There has been a brewery in Hawkshead since the seventeenth century and the modern Hawkshead Brewery, though now based at Staveley rather than the village itself, still produces ales that turn up in every local pub. Look out for their Bitter, Lakeland Gold, and the Cumbrian Five Hop.
The pubs themselves are the centre of village social life. The Red Lion is a friendly low-beamed place that does a good pint of Coniston Bluebird. The Kings Arms has a beer garden out the back. The Drunken Duck, a couple of miles outside the village, brews its own beer on site — the Barngates Brewery taproom is part of the bar.
For coffee and cakes, Poppi Red, Hawkshead Relish Co., and the Honey Pot all serve good cake and decent flat whites.