red Lion in Waveney

A basic pub that serves nice food

Fantastic delicious food and very friendly staff. A must visit when you’re here 😋

Great food and a really nice local pub

Really nice pub and close to the sea! They had a real fire going (we visited in February) and the friendly / helpful bar staff served great food. If you're looking for a pub that's really light and airy and close to the sea.. this is great.

My wife and I were a walk in. The guy behind the bar was very friendly. Their menu looked very appealing and the specials board did as well. I went for a Serloin steak medium rare. It came back borderline well done. Medium well at best. The mushroom (only one) was dry and shrivelled as if say on a hot plate for a while. The worst thing was the crumble I had for desert. I was gutted. It came served soggy. As if reheated. The crumble was truly unpleasant in texture. Then there was the bill. A 10 % service charge automatically added. We went to the Soul Bay inn by the same brewery today (day after) chalk and cheese. Review of that to follow. But go to The Souls Bay. As good as this place was bad. I hate writing horrid reviews. I don’t post this lightly but my bill was over £100. For that (albeit we had two drinks each) I expect better.

Went to this pub earlier this week during our visit to Southwold for a couple of days R & R. Have to say that this seemed a lovely little pub. However, my wife ordered a Gin and Tonic and we were given a 200ml bottle of Schweppes for which I was charged £3.45! What is going on in this world? £3.45 for tonic water??? To be fair to this particular pub, I have to say that i then asked in the other pubs in the town (Lord Nelson and The Sole Inn) and they were charging similar prices. I would comment that I have sympathy with the pressure that many pubs are under (as you hear so many are closing each week) but this is not the answer, as you will simply drive your customers away (maybe to drink more at home where you can enjoy the same tonic water for about 90p!). Publicans and/or breweries.....please do not insult your customers intelligence (most of them anyway!) with these ridiculous prices. Remember, even those that can comfortably afford it, do not need to drink in your pubs if they feel they are being taken the mickey out of!!

Menu was decidedly limited but the roast was really nice, its dog friendly and lovely inside

Best fish and chips in Southwold. Great service. Good outside seating in summer

Lovely friendly pub , excellent service and a fantastic lunch . Very clean and tidy and cosy atmosphere. Next time my friend and I are in Southwold we will be back again for some more of your delicious food .

Great service and decent food at a good price.

Been to The Red Lion many times over the years, it's always excellent food and service plus a lovely location what more could you want.

Stopped in for a quick pint during a trek around Southwold. Lovely tidy pub, very welcoming. Dog friendly of course (Adams pub).

Another enjoyable visit for drinks ,place is clean,bar staff very polite ,helpful and clearly a popular place due to location on the green .Very lovely pub cannot fault ,food looked amazing and well presented.

We visited for dinner with friends. The pub was very welcoming & had a lovely atmosphere. The menu and specials were varied & we all had a different choice. All were presented very well & were delicious. We had cocktails from a great menu too which were lovely. The staff were really helpful and very friendly. Would definitely recommend and will be returning for another visit. Thank you for a lovely experience.

Fantastic pub close to the beach and town. Good selection of beers and a varied menu of excellent food

Lovely old pub, not doing food on a Thursday so had a bag of nuts. The Adams pale ale was delicious I really enjoyed it.

Good local pub with plenty of drink options.

Friendly pub, i had chicken strips with salad and a very nice coleslaw, the wife had scampi, both were cooked very well, the staff were very attentive and friendly, the menu was a bit limited, and was typical for a pub but no steak was on the menu, we had been for a walk earlier in the day and had stopped for a drink , it was a lovely day so sat outside the front of the pub, it was busy and friendly, the beer was cold and atmosphere was good nice pub will go again.

Food was well cooked, good beer. Waiting staff are very nice very young and untrained. Won’t be returning after paying £5.25 for a double espresso!! More than I’ve paid in smarter restaurants.

Nice food although there was just 1 vegetarian option. Good alcohol free beer. Nice sea view

A really friendly pub with great staff , great beer and great meals. Live music by Greta and Steve, on a rainy Sunday afternoon saved the day, and what a great atmosphere they created.

Whilst we found the menu a little generic, we were pleased to see local ham, eggs, and chips on the specials board and both decided to choose that. The meals were excellent with two slices of thickly cut ham, two eggs, and a good portion of chips.

Good menu, plenty of options for families who all want something different to eat. Decent beer as you'd expect in this town. We liked the pub enough to come back two times in our visit to Southwold.

Good pub food, the haloumi fries were excellent as is the beer. The service is good and we could book a table for Saturday night, great.

