Lets Discover · Mayfair
Best Restaurants, Bars and Things to Do in Mayfair, London
Mayfair is one of London's most prestigious neighbourhoods, sitting between Oxford Street to the north, Piccadilly to the south, Park Lane to the west and Regent Street to the east. The area is home to some of the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the country alongside established hotel dining rooms, private members clubs and a growing number of more accessible independent venues that have moved into the neighbourhood in recent years. Creators on Lets Discover have recommended dozens of venues across Mayfair covering restaurants, cocktail bars, hotels and cultural landmarks.
What's on in Mayfair
Upcoming events at venues in the area
Fri 27 Mar to Sun 21 Jun
Michaelina Wautier – Exhibition Opening
Royal Academy of Arts
* __Michaelina Wautier – Exhibition Opening__ | Royal Academy | Free for Friends of RA * A 17th-century Flemish painter good enough to be mistaken for Rubens, and overlooked for exactly that reason. Go while the rooms are still quiet.
Tickets available
Wed 6 May
Reimagining the Canon
Royal Academy of Arts
* __Reimagining the Canon__ | Royal Academy * A panel of artists and critics debate what gets remembered and who decides. The question is old; the room will be lively.
Tickets available
Sat 16 May to Sun 17 May
RA Weekend Course: The Art of the Baroque
Royal Academy of Arts
* __RA Weekend Course: The Art of the Baroque__ | Royal Academy | 16–17 May, 10am–5pm * Two days on how power and money created the most theatrical period in European art. Taught inside a building full of it.
Tickets available
Fri 29 May
A Coffee with Katy Hessel
Royal Academy of Arts
* __A Coffee with Katy Hessel__ | Royal Academy * The author of The Story of Art Without Men brings her knowledge and opinions to Burlington House. Conversations like this rarely stay polite.
Tickets available
Tue 16 Jun to Sun 23 Aug
RA Summer Exhibition 2026
Royal Academy of Arts
* __RA Summer Exhibition 2026__ | Royal Academy of Arts | See website | 10:00 * the world's largest open-submission exhibition, back for its 258th year at burlington house. over 1,000 works by living artists, all for sale. summer in london.
Tickets available
Wed 17 Jun
William Kentridge in Conversation
Royal Academy of Arts
* __William Kentridge in Conversation__ | Royal Academy * The South African artist discusses politics, art, and a body of work that changed how we see both. One night, no repeat.
Tickets available
Fri 26 Jun
Gary Hume in Conversation
Royal Academy of Arts
* __Gary Hume in Conversation__ | Royal Academy * Hume made his name with hospital door paintings. He discusses the decades since, in the gallery that helped make him famous.
Tickets available
Tue 7 Jul
Ryan Gander in Conversation
Royal Academy of Arts
* __Ryan Gander in Conversation__ | Royal Academy * One of Britain's most playful conceptual artists at Burlington House. Expect the unexpected. Bring a notebook anyway.
Tickets available
Creator picks in Mayfair
Verified recommendations from Lets Discover creators
About Mayfair
Mayfair's reputation for exclusivity is real but incomplete. Yes, the neighbourhood contains some of the most expensive addresses in London and several of the country's most decorated restaurants. But it also contains Mount Street, one of the best streets for walking and eating in the whole city, and a growing number of restaurants that are ambitious without requiring a special occasion as justification.
The neighbourhood has shifted noticeably over the past decade. Alongside the grand hotel dining rooms and the long-established fine dining institutions, a newer generation of restaurants has arrived that brings genuine creative ambition to the area without the formality that once defined it. Shepherd Market, tucked behind Park Lane, remains one of the most underrated spots in central London for a casual meal or a drink. The streets around Grosvenor Square and Berkeley Square have also developed stronger independent credentials.
Lets Discover creators who cover Mayfair tend to know the neighbourhood's range well. Their picks span from destination dining to the best places for a cocktail before a show, and reflect the fact that Mayfair, at its best, offers some of the finest eating and drinking in the country.
Mount Street is the natural starting point for Mayfair's food scene. The street runs east from Park Lane and contains a concentration of excellent restaurants and bars in grand but approachable surroundings. Shepherd Market, just south of Mount Street, is a small warren of streets that feels entirely different from the rest of Mayfair, with independent restaurants and pubs that have a local neighbourhood feel despite being a few minutes from Park Lane. The streets around South Audley Street, Grosvenor Square and Berkeley Square contain the area's hotel dining rooms and flagship restaurant openings, while Curzon Street and its surroundings offer a slightly more relaxed alternative. Shepherd Street and Trebeck Street within Shepherd Market are particularly worth knowing for a less formal evening.
History and culture in Mayfair
Mayfair takes its name from the May Fair, an annual fair held in the area from the late 17th century that became notorious for its disorder and was eventually suppressed in the 1760s. The neighbourhood was developed over the 18th century by a series of aristocratic landowners, most notably the Grosvenor family who remain major landowners in the area today through the Duke of Westminster's estate. The architecture reflects this history, with consistent Georgian and Regency terraces that have survived largely intact despite the pressures of commercial development. Shepherd Market was laid out in the early 18th century by Edward Shepherd and preserves something of its original intimate village character. Mayfair has historically been home to London's art market, and Cork Street and its surrounding streets remain important centres for contemporary art galleries. Claridge's, the Connaught and the Dorchester are among the hotel institutions that have shaped the neighbourhood's character and continue to anchor its identity.
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