Yorkshire's best coffee town, according to Google reviews
63 towns and cities, 1,279 independent coffee shops and cafes, and 306,255 Google reviews between them. Here is where the coffee is rated best, and how we worked it out.
Download the full data (CSV)Key findings
- Otley is Yorkshire’s best coffee town. Its 24 independent coffee shops and cafes average 4.71 stars, and 82% of their 3,051 Google reviews give five stars.
- Doncaster is the best of the cities. Third overall, ahead of Sheffield in sixth, Leeds in seventh, Harrogate in tenth, Hull in thirteenth and York in fourteenth.
- Wharfedale and north Leeds take three of the top five. Otley, Guiseley and Horsforth, with Holmfirth fourth.
- Scarborough leads North Yorkshire and Hull leads East Yorkshire.
- Cleckheaton has the happiest reviewers. 83% of its coffee shop reviews are five stars, the highest share in the study, and Limini Coffee, a roastery there, holds a 5.0 from 352 reviews, the best of any shop with more than 200.
- Independents beat the chains everywhere. Yorkshire’s independents average 4.57 stars across 306,255 reviews. The national chains average 4.20: Costa’s 79 Yorkshire branches 4.17, Starbucks’ 41 branches 4.03.
Otley, Yorkshire’s best coffee town
Otley sits on the Wharfe and, on Google’s reckoning, has the best-rated coffee in Yorkshire. Twenty-four independent coffee shops and cafes qualified, which is a lot of coffee for a town that size, and between them they average 4.71 stars. River Cafe leads with a perfect 5.0 from 78 reviews, Olive & Fig has 4.9 from 122, Lettie’s 5.0 from 54, and the most reviewed, Bloomfield Square, holds 4.7 from 394. Eighty-two per cent of every review left for an Otley coffee shop is five stars. Otley stays first when the chains are added back in.
Guiseley is second and Horsforth fifth, so the Wharfe and Aire valleys north of Leeds hold three of the top five places. Holmfirth, fourth, is the best of the Pennine towns, with The Archive Cafe Bistro & Bar at 4.9 from 417 reviews.
Doncaster beats the big cities
The surprise is Doncaster. Its 37 independents average 4.70, 80% of their reviews are five stars, and it finishes third, the best of any city. The Cafe Factor has 5.0 from 146 reviews and Specs Gonzalez Coffee Shop 5.0 from 54.
Sheffield is sixth, with Coffee Lab at 4.9 from 624 reviews and Caffe Tucci at 4.9 from 743. Leeds is seventh with 71 qualifying shops, the most in the study, and 18,028 reviews between them. Harrogate is tenth, Hull thirteenth and York fourteenth. York’s coffee shops are the most reviewed in Yorkshire, 27,459 reviews across 55 shops, and the busiest single listing in the study is Bettys on St Helen’s Square, with 9,183 reviews at 4.6. Bradford is 22nd on its average, although 80% of its reviews are five stars. Wakefield is 24th and Huddersfield 30th.
County by county
West Yorkshire supplies the winner and six of the top twelve: Otley, Guiseley, Holmfirth, Horsforth, Ossett, Brighouse and Cleckheaton. South Yorkshire’s best is Doncaster, then Sheffield, Barnsley in twentieth and Rotherham in 29th. North Yorkshire is led by Scarborough in eighth, where Koda Coffee has 4.9 from 299 reviews, then Harrogate, York, Whitby in nineteenth with Lush Coffee at 4.9 from 532, Knaresborough, Skipton and Filey. East Yorkshire is led by Hull, where The Blending Room has 5.0 from 71 reviews, with Bridlington 32nd. Beverley did not reach the fifteen qualifying independents needed to be ranked.
Halifax, where Halizona is based, is 23rd. We publish the table as it came out.
The shops to know
Sixty-nine independents in the study are rated 4.9 or higher from at least 100 reviews, and forty hold a perfect 5.0 from 50 or more. Among the most reviewed of them: Limini Coffee in Cleckheaton, 5.0 from 352; Rockello in Castleford, 4.9 from 915; Strada Bistro in Cleckheaton, 4.9 from 744; Caffe Tucci in Sheffield, 4.9 from 743; Coffee Lab in Sheffield, 4.9 from 624; Lush Coffee in Whitby, 4.9 from 532; Lago di Como in Harrogate, 4.9 from 436; Le Specialty Coffee in York, 4.9 from 424. Every qualifying shop, with its rating and review count, is in the download at the top of the page.
