Honest Burgers is finally set to open its restaurant in Leeds this weekend- and it will celebrate with free burgers and chips.
The restaurant chain already has 40 restaurants scattered across the UK, but has only been running as a pop-up in Leeds (at the Northern Monk brewery) until now.
It's now set to open its 41st site on Cloth Hall Street, just next to the newly-pedestrianised Corn Exchange area.
Credit: Honest Burgers
To celebrate the Leeds opening, Honest are giving the first 500 customers a burger and chips on the head. All you need to do to claim yours is head down to the new restaurant on Cloth Hall Street from 11.30am on Saturday 30 August and be the first to enjoy the great British burger, it really is that simple.
The launch also will mark the start of plenty of Leeds-exclusive specialities, including a soon-to-be-released local burger (those who have visited the Northern Monk pop-up will know exactly how highly anticipated this one is) as well as a collaborative sauce with Leeds-own Thiccc Sauce, and if that's not enough, for the first time ever, HONEST will be serving a cheesy version of their much-loved bacon gravy.
Image: Supplied
Speaking ahead of the launch, Tom Barton, Co-Founder Honest Burgers said: "Leeds has been a long time coming for Honest and we’re very happy to open on Saturday 30thJuly.
"All of our restaurants have close ties with local breweries and producers. In Leeds that means beers from Northern Monk and a local burger (launching in August) featuring beer pickled onions, smoked cheddar and a brand new black garlic chipotle chutney from lockdown star Thiccc Sauce.
"And for the first time ever, we’ll be serving a cheesy version of our cult favourite bacon gravy for all your burger and chip dunking needs."
A fully-vegan burger. Credit: Honest Burgers
The new Honest Burgers will create 20 new jobs for Leeds ahead of its opening on 25 July.
The burger brand is the only one in the UK to craft everything from scratch, including its beef patties (from its own butchery in London), its pickles, all sauces and relishes.
Honest Burgers was founded in Brighton in 2009, by friends Tom Barton and Philip Eeles.
Since then, it's championed local business and works closely with existing breweries and bars to collaborate in each city it opens in.
In Leeds, that meant its partnership with Northern Monk, where it made beer cheese using the brewery's Heathen IPA, and pickled onions with Faith pale ale.
In May this year, Honest Burgers announced Honest Farming, which will see it switch to regeneratively farmed British beef in partnership with farming collective Grassroots, cutting its carbon footprint and the environmental impact of eating beef.
Menu staples range from the classic Honest and Tribute burgers to the fiery Chilli burger which comes loaded with bacon, chilli cheese, Honest hot sauce, shoestring chips, and jalapenos.
The chicken wings are covered in sauce, and finger-licking food. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Vegetarians have a choice of three vegan burgers, including an Indian-spiced sweetcorn, cauliflower, and chickpea fritter, and the Plant burger, made with a BeyondMeat patty.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers said: "Leeds has been a long time coming for Honest and we’re very happy to open on Monday 25 July.
"All of our restaurants have close ties with local breweries and producers. In Leeds that means beers from Northern Monk and a local burger (launching in August) featuring beer pickled onions, smoked cheddar and a brand new black garlic chipotle chutney from lockdown star Thiccc Sauce.
A renowned brewery have announced that they will be taking over the reigns of a popular craft beer bottle shop in Ilkley.
Fuggle & Golding opened in 2015 on Leeds road in Ilkley and quickly grew a loyal following with locals and visitors alike.
Sadly they announced last month that their last day of trading would be Saturday 28 February, news which was met with huge disappointment.
However this is no longer the case, as Horsforth Brewery is set to reopen the venue on Wednesday. Hooray!
Announcing the welcomed news to Instagram, Horsforth Brewery wrote: "When we saw they were going to close we were determined to not lose another great venue from the local beer scene.
"We owe a massive thank you to George and the landlord for getting a deal across the line in quick order.
"We’re going to take a few days to put our stamp on the place and then we will be open on Wednesday!"
"Obviously we will be stocking our beers here but as anyone who knows will know, we love the beer scene so we will continue to have a good amount of guest beer on as well. We’ll even been joining in with the biggest beer launches from around the country.
"Want to know the best news? We’re doing this solo. No outside interests, no investors, no debt. In the current climate being able to organically grow like this is so so hard and it’s thanks to all our team that we’ve been able to do this.
"We’ve always been determined to grow our business in a healthy and sustainable way; it may have (absolutely has) been tough over the years but we’ve got ourselves in a position to take us to the next level in a sustainable way."
British Pie Week 2026 – all the best places to find a pie in and around Leeds
Clementine Hall
Sweet, savoury, filled or plain: pies are a staple in the British diet.
It's the best week of the year...it's British Pie Week, not that we need much of an excuse to celebrate that flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, but we're taking all the excuses we can this week to embrace all things pie related.
We've rounded up al our favourite spots to grab a pie, as a lunchtime snack or on the go in the city centre - so take your pick, whatever the occasion.
Dave's Pies and Ales
Kirkstall Road, Burley | Open from 5pm
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Dave's Pies and Ales is locally known as the smallest pub in Leeds - and whilst the menu and seating area might be teeny, what it does do, it does well.
Choose from a range of pies and peas with classic ales on tap to choose from inside this micropub 12-11pm every day of the week.
Whitelocks Ale House
Turk's Head Yard, just off Briggate | Kitchen open from 12pm
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Whitelocks is known in Leeds for its Sunday Roasts, warm fire and homely pub ambience- but their pies are the unsung heroes on the menu.
The beef and ale pie is made from Yorkshire Meat Co. beef, a Wetherby-based supplier that brings beef from the likes of Tancred Grange Farm in Richmond to Leeds. This one is served with chunky chips and sautéed seasonal veg, seat by the fireplace optional.
Pieminister
Duncan Street, Leeds city centre | Open from 12pm
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Available as a Sunday roast, bottomless brunch or just a plain old (but beautifully presented) pie and mash, Pieminister is famous for its pies for all the right reasons. On the shelves in your local supermarkets and available as a sit-down scran on Boar Lane, Pieminister is a place where pies are guaranteed to make up the majority of the menu options.
Finer Pleasures
Multiple locations
If you don't know about Josh at Finer Pleasures, then you're seriously missing out. Josh is somewhat of a pie-oneer (sorry), and is the master of creating weird and wonderful pie creations from lasagna pies to gammon, egg and pineapple pork pies.
You can find him over in Crossgates most Wednesdays, but you're best bet is to keep an eye on his socials for the best chance on bagging one of his pies. Trust us, they're like gold dust.
Wilsons Butchers
Austhorpe Road, Cross Gates | Open from 7.30am
Image: Wilsons Butchers
Located in Armley, Morley and Pontfract - Wilsons Pies and Pasties is a small indie chain from Wilsons Butchers and crowned champions of the Yorkshire Small Pork Pie Championships.
At lunch time, the shops offer a true Yorkshire delicacy of pie and mushy pies with optional (but essential) mint sauce. All Wilsons pies and pasties are made using locally sourced produce in Garforth, so these a true Leeds pies, and well worth sampling.
The Hoot -
28th July 2022 
