Four North East restaurants have been recognised in SquareMeal’s top 100 UK restaurants for 2025 – with Northumberland’s Restaurant Pine narrowly pipped to top spot.
Listed as the UK’s number one in 2024, Pine missed out on top spot this year as Restaurant Sat Bains took the honour. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s Solstice is in 23rd place, Northumberland’s Hjem is 35th, and Heaton’s Rebel is a newcomer in 80th place.
SquareMeal’s UK Top 100 is the only list of its kind to exclude London restaurants – allowing the wider UK dining scene to shine. Using a combination of thousands of reader votes and SquareMeal’s expert critics, the UK Top 100 Restaurants list aims to reflect Britain’s varied dining scene – featuring everything from fine dining experiences to farm-to-table restaurants and gastropubs.
SquareMeal’s restaurants editor, Pete Dreyer, said: “It’s no secret that the financial pressures of keeping a restaurant afloat are getting more and more acute. To see so many restaurants up and down the country overcoming all these hurdles and still innovating and developing world-class experiences is staggering. It’s a testament to the passion, dedication, and talent of those who are pushing the industry forward every day.
“We’re always beyond proud of the top 100, and hugely grateful to the thousands upon thousands of everyday diners that vote for their favourite restaurants and help us bring them together. We hope everyone finds something special amongst these lists, and as always, we wish you a happy and memorable year of eating in 2025.”
For the full list, click here.
