The Whippet Inn

This place was great. The staff were friendly and you could tell they had been trained about all the food and what you might prefer based on your questions. Our waiter was James and he was exactly what you need when dining out.
I ate steak and it was delicious, my wife ate vegetarian, and she noticed they had vegan too. She was impressed with it.
Will be recommending to friends and family. We will be repeat customers as well.

I’ll start off by saying I hope to one day update this review as it’s just so inconsistent with what I’ve heard here, both from reviews and personal friends.
Things started off well enough… we arrived for our reservation, were pleasantly greeted and shown to our table in a quirky and busy restaurant… definitely spruced up a bit from it’s former life.
The menu was a treat, some great classics and reworked without being overwhelming with choice… we knew we were here for the steaks however as we had consistently been told they were the star of the show.
We did go for a starter however, some scallops wrapped in prosciutto ham and a pea mousse… divine on paper, and looked wonderful when they came out, but they seemed to only be really cooked on one side. A bit odd for such a nice dish, but mistakes happen. The problem came with our steaks, as they also seemed to really be cooked heavily on one side (or very unevenly cooked)… to top it off my dinner partner had a piece of plastic, like a small piece of thick film, on theirs! We discreetly advised our waiter who sincerely apologised and offered a free dessert of our choice as consolation, so despite being handled appropriately it couldn’t change our disappointment in regards to the steak after all of the great things we had heard.
I’ll happily admit there was a saving grace in the Gin & Tonics, made with sprigs of thyme and just near perfect… it’s a simple drink that is all to often gotten wrong, so it’s wonderful that they had a dang near perfect one… score one for the bartender that evening! (Also worth noting is that children aren’t allowed, making for a good date venue if that’s what you’re after.)
Honestly if I have the time I plan on going back here because we just had to have come at an off night… perhaps there was a stand in cook/​chef, etc., given our starter and mains were cooked with the exact same errors, etc… here’s to hoping my next experience is as good as everyone else’s!

Excellent service. Excellent food, all round great experience. This restaurant was recommended to us by our hotel and with very good reason.

We made a reservation at the Whippet Inn for a Saturday evening after hearing great stuff about the place and upon arrival the place was packed (always a good sign).
We were immediately taken to our table and given some information around the steak options available: 28 day aged or a special locally sourced one which was 40 day aged for only £2 more. We ordered drinks and olives whilst we browsed the menu.
Drinks: The Whippet bills itself as a steak and ale house so as you would expect great selection of craft ales but also extensive range of gins and a really solid and reasonably priced wine list. We opted for gin and ale, I like a place that bothers to serve Hendricks correctly with cucumber. Perfect drink after the hottest day of summer so far!
Food: I am a steak lover and judge a place strongly by its steak so opted for the 8oz 40 day aged rib eye. I chose to add the béarnaise sauce and sweet potato fries, my partner went for ‘the dogs’ which is the house burger topped with cheese mushrooms bacon serve with fries and a steak sauce (béarnaise again). The food was served in a prompt time considering the amount of people dining and looked amazing upon arrival. My steak was beautiful, cooked to perfection and melt in your mouth tasty. The sweet potato fries were to die for along with the béarnaise… can you tell I loved every mouthful. The burger also looked fantastic and was huge definitely amazing value for money at about £14 and not your average restaurant burger.
Service: The service was exceptional, attentive yet not intrusive with our server always keeping a watchful eye to ensure we had everything we wanted.
All in all the bill for 2 gins/​tonics, 2 ales, olives and the food came to £53, I think a bargain for a place serving such high quality food.
Part of me didn’t want to review this place and keep it a secret :-) but York needs places like this and it will be somewhere I’ll go again and again.