Art’s

Absolutely love this place! I’ve been coming here for the last 10 years or so and it’s just as good as it’s always been. The lunch plates are delicious and a bargain price — try the polenta chips too!

Absolutely love this place, what a find. we were only visiting Leeds for the weekend but we were so glad we discovered the Arts Café. We were welcomed warmly from the start, it was a busy Saturday evening and we hadn’t booked but the waitress was really accommodating and was able to find us a table. The menu looked impressive and had some unusual dishes. I decided to order the crab rillettes with calamari and wasn’t disappointed. The dish was amazing, the crab was so fresh and light and the calamari melted in the mouth. My husband’s smoked salmon starter, looked and tasted equally as good. I liked the way they accompanied it with samphire and mini fishcakes, a very inventive dish that worked well. For main we both ordered the feta and minted pea spring rolls which were delicious and the flavours worked so well together. The rosemary and polenta chips were a really unusual side dish and had a nice taste. The coleslaw was probably one of the best I’d had in ages. Unfortunately we were too full for dessert but we will leave room for our next visit when we return to Leeds. I also suggest getting there before 7pm as they have an early bird deal of 2 courses for £12.
The décor of this place is also inviting with wooden table and chairs and loads of interesting art work on the walls. A true gem in the heart of Leeds.

Great food, great service and very chilled out. Came here on a Monday night and just in time for the early bird menu (finishes at 7pm) — it is 2 courses for £12.50 and I highly recommend it (although you may end up straying on to normal a la carte as some of the more intriguing options are not included). Good quality yummy food — pic of my good sized fish and chips with ham hock mushy peas added.

This is restaurant is somewhere I regularly visit when I’m in Leeds. Never had to book a table. Nice little place for a meal with friends where you can chat at a normal volume.
The food is nice and service has always been good.

I’ve not been here before, but Art’s comes well recommended in a few publications so thought I’d try it out while catching up with friends. It was fairly quiet, and it was a little disappointing to see that the £12.50 for two courses offer was on every day aside from Saturday, but hey ho. The atmosphere was very quiet, but nice to talk over. I’d recommend trying the Polenta chips/​crisps.
I went for the chicken, though my friends elected for Vegetarian dishes for obvious reasons. Food came freshly prepared in a timely manner, and portion sizes were spot it. It made trying clothes on later in the day a little guesswork based. Totally worth it however.
As for its namesake, the Art didn’t quite stand out, some pricey pieces, I’d perhaps have preferred a few cheaper ones as well (Dropping £600 on a canvas after a good meal not being to everyone’s taste) for a bit more accessibility. Overall a decent meal, though my partner reckoned the Cod dish was a little bland, and as it was 25C outside I was surprised to find the fan heaters on in the gents!

Two things, a) how have I never been here before, b) how does Leeds keep producing brilliant places.
For a small place Leeds does a lot of things right, and Arts Café is an example of that, its brilliant. Its friendly and a nice ambiance and serves a great range of alcoholic and non-​alcoholic bevvies, but really its the food. Some proper Yorkshire classics and old favourites mixed in with some borderline haut cuisine. I’ve had all the types of ploughman’s, most of the starters and a soup of the day (no, not in one sitting, I keep going back!)
The foods great, its not too expensive (its up there given the greasy spoon options about) and its served quickly in a nice place to be. In fact the service in general is great, despite it almost always being busy (the price of popularity).
Being called Arts, there’s obviously a lot of art on the walls. Most of its of a really high quality too and guess what? Its all for sale! So now you’ve eaten well, you’ve a tasty drink in your hand and your finally achieving one of life’s little ambitions, your a potential patron of the arts!
Its a nice place and definitely on the list of visiting family/​friends safe. Always a crowd pleaser.

