Where Is El Gato Negro Now? Best Local Restaurant Update (Ripponden, UK)
The F Word: Britain's Best Local Restaurant, Season 1 Ripponden, Yorkshire and the Humber
Current status
As of October 2026, El Gato Negro has relocated to 1 Oldham Road, Ripponden HX6 4DN — confirmed via the business's own website/social account, accessed February 24, 2026. The original location is closed.
What the source shows: Manchester's Finest (2026-02-24) traces chef Simon Shaw from the 2005 Ripponden opening to the King Street restaurant in Manchester, and an undated Caterer article calls the Manchester venue the brand's relocation after the Ripponden closure in December 2014. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 1, Episode 6
- Aired
- Address 1 Oldham Road, Ripponden HX6 4DN
- Website elgatonegrotapas.com
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
What happened after The F Word: Britain's Best Local Restaurant?
El Gato Negro, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, took the Spanish heat of Britain's Best Local Restaurant on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word (Channel 4) in the episode "Spanish Restaurants" shown on 2009-12-08, scoring 74 out of 100 against 61 for Lola Rojo of Battersea, according to Wikipedia, which does not list it among the semi-finalists. Manchester's Finest reported on 2026-02-24 that chef-patron Simon Shaw opened the first El Gato Negro in Ripponden in 2005, serving dishes such as octopus, morcilla and regional Spanish cheeses, and that its appearance on The F Word raised its profile. The Caterer, in an undated article that appears to date from early 2015, reported that the Ripponden restaurant closed in December 2014 and that Shaw had secured 52 King Street in Manchester for a relocated restaurant. Manchester's Finest said the King Street restaurant marked ten years in 2026 and has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2017, and the group's website, modified 2026-10-19, lists Manchester and Liverpool venues.
The episode
Also in Season 1
Season 1: 9 of 18 still open · 2 renamed, moved or under new owners
-
Ep 4Chop Chop
Closed -
Ep 4Sweet Mandarin
Open -
Ep 5Simply Thai
Closed -
Ep 5Yum Yum
Open -
Ep 6Lola Rojo
Closed -
Ep 7Discovery Bay
Closed - Open
-
Ep 8The Pheasant
New owners
Nearest restaurants
-
Ramsay's Best Restaurant
Open -
The Hotel Inspector
Closed -
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
Closed -
The F Word: Britain's Best Local Restaurant
Closed -
The Hotel Inspector
Open -
The Hotel Inspector
New owners
Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources we checked
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_F_Word_(British_TV_series)
- manchestersfinest.com https://www.manchestersfinest.com/eating-and-drinking/why-wouldnt-you-want-to-be-here-a-decade-of-el-gato-negro-on-king-street/
- thecaterer.com https://www.thecaterer.com/news/restaurant/site-secured-for-el-gato-negro-manchester
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record fwl-011 · checked by Cal Marchetti.