11 Chester pubs and hotels with 2026 Christmas menus, from £26.95 in December to £150 on Christmas Day, with booking rules. Checked November 2026.
For Christmas Day in Chester, most people look first at the Architect by the racecourse (£109.95 a head), the Brewery Tap on Lower Bridge Street (£100), the Boathouse on the Groves (£99.95) and, out of town, Rowton Hall (£115) and the Grosvenor Arms at Aldford (£105.95). The dearest is the tasting menu at the Forge, £150. Every entry checked against the venue’s own site on 1 November 2026.
Christmas Day menus are almost always pre-order and pre-paid, and most deposits are non-refundable, so read the terms before you book. One thing has changed this year: the Chester Grosvenor closed on 30 September for building works, so its restaurants are not serving this Christmas.
Christmas Day in the city
1. The Boathouse, The Groves
The Boathouse is a JW Lees pub with rooms on the River Dee, just outside the walls. Its Christmas page links a Christmas Day menu shared across JW Lees’ inns and hotels: £99.95 for adults and £49.95 for children, with starters such as parsnip and apple soup or confit duck leg, then turkey with pigs in blankets, beef fillet, salmon or a vegan nut roast, a pudding or cheese, and coffee with a mince pie.
Its festive menu runs from 23 November (not 25 or 31 December), and the pub takes £5 a head off weekday bookings from 23 November to 10 December. The pub marks Plum Pudding Day on 27 November.
Price Christmas Day £99.95, children £49.95; festive menu 2 courses £27.95, 3 courses £32.95 on the early-bird menu
Booking £10 per person non-refundable deposit; full payment and pre-orders by 1 December
Call 01244 328709
Address The Groves, CH1 1SD
Website theboathousechester.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for riverside, children's price, vegan main, Plum Pudding Ale
2. The Brewery Tap, Lower Bridge Street
The Brewery Tap is the Spitting Feathers brewery’s pub, in the great hall of Gamul House, a 17th-century town house up a flight of steps from the street. Its kitchen, King’s Kitchen, publishes a Christmas Day menu at £100 a head: French onion soup, bresaola or smoked salmon bruschetta, then roast turkey and honey roast ham, roast cod or a nut roast, and Christmas pudding, eggnog crème brûlée, chocolate tart or blue cheese.
Through December its Christmas menu is à la carte (butter roast turkey with all the trimmings £21.95), with a set price from Monday to Wednesday until 16 December. The pub says it has what it believes is the biggest Christmas tree in Chester.
West Cheshire CAMRA named it Pub of the Year for 2025.
Open Mon to Sat 12pm to 11pm; Sun 12pm to 10pm
Price Christmas Day £100; Christmas menu Mon to Wed until 16 Dec 2 courses £26.95, 3 courses £32.95; turkey main £21.95
Booking call or email drink@the-tap.co.uk
Call 01244 340999
Address 52-54 Lower Bridge Street, CH1 1RU
Website spittingfeathers.co.uk/brewery-tap-christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for inside the walls, own-brewed beer, vegetarian main, Christmas parties
3. The Architect, Nicholas Street
The Architect is a Brunning & Price pub overlooking the Roodee, in the house Thomas Harrison designed for himself. Its Christmas Day menu is £109.95 a head: six starters including French onion soup and a king prawn and scallop thermidor, then roast turkey with pigs in blankets and chestnuts, dry-aged sirloin, venison loin, a trout Wellington, a Stilton tart or a vegan lentil and squash haggis, and Christmas pudding.
You book by phone or email and the pub sends a pre-order link. From 27 November to 24 December its Christmas Fayre menu runs alongside a December daily menu; tables of nine or fewer can order from either on the day.
Price Christmas Day £109.95; Christmas Fayre (27 Nov to 24 Dec) 2 courses £32.95, 3 courses £37.95
Booking Christmas Day by phone or email, then a pre-order link; the pub advises booking early
Call 01244 353070
Address 54 Nicholas Street, CH1 2NX
Website brunningandprice.co.uk/architect/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for racecourse views, dogs in the bar area, children welcome, vegan main, Boxing Day menu
4. The Forge at Hotel Indigo, Grosvenor Park Road
The Forge is the restaurant in Hotel Indigo, near Grosvenor Park. Its Christmas page offers a Christmas Day tasting menu at £150 a head, the highest price in this guide, and a three-course Festive Feasting Menu for lunch and dinner from 23 November 2026 to 31 January 2027, from £49 a head.
Chester.com reported that last year’s Christmas Day menu ran to seven courses with a choice of Cumbrian beef fillet or turkey; the 2026 courses are not listed yet, so ask when you book.
