When did Betty's become A THING?
When I was a kid it was the sort of place people went into for a quick mid- or post- Saturday shopping in town coffee! I remember the murals on the walls from childhood. I don't know if they're still there as I haven't been in the main one for decades - it's always too busy.
There used to be a good bar underneath it called The Oak Rooms back in the day.
As a child - so, a LONG time ago, we used to go to Betty's when we visited York with the choir, the school, or my family. It was a bit of a treat, but only because we were skint and it was tea from a tea shop.
A decade or two later, I went to York for a job interview at York Council and nipped in to Betty's for a cuppa beforehand. It used to be that sort of place. Just a tea shop. Not a tourist in sight.
I also visited it, as a tourist, back in the early 90s, I think it must have been, and it was still only a tea shop. A nice one, but still only a tea shop.
I have probably had tea in there at least 30 times.
So, I was startled to see a queue round the block to have tea at Betty's, when I visited a few years ago, and several times since. I have not been to Betty's since then, of course. I am not bloody queuing for it!