Red Lion in County Durham

I’m not one to leave negative reviews, but after a visit today, I couldn’t not. There was roughly a 20 minute wait from being seated to someone taking our drinks order, then the same again for the drinks to actually arrive at our table. This was followed by a 50 minute wait for our food, and one child’s meal being forgotten about and subsequently arriving when most at the table had finished their food (as well as the peas and beans that were supposed to come with the children’s meals arriving after the meals were finished, and only because I queried where they were). The food was nice, which was the only positive thing about today’s visit. It then took three times of querying where the children’s desserts were before they arrived, though unfortunately the brownie bites seemed to have been incinerated and were rock hard and quite unpleasant. The desserts were eaten while surrounded by the dirty plates from our main courses which, oddly, had been only partly cleared away. We were offered at this point, as we were packing up to leave, some free drinks which we declined, because by this time we had spent almost three hours waiting for the various things we’d ordered and were utterly fed up and desperate to leave. We’ve visited in the past and while service has often been a little slower than is ideal, it has never been this bad and I felt our experience needed to be shared.

Not one to leave bad reviews for places but this one warrants it. Absolutely shocking service. Arrived at 2ish, waited 20 minutes to be served our drinks. Waited another 50 minutes to be served the food. Ordered the chicken fajitas that were tasty. But they forgot to bring the youngest ones so had to wait for that and the adults were finished before she started. Then ordered the brownies for the kids and waited another 45 minutes for those, and they didn't clear the main course in between. Seriously, how long does it take to heat up brownies in a microwave? The place wasn't even that busy. It's like there was one server and one chef for the whole place. Just shockingly slow service and won't be returning in a hurry.

Visited with family last weekend and the food was terrible. Sent it back to be re done and it still came out awful. I did email and give the pub time to respond but I have heard nothing. Service was shoddy and slightly rude. A shame as this has always been a nice place to eat.

We called in for lunch but a lot of people must have had the same idea on a Monday. Food was nice but when the waitress first took our drinks order we waited nearly 30 minutes to receive them. Then at the end when I went to pay the card machine was not connecting to the WiFi very well so the young waitress used her own initiative and her her phone as a hotspot as that had taken 10 minutes. Would go back as food was nice.

Waited over 45 minutes for our meal. Not enough staff working and the young lady who served us wasn't too pleasant. Mams order was wrong but we'd waited that long we just kept it. Didn't come and check if we wanted anymore drinks either. Really disappointed and will not be returning anytime soon

Inside is traditional and plenty of room . Just off the A167 next to the road , a few miles from Durham and Chester le Street a good place to have a hearty meal .

Very dog friendly with treats, water and even blankets available for our 2. Staff were very helpful and service excellent. Sunday roast was amazing. The beef I had was melt in the mouth gorgeous and loads of veg cooked to perfection. Just travelled from Scotland, so just what we needed.

Really disappointed . Ordered a club sandwich. £10. It came on sliced bread, should have been on bloomer and frozen chips. No wonder the place is empty. Wont be back I'm afraid

March 2024 just popped in for a quick meal. Food was delicious as normal. I had gammon and egg which is a favourite of mine. Mothers Day 2023 meal with wife, sister in law and mother in law. Place was busy but the service and food was really good, portions were generous.

I visited today with my dad & Frank the Frenchie puppy…. We didn’t realise that food wasn’t served until 12, but the lovely lady who was working sorted us out with coffee & deserts. Great service & lovely atmosphere. Always loved visiting here with my late mum, so how accommodating & lovely she was this morning was massively appreciated!! Thank you so much!! Highly recommend 🌟

We were recommended to try the Red Lion as a good place to eat, and it did not disappoint. Arrive early as it soon gets busy, even early in the week. The service and food were great, really nice chunky chips accompanying my pie. A really nice pub on the edge of Chester-le-Street.

Stayed two nights. Great value stay with lovely breakfast. Very warm welcome and friendly staff. We’d definitely go back. Had a lovely evening meal there on our last night as well.

Brilliant service and excellent meals, the mixed grill is massive and well worth the price.

Went in for lunch today, always a treat to go there but today feel disappointed. Not sure what’s changed be it chef, staff or ownership but something is wrong. Despit clearly being a husband and wife in our 70s the waitress kept addressing us as “guys”. I’m not a guy, I’m a woman. Why this nonsense. No need to make any reference to guys or girls, just treat us as customers. The chips were under soiled, the slaw was very watery, roll for burger clearly stale. Please sort it. We are happy to pay for good fd and service but if we want trash we can go to a drive through.