Open Mon to Thu 12pm to 2.30pm, 6pm to 9pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 2.30pm, 6pm to 9.30pm; Sun 1pm to 7.30pm
Price Christmas Day tasting menu £150; Festive Feasting Menu from £49
Booking online or by phone
Call 01244 735765
Address Grosvenor Park Road, CH1 1QQ
Website theforgechester.co.uk/christmas
Good for tasting menu, hotel restaurant, city centre
Christmas Day out of town
5. The Grosvenor Arms, Aldford
The Grosvenor Arms is a Brunning & Price pub in Aldford, south of Chester, with a garden onto the village green. Its Christmas Day menu is the same as the Architect’s but £4 cheaper, at £105.95 a head, with turkey, dry-aged sirloin, venison and two meat-free mains.
The December Christmas Fayre menu runs from 27 November to 24 December; tables of seven or fewer can order from the December daily menu instead. The pub also lists a Boxing Day menu and Christmas carols with the Cambrian Chords.
Price Christmas Day £105.95; Christmas Fayre (27 Nov to 24 Dec) 2 courses £32.95, 3 courses £36.95
Booking Christmas Day by phone or email, then a pre-order link
Call 01244 620228
Address Chester Road, Aldford, CH3 6HJ
Website brunningandprice.co.uk/grosvenorarms/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, garden, vegan main, Boxing Day menu
6. Rowton Hall Hotel and Spa, Rowton
Rowton Hall is a country house hotel and spa at Rowton, east of the city. Its Christmas Day lunch is £115 for adults, £57.50 for children aged 5 to 12 and £34.50 for under-fives, and includes Prosecco and canapés on arrival, four courses, tea or coffee with mince pies, Christmas novelties on the tables and gifts for the children.
Tables are at 12.30pm or 2.30pm. Its Christmas brochure also lists a festive menu from 15 November to 31 January, served 12pm to 9pm (not 24, 25 or 31 December).
Price Christmas Day £115, children 5 to 12 £57.50, under 5 £34.50, including a £1.50 discretionary service charge; festive menu £36 Mon to Thu, £39 Fri to Sun
Booking online with instant confirmation; non-refundable deposit
Call 01244 335262
Address Rowton Lane, Rowton, CH3 6AD
Website rowtonhallhotel.co.uk/christmas
Good for children's prices, gifts from Santa, two sittings, hotel and spa
7. Grosvenor Pulford Hotel and Spa, Pulford
The Grosvenor Pulford is a hotel and spa on the Wrexham Road at Pulford, south of Chester. Its Christmas brochure prices a Christmas Day carvery with live piano at £125 for adults, £50 for children aged 5 to 12 and £25 for under-fives, with a glass of bubbly, three courses, coffee and mini mince pies.
The carvery is turkey, 28-day dry-aged sirloin and glazed gammon, with halibut and a squash and truffle Wellington as alternatives. On other December days its Christmas Fayre runs in Palm Court and in Nelson’s, its gastropub, and there is a Boxing Day carvery.
Price Christmas Day £125, children 5 to 12 £50, under 5 £25; Christmas Fayre Palm Court 2 courses £35, 3 courses £42; Nelson's 2 courses £29, 3 courses £36; Boxing Day carvery £49, children £24
Booking £20 per person non-refundable deposit within 14 days; balance by 26 November 2026
Call 01244 570560
Address Wrexham Road, Pulford, CH4 9DG
Website grosvenorpulfordhotel.co.uk/christmas
Good for carvery, live piano, children's prices, Boxing Day, hotel and spa
8. The Fishpool Inn, Delamere
The Fishpool Inn is a country pub on the edge of Delamere Forest, run by the same company as the Grosvenor Pulford. Its Christmas Day page prices a glass of bubbly and four courses at £125 for adults, £50 for children aged 5 to 12 and £25 for under-fives, but says that “due to exceptional demand” it is fully booked for Christmas Day 2026.
Its Christmas Fayre menu, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices, runs from 27 November to 30 December (not Christmas Day), alongside the usual menu.
Open Sun to Thu 12pm to 9pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 10pm
Price Christmas Day £125 (fully booked), children 5 to 12 £50, under 5 £25; Christmas Fayre 2 courses £32, 3 courses £39
Booking £10 per person deposit for 6 or more; pre-order for 12 or more
Call 01606 883277
Address Fishpool Road, Delamere, CW8 2HP
Website thefishpoolinn.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for Delamere Forest, country pub, vegan and gluten-free choices
December festive menus (no Christmas Day menu published)
9. The Old Harkers Arms, Russell Street
The Old Harkers Arms is the Brunning & Price pub on Russell Street, just east of the city centre. It publishes no Christmas Day menu this year, but its Christmas Fayre menu runs from 27 November to 24 December, with roast turkey and a sage, onion and bacon roulade among the mains.
Tables of seven or fewer can order from the December daily menu instead, with no pre-order needed. The pub describes itself as “an adult only environment”, so children are not admitted.
