The Good Food Guide: The Orange Bird and Tonco in Sheffield named among Britain's 100 best local restaurants

Tonco, on Dyson Place, off Sharrow Vale Road, and The Orange Bird, on Middlewood Road, Hillsborough, were both included in The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants of 2023, which was published on Friday, July 8.

The Good Food Guide said it had received more than 37,000 nominations from diners this year for the awards, which celebrate places that are the ‘beating heart of communities around Britain and it was the strongest field of contenders judges had ever seen.

Tonco was opened around three-and-a-half years ago by Flo Russell and Joe Shrewsbury and its ever-changing menu of small plates celebrates the best of seasonal produce, sourced as locally as possible. It has been praised by the Observer Food Monthly, which gushed that ‘every neighourhood should have a Tonco’, while Time food critic Marina O’Loughlin called Tonco a 'gleaming example of local hospitality in the city of steel'. The Star’s own food reviewer described their experience of dining there as ‘something special’.

The Orange Bird was opened in 2020 by Anne Horner and Matthew Duggan-Jones and after seeing out the storm that was the Covid pandemic, it has established itself as one of Sheffield’s best-loved restaurants. It has a South African-inspired menu and has been praised by the Observer Food Monthly as a ‘local joint’ which ‘brings the heat’. The Star called it a ‘real jewel in Hillsborough’s crown’, where the ‘innovative and skilled use of flavour combinations elevates every dish’.

Tonco said it was a ‘lovely surprise’ to make the top 100, adding: “Massive thanks to all our fabulous customers and to our exceptionally hard working and dedicated colleagues who make the restaurant special.” The Orange Bird said it was ‘amazing’ to be included in The Good Food Guide’s list.

Tonco and The Orange Bird were among 13 restaurants in the North East to make The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants of 2023, and the only two in South Yorkshire. The regional winner was Homestead Kitchen in North Yorkshire.