SPARK York — Restaurant in Great Britain

I've been coming to Spark for years now, so i've experienced many of their vendors and seen the physical changes happen across the site. There is one thing I will say about Spark, and that is has a lovely atmosphere and people of all ages and backgrounds are welcome. I will also say I think that it gives independents a fantastic chance to find their feet in York. I've had some great times with my partner and friends at Spark over the years, but it's just not the same anymore. First, I'll start with my own personal belief, but i understand this will not extend to everyone. I am simply tired of the same vendors, or more so the lack of diversity in the vendors. When i first started coming, they had amazing columbian food, tacos, beef burgers etc. that i felt York was seriously lacking. Now, all I feel I have a choice of is some form of chicken burger, a sandwich, or pizza. The Brazilian place at the moment is probably the most exciting. But, like i said... this is personal, and I've been coming to Spark for a long time so I've seen this change. I will very rarely visit Spark unless asked to because of this nowadays. Second thing to mention is probably the pricing, it is quite pricey and I always have to mention that to anyone who suggests we try out Spark. The pints of beer are also incredibly expensive. At the end of the day, you're sat on benches beside some containers that serve you food, it isn't a restaurant. However, I do understand it is good, and fresh quality food, just everyone may not be warming to the prices. Now considering those are just personal beliefs, I want to dive into not so personal beliefs. Recently, I had possibly one of the worst dirtiest tasting cocktail I've ever had. It genuinely tasted like mildew or dirty water. But, more recently i was served completely raw chicken. I understand the pressure on cooks due the amount of customers in respect to their small cooking areas, but it's just not acceptable. I'm sure everything is cooked from fresh hence why this occurred, but better regulation is needed. I was offered a replacement, which was refused and a refund was given. I appreciate the customer service in that regard, but I was so genuinely disappointed. I had introduced so many people to Spark and put in a good word, but that would be my final time ever visiting Spark as I will no longer be returning. My most recent trips have also resulted in ridiculous waiting times which I feel are unacceptable for essentially fast food items. The final thing i will reflect on is a general lack of warmth from vendors. However, these occurrences mostly happened in the past when they didn't bring items to your table. One vendor in particular was so rude in the past that it genuinely questioned me returning here once again. But, as I mentioned I did return but have since decided to no longer do so. It's an end of an era for me and it's disappointing, but I tend to prefer shambles...

A victim of its own success.

We went to Spark a few (3-4) times before lockdown and really enjoyed ourselves. We saw Christmas films and ate food from the amazing food stalls on offer as well as popped in for a lunch during a day of shopping. Each time we loved the atmosphere and the variety of food choices. It had a really creat buzz about it and a very casual atmosphere. We loved the creative and community centered vibe that the place gave off and as small business owners, we always love supporting local community businesses and projects.

So recently, when we went into York for a day, we thought we would pop by for a lunch. We were so disappointed to find that the entire experience can now only be described as "rigid" and "hectic". We had to queue at the door (totally fine by us) and when we were let in, we were shuttled to the tables and told where we were to sit - browsing or choosing our own seat was clearly discouraged. There was barely room for the two of us on the table and every inch of the place was rammed with people.

You could no longer order directly from the food vendors which was a real shame. I love having the option to order from an app for delivery to my seat... but when ordering from street food vendors... I really prefer to be able to talk to them directly, ask questions, browse their offerings and even ask for an order to have amendments such as taking off an ingredient I don't like, etc. That is part of the charm of supporting small businesses. However you HAD to order from the app - no options.

The whole experience was a bit of a "human drive through"..... get in.. sit where you are told.... order how you are told... eat your food and then get the heck outta there. NEXT!

No human interaction. No personal choice. No personal space (don't mind sharing a table but yeeeesh... their legs were touching me, the table was so crammed). No feeling of relaxing time to yourself.

Personally, I would rather get food from the market near the Shambles so I don't feel like I am being policed by the dinner ladies in a self...

This was my first time visiting Spark after friends who live in York recommended it. The amount of variety was crazy!!!

My reason for the star drop is because you order it via an app - which I absolutely love! But it is via Deliveroo and there are no instructions on how to order so Deliveroo kept trying to send my order to my own house, it also means if you want items from different companies then you need to do multiple orders which means your food will not get there in time. I ordered a Pizza and I had finished mine before others had even arrived. I realise the whole point is that you can order what food you want wherever you want but I did hope we could have at least ate most of the meal together.

I ordered Fungi Pizza and Rosemary and Garlic Fries with a lemonade. The pizza was lovely and you can tell it was homemade, the crust was the best part! Yum! I am a vegetarian and was worried at first how many options there would be but there were so many, I would of gone for something more adventurous (Greek, Tacos, Burrito, Ramen etc) but I was just so hungry I wanted to have something I know I would like. They were so many otoiins though and some places were completely Vegan.

A great set up with all the different options available.

There is no booking system in place so you do have to queue, however there is lots of seating so we didn't have to wait too long.

The toilets were unisex and were extremely clean, the table was clean and was wiped before we sat down.

Really enjoyed it and I will go back and try...