Bettys on St Helen's Square is the flagship branch of a small Yorkshire chain with a devoted following in the county. The café was founded in 1919 by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner who came to England and adapted his skills to Yorkshire tastes. The result was a combination of Swiss patisserie technique with Yorkshire baking tradition — fat rascals (rich fruit scones with cherries and almonds), Yorkshire curd tart, and elaborate Swiss-style cakes have been on the menu since the beginning. The formal service and the period interior have been maintained with considerable care.
There is usually a queue for the main room, particularly on weekends. The basement Café Royale is slightly less busy and considerably more atmospheric. The fat rascal is the thing to order if you are only having one thing; the afternoon tea is the thing to do if you are making a proper occasion of it. Bettys is expensive by café standards and completely unapologetic about it. You can also buy their baked goods to take away from the counter near the entrance, which is faster than waiting for a table.