Recently had lunch and whilst still tasty, it’s not as good as it used to be. Tuna melt was small and ciabatta wasn’t fresh. Chips we overcooked. Avocado club sandwich and purple slaw were great. Service as usual was good.

Nice meal, friendly staff. I like the interior, nice and warm on a cold day. Plenty of parking.

Called in last Saturday for a drink, lovely pub

Food was fabulous! Will definitely eat here again, when I am in the area.

Lovely warm Chicken on salad, a little steep for a January lunch but nice. No specials anytime of yhe day

Food was excellent and very good portions especially the belly pork

Decent pub, good prices, friendly staff. Nice local.

Christmas Faye - soup was a little bland but nice and hot. Turkey was lovely and roasties - veg was very hard, overall a nice meal though. Service was excellent

Lovely place and a very relaxing atmosphere,also great food.

Staff were very attentive food delicious

Very disappointing service this evening. We were a party of 8 (4 of them young children) booked in for a Sunday dinner so ordered the children's food to come out at the same time as our starter but the service was so slow that the kids had finished their large meals long before we got our mains. We had to ask twice for children's menus and the children's dinners didn't have vegetables on when they arrived so we chased that up and they came out as they were finishing. The mains were lovely but they didn't have all the meat options available and we had multiple rounds of drinks whilst waiting for them that we kept having to remind them of. We had one small dish of vegetables to share between 4 adults. During the meal, we asked multiple times for stacks of empty glasses and bowls to be taken but it all kept piling up and by the time we left, it was all still on the table, including some of the plates from the starters. Every time someone at the table ordered a drink, the staff just took the order and walked off without allowing time for anyone else to order their drinks and we kept having to ask or remind that we'd ordered drinks. I asked for 3 boxes to take some of our food home in and had to ask someone else and then they just brought one over and walked off before I could ask for more so then we had to go up and ask again. I can't count how many times we had to go up and ask for things! Then we asked twice for dessert menus and then had a third time for someone to take our order. After the order was taken, my son started to be sick and one of the waitresses came over and whilst he was being sick, she was talking about how they didn't have some of the desserts. She then realised and asked if we'd like a bucket so we said yes please and about 10 minutes later, (as we were heading out) she came back with a bucket full of water - I'm not sure what use that was supposed to be for someone who was being sick. Then she proceeded to tell us that they didn't have the other pudding we ordered so there were only 2 other options but we just wanted to get out of there by then. If you're going to have so few dessert options then you need to have plenty of stock. I would of understood the poor service if they were understaffed but we were there for over 3 hours in the end and didn't even get a dessert whilst staff were just faffing alot of the time and moving empty tables around and sorting cutlery without seeing to customers in between. Shame as the food was delicious. There were bits of chewing gum stuck under the table and we were sat near the kitchen door too and I wish I'd had some WD40 because it was squeaking the whole time. We all came away feeling disappointed and after seeing recent reviews, I can see this is not an isolated situation at all. Lazy staff and lack of training.

Nice pint ,lovely food and friendly staff.

Had dinner with friends on average wet Thursday night. Restaurant was very busy, partly with festive diners. However, there was no rush for us to speed through the meal, relaxed pace. My friends had the excellent value steak deal; starters, steak, chips and a bottle of wine was £35 I think. I had bread, olives to start then pub classic scampi and chips. Everything was well executed, came to table hot and portion sizes good. With a soft drink and one coffee and tip our bill was £20 each. Ample parking too. Would recommend.

A wonderful pub and restaurant. I really enjoyed the food, and the atmosphere along with the service was great and fast. The location is also a nice area. Service was fast and the employees were polite. I do recommend. I cannot say anything about the rooms as I have not stayed in one, but I do imagine they are great.

Excellent meal and service. The pub was warm and cozy on a very cold night. I ordered a king prawn curry it was delicious 😋 my friend got the sea bass she said that was delicious too. The waiter/waitress couldn’t do enough for us kept coming over asking if we wanted needed anything else. I will definitely return and will recommend the place to family and friends.

As always 5 star, food was perfect and only £30 for two including drinks. Would definitely recommend.

Didn't have a room but the food was good, the service was quick and the staff really friendly. Will definitely be going again soon .

Had Sunday lunch. We had the feather blade of Beef. Absolutely delicious

Food was freezing forgot to bring my full order not impressed

Called in for an early tea and ordered mussels, waited for almost 50 minutes for them to be served we were actually getting up to pay for our drinks and go when the food turned up! The waiter apologised because he had spilled water on my wife's bread but didn't say he would replace the bread we had to ask! We ordered the Shetland mussels as they are enerally particularly good here . Whilst the mussels tasted okay some of them hadn't been cleaned properly and had beards on. The garlic and white wine liquor was extremely salty so we left it. Standards have dropped here, we weren't even asked about our meal when paying and judging by some of the more recent reviews and our experience others have noticed as well. What was a good restaurant is now mediocre. We won't be back for some time.

