From waiting lists and Glastonbury-style bookings, to historic boats, and award-winning grub – Bristol has it all
A Sunday roast at The Bank Tavern
It’s that time of year when many foodie venues begin to roll out their top notch roast dinners every Sunday. And in Bristol we have lots to boast about when it comes to a Sunday lunch – from waiting lists and tickets that get booked up faster than Glastonbury, to roasts with a view and a bit of history.
And, or course, utterly delicious, out-of-this-world food, many of which has been named in coveted lists, or even given awards. A good old British roast dinner is said to be one of the nation’s most beloved and favourite meals, you know.
So, with that said, we have compiled a list of fave favourite spots – from restaurants to pubs to boats – that experts, locals and us here at BristolLive have considered to be the best in the city…
The Bank Tavern
Address: 8 John Street, Bristol, BS1 2HR
No Bristol roast dinner list would be right without The Bank Tavern sitting firmly in a prominent position. After all, this is the pub that sells out its entire year’s worth of Sunday roasts in a matter of minutes – even quicker than Glastonbury sells tickets for its iconic music festival.
This year’s bookings sold out on January 1 in just 13 minutes, with the team telling its customers and those desperate to book, that they had crashed the website with their attempts. Roasts, according to the online menu at time of writing, cost £15 for a classic main, £3 for a starter, £3.95 for a dessert, and £1.50 per extras like additional veg or an extra Yorkshire pudding.
Items and dishes on the menu include things like rare topside of beef, slow cooked pork belly with crackling, red lentil and mixed veg loaf, sticky toffee pudding, chocolate cheesecake, and roasted butternut squash with pumpkin seeds.
While you can check out what BristolLive thought of this acclaimed Sunday lunch in our review here, it’s also worth checking out what top US rugby star Ilona Maher thought when, while preparing for her first match with Bristol Bears Womens, visited The Bank Tavern where she got to enjoy one of the venue’s highly in-demand roast dinners earlier in the year.
The Square Club
A Sunday lunch from the Square Club is quite the feast(Image: Ellie Kendall/Bristol Live)
Address: 15 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HB
The Square Club’s Sunday lunches usually take a break during the summer months, and then return in September/October time. But, as BristolLive What’s On reporter Ellie Kendall describes, they are well worth the wait.
Here’s how she described a roast here back in 2023: “Being that a Sunday lunch is a favourite meal of mine, it’s safe to say that I have sampled my fair share of roast dinners and, so far, not many have come close to the mammoth meal I had at The Square Club. Piled high with meat, veg and all the trimmings, I still dream about this lunch – and am desperate to go back for more.
“In fact, it was so huge, that I even had to ensure I took a ‘doggy bag’ home – and I wasn’t even ashamed to do so. I continued to enjoy leftovers the following day, still just as delicious. What’s more, it won’t break the bank – £22 for two courses and £28 for three courses (prices correct at time of dining but subject to change) of really beautiful food is certainly reasonable.
“Truly delicious, stylish and with warm, welcoming and friendly staff to boot, I really recommend the Square Club’s roast if, like me, you’re a fan of this dish. It’s something special.”
According to the sample menu online in September 2025, prices are now £25 for two courses and £30 for three, all served with seasonal vegetables and truffled cauliflower cheese. You can expect mains such as a dry aged rump of beef, porchetta, pave of skate, and a sweet potato, pecan and date roast.
SS Great Britain
(Image: SS Great Britain)
Address: Great Western Dockyard, Gas Ferry Road, Bristol, BS1 6TY
SS Great Britain’s Sunday roasts were included in a list by a top national expert for The Telegraph in September 2025. BristolLive reported at the time how travel writer Simon Horsford named this one of the 22 best restaurants in the city, saying: “For something truly evocative, the former first-class dining saloon of the SS Great Britain is hard to beat… offers a three-course roast on most Sundays.
“Sit on the unusual red velvet ‘flip’ benches at long, communal dining tables in a wood-panelled room with its elaborate gold-leaf copped columns and imagine you are back in the Victorian era steaming to the US.”
Sunday roasts on board this famous Bristol vessel are a permanent feature here, priced from £39.50, however are only available on select dates listed on the official website here. There are three courses, two courses, and children’s options available, and bookings close 48 hours before each date.
The sample menu online includes dishes such as pan-fried chicken breast, rare roasted topside beef and sage and mushroom nut roast, as well as sticky toffee pudding, black forest trifle and all the trimmings.
The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer
The Sunday roast at the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer in King Street, Bristol
Address: 17-18 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4EF
Back in November 2024 BristolLive readers voted The Royal Navy Volunteer in King Street as the best roast in Bristol. And so we paid a visit to see just how good it is. The King Street pub boasted 36 taps on regular rotation at time of our visit, with a vast array of wines and spirits, so we weren’t short of a tipple while waiting for food.
You can read exactly what we thought of our Sunday roast here.
As of September 2025, the Sunday menu (which is updated each week) consists of the likes of the famed Volley Triple – 32-aged topside of beef, overnight roasted pork belly and shoulder of lamb for £20 – or individual meats priced between £16.50 and £17.50, including a roast quarter of chicken.
There’s also veggie options like walnut and beetroot nut roast or a sweet potato and mushroom wellington, and all is served with trimmings including roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, seasonal greens, carrot and parsnip puree, roasted seasonal roots, and gravy.
BANK Totterdown
Fire cooking at BANK Totterdown(Image: BANK)
Address: 107 Wells Road, Totterdown, Bristol, BS4 2BS
Another 2024 favourite, BANK in Totterdown was named among the 50 best roast dinners in Britain in November of that year, according to The Good Food Guide‘s list of the top Sunday roasts. In the category of best roast dinners in the South West of England, Bristol’s BANK, on Wells Road, was the only establishment in the city listed – others in the region are situated in Cornwall, Devon, and Wiltshire.
It’s not the first time Bank has been named among Britain’s best. Following its relaunch in 2023, it was featured in The Good Food Guide’s prestigious list of Britain’s Best Local Restaurants – one of five Bristol venues featured in the list.
The restaurant now serves up a wood fired menu, designed for sharing, which is described by the team as making the most of produce from the South West, reflecting the seasons and taking inspiration from fire cooking traditions across the globe. You can even get a wood fired roast dinner on Sundays and, what’s more, “laptops and little ones are very welcome”.