Stonegate Yard was known as Oscar’s for many years and was enjoyed by tourists and locals alike as a top class drinking hole and excellent place to eat. However, at the end of 2008, the Oscar’s management team, after failing to have their lease on the building renewed, made the move to new premises and tried to take its well-known name, and subsequently, it’s hard earned reputation with them. The owner of the building protested, and unsurprisingly, wanted the aforementioned name and reputation to stay with the premises. A legal ‘battle’ ensued and now, to cut a long/boring story short, Oscar’s is Oscar’s and is located next to the Biltmore and what was Oscar’s is now Stonegate Yard. Geddit? Ok? Good.
Despite fighting for the Oscar’s moniker, Stonegate Yard seems to be doing just fine without it, in fact thepubsofyork.com think it would do just fine if it was called the ‘Fred West Arms’ or the ‘Gary Glitter Tavern’, such is the inherent style and atmosphere of the surroundings (Well, maybe not but you get the gist).
You enter through a small alleyway into a stylish covered courtyard which is the heart of the establishment. You then have a choice of locations to park your posterior; to your right, an airy, rectangular room which is generally favoured by diners as apposed to drinkers, and to your left, the main building, which is a rambling old Georgian building with solid furniture and an upstairs that again, diners tend to favour.
To be fair to Oscar’s, much of Stonegate Yard’s panache comes from it’s predecessors firm foundations. The current owners haven’t reinvented the wheel but have given it a spring clean, a lick of paint and have washed and dried it’s underpants and added a bit of Bounce in the tumble dryer.
The food is (apparently) still as good as it ever was and the beer selection is also pretty good, despite the fact it only does Black Sheep as a ‘proper pint’ – a fine collection of European lagers adorn the bar and good bottled beer and cider nestle in the fridges.
The fairy lights strung up on the walls, the very modern decor and the über-cool bar staff, do give the place a slightly contrived, un-natural feel, but this is simply nit-picking.
Stonegate Yard is a spanking place to spend a few hours, to have a bite to eat or simply warm your hands on the always inexplicably hot patio heaters.
Stonegate Yard was known as Oscar’s for many years and was enjoyed by tourists and locals alike as a top class drinking hole and excellent place to eat. However, at the end of 2008, the Oscar’s management team, after failing to have their lease on the building renewed, made the move to new premises and tried to take its well-known name, and subsequently, it’s hard earned reputation with them. The owner of the building protested, and unsurprisingly, wanted the aforementioned name and reputation to stay with the premises. A legal ‘battle’ ensued and now, to cut a long/boring story short, Oscar’s is Oscar’s and is located next to the Biltmore and what was Oscar’s is now Stonegate Yard. Geddit? Ok? Good.
Despite fighting for the Oscar’s moniker, Stonegate Yard seems to be doing just fine without it, in fact thepubsofyork.com think it would do just fine if it was called the ‘Fred West Arms’ or the ‘Gary Glitter Tavern’, such is the inherent style and atmosphere of the surroundings (Well, maybe not but you get the gist).
You enter through a small alleyway into a stylish covered courtyard which is the heart of the establishment. You then have a choice of locations to park your posterior; to your right, an airy, rectangular room which is generally favoured by diners as apposed to drinkers, and to your left, the main building, which is a rambling old Georgian building with solid furniture and an upstairs that again, diners tend to favour.
To be fair to Oscar’s, much of Stonegate Yard’s panache comes from it’s predecessors firm foundations. The current owners haven’t reinvented the wheel but have given it a spring clean, a lick of paint and have washed and dried it’s underpants and added a bit of Bounce in the tumble dryer.
The food is (apparently) still as good as it ever was and the beer selection is also pretty good, despite the fact it only does Black Sheep as a ‘proper pint’ – a fine collection of European lagers adorn the bar and good bottled beer and cider nestle in the fridges.
The fairy lights strung up on the walls, the very modern decor and the über-cool bar staff, does give the place a slightly contrived, un-natural feel, but this is simply nit-picking. Stonegate Yard is a spanking place to spend a few hours, to have a bite to eat or simply warm your hands on the always inexplicably hot patio heaters.
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Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)
Oscar’s used to be situated where Stonegate Yard now resides and after a bit of a fight over naming rights (see that review for brief details), Oscar’s set up shop next door to it’s alcohol purveying sister, the Biltmore.