Nestled right there on Call Lane, with Call Lane Social and Normans on one side and Vodka Revolution and that horrendous multi-​coloured rental place on the other is what could arguably be described as The Gem of Call Lane — Arts Café.
The art? Periodically half decent, usually expensive, never as good as the food.
With a selection of fantastic menus depending of the time of day you choose to visit, classics such as burgers and fish & chips are surrounded by dishes that sound altogether a little more special involving ingredients which would be more at home in the Mediterranean or some other such far off land.
Arts does everything well — and the food itself is supported by helpful and attentive staff — but for me it’s the simple things that Art’s does that makes it stand out from the pack of Leeds’ less expensive, less steak based eateries… Their bread and olives starter is something that keeps me coing back after near 8 years… tasty warm homemade bread with crisp and tangy olive oil and balsamic… simple and perfect.
Their lunch time «plates» are cheap and cheerful and pack plenty of flavour into decently sized portions, with the Yorkshire plate being everything that any respectable Yorkshireman could ever need in a lunchtime snack. While these are my usual ‘go to’ items, their special pies have of late come in for a hammering, and their lamb, pea and mint effort today was superb.
And as you move on up to the a la carte menu the same attention to detail in the ingredients and the same love is put into the creation of Arts simple, well crafted menu items.
The wine list isn’t massive, but if you love your wine in a shade of pink then they have one of the best off-​white zinfandels I’ve ever tasted.
Ignore the pictures and enjoy it for the fantastic food and generally super attentive staff!

The Art’s Café is definitely worth a visit if you are feeling peckish. With a varied menu offering something for everyone, the dishes are bound to get those taste buds tingling. Service is great with friendly staff.
The EducateFirst Team

Really nice little café/​restaurant. Try the Jaffa Cheesecake and the dipping bread! Heavy on the stomach but absolutely lovely!

The food here was delicious, but we spent the entire meal swatting away flies. There were at least 6 visible at all times on the wall or flying around our table. It’s a shame, because the food was great but I was definitely put off. We will not return to this place again.

The Arts Café has been a mainstay of the Leeds dining scene since it opened back in September 1994.
I have eaten here countless times over the year and have yet to be disappointed.
Their menu displays a consistent standard of quality dishes, encompassing everything from traditional English ham hock terrine via Mediterranean lamb to Indian Pilau.
The menu is regularly refreshed and all the dishes subtly balance an inventive combination of flavours. A goats cheese, pea and lemon oil gnocchi was the latest highlight on my last visit and is as good a dish as anything I have eaten in Leeds over the last few months.
The fact that the prices are so reasonable with mains priced £9-£15 and a great early bird menu offered 12−7pm only adds to my recommendation.
I can think of few places in Leeds offering a meal that offers such great value for money.

A bit off the beaten track and lets face it Call Lane doesn’t look like the most salubrious of areas, but in Leeds, for me, there is no place better than the Arts Café. It’s one of those places that has something to offer no matter what time of day or night you drop in. Whether its just for a drink with friends, a long lunch with the girls, post shopping foot resting with a bottle of wine or a delicious dinner with hubby — the Arts always delivers. I love the lunch «meze» style plates, I love the dinner menu — which is ever changing. The current chef is really good and I hear they have won an award for best food this year. It’s good food, so give it a try if you are hungry. If not just chill. You never feel out of place whatever you want, it’s just that kind of relaxed, anything goes place and that is why I like it so much. Sometimes they even have great art on the walls too!

Well, it was long overdue a revisit, and on this occasion it couldn’t have been more fortuitous than to wander by here the other night, before going to an event, and grab something to eat. I say that as if it was like getting take away or fast food — that’s not the scenario at all. We were rushing to find somewhere to eat at the awkward time of 4.30pm before an event at 7pm and so I had planned to simply go to Fuji Hiro, but was wandering past Art’s and decided to give it another go. We informed the lady that we were in a rush and she said it wouldn’t be a problem so sat down and perused the menu.
All of the menu items sounded delicious and considering the up market vibe of the cuisine they were utterly reasonable in price to boot. In the end I decided to have the venison and we had some freshly made bread and olives to start. The bread was delicious and perfectly cooked, plus, the portion we received was gargantuan considering it cost only a few pounds! The waitress informed us after our orders that one of the dishes tended to take a little while to cook, which was really considerate since we’d said we were in a hurry, but as it turned out we had plenty of time.
Our side order of veg with the meals was again huge and my only slight gripe with the side dishes was that the chips were missing the aoili sauce accompaniment. (I was being too British to ask, but I am sure they would have remedied this!) The venison was cooked beautifully and the sauce and red cabbage matched it well. It was all incredibly delicious, intimate and the service we received was attentive and fantastic. I’m so pleased I came back in to try their food again and I’m certain, given the affordability and quality, I shall be back again soon.
The décor is relaxing as ever and it’s possibly, in spite of the café feel, one of the cosiest dining experiences I’ve had — being sat next to the large radiator helped of course, but the vibe is one of total serenity and it makes for a very friendly and intimate dining experience. I urge you to go there soon for a bite, or perhaps a mid-​afternoon coffee break, before Call Lane gets fully into the swing of the general drinking debauchery that it has become renowned for.
Certainly this is one of Leeds’ finer eateries, so definitely give it a visit if you feel inclined!

