Eating & drinking
Thornton-le-Dale pubs, tea rooms, ice cream and shops
For a village of two thousand people, Thornton-le-Dale has a good spread of places to eat and drink: two traditional pubs, tea rooms in a fourteenth-century forge, an evening bistro, a chocolate shop making chocolates on the premises, an ice cream maker of more than 25 years' standing, a delicatessen, a farm shop and a chip shop. Each is described below in turn, with its street and postcode.
Baldersons Ice Cream, Chestnut Avenue
Baldersons Ice Cream (R.W. Balderson) on Chestnut Avenue, in the centre of the village, is an independent maker of homemade ice cream and has been for over 25 years. It is made fresh daily on the premises, and the process can be watched from the parlour, which is a large part of the appeal for children and, quietly, for everyone else.
It is national award-winning: certificates of merit and a diploma from the National Ice Cream Alliance, and in 2014 it was featured by The Telegraph among Britain's best ice cream. The style is Italian, and alongside cones and tubs there are sundaes, the Knickerbocker Glory and the banana split among them, soda floats and milkshakes, plus teas, coffees and cakes. Eat in the parlour or take a cone away.
The ritual
Here is what to actually do with it, and it is the point of the whole exercise: get a cone, find a bench by the beck, and sit. The ducks work the water in front of you; every so often a classic car rolls past on its way to or from Mathewsons, which is a stranger and better piece of village theatre than it sounds. Ten unhurried minutes of this is a defining Thornton-le-Dale pleasure, and it costs the price of an ice cream.
An easy, level day built around exactly this, bench, cone, beck, cars, is set out on the gentle-day itinerary.
Chestnut Avenue, YO18 7RR. We do not list a single telephone number here because published numbers differ across the ice cream parlour, the caf\u00e9 and the gift shop. Opening season and hours vary, so please check before you travel.
The pubs
The New Inn, Maltongate
A Grade II listed Georgian coaching house dating from around the 1720s, standing on the crossroads at the centre of the village, exposed beams, open fireplaces, a log fire in winter and a sunny courtyard beer garden in summer.
It holds the Cask Marque award for its three handpulls, so the ale rotates; the restaurant seats 35 and the same homemade menu is served in the bar and garden. There are six en-suite letting rooms and a self-catering cottage, and dogs are welcome in the bar, beer garden and cottage.
Maltongate, YO18 7LF. Current serving times: ring ahead on 01751, the pub publishes hours on its own channels rather than a fixed timetable.
The Buck Inn, Chestnut Avenue
A Grade II listed traditional village pub on Chestnut Avenue, holding the Cask Marque accreditation, with Yorkshire cask ales, home-cooked food made on site, a log burner, a dartboard and a large walled beer garden. Dogs are welcome in the bar and lounge areas.
Check before you go. The Buck was undergoing a refurbishment of around £490,000 through the summer of 2026, under a new management partner, with reopening announced as imminent rather than dated. Confirm it is trading before you build an evening around it.
Chestnut Avenue, YO18 7RW. buckthorntonledale.co.uk
Tea rooms, cafés and an evening table
Lavenders Tea Rooms, Shop & Takeaway, The Square
Tea rooms at The Forge on The Square. Afternoon teas, light meals and homemade cakes using mostly Yorkshire produce, with a food shop alongside and a full takeaway counter, sandwiches, soup, pork pies, sausage rolls, scones and patisserie for a walk or a picnic. The upstairs tables and sofa lounge can be booked.
The Forge, The Square, YO18 7RN. Opening hours vary, so please check before you travel.
Warrington House Coffee Shop & Restaurant, Whitbygate
A sit-down coffee shop and restaurant on Whitbygate: homemade scones, slices and cakes, all-day breakfasts, homemade soups, daily cooked specials and a traditional Sunday roast, with Rombouts coffee and a wide tea list.
Warrington House, Whitbygate, YO18 7RY · warringtonhouse.co.uk. Current opening days and hours vary, and booking is sensible.
Brandysnap Bistro, Whitbygate
A small bistro on Whitbygate serving evening meals, and one of the places in the village open after the tea rooms have closed. It seats a modest number, so booking ahead is sensible.
Whitbygate, YO18 7RY · brandysnapbistro.co.uk. Check locally, opening evenings and service times vary.