Attended this pub on 31/08 in the afternoon with a family of eight. Whilst not overtly rude the bar staff pointedly continued clearing glasses and generally appeared to ignore customers who were waiting to be served. When we were finally served there was a distinctly dismissive attitude as if we were not particularly welcome and were somewhat of an inconvenience. It was in essence one of those pubs where you just sense that you are not welcome. I would recommend avoiding this pub and avail yourself of the other establishments in the area that know what customer service is.

Good place to meet and chat with locals

Popped in just before 12 on a rainy Bank Holiday Saturday with two large wet dogs. Given a friendly welcome and steered towards a table where we could tuck dogs out of the way. Settled into a coffee and Ghost Ship. Then ordered lunch and had a lovely fried fish lunch with chips - plus a bag of doggy treats from a great selection on the bar. Thoroughly good time. Also got to understand the patience and firmness needed to run a successful pub when a large wet group, with dogs and pushchair arrived with their own drinks from somewhere else; when they could not sit where they wanted (reserved space), they grumpily rejected the tables they were offered and went away complaining about service. Weird seems to be the word of the month!

My young family and dog were well looked after by the staff here. Food was great, very impressed.

Oh dear! The Red Lion has been our 'go-to' place to eat in Southwold with friendly service and good portion sizes. But what a ridculous booking system! You book online and then they telephone you. So today I booked a table at 09:00 for the evening. I missed their call back to me. When I called at 5pm to confirm, they had no record of my booking. Incidentally, this was the second time in a week we had made a booking. The first time I phoned them to give me my credit card number and again they could not find my booking. We did eat there and it wasn't full but the food was OK. Talk about let customers slip through your fingers! Confused, Inefficient...and I have to say a bit incompetent. They don't deserve to have any business.

I like whisk with coke I became lion keeper 🧜‍♂️

Very rude and miserable Barman. Going by other reviews this is not the first bad review about him. If hes not the owner I’m shocked he is still employed.

Lovely interesting pub with a great story of ghosts. Chips are amazing, chicken and bacon roll was good. Leg was falling off the table outside but we managed to prop it up. Toilets are downstairs and not particularly pleasant. Would return

Great pub.food lovely.staff friendly.lovely atmosphere. Highly recommend

Was quite disappointed. The prices are wya too high for such mediocre food, servers weren't great as everything had to be done twice, ask for water-twice, because they didn't bring it first time, ask for bill-twice(and now they were not busy). Took orders from 3 people out of 4 and didn't take order from 4th person until we said one person still needs to order. And expected tips at the end, for what exactly? There are way better places around, don't waste your time.

Great pub. Sat outside a number of evenings in the sunshine for early evening drink. Staff great. Ate inside one night - food really good pub food. Dog friendly room inside. Highly recommend.

Best pub in southwold. Only pub where we didn’t feel judged for being tourists. Found that other pubs gave us funny looks and didn’t provide a foul service to us. Lovely pub

Whenever we visit Southwold, we always visit the Red Lion. Absolutely fantastic spot with outdoor seating and lovely staff. The pub food is really great and has varied options, with a specials board. Love the food and the drinks! Would definitely recommend visiting red lion. Fantastic hard working staff.

Good food served with a smile and reasonably quickly at a busy time. Fine Adnams beer, including draught Lighthouse, first I've seen in a pub.

The only complaint I have is that someone needs to learn how to cook squid.

Decent Adnams pub in the home of Adnams.

Very nice pub , very clean polite staff made welcome , great service .Although did not eat there food looked superb .Not far from the beach area, pier and high street .

We have drank in here before but this time we had lunch, great food, good size portions, nice chilled atmosphere with great service, there is not much more you can wish for.

Very nice food, quick service, friendly staff

We had a very enjoyable meal at the Red Lion, fish of the day was haddock cooked to perfection, restaurant waitress was polite and friendly. Would highly recommend.

Slightly overpriced due to location(Southwold)..food was good, would have preferred a bit bigger crab...service excellent and staff personable

I was told restaurant was booked but could take a table in the bar area, I got in there about 6pm she said they were early reservations, so I took a table in the bar area. I looked at the menu and was not very inviting, I did not fancy anything on there It was all fast food and very unhealthy and very expensive scampi n chips peas and side salad and a glass of wine £31.00. I was there for about 1 hour and I did not see anyone go in the restaurant area. I think they did not have enough staff to cover for the restaurant area if the truth was know.