Price Christmas Fayre (27 Nov to 24 Dec) 2 courses £32.95, 3 courses £36.95
Booking pre-order for groups of more than seven
Call 01244 344525
Address 1 Russell Street, CH3 5AL
Website brunningandprice.co.uk/harkers/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for adults only, New Year's Eve dining, no pre-order for small tables
10. Ring O’ Bells, Christleton
The Ring O’ Bells is a village pub in Christleton, which says it won gold for Best Family Friendly Venue at the Taste Cheshire awards. Its Christmas party menu runs from Monday 30 November to Tuesday 22 December, with starters such as duck liver and gin parfait and butter-roasted turkey breast with pigs in blankets and cauliflower cheese among the mains.
Coffee and a mince pie are £4 extra. The website publishes no Christmas Day menu.
Price Christmas menu (30 Nov to 22 Dec) 2 courses £32.95, 3 courses £38.95
Booking £10 per person non-refundable deposit; pre-order a week before
Call 01244 335422
Address Village Road, Christleton, CH3 7AS
Website ringobellschester.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, families, vegan starter
11. The Jolly Gardeners, Christleton Road
The Jolly Gardeners is an independent freehouse in Boughton that is listed in the Michelin Guide. For Christmas it offers a festive feasting menu for groups of six to 38: everyone picks their own starter and pudding, and the table shares one main, served on platters, from whole roast chicken, pork belly, beef rump cap, lamb shoulder, Cornish plaice or roast quail, with crispy potatoes, red cabbage and salad.
On Sundays the main comes with Sunday roast trimmings.
Price festive feasting 2 courses £35, 3 courses £45; beef +£10, lamb, plaice or quail +£5
Booking groups of 6 or more; pre-order at least 7 days ahead
Call 01244 835391
Address 33 Christleton Road, CH3 5UF
Website jollygardenerschester.co.uk/festive-feasting-menu
Good for groups, sharing platters, Michelin Guide listed
Closed on Christmas Day
Not every city-centre bar opens on the day. Watergates Bar, the Greene King bar on Watergate Street, says on its Christmas Day page that it “won’t be opening its doors on the day itself”, and serves its festive menu either side. Cosy Club, in the old Westminster Coach and Carriage Works on Northgate Street, is also closed on 25 December; its festive menu runs from 18 November to Christmas Eve, at three courses from £29.95. If you want a Christmas Day pint rather than lunch, ring your local first: most Chester pubs that open on the day publish their hours only in December.
How we chose
These are the pubs, restaurants and hotels people search for when they want Christmas dinner in and around Chester, chosen on the public record rather than on taste: whether a place publishes a 2026 Christmas menu with prices, how long it has traded and awards from named guides such as CAMRA and Michelin. Prices, dates and booking terms come from each venue’s own website and menus as published on 1 November 2026, and Christmas menus do change, so check before you pay a deposit. We left out the Chester Grosvenor, closed since 30 September, and venues whose 2026 Christmas prices we could not find on their own sites. For the rest of the season, see our Chester Christmas market guide, what’s on in Chester this month, things to do in Chester, and our guides to Chester restaurants, Chester pubs, Sunday roasts and afternoon tea. You can also search the directory for restaurants.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@chesteronline.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@chesteronline.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
Frequently asked questions
Which Chester pubs and restaurants serve Christmas dinner on Christmas Day 2026?
Eight publish a Christmas Day 2026 menu with a price on their own websites: the Boathouse on the Groves (£99.95), the Brewery Tap on Lower Bridge Street (£100), the Grosvenor Arms at Aldford (£105.95), the Architect on Nicholas Street (£109.95), Rowton Hall (£115), the Grosvenor Pulford Hotel (£125), the Fishpool Inn at Delamere (£125, which says it is fully booked) and the Forge at Hotel Indigo (£150).
How much is Christmas dinner in Chester in 2026?
Christmas Day costs £99.95 to £150 a head on the menus published by 1 November 2026. Festive menus on other December days are much cheaper: from £26.95 for two courses at the Brewery Tap (Monday to Wednesday until 16 December), £32.95 for two courses at the Architect, the Old Harkers Arms, the Grosvenor Arms and the Ring O’ Bells, and £36 at Rowton Hall from Monday to Thursday.
Is the Chester Grosvenor doing Christmas dinner in 2026?
No. The Chester Grosvenor closed on 30 September 2026 for building works expected to take about two years, so its restaurants are not serving this Christmas, although parts of its website still advertise them.
Which Chester pubs and bars are closed on Christmas Day 2026?
Watergates Bar on Watergate Street and Cosy Club on Northgate Street both say they are closed on 25 December 2026. The Chester Grosvenor is closed altogether for building works. The Boathouse, the Brewery Tap and the Architect are among the city pubs serving a Christmas Day lunch.
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