Baldersons, ice cream parlour and café, Chestnut Avenue
Ice cream made fresh on the premises for over 25 years, plus the family café next door. It is covered in full at the top of this page.
Chestnut Avenue, YO18 7RR. Opening season and hours vary, so please check before you travel.
Café Bouchère
A newer, relaxed café in the centre of the village, with a short seasonal menu drawn from European café cooking.
cafebouchere.com. Opening hours vary, so please check before you visit.
Tea Cosy Tea Room, Ellerburn
Not in the village but at the end of the walk: a small tea room at Cosy Nook in Ellerburn, the hamlet with the Saxon church a half-hour north through the woods. Opening is limited and seasonal.
Cosy Nook, Ellerburn. Opening days and hours are limited and seasonal, so ring ahead. The walk itself is on things to do and walks.
Delicatessen and farm shop
Moores Delicatessen, Maltongate
A village delicatessen on Maltongate, the place to assemble a picnic for the walk to Ellerburn rather than sit down to a meal.
Maltongate, YO18 7RJ. Opening hours and the counter range vary, so please check before you visit.
Cedar Barn Farm Shop & café, Pickering Road
A farm shop with a café on the Pickering Road, just out of the village, a stop for local produce on the way in or out of the village.
Pickering Road, YO18 7JX. Café hours and the menu vary, so please check before you visit.
Food shops and the village store
The Chocolate Factory, The Forge
A chocolate shop at The Forge on The Square, making its chocolates on the premises, the Thornton-le-Dale ducks are the local favourite.
The Forge, The Square, YO18 7RN. Opening hours and the product range vary, so please check before you visit.
Wardill Bros, general store & post office
A family-run general store on The Square, trading since 1856. It houses the village post office and doubles as the North York Moors National Park Information Point, so local advice is available over the counter alongside milk and a stamp.
The Square, YO18 7LF · wardillbros.co.uk. Opening hours vary, so please check before you visit. More village shopping, including the antiques emporium, is on shops and antiques.
Dogs, takeaways and a note on the evening
Coming with a dog
This is dog-walking country and the pubs know it: dogs are welcome in the bar at The New Inn, and The Buck is dog-friendly too. Tea rooms and cafés vary, and several have outside tables beside the beck.
Dog policies differ from one business to the next, so please check with each one.
Thornton Dale Fisheries Ltd: fish and chips, Pickering Road
The village fish and chip shop, on Pickering Road towards the Pickering end of the village and handy for the car park and the A170. It operates as a takeaway; the sit-in restaurant is reported as no longer open, so plan on carrying your fish and chips away with you.
2 Pickering Road, YO18 7LG. 01751 474502. Check locally, opening hours vary.
A practical note on timing
Two patterns are worth planning around. First, most of the village's food is daytime food: the tea rooms and cafés close between 4pm and 5pm, and after that your sit-down options narrow to the pubs and Brandysnap Bistro. Second, several businesses run reduced winter hours or close for part of the year, Warrington House drops a day from November, and the ice cream parlour's season and hours are best checked before travelling.
Ring ahead outside the summer season, the dialling code here is 01751, and on busy summer weekends and August Show days, arrive early and expect queues, particularly at the ice cream parlour. See visitor information for parking, and the gentle-day itinerary for a relaxed, level itinerary built around a cone and a bench.
Lunch combines well with a walk: the woodland route to Ellerburn is on things to do and walks, and the buildings to look for in the centre are on the village page. Contact details for these businesses are collected in the village directory.
Hours above come from each business's own website or an official listing and were checked in August 2026. Village kitchens change them at short notice, so treat them as a guide and phone to be certain. Corrections and additions are always welcome.
Common questions
- Where can you eat in Thornton-le-Dale?
- The village has tea rooms and cafés, a bakery and ice-cream parlour, the Thornton Dale Fisheries chip shop, and two pubs (The New Inn and The Buck) serving food (check ahead).
- Is there a chocolate shop in Thornton-le-Dale?
- Yes, a small chocolatier on the village square makes handmade chocolates, part of the village's “chocolate-box” charm.
- How many pubs are there in Thornton-le-Dale?
- Two traditional village pubs, both in the centre and both Grade II listed: The New Inn, a Georgian coaching inn of the 1720s on the crossroads by the market cross, and The Buck Inn just across from it. Both are dog-friendly, serve home-cooked food and Yorkshire real ales, and offer rooms.