Review

Don't be fooled by the fragrant wafts of coffee coming from this trendy little Café Bar on Fossgate, they have some top tier craft beers in there as well. Opened in 2012 Fossgate Social has always been on the cusp of York's Café Culture, even ahead of the time with their stripped back décor. Deep warm textures of rough wood, open brickwork and low intimate lighting gently backlit with the glow of fairy lights. This is the epitome of an urban social bar, small but perfectly formed and with a wonderfully friendly vibe.

It’s all about enjoyment of quality over quantity, as shown with their varied 8 keg craft lines which also includes a couple of their very own brewed beers by the the Ice Cream Factory. All of these are served as schooners so don't expect pints but do expect to pay the higher end of the price of a pint for this smaller serving. It didn't really stop us from enjoying some great beers though.

The focus on the social element really does shine through with the passion of the staff and the interesting mix of art shows, events and live acoustic music. There’s also a wonderful little walled courtyard to the rear adorned with fairy lights providing some much needed outside space and there's more seating up the rather shabby looking stairs on the first floor as well.

Access is great throughout the ground floor and although there are just two single toilets this just adds to the home from home atmosphere. This is definitely a bar that will appeal to the craft ale enthusiast with its coffee shop vibe, but maybe not so much the traditional real ale drinker with there being no hand pumps. But we still highly recommend popping in for a relaxing schooner or two. As a café bar The Fossgate Social just hits all the right notes.