Independents against the chains
The main ranking leaves out national chains and supermarket cafes so that towns are compared on the coffee shops that belong to them. Counted separately, the chains make the case for the independents on their own. Across Yorkshire the independents average 4.57 stars, review-weighted, with 76% of reviews at five stars. The chains average 4.20 with 57% at five stars. Costa’s 79 Yorkshire branches average 4.17 and Starbucks’ 41 average 4.03. A second table in the download ranks the towns with the chains included. Otley is still first; Guiseley, second on its independents, falls to 27th once its chains are counted.
What a rating means in Yorkshire
Ratings run high. Seventy-nine per cent of the independents in the study are rated 4.5 or better and only 3% sit below 4.0, so a 4.3 is a below-average coffee shop here, whatever it would be elsewhere. That is why the ranking adjusts for the number of reviews: a 5.0 from 25 reviews tells you less than a 4.8 from 800, and the score treats it that way.
Halizona is a marketing agency in Halifax. Google reviews are the first thing most people read before they choose a business, and helping clients earn and answer them is a large part of the work, which is why we measured this.
The full ranking
Independent coffee shops and cafes with 20 or more Google reviews. Score is the review-adjusted average rating, explained below.
| Town | Shops | Score | Average | Reviews | Five stars | Best rated, 50+ reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Otley West Yorkshire | 24 | 4.66 | 4.71 | 3,051 | 82% | River Cafe, Otley 5 from 78 reviews |
| 2. Guiseley West Yorkshire | 16 | 4.65 | 4.71 | 3,353 | 73% | Onward Brews & Goods 4.9 from 99 reviews |
| 3. Doncaster South Yorkshire | 37 | 4.64 | 4.70 | 5,759 | 80% | Specs Gonzalez Coffee Shop 5 from 54 reviews |
| 4. Holmfirth West Yorkshire | 19 | 4.64 | 4.70 | 7,492 | 74% | The Archive Cafe Bistro & Bar 4.9 from 417 reviews |
| 5. Horsforth West Yorkshire | 32 | 4.64 | 4.68 | 6,882 | 77% | The Little Coffee House Calverley 5 from 78 reviews |
| 6. Sheffield South Yorkshire | 41 | 4.63 | 4.67 | 14,471 | 79% | 420 Coffee 5 from 116 reviews |
| 7. Leeds West Yorkshire | 71 | 4.62 | 4.65 | 18,028 | 78% | Ozziez Coffee & Bakery 5 from 98 reviews |
| 8. Scarborough North Yorkshire | 24 | 4.62 | 4.66 | 5,510 | 77% | Koda Coffee 4.9 from 299 reviews |
| 9. Ossett West Yorkshire | 17 | 4.62 | 4.68 | 2,052 | 78% | Cafe Latte & Sandwich Bar 4.7 from 56 reviews |
| 10. Harrogate North Yorkshire | 40 | 4.62 | 4.62 | 18,554 | 77% | Hoodoo Brew 5 from 132 reviews |
| 11. Brighouse West Yorkshire | 21 | 4.61 | 4.63 | 3,117 | 80% | HICE HQ 5 from 158 reviews |
| 12. Cleckheaton West Yorkshire | 16 | 4.60 | 4.61 | 3,739 | 83% | Limini Coffee 5 from 352 reviews |
| 13. Hull East Yorkshire | 49 | 4.60 | 4.63 | 10,872 | 77% | The Blending Room 5 from 71 reviews |
| 14. York North Yorkshire | 55 | 4.60 | 4.61 | 27,459 | 77% | Le Specialty Coffee 4.9 from 424 reviews |
| 15. Shipley West Yorkshire | 41 | 4.60 | 4.62 | 7,547 | 77% | gaffé 5 from 78 reviews |
| 16. Morley West Yorkshire | 26 | 4.59 | 4.63 | 5,324 | 77% | Compassionate Kitchen 4.9 from 107 reviews |
| 17. Pudsey West Yorkshire | 22 | 4.59 | 4.62 | 3,319 | 76% | Kova Coffee 5 from 60 reviews |
| 18. Pontefract West Yorkshire | 20 | 4.59 | 4.64 | 2,301 | 77% | Blondies Brewhouse & Bakes 4.7 from 74 reviews |
| 19. Whitby North Yorkshire | 23 | 4.59 | 4.59 | 11,148 | 75% | Lush Coffee 4.9 from 532 reviews |
| 20. Barnsley South Yorkshire | 33 | 4.59 | 4.64 | 5,051 | 74% | Belle's Coffee Shop and Tea Rooms 4.9 from 52 reviews |
| 21. Wath upon Dearne South Yorkshire | 16 | 4.58 | 4.64 | 4,409 | 74% | The Middle Coffee House Ltd 4.6 from 285 reviews |
| 22. Bradford West Yorkshire | 34 | 4.57 | 4.56 | 8,852 | 80% | Wunder Crumble by MyLahore 4.9 from 151 reviews |
| 23. Halifax West Yorkshire | 40 | 4.57 | 4.59 | 8,711 | 70% | Dag&Dem Cafe and Bakery 5 from 72 reviews |
| 24. Wakefield West Yorkshire | 33 | 4.55 | 4.55 | 4,614 | 76% | Nom Bakes & Coffee 5 from 57 reviews |
| 25. Knaresborough North Yorkshire | 22 | 4.55 | 4.56 | 5,422 | 71% | Esmé’s Coffee House and Kitchen 4.9 from 126 reviews |
