A country pub in Cheshire has been named among the top gastropubs in the UK for a second year running.
Chef Gary Usher’s The White Horse in Churton, near Chester, has once again been named in the Top 100 Gastropubs for 2025, compiled by Estrella Damm. Part of the Elite Bistros group, which includes two restaurants in Greater Manchester, the team said they were ‘honoured’ to be featured again.
The pub, which has landed at number 86 in the listing, was bought, extensively refurbished and then reopened by Gary Usher in March 2023. It followed an extensive crowdfunding campaign led by the chef, and since opening has hosted a string of acclaimed chefs and food stars.
READ MORE: Five Greater Manchester restaurants named among UK’s best at top curry awards
Compiled by members within the hospitality industry, including top chefs and food writers, the Top 100 list features the crème de la crème of gastropubs across the country. Before the top 50 are revealed later this month, Estrella Damm will be revealing numbers 51 to 100, over the next ten days.
The list, which is something of a gastropub bible, has already revealed it’s first 14 pubs within the top 100. Other venues already listed include Fox and Barrel, a ‘proper country pub’ also in Cheshire, the Drunken Duck Inn near Ambleside and The Blind Bull in the heart of the Peak District.
Gary Usher’s The White Horse in Churton, near Chester -Credit:Manchester Evening News
Other pubs that have previously featured in the guide include Ancoats’ boozer Edinburgh Castle. It was the first time the city centre pub has made it onto the list, though other well-known dining destinations which have also made the cut include The Pack Horse in Hayfield.
Sharing the news of their position in the 2025 list, the team at The White Horse shared Estrella Damm’s listing on their Instagram stories. They wrote: “Honoured to be in this list again!”
Menus at the pub include snacks such as beer-battered frickles and Cumberland chipolatas, as well as number of toppings on toast including stout rarebit, mackerel pate and fish fingers. Pub classics include haddock and chips. chicken, mushroom and tarragon pie and Sunday roasts such as roast beef and rolled pork belly.
Gary Usher’s The White Horse in Churton, near Chester -Credit:Manchester Evening News
Usher, the chef-proprietor of the pub, is behind a host of award-winning restaurants. As well as Greater Manchester venues Kala on King Street in Manchester city centre and Hispi in Didsbury, he also oversees Wreckfish in Liverpool, Sticky Walnut in Hoole, and Pinion in Prescot, not to mention his own catering business and the cook-at-home spin off.
Sadly, just last week the top chef announced the closure of one of his first restaurants – Burnt Truffle in Heswall on The Wirral. In an emotional update, the chef shared that the North-West restaurant, which he launched in 2015, would be closing as he had ‘never been able to make it work’.
Writing on X last Wednesday, Usher shared: “So Burnt Truffle, I had a ten-year lease and that lease has come to an end. I could have renewed that lease but the honest truth is I’ve never been able to make it work here, I’ve been quite vocal about how difficult the government have made it over the last few years but ultimately I’ve never been able to make it work here.
Gary Usher’s The White Horse in Churton, near Chester -Credit:Manchester Evening News
“It is a sad day, it really is, you know when I think back to when we opened here and we had the likes of Jay Rayner and Lisa Markwell coming and we got two rosettes quite quickly too, we were the first crowdfunded restaurant in the UK with non-investment crowdfunding, so that started our journey with crowdfunding actually.
“So what does it mean for the business going forward, well we carry on, we just keep going, we keep trying and we keep innovating to get through these tough times and that’s it really, thank you to everyone that came, thank you to all the team, thank you to all the guests, we’ve love being in Heswall, we’ve loved being in Burnt Truffle, but that’s the end.”