Vetch listed in Top 100 UK restaurants for the second consecutive year

Listed in the prestigious SquareMeal’s UK Top 100 guide for the second year, Vetch has once again been ranked the highest-placed restaurant in Liverpool.

Placed at No. 36, the city centre restaurant is alongside some of the UK’s most celebrated dining destinations, including L’Enclume and Restaurant Sat Bains.

Unlike any other list of its kind, SquareMeal’s UK Top 100 excludes London restaurants, allowing the breadth and diversity of the UK’s regional dining scene to take centre stage. The list is compiled using a unique combination of thousands of reader votes alongside insight from SquareMeal’s expert critics, offering a true snapshot of Britain’s evolving and dynamic food culture. It features everything from fine dining and farm-to-table restaurants to standout gastropubs.

This dual approach makes the SquareMeal Top 100 particularly distinctive, reflecting not only professional critical opinion but also the real-life experiences of diners across the country, which help shape and reinforce the judges’ final decisions.

SquareMeal’s list celebrates the very best in both emerging and established culinary styles, as well as the chefs and hospitality teams who consistently go above and beyond to deliver exceptional dining experiences. To be included, restaurants must offer far more than great food alone – judges consider every detail, from interiors and drinks programmes to service, sustainability and overall ethos.

Explaining the judging process, SquareMeal Content Director Caroline Hendry said:

“For 2026, judges placed renewed emphasis not only on exceptional cooking, but also on sustainability and a commitment to positive, people-first working environments. With professional kitchens often recognised as high-pressure spaces, this year’s list highlights restaurants actively prioritising staff welfare alongside culinary excellence.”

Dan McGeorge, chef-owner of Vetch, Liverpool, said:

“It’s always great being listed alongside your peers. It benchmarks where you’re at and helps you develop. Being listed in SquareMeal’s Top 100 UK restaurants for the second time and being the highest ranked in the city is huge for us; it recognises the level of work the team puts into what we do every day. We think that we’ve created something very special, and continued inclusion in this prestigious listing recognises that.’’