add a bedroom and breakfast and it becomes a night away.
Steak nights, Sundays and Thursdays
Order two steaks on a Sunday or a Thursday, 4pm to 8.30pm, and each of you gets half a bottle of house wine with them, on us. The beef is the same every night: richly marbled cuts dry-aged for thirty days, and the Waterford Farm signature cuts matured for sixty days in a Himalayan salt chamber, which concentrates the flavour and softens the meat. Fillet, ribeye and sirloin, served simply with a beer-braised onion, and beef fat chips on the side.
Head Chef Matt Rush
Matt came to Holdsworth House from three AA Rosette kitchens and writes every menu in the building: the à la carte, the eight-course tasting menu, the Garden menu and the wedding menus. The month goes on the front of the menu because the dishes change with it. Bread and ice cream are made downstairs, the beef is dry-aged for thirty or sixty days, and the vegetarian and vegan dishes are written as dishes, not as things with the meat taken out.
Afternoon tea
Half term treat, 18 October to 1 November: book two afternoon teas and a children's afternoon tea is free. The details.
The thing we are known for across Yorkshire. Finger sandwiches, handmade pastries, and scones baked for your arrival, served on a three-tier stand by the fire, in the Panelled Room or out on the terrace. From £32.95 a head, £16.50 for children, and with a gin and tonic, Prosecco or Champagne if the afternoon calls for it. Gift vouchers by post or email.
Breakfast, residents and walk-ins
Cooked to order from the grill: back bacon, sausage, homemade black pudding, eggs any way, or eggs Benedict with Yorkshire ham, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, pancakes with maple syrup. A continental table of pastries, fresh fruit and homemade jams alongside. Breakfast is included for hotel guests on most rates; £19.95 for everyone else, and well worth it.
Private dining, four to 120
Five private rooms, from the Stone Gazebo for four to the Stuart Room for 120, with menus written for gatherings: a pie menu, a Host a Roast, a three-course celebration dinner, or afternoon tea for a table of ten or more. Birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, and the quieter gatherings after a funeral.
In their words
Superb restaurant, exceptional service and memorable hospitality.
TripAdvisor, January 2025
The afternoon tea was sublime, perfect and plentiful too. Every one of us was treated with real care. Please don't change anything about Holdsworth House, it's our gem of Halifax.
Google review
Ten things people ask
Do I have to be staying at the hotel to eat here?
No. The restaurant, the Long Bar and afternoon tea are open to everyone, every day. Hotel guests eat in the same rooms as everyone else.
Do I need to book?
For dinner, afternoon tea and the tasting menu, yes, particularly at weekends: the scones are baked to order and the kitchen plans around the bookings. You can book online for up to six; for more, call 01422 240024. Lunch in the bar is usually fine without.
What are the opening times?
Breakfast 7am to 9.30am Monday to Friday and 8am to 10am at weekends and bank holidays. The Garden menu from noon to 5.30pm. Afternoon tea from 1pm to 5pm. Dinner from 6.30pm, with last orders at 8.30pm. The bar is open all day.
Can you cater for allergies and dietary needs?
Yes. Every dish is cooked to order in our own kitchen, so we can adapt most of the menu. There is a full vegan menu, gluten-free bread and scones with notice, and a record of the 14 listed allergens for every dish. Tell us when you book.
Are children welcome?
Yes, at every sitting. There is a children's menu, a children's afternoon tea, and three acres of garden to run round in between courses.
Is there parking?
Free, at the door, for 70 cars. We are three miles from Halifax station and seven from junction 24 of the M62; some sat navs bring you in the back way, so check the directions page the first time.
Is there a service charge?
An optional 10% is added for parties of six or more. Nothing is added for smaller tables.
Is the restaurant dog friendly?
The Long Bar is, and it serves the Garden menu from noon to 5.30pm, so lunch with your dog is easy; residents with dogs have breakfast there too. In the restaurant itself, guide dogs and assistance dogs only. There are dog-friendly bedrooms if you are staying.
Is the restaurant wheelchair accessible?
The restaurant, the Long Bar and the Hall are on the ground floor of a house built in 1633, with step-free access from the car park and an accessible toilet. Tell us when you book and we will keep a table with room round it; the private rooms upstairs are reached by stairs only.
Can you do something for a birthday, an anniversary or a proposal?
Yes. Add the occasion to your booking or tell us on the phone: a cake, candles, flowers on the table, a bottle waiting, the ring arriving at the right moment. For a room of your own, see private dining.
Book a table, then come and sit down
Online for up to six, in the room you like. For a bigger table, a private room or anything you want to ask first, ring and speak to reception.
