Independent restaurants in Headingley
There are 29 independent restaurants we've checked in Headingley, Leeds. None is part of a chain or franchise.
Open one to see its address, how to get in touch and where each fact came from.
- Updated 8 November 2026
- Next check due March 2027
All 29, alphabetically
The order is not a ranking: nobody can pay to be on this list, or to be higher up it. How we check
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Birria Birria
Restaurant · Headingley
Independence checked -
Bukhara Restaurant
Restaurant · Headingley
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Cakelin
Restaurant · Headingley
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Chai Walay
Restaurant · Headingley
Chai Walay is a restaurant at 148 Cardigan Road in Headingley. Its Uber Eats menu runs from breakfast dishes such as halwa puri, desi breakfast, aloo paratha and a full English to chicken tandoori panini, wraps, jacket potatoes and strawberry and Nutella French toast. The same menu lists milkshakes, smoothies and iced matcha. It was rated 4, good, at its last food hygiene inspection in July 2025.
Independence checked -
Chef Shabba's Kitchen
Restaurant · Headingley
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Chimaek Oppa
Restaurant · Headingley
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Cub Headingley
Restaurant · Headingley
Cub Headingley, on Shire Oak Road, is a day nursery that also runs a family-friendly cafe open to the public on weekdays. The cafe serves speciality coffee, pastries and homemade brunch and lunch, and has a dedicated children's play area. It is operated by Cub (KME Nurseries Ltd), which also runs a nursery and cafe in Wetherby.
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De Baga
Restaurant · Headingley
De Baga is an independent modern Indian restaurant at 9 Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds. It serves Goan and regional Indian dishes with a contemporary approach, including small plates, sharing bowls, biryanis, breads and desserts, and has an open kitchen. The business also runs a second restaurant in Chapel Allerton.
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Ecco
Restaurant · Headingley
Ecco Pizzeria is an independent Italian restaurant at 93 Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, serving Neapolitan-style pizza, pasta and freshly made gelato, with gluten-free and vegan choices. It offers eat-in, collection and delivery, and also operates a second site in Rusholme, Manchester.
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Fika North
Restaurant · Headingley
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Heaney And Mill
Restaurant · Bar · Headingley
Heaney & Mill is an independent restaurant and cocktail bar at 50 Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Trading since 2017, it serves modern dishes made with locally sourced produce, and runs a weekend bottomless brunch and a Sunday roast.
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Kesar Restaurant And Bar
Restaurant · Headingley
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Lam's Kitchen
Restaurant · Headingley
Lam's Kitchen is an independent Vietnamese restaurant at 39 Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds. It specialises in pho, offering beef, chicken and vegan versions, alongside stir-fried noodles, rice bowls, summer rolls, bao buns and Vietnamese iced coffee, for eat-in and delivery.
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Loaf Far Headingley
Restaurant · Headingley
Independence checked -
London Street Kitchen
Restaurant · Headingley
Independence checked -
Maemes Leeds
Restaurant · Takeaway · Headingley
Maeme's Leeds is a takeaway on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, also trading as Maeme's Peri Peri. It specialises in chicken dishes, including peri-peri chicken, wings and wraps, alongside rice bowls, and is available for collection and delivery through platforms such as Uber Eats and Just Eat. It keeps late opening hours, serving into the early hours of the morning at weekends.
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MAN ZEN
Restaurant · Bar · Headingley
MAN ZEN is an Asian-fusion restaurant on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, run by Thomas Chiang. It opened in early December 2025 in the former premises of its sister restaurant TADA, and serves a modern take on Chinese cooking, including dishes such as salt and pepper chicken wings and sweet and sour prawns, as well as Japanese-style bento boxes. It opens daily in the evenings, with additional lunch service at weekends.
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No 14 Restaurant
Restaurant · Bar · Headingley
No 14 is a restaurant and bar at 12-14 North Lane in Headingley, Leeds. It is run by restaurateur Shaun Davies, who opened it in 2018 in a stone terrace that had previously been Brett's fish and chip shop. The kitchen serves modern British food, described as classic British cooking with a twist, using ingredients from local suppliers including Yorkshire seafood merchants and butchers.
