About The Waiting Room
The Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, as one of the UK’s longest established vegetarian restaurants. Serving big fresh dishes of imaginative homely food, this previous winner of the Vegetarian Society’s Best Restaurant In The UK Award occupies a Victorian terrace house at 9 Station Road, right by the recently connection-maxxing Eaglescliffe train station, with direct trains to London, Manchester, Leeds and York as well as local routes between Darlington and Saltburn.
The restaurant includes an elegant-bohemian front dining room with high ceilings, a large light, airy conservatory seating 60, a fabulous community bar in the old chemist shop next door at number 11, and also has a recently opened a vegetarian takeaway and bakery with a wood-fired pizza oven next door at number 7, and we have a pretty, viby street-side garden, running in front of 7, 9 and 11.
We became a legally licensed venue for wedding ceremonies this year, and have organised over 1000 live music and arts events with our incredible weekly programme Waiting for Sunday over the past 30 years.
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The Waiting Room is a family neighbourhood restaurant established by Jenny Harding in 1985/86, and run by Jenny’s son Luke since 2003 when he was joined by Mark and Anna, and then Tom - who between them have racked up 60 years as incredible team of chefs, with many other long term staff such as Tilly helping to create a reliable, sustainable business by running the restaurant with tremendous consistency and care. The Waiting Room has earned numerous awards and accolades in that time. The restaurant’s imaginative dishes and menus have always centred around abundant fresh vegetables and whole foods, featuring full-flavoured cooking that is both healthy and very delicious.
The Waiting Room is frequently acknowledged as an important vibrant cultural hub within Teesside, renowned for hosting over 1000 exceptional live music and art events with its Waiting for Sunday programme of left field happenings. We have a strong community-minded ethos and have often provided voluntary work to support community activities;
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We cooked-up and provided 50 meals a week to Little Sprout food charity during Lockdown
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We twice cooked-up "The Town Is The Menu" community banquets for 400 people at a time - for free! at The Festival of Thrift - an incredible huge sustainability-themed festival - (when Redcar and then Saltburn were the themes in successive years).
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We've voluntarily cooked end of season meals for the volunteers and public at Preston Park's Victorian Walled Garden project on several occasions, and have often participated in other community events such as town meals, Stockton International Riverside Festival, and even Glastonbury festival on a couple of occasions.
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The restaurant’s food, ethics and social ethos are so celebrated and renowned in fact that Luke was asked to create a huge years-long art project at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern art between 2015 and 2019. Luke facilitated a tremendous participatory art project titled The Cafe, to create 'The Smeltery' as a living artwork version of the Waiting Room. The Smeltery, gained renown for being the best art gallery eatery in the country and an award for being ‘The Best Restaurant in The North East’.
SUSTAINABILITY
The Waiting Room is an ecological vegetarian restaurant, and vegan-friendly. Research shows that plant-based diets have up to 70% lower environmental impact [Oxford Medical Sciences]. We also recently installed solar panels, as recommended by Net Zero Teesside.
We use local suppliers such as nearby Acorn Organic Dairy, QFS for our daily fresh vegetables, and Suma* (cooperative) for our wholefoods.
We also often use produce from our own garden and often ‘take in’ donations of excess fruit and vegetables from customer’s gardens and allotments when our neighbours donate these to us. We have a strong relationship with nearby Preston Park volunteer walled garden project - where we've cooked up large scale end of season community meals on several occasions (for hundreds, voluntarily)
We're positioned alongside Eaglescliffe Railway Station - on the route of the first passenger railway in the world! (Stockton - Darlington) - and promote this as a convenient and ecological way to reach the restaurant, with regular direct trains available to and from London, Manchester, Leeds, York, Sunderland and Whitby - as well as even more frequent, late running trains between Darlington and Saltburn.
INCLUSIVITY AND ACCESSIBILIY
Physical Access Needs
The Waiting Room is accessible to wheelchair users and others, with step-free access throughout the venue. Over the years we’ve rebuilt our facilities to provide a large wheelchair-accessible toilet, with grab handles. We’ve also removed steps within the restaurant by lowering floors, or else by installing a suitable low ramp where necessary, and have landscaped the garden with hard surfaces to allow level access from the pavement to the front doors of the restaurant and bar. Please note that the smaller bar toilets are not wheelchair accessible so that it is necessary to use the facilities at the rear of the restaurant. We ensure that we have a range of tables to include some that are convenient for accommodating a wheelchair.
Please do let us know when booking, if you are a wheelchair user and have any special requirements or or if we can make helpful arrangements, whether booking for a meal or to attend any of our live music and arts events. We’re always happy to discuss this and to help wherever possible.
Sensory, Noise and Light
We will do our best to accommodate requests such as requirement for additional light, large-print menus or reduced background noise, or else particular seating or cushions. We provide considerations for neurodiverse people including quiet spaces. Please ask. Please put any 'special requests[ in the box within the reservation form on our website, or else phone ahead and speak with us.
Small Children and Babies
The Waiting Room has baby changing facilities and high chairs, and offers ‘small plates’ for children of all ages. (See /menus)
Dietary Requirements
Please see The Waiting Room /Menus page for menus and information about ordering food that is suitable for special dietary requirements; including allergies, vegan or gluten-free diets or any other cultural requirements or requests.
INTERIOR/MAP
The Waiting Room includes a homely front room, an bright, airy conservatory with 60 covers, and the Other Room bar, through in the old chemist shop next door.
front room
The Other Room bar
conservatory
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