| 26. Mexborough South Yorkshire | 16 | 4.55 | 4.53 | 1,483 | 75% | Pettits 4.6 from 341 reviews |
| 27. Skipton North Yorkshire | 19 | 4.54 | 4.55 | 5,254 | 74% | Bean Loved 4.7 from 693 reviews |
| 28. Castleford West Yorkshire | 27 | 4.54 | 4.52 | 4,928 | 73% | Cykel House 4.9 from 147 reviews |
| 29. Rotherham South Yorkshire | 33 | 4.52 | 4.51 | 4,623 | 77% | Rag'n Bone Sheffield 4.8 from 264 reviews |
| 30. Huddersfield West Yorkshire | 39 | 4.52 | 4.50 | 8,986 | 72% | Tommy's Lounge 5 from 78 reviews |
| 31. Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | 18 | 4.52 | 4.51 | 4,203 | 73% | Balance Hebden Bridge 5 from 77 reviews |
| 32. Bridlington East Yorkshire | 26 | 4.50 | 4.49 | 4,993 | 71% | Ey Up Coffee 4.9 from 86 reviews |
| 33. Filey North Yorkshire | 17 | 4.50 | 4.46 | 4,349 | 71% | The Moody Cow at Muston Farm Stall 5 from 59 reviews |
| 34. Batley West Yorkshire | 19 | 4.49 | 4.46 | 5,533 | 78% | Cafe at Number One 4.7 from 80 reviews |
How we measured it
- The source. Google Maps, read through the DataForSEO SERP API on 2026-09-29: the first 70 results for the search “coffee shop” centred on each of 63 Yorkshire town and city centres, 3,804 businesses in all.
- One count per business. Searches overlap, so every business is counted once, for the studied town centre it is nearest to.
- What counts as a coffee shop. Google’s own category: coffee shop, cafe, coffee store, coffee roastery, espresso bar or coffee stand, or “coffee shop” anywhere in the business’s category list. Restaurants, bakeries and pubs that happened to come up are left out.
- Enough reviews to mean something. A shop needs at least 20 Google reviews to be included. A 5.0 from three reviews is not a measurement.
- Independents. The main ranking leaves out national chains and supermarket cafes, matched on name. A second ranking with them included is in the data download.
- The score. Each shop’s rating is adjusted for how many reviews it has, blending it with the Yorkshire-wide average (4.57) as if it had 50 extra reviews at that average, so a shop with 25 reviews cannot outrank one with 800 on the same rating alone. A town’s score is the average of its shops’ adjusted ratings.
- Enough shops to rank. A town needs at least 15 qualifying independents. Those that did not reach it are listed at the foot of the page and left out of the ranking.
Not ranked
These towns had fewer than 15 qualifying independent coffee shops in the search, so they are in the data but not the table: Beverley, Bingley, Cottingham, Dewsbury, Driffield, Elland, Garforth, Goole, Hessle, Hornsea, Ilkley, Keighley, Malton, Mirfield, Normanton, Northallerton, Penistone, Pickering, Pocklington, Richmond, Ripon, Selby, Settle, Sowerby Bridge, Stocksbridge, Tadcaster, Thirsk, Todmorden, Wetherby.
Using this data
The figures are free to use. Please credit Halizona and link to this page, so readers can see the method and the full table. The CSV download holds every qualifying business with its town, rating, review count, adjusted rating and Google place ID. Ratings and review counts are as Google showed them on the dates above and will drift as new reviews arrive. Questions about the method: info@halizona.com.
About Halizona
Halizona provides outsourced marketing for construction, trades and professional services. Based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, working across Bradford, Huddersfield, Keighley, Skipton, Leeds and nationwide. Halizona brings brand, website, social media and marketing together under one team.
Halizona's promise: we will help the right people find you, trust you, choose you.
Halizona's core values
- We measure what matters to you.
- You’ll always know what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what it’s achieving.
- We always and only do the work that makes the biggest difference to your business.
- Founded
- 2019 (company no. 11411758)
- Based in
- Halifax, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- Services
- Marketing strategy, brand and identity, web design and development, SEO, GEO and AEO, PPC, social media management, content, photography, video and drone, email marketing, print
- Contact
- 01422 771606, info@halizona.com