Eating and drinking in Caernarfon

Caernarfon eats and drinks inside and right outside its walls, and most of it is a few minutes from Y Maes. This is where to go, how each place takes bookings, and what each one is good for.

The old pubs

The Black Boy Inn on Northgate Street is the one everyone names. It has 'Built circa 1522' painted on its gable; Cadw's listing puts the building in the 17th century. Food runs from noon to 9pm Sunday to Thursday and to 9:30 on Friday and Saturday, per its restaurant page, and tables are walk-in, with a waiting list run from the door, and the inn warns it gets busier as the evening goes on. Go early, or put your name down and go for a drink on the harbour while you wait. Non-residents can walk in for breakfast in the bar until 11:30.

The Palace Vaults faces the castle across Castle Ditch, and locals call it Pen Deitsh. Cadw lists it Grade II* as a mid-19th-century pub with an unusually intact front, and North Wales Live describes three areas round a U-shaped bar and a beer garden out front where you can watch people come out of the castle.

The Anglesey is on the harbour, against the outside of the west wall. Cadw says it was built as the Customs House, reputedly in 1736. Sit outside with the Menai Strait in front of you; on a fine evening that is the best seat in town.

On the square

Caffi Maes is at number 4 Y Maes, with tables out on the square, and the same company runs Bar Bach beside it. Bar Bach calls itself the smallest pub in Wales on its own site, and does a pizza and a pint every Thursday. There is no online booking there; its site gives the phone, 01286 673111.

A proper meal

Wal on Palace Street takes its name from the old arched wall that runs through the dining room. It does a day menu every day, from 9 till 2, and steaks, pasta and pizza on Friday and Saturday evenings, 5:30 to 8:30, per its own site, and books by phone on 01286 674383. It names its beef supplier as Wavells, a few miles up the road. Dogs are welcome indoors on a lead.

For the occasion dinner, the Gunroom at Plas Dinas is 3.4km south at Bontnewydd, in the country house that was once the Armstrong-Jones family's. The house says it has been in the Michelin Guide since April 2022 and holds three AA rosettes, and its head chef, Daniel ap Geraint, reached the Great British Menu final in 2025. Sittings are at 6pm and 8pm; only a few tables go online, so ring if none show. You will need a car or a taxi.

On the quay

Cei Llechi, the restored slate quay under the castle, is where the makers are. Becws Melys, from the people behind Melys Cheesecakes, does cheesecake, bakes and hot savoury food to eat in or take away. Siop Pen Gwyn makes Welsh butter fudge in the shop, by hand, and the Jam Lady and Cartref share a unit for jam, chutney and Welsh cakes. It is the place to buy something to take home.

A late note

Sheeps and Leeks on Eastgate Street, which you may find in older guides, closed on 31 July 2025, by its own announcement. Its owners say pop-ups and a food range may follow; until then, it is not a booking you can make.