Hi I’m Claire, a 40 something year old accountant, who’s obsessed with my hometown. What you might not know is that I spent many years in my twenties working at Bettys, both in the shop and behind the scenes. So there’s no-one better to help you get the best out of your visit to Bettys Harrogate.
TIP #1 – Visit early or later in the day.
Think brunch or late afternoon tea. Peak times are around 11am till 2pm and you WILL have to queue, outside of these times will lessen or even avoid the queues together.
TIP #2 – Contrary to popular belief, you can book a table at Bettys Harrogate.
BUT only for afternoon tea, upstairs in the Imperial room. From £49.95, it includes a guaranteed table with no queueing, a selection of sandwiches, scones, tea and cakes, all whilst listening to the resident pianist. Bliss. The sandwiches and tea are bottomless so you won’t leave hungry! Book your table here.
TIP #3 – It’s not as expensive as you think!
A pot of tea and eggs royale (my exact order every visit, unless they have the salmon rosti on the specials menu) costs £4.25 & £12.25 which is comparable to most places Harrogate. Things only get a bit pricey when you go for afternoon tea or chose to have a couple of courses with plenty of drinks. Bettys is classed as a treat though, so why not go all out?! View the menu here.
TIP #4 – There are two queues!
If you’re wanting to browse in the shop and get some cakes to takeaway – use the right hand side queue (if there is one at all), for dining in – use the left and probably much longer queue. So if you don’t have time or are too hungry to wait, head to the right and pick yourself some treats and a takeaway coffee and enjoy your Bettys, whilst sitting by the Cenotaph, or in the adjacent Montpellier Gardens.
TIP #5 – How about a visit to Harlow Carr?
The Bettys branch at Harlow Carr can be a little quieter because it’s out of the town centre but it’s still a Betty’s nonetheless. This isn’t always the case but most tourists will flock to the main Betty’s café tearoom in Harrogate town centre. However less than 10 minutes up the road there is the newest Bettys with gorgeous views over the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens. Read my blog about Harlow Carr Gardens here.
TIP #6 – Don’t buy Fat Rascals!
They may be the most famous treats from Bettys, but every local has their favourite seasonal speciality. I ran a poll on my Instagram to see what the locals go back for time and time again.
Keep an eye out for:
Ok, so this one is a Fat Rascal but it’s a special edition. Chocolate and orange rascals come out around Easter. Not to be confused with Gooey Rascals! These are my absolute favourites because in my opinion, raisins are the food of the devil.
Lebkuchen biscuits come out at Christmas time. (Make sure you choose the ones with thin white icing found at the counter. Not the thickly iced, prewrapped ones, trust me and thank me later)
The Wensleydale and watercress quiche is hands down the best quiche we’ve ever had, and they’re definitely a picnic favourite in our household.
Chocolate coffee beans. They’re great accompaniment with coffee at a dinner party, or if you like me, just eat the whole box to yourself in one sitting
The treats that appeared most when I asked locals what they head to Bettys for were the Giant Raspberry Macaroon and Fondant Fancies, have you tried them yet?
TIP #7 – Order Online from Bettys Harrogate
If you visited whilst on holiday and are wanting your Betty’s fix when you get home, don’t panic, you can now order ‘Betty’s by post’. All of their favourites can be delivered straight to your door, wherever you live in the country. You can even get £5 off your first order over £50 when you sign up to their mailing list. Check out the link here.
TIP #8 – Don’t queue twice
Bettys now allow you to shop from your table. If you already know what you’d like to purchase you can let your server know and they will bring everything to your table to beat the queues in the shop. Personally I’d rather extend my visit and spend a while browsing all the cakes and biscuits, I’d probably get carried away and end up spending more too.
So I hope I’ve helped you to plan your visit to Bettys Harrogate but if you have any other questions my inbox is always open.
Your articles are very helpful to me. May I request more information?
Thank you that’s great to hear! What would you like more information on, I’ll do my best to help 🙂
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