The Easter Holidays would be the perfect time to head over to Billy Bobs Parlour for some fun and fantastic food.

Located near Bolton Abbey, Billy Bob’s Parlour combines a pretty awesome ice cream parlour with a 50’s American diner and amazing play adventures.

Usually opening daily from 9-6, the travellers amongst you will appropriate the journey/drive to the parlour as it's in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the famous beautiful Yorkshire countryside. From Harrogate it will probably take you around 40 minutes in the car.


Some folk will travel up just for ice cream treats, some stay awhile for the full 50’s belly-filling diner experience, but most stay and play; enjoying all of what the parlous has to offer.

We travelled up last month to try out all three, we loved it and i thought that many of you would like to know how it went. So here's a taste of what you can expect from Billy's place;

The Parlour
Offering all sorts of sweets and treats the parlour will make you feel like a kid in a candy shop:
- Old school ice cream staples like Vanilla and Mint Choc Chip or pick from high-falutin' flavours like Key Lime Pie or Cotton Candy
- They make a decadent sundae, using a wide range of homemade sauces and sprinkles
- They even do their own dairy whippy; available in chocolate, vanilla or a twist of both
- They offer super thick hand-spun shakes the stuff of folklore
- For those wanting something more savoury they sell waffles, stacks of fluffy American pancakes made fresh to order, old fashioned floats and sodas
- As well as ice cream sorbets, sherbets and popsicles to boot

The Diner
I would advise those wanted to sit down for a family meal to book in advance. It can get super-busy and if you don't fancy waiting just call up a few days before with the most suitable time.

You can see their super menu here - its worth looking at before you book!

The diner is full of American vintage décor (The stuff you see in Grease/Back to the Future). The service is really friendly and they appeared to be super switched on to our families needs.

We were lucky enough to be put in a big family booth which was fab as we had loads of space and it was extremely comfy. Throughout the meal they had toe tappin' tune on the wireless, songs you will know and like me, be singing along to.

So in a nutshell it's an American Diner, selling classics like; Hot Dogs, Chilli Dogs, handmade Burgers and more. The also like to mix it up and have their own take on the best Stateside cooking; The Brooklyn Deli, Carolina Chicken and Oklahoma Pulled Pork. Then also have some sexy homemade sides; tumbleweed Onion Straws, Hand-Cut Fries and Hickory Smoked Beans.

I ordered one of the burgers and the girlfriend ordered the chicken club; both came with hearty portions aplenty. The fries were my personal favourite, i dashed a splash of maple-syrup onto the home-cooked chips and by god they were tasty.

Another great touch was the old-school coke bottles!

Play
You will not find a better picnic area in the whole of Yorkshire i promise you that. Located just outside the Parlour and Diner there is are swinging picnic tables and handful of great wooden play houses. These are a good place to sit and eat your ice cream; these are also free to use.

If you haven't eaten in the dinner you will have to pay to get into the main play section, its only a £1 so its well worth it. Within the main play areas you have two barns to play in.

The first barn is what i would call the juniors barn. Packed full of wooden playhouse's in a wide range of vehicles all shapes and sizes; monster trucks, aeroplanes, ship, fire trucks, tractors or trains! Each with their own unique sections; some with swings, slides and steering wheels.

There is also a slide and a trike section where they have some fantastic farm house bikes and trike's. Its all undercover so even if it is raining you can stay dry whilst playing. Another great feature is the floor, it is completely coverd in hay. So if you have a young one that's unstable on his/her feet you can rest safe in the knowledge that they can run around and not get hurt.

Whilst the barn is child proof it is still located outside so on a cold day you will need to wrap up warm.

Play time may be limited to 2 hours, at peak times, if total capacity is reached entry preference is given to diners) And all set amidst the gorgeous backdrop of the Yorkshire countryside.

So if this sounds like your kind of thing why not give it a try, i certainly will be going back again soon! Visit there website for more information billybobsparlour.com or follow them on social media;