Bottomless brunches seems to be our speciality in Leeds.
As writers at The Hoot Leeds, we still manage to find new ones every single week- and to be quite honest we had no idea there were so many before embarking on a mission to cover them all.
Nevertheless, they're a fantastic experience and something our city has to offer. So when The Bottle Club announced they'd ranked all cities against they're bottomless brunches we were sure we'd come at least in the top ten.
We were right. Although we didn't actually rank as highly as expected.
Manahatta does a great bottomless deal that can be found in Leeds and Manchester. / Image: Manahatta
In order to find the perfect bottomless, cities were ranked against nine different criteria:
% of overall restaurants in the city that offer brunch
% spots with vegan options available
% spots with vegetarian options available
% spots with gluten-free options available
% spots with halal options available
% spots accessible/ wheelchair friendly
% spots with outdoor seating available
% spots that are dog-friendly
% spots offering live music
All in all, Leeds came a respectable but slightly disappointing seventh place.
Here's all you need to know to understand where that mark came from. Firstly, we have one of the highest bar : bottomless brunch ratio, with 29.8% of our bars and restaurants offering a free-flowing booze package, and within that a over half (56.9%) offered vegan options and 80% were vegetarian-friendly.
Fleur does great value 2-for-1 bottomlesses. / Image: Fleur Cafe
So far so good.
Then, we didn't do so well in near enough every other category. Did you know just 3% of bottomlesses cater offer halal options? Or that only 2.4% are dog friendly and only 5% provide live music at their events?
When you compare this to the unlikely contender Southhampton, where 58% of bottomless brunches have live music, you can see why we list out.
Overall, it was Cardiff that took the top spot though, with a respectable 1-in-5 bars offering bottomless and all of which scored highly against food allergies, dietary requirements and accessibility.
So turns out we're not as good at bottomlesses as we thought- or maybe that's just one study's opinion and we're going to continue to enjoy them anyway.
Leeds health nuts assemble, because acai bowls and superfood smoothies are coming to a city near you.
Incase you've been living under a rock for the past year or so, you may not be clued up on the whole acai bowl trend that has been sweeping up the nation.
Acai is a super berry grown and harvested in the Amazon rainforest, and not only is it absolutely delicious but it has a myriad of health benefits.
Acai and the Tribe first opened four years ago in Manchester, and ever since then it's only gone from strength to strength opening up three other locations across the country.
Images: The Manc Group
Next stop? Leeds. And we couldn't be happier about it.
So, what can we expect from this aesthetically-pleasing and ultra trendy female-owned business? Well, loaded acai bowls that look almost too good to eat, superfood smoothies, coffees, matcha and savoury options like avocado toast.
Announcing the very exciting news to Instagram, Acai and the Tribe said: "You asked, we listened. LEEDS… your new lifestyle arrives soon."
They will be opening on 88 Vicar Lane as part of the Vicar Lane regeneration scheme, which has already scene some great new restaurants being announced such as Sticks'n'Sushi and Dishoom.
It seems like this part of town is suddenly going to be the place to be, and we're very happy to see it.
We'll keep you updated with opening dates as and when we know more but for now, you can find out more about Acai and the Tribe here.
Leeds has been crowned the best city in the UK for foodies outside of London
Clementine Hall
It's fantastic news for our city as Leeds has been crowned one of the best cities in the UK for foodies.
It's news that we've been pretty certain of for some time, but it's still nice to be recognised isn't it?
It comes from a new study carried out by credit card brand Aqua who analysed 30 major UK cities across a range of dining and social media metrics, including cuisine variety, restaurant availability, meal affordability, Michelin recognition and TikTok hashtag volumes.
Coming in at number on was, of course, London.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
With 47 cuisines, 22.5 restaurants per 10,000 residents and 81 Michelin-starred establishments, the capital unsurprisingly continues to dominate the UK’s culinary scene.
But in at number two was our glorious city of Leeds, supported by the highest restaurant density in the study, with 38.5 establishments per 10,000 people, and strong affordability compared with cities in the south.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
We will absolutely take that.
Other northern spots to feature on the list include Sheffield and Bradford in sixth and eighth place.
The top ten UK cities for foodies are:
London
Leeds
Nottingham
Edinburgh
Wolverhampton / Leicester
Sheffield
Birmingham / Glasgow
Bradford / Swansea
Preston
Milton Keynes
Here in Leeds we've got so many fabulous food spots, with new openings cropping up every month it's hard to keep track.
From the multi award-winning Bavette Bistro in Horsforth to the highly acclaimed indie Bundobust that started off in Leeds - you certainly won't find yourself hungry or at a loss for somewhere to eat here.
Sophie Smith -
20th January 2022 