Went there on a weekend as a stop during a bike ride as a group of 8 people. As they did not have a free large table, we asked if they could join two small ones, which initially refused to do and once seated on two separate tables, they agreed to join. The atmosphere was nice, but the service was really bad. We were served by a group of very young ladies who not only looked like they were there against their will, they really rushed us to get us out of the place. The plates were collected while one of us was still eating, Then we were asked to move to the bar areas so they could seat more guests. When we pointed this out between us, the young waitresses started laughing at us and saying between their teeth "bye bye bye" as we stood up and left. Food was overpriced for the quality - the cheapest salad costs £15 and amongst the entire menu they offered only two vegan dishes and one gluten free dish. Do not recommend.

Very nice, not far from pier. The service is very friendly, variously ales and beers, refreshments nuts crisp etc. They do sell non alcoholic to as ghost ship, very friendly community to. Beautiful views around the coast

No food on Thursdays? Ghost ship only in bottles.

A solid average for this place. My food was actually ok (I had the steak pie) which was dry but packed with meat and came with a separate jug of gravy. So defo not complaining. Mash was lovely as were the veggies. However my friends...not so much...below average watery fish pie, a deep fried beige dry seafood platter, a prawn salad without the finesse to justify the price and some fishcakes with no fish. The first server who took our drinks order was lovely, but the one who scowled, grunted and threw our plates down...not so much. We also ordered drinks which we ended up having to retrieve from the side of the bar ourselves. Not the best. The day before when we sat outside and had drinks and crisps was lovely though.

Nice pub in a fab location. I didnt eat here just sat in the sun having a few drinks. Read a few reviews saying staff were rude etc but i didnt find this at all. They were helpful and welcoming. Would definately go back!

Good pub with a quality red lion statue above the door. The bar is bright and long. There is a good outdoors area round the back but the sun mainly hits the front terrace where the crowds are. Worth dropping in for a pint. Looked like one of the better pubs in the area.

Only popped in for a pint and crisps at lunchtime. Pub is much brighter in decor than the last time we visited (a long 7 years ago) and staff were welcoming. Nice clean loos in a dedicated outbuilding. Didn’t eat this time round so I can’t rate the food. Not too busy when we came in April but I know this pub is rammed in the summer.

Nice lunch with friendly staff who rallied round and helped us (including cockerpoo Teddy) inside when it started raining

This is really a locals drinking pub.

Had a great meal on a Saturday night. The staff are very friendly and spend time with you. Food is very good and generous portions. Great choice of beers etc.

Good choice on menu. Nice proper homemade pie. The fish and chips were good. Staff were very helpful and friendly. Drinks a tad expensive but would go again

Locals only. Very uncomfortable vibe, and was made to feel like we shouldn’t be there. A shame as a great location. Guinness was good if that’s any consolation.

Lovely place to sit out the front and people watch or stare at the sea just over the green

Ate here this lunchtime, lovely food . Ellie, the server , was great and very efficient despite the place being busy. Highly enjoyable.

Nice pit stop. Basic food today. I ate Haddock fish cakes, fries and salad. It was cooked well. The fresh fish and chips is probably the best option. Coffee OK but ‘just comes out of a machine’ according to staff so don’t go asking for decaf and one shot !! However it was hot and actually a nice coffee. ☺️👌

Popped in for a coffee and a pint, sat outside, nice pint.

Warm welcome when we entered and shown to a table. Good lunchtime menu. I had fish pie with seasonal veg, my husband had a chicken burger with fries, my brother in law had Thai green curry and sister in law had scampi. We all enjoyed our meals very much...delicious. Would recommend.

Staff are polite/friendly and the bar/restaurant has a great atmosphere if you are stopping for a drink or having a meal. Food quality and taste was excellent for the evening menu with a good selection and gluten free/vegetarian options. You definitely need to pre-book as the restaurant is busy in and out of season. Online booking system really easy to use and the staff phoned next day to take a deposit and confirm booking. Would highly recommend.

Great food, dog friendly & lovely staff.

Always good for the last 40 years I've been going here !

Lovely Adnams (of course) and friendly owner/staff.

Popped in for a few drinks. A character pub, lots of locals & visitors. Staff friendly & drinks served in a timely manner.

Lovely friendly staff popped in for a lunch time pint Southwold is stunning!

Good food and service. Great beer

Great range of gluten free options on the menu explained by knowledgeable people. Food was great and served with good range of Adnams drinks in a homely atmosphere.

Dog friendly and very accommodating with helpful staff

Stopped here whilst on a dog walk, managed to grab a table outside! Really great menu, great choice and really reasonably priced.

