Proper Coffee

The Dark Horse Espresso Bar South BankBishopthorpe Road, York

EverydayThe everyday answer

A Bishopthorpe Rd0.2 mi from Bishopthorpe Road centrelast reviewed April 2026

A proper espresso bar on Bishopthorpe Road, one of York's better café streets. The coffee is taken seriously; the waffles are taken even more seriously.

The coffee is the point, even if the waffles have stolen the conversation.

4.7★★★★½(207)
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What we love

  • Trades as a dedicated espresso bar, not a café where coffee is incidental
  • Toasties and waffles worth ordering alongside the coffee
  • On Bishopthorpe Road, York's best run of independent cafés

Location

147A Bishopthorpe Rd, York YO23 1NZ, UK

0.2 mi from Bishopthorpe Road centre

From the Journal

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Busk★ Everyday

Espresso that's been paid attention to, and pancakes that are genuinely one of York's better things. The Bishopthorpe Road call if you want both done properly.

Lapin★ Everyday

The neighbourhood local on Bishopthorpe Road where good cakes and good coffee exist in equal standing, neither overselling the other. Solid, independent, and entirely at ease with what it is.

Stanley & Ramona★ Everyday

Coffee rotates on Bishopthorpe Road, which means there's usually something different since the last visit. The baking is taken seriously and earns its own reason to stop.