People seem to spell this place in a variety of ways. According to the website title there’s an apostrophe (i.e. it belongs to Art) — Art’s café. However, for the rest of the site the apostrophe is dropped (I presume for either convenience or to create a point for discussion such as here). These details are important! :)
Whatever the name, this lovely restaurant is a little slice of Paris right in the heart of Leeds. As indicated in my other restaurant reviews it follows in the proud tradition of Leeds having some of its best restaurants in unusual locations. It’s certainly the best thing going in that part of town.
Where do I start? From the moment you walk in you feel relaxed by the bohemian crowd and inspired by the art work. The food is some of the best in Leeds. On this occasion, I choose the haddock in beer batter and my dining partner had the Sunday roast. We were not disappointed. Whatever the dish, it is usually cooked well with attention to detail and presentation.
Art’s café is also a great place for a glass of wine or coffee, but it has limited space so don’t expect to always get a table. For meals it’s best to book.
This is not a restaurant for the budget conscious, but neither is it overly extravagant. And anything that transfers me from Leeds to my favourite European city in an instant has to be worth every penny.

Great café bar with outstanding food. The salads and platters are the best. Not sure about the art work

Wandering around Leeds I chanced upon this place and it turned out to be an inspired choice. Great vibe late on a Saturday afternoon, with friendly staff, good music on the stereo, Moretti on tap to wash down whatever whets it.
Their club sandwich was nothing short of epic; fresh artisan bread, lettuce that hadn’t been left wilting all day…
Fantastic value; pity I don’t live near, I’d be there regularly!

One doesn’t usually wonder down Call Lane in the daytime, but whilst looking for somewhere to go out for a special lunch for a special ocassion, my boyfriend took me to the Arts Café.
The atmosphere is relaxed, though with such a name, I would have liked to have seen more of an emphasis on the display of artwork around the café. There is art on the walls, but where I was sat, I was not enticed to it. The food is lovely, though maybe not as tip top as you’d hope from such a place, that tries to hold itself as one of the more superior places to ‘lunch’ in Leeds city centre.
It is a very romantic place to go though, particularly I’m told in the evening time. Their evening menu looks to be far better than the simplicity of their lunch version.

I stumbled across the Arts Café one wintery day whilst I was looking for somewhere that little bit different to eat. It’s easy to miss and a needle in the haystack when it comes to rare, little places.
The atmosphere is relaxed and mellow and with the dark wood and soft lighting, it feels almost tranquil.
I visited with a friend and we both ate the Tarragon crusted chicken breast with pancetta & creamed cabbage. It’s £10.95 for this dish but then again, coming from an a la carte menu, I wouldn’t really expect anything less. The portions are obviously rather small but then again, quality over quantity. I could not fault the food and really enjoyed my dish.
We both sampled wine me the Berri Estates Shiraz, which is a soft blackberry, cherry and vanilla wine. He, the Condesa de Leganza Tempranillo which is soft and fruity.
The café soon filled up with groups of friends meeting for a late lunch/​early dinner and candles were swiftly lit on all tables.
Table service was fast and friendly, it was almost as if you were friends to the staff serving you as they were so chatty and polite. I will be visiting again for sure.

Arts is one of the rare places amongst the Calls that is better by day than it is by night.
As you’d expect from a place namely so, there is always plenty of art on the wall to admire and discuss as if you know what you’re talking about as you eat or drink or both.
I’d recommend that you just drink as the food is nothing special although it likes to think it is, and because of this, the prices are a little bit steep. The menu is extensive and classy however, and the place is always full of people enjoying a midday light lunch — I just don’t really rate the food.
Drinking is a different matter — they do real fair trade coffees that never fail to hit the spot, and if you’re after something slightly stronger, they have impressive beer and wine menus — the Weston’s organic cider is definitely the pick of the bunch… but be warned, it’s stronger than you think it is.

This place is like stepping into a bar somewhere in France.
Its small but full of atmosphere. The food is good and different. I had the Fish Plate last time and it was very good.
Its an easy place just to chill, have a drink, eat and chat. Someone invite me to lunch please !!

I went here on a date and it goes down in the history of Lucy as one of the best dates ever. The fillet steak was done to perfection, the wine was good, the atmosphere was cosy and relaxed
I love it here.