Popped in today (13/11/2023) to be met with a sullen barmen, no charm, no charisma, not even a smile on an autumnal afternoon, we wanted to look at the menu for that evening which was nearly snatched from my hands, we orders two drinks and tried to find a seat, was promptly and rudely informed that we couldn’t sit in what was the restaurant (we didn’t know this)! The waitress could have just explained politely but no! We took our drinks outside, neither of the staff members that we encountered were nice or welcoming! We then popped to The Sole Bay in instead, lovely warm welcome by a friendly smiley chap who couldn’t have been nicer, allowed us to look at the dinner menu ( off there now in fact ) without issue although the kitchen was closed! We are here for a week but won’t be spending a penny more here, all the establishments at this time of the year are quiet, so helpful tip for The Red Lion, try being friendly, try maybe a smile or at least a hello, it goes a very long way for people trying to spend their hard earned cash on a few days away!

The food was just delicious. I’m not sure why most places muck about with burgers but the one I had at the red lion was exactly how you want a burger to be. Then we shared a crumble which was fantastic. If it was my local I’d be there every weekend. So many pubs muck about with food. This one doesn’t. Husband had fish pie which he said was just lovely

Lovely pub, great selection of beers (Adnams naturally). It has a nice dining area, but we were only there for drinks. The outside area was spacious, but the weather was not that agreeable. Dog friendly which is a positive for me, although I don't have a dog. Great service.

Very average food at high prices. The place itself & staff were ok. The food was very average. I've never known a restaurant anywhere in the world refuse to swap chips & salad for Veg/potatoes on a meal! How inflexible! Wouldn't recommend & and won't be going again!

Called in for a drink on a Sunday afternoon. Was busy with food orders. We only wanted a drunk and only 1 person behind bar from what I could see so took a while. The southwold stout though is definitely to be recommended.

Stopped here on a Friday night for something to eat. Food was good as was service. Was very busy at the bar, a bit quieter in the restaurant!

Pleasant service. Good selection of food on offer, with an ever-changing specials board. The waiting staff were very pleasant.

The food was absolutely lovely. Ordered ham, egg & chips, smoked haddick and mozzarella fish cakes & chips, southern fried chicken & chips and a side of onion rings which were huge. The portions are very large. The waitresses were very friendly. The service was excellent. Would definitely recommend it.

Fabulous large family gathering for Sunday lunch celebrating a big Birthday . Hired the private room. Staff were so helpful, nothing was too much trouble. Would highly recommend it you have a large group in a relaxed bright sunny room.

Visited multiple times during our stay. Was always friendly when we went in. Excellent choice of Ales from Adnams. Great outside seating area too.

Fantastic staff , polite friendly and very helpful especially manager Paul stayed in carpark opposite

This is my first time at the Red Lion to dine. The menu looked so great, and the food was delicious.

We asked for a table for four on a walk in and we’re given a lovely table in the back room. Warm and friendly staff, quick food service and very good quality too. Very happy

Really good food and attentive service- thanks

Great place ...whether eating or just having a drink

No disabled access and very dismissive about it. Can understand why in 2023 pubs and restaurants are happy to exclude customers. Understand old buildings have challenges, but this place hasn’t even tried.

What a find, thank you Chef for our time and effort put into your food. I can highly recommend the meat and ale pie.

No disabled access, and very dismissive about it.

Just had a lovely meal at the red lion. Hubby had steak pie with mash and seasonal vegetables, I had haddock and chips. Staff were friendly and helpful. We will visit again

A very popular pub in Southwold. Perfectly pleasant, with lots of outdoor seating, but a relatively restricted range of beers.

Good meal, good crowd. Satisfied.

As enjoyable as ever. Take your Adnams pint out onto the green. Fabulous way to while away a hour!

Great service. Very accommodating staff. Food very tasty.

Fabulous service and very friendly under pressure bar manager (Well done for keeping everyone happy) Had a great evening, staff were really helpful and understood our groups allergen request. Food was really good - and the Baileys Cheescake ensured I was full to the gills and happy as Larry. Lovely place

Such a shame, went for a nice dinner and left upset. The food was raw and bloody, the wait was 50 minutes and there wasn’t many people in the restaurant at all. No apology and the prices are shocking! Won’t be back!

Great evening meal tonight during our holiday in Southwold. Actually eaten here before (3rd time!) Staff really friendly and attentive, food lovely, good choice and generous portion size. Had pudding as well this time, very nice. Keep up the good work all at The Red Lion. I'm sure we'll be back

Lovely location and lovely food. Walking distance to beach and shops.