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Olympus Grill
Restaurant · Takeaway · Headingley
Olympus is a Greek street food restaurant on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, trading as Olympus Greek Street Food. It is a small venue with an open grill line and around 20 covers plus pavement seating, serving dishes such as gyros, souvlaki, fresh salads and other traditional Greek food for eating in, collection and delivery.
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Salvo's Restaurant
Restaurant · Headingley
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Slips Deli
Restaurant · Headingley
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TADA
Restaurant · Bar · Headingley
TADA is an independent Japanese restaurant and bar on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, opened in 2023 by Thomas Chiang. Set over two floors with a sushi bar downstairs, it serves dishes such as sushi, ramen, yakitori skewers and katsu, alongside Japanese beers, whiskies, sake and cocktails. It has been described as Headingley's first Japanese restaurant.
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Taylors Sport Bar And Grill
Restaurant · Headingley
Taylor's Sports Bar and Grill is a sports bar and grill on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, opened in March 2023 by the Leeds-based Taylor's Group. It celebrates the city's sporting figures with a hall-of-fame wall and an upstairs Local Heroes Lounge, shows live sport across multiple screens, and serves American-style food such as burgers, hot dogs and nachos. It stands on the Otley Run pub route.
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The Cats Pyjamas
Restaurant · Headingley
The Cat's Pyjamas is an independent Indian street food restaurant on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds. Inspired by India's roadside food vendors, it serves small plates and street bites with dishes drawn from Delhi, Goa and Kerala, tandoori starters and curries, plus vegetarian and vegan options. Food is available to collect or for delivery.
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The Indian Feast
Restaurant · Headingley
The Indian Feast is a restaurant at 62 Brudenell Road in Headingley, LS6. Its Uber Eats menu lists dosas, thalis, biryanis, curries and Indian street food, with named dishes including masala dosa, vada pav, paneer tikka masala, chole bhature and chicken 65. Companies House lists THE INDIAN FEAST LTD, incorporated on 4 November 2024 and registered at the same address. It was rated 5, very good, at its last food hygiene inspection in June 2025.
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The Swine Bistro
Restaurant · Headingley
The Swine Bistro is an independent restaurant on Otley Road in Headingley, Leeds, run by Jo and Stu Myers, the team behind The Swine That Dines. It opened in Headingley in April 2025 following a 2024 crowdfunding campaign, and serves a seasonal, changing menu of modern British food using Yorkshire suppliers, alongside natural wines and local beers. Dishes have included pork and pistachio sausage and a twice-baked Comte souffle.
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Vicky Eateries
Restaurant · Headingley
Independence checked -
Victoria Social
Restaurant · Headingley
Victoria Social is a restaurant at 72A Victoria Road in Headingley, LS6. It was rated 4, good, at its last food hygiene inspection in November 2025.
Independence checked -
Zaap Thai Street Food
Restaurant · Headingley
Zaap Thai Street Food''s Headingley restaurant is at 4 St Anne''s Road. It is one of eight Zaap sites — the others in Leeds city centre, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, York, Durham and Manchester — rather than a single independent venue. The group was founded by Ban Kaewkraikhot, who grew up in Sukhothai in Thailand, ran a street food stall in Bangkok from the age of 18, and moved to the UK to work as a chef before opening her first Leeds restaurant, Sukhothai in Chapel Allerton, in 2002. The first Zaap followed in 2015; Headingley opened in 2020. The menu runs to more than 80 Thai street food dishes, and the rooms are fitted out to recall a Bangkok night market, with neon signage and tuk-tuks. The restaurants are walk-in only and take no bookings. The Headingley branch carries a 4.6-star Google rating from around 936 reviews.
Independence checked
Looking for something more specific?
The same, elsewhere in Leeds
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Other kinds of place in Headingley: see them all.