Chicken kivef was dry couldnt taste the garlic Chips were dry as tho they had been heated up many times Big portions but food isn't very nice Chef needs to start from scratch think about the food he's dishing out Large meals but no thought about whats hes serving.

Took are friends who were visiting for Sunday Lunch, they were very impressed with the food & the friendly staff

Waited an absolute age to be served once we had been seated. There were other tables that were seated after us but served before us. There weren't many people in which made it even more frustrating as the staff seemed more interested in doing anything else apart from serving us. When the food finally arrived, it was Luke warm, to which I would normally complain, but at this point I just wanted to eat and get out. We've been a few times, but will definitely not return.

Food was amazing and the service first-class, will definitely be returning soon.

Visited today for a late lunch. The service was very slow and sluggish. Our waitress could not have seemed more disinterested if she tried. The food was quite bland and salty but the wait for food wasn't too bad

Visited today for late lunch. The service was very slow and sluggish. Our waitress could not have seemed more disinterested if she tried. Food was quite bland and salty but the wait for food wasn't too bad *edit to answer the owners questions* Firstly yes the waitress was the young girl with the pony tail. she seated us, took our drinkers order and left us, no drinks arrived for a good 10 minutes. I clocked the same waitress cleaning an adjacent table and taking another tables order. I flagged her down and asked if she could take our food order, then she remembered we had drinks and said she'd bring them over, which was another wait of several minutes. The food was, Cajun chicken burger which tasted very salty and the beef brisket lasagne which had no real taste. I appreciate that some of my issues may seem like nit picking. But they all added up to make a less than ideal dining experience.

Service was as bad as the food....waited ages while the barmaid finished playing with her phone... asked for menu multiple times. And we were the only people in...while two other couples who came in got sick of waiting and left...

The Red Lion is a steady-hand when it comes to the Sunday pub-lunch with a warm atmosphere, and an excellent internal theme. The food was rather good, excellent value and reasonably well presented. Excellent portion of fish and my dining partner’s steak was cooked perfectly. The only minor gripes we had were the availability of one of the more specialist beers on the day (Theakstone’s Summit specifically) and a slightly wanting portion of roast potatoes in my dining partner’s meal - though they were excellently cooked! Overall a very pleasant and excellent value experience that I would recommend, especially for a family outing.

Came with friends on a Wednesday evening at 7 and it was pretty busy but we were seated and served quickly. Our friends are vegetarian and picked here as there was a good choice for them. Their veg fajitas were very spicy and plentiful and my mushroom tagliatelle was nice if not too warm but hubby's lasagne was a disappointment as more like a shepherd's pie 🤨 his choice of a pint of Summit was also off so not his night. Newcastle did beat Man United 3 - 0 later so he was happy tho! Outside seating available and plenty of parking

We all had a lovely meal, the steak was tender and the lion burger huge, the waitress was great, she went over and above all night even letting me have garlic prawns on my steak which wasn't on the menu., would highly recommend 10/10.

Excellent food-focussed pub with a small number of clean, quiet, freshly decorated and warm family and standard rooms upstairs. Plenty of free parking but also on a direct bus route to Durham and Newcastle, both a short drive/journey from the pub. Beamish, Jarrow, Barnard Castle and the Durham Coast also within an easy driving distance. Food was solid, freshly prepared pub favourites (grills, pizza, etc.), welcomes children but still feels like a nice rustic country pub. I felt the rate was very reasonable, particularly as it included hot breakfast (from 9am). Staff were welcoming and attentive, and both the area and pub felt safe.

Long time since we’ve been here. Going to be an even longer time for another visit. Food was awful quality. Had better in a greasy spoon cafe. Don’t bother going. 😞 and yes it was the right one!

Sunday lunch was delicious. We will return.

Good friendly pub tight parking

I recently had my reception for my wedding here! And they went above and beyond with preparing the table and room, I was able to have Sunday roast menu on a Wednesday and enjoyed the food and atmosphere! All the staff were amazing! I would definitely recommend for private events

Stayed for bed and breakfast. Room was spacious and bed was extremely comfy. One of the best breakfasts I’ve had, Thank you

First time coming thought we would try instead of our local south causey inn reviews looked good, Food looks Good ! However Average pub meal lacking flavours tastes extremely bland wouldn’t come back again but service was overall good just food wasn’t to our liking.

Nice pub But the barman was a bit slow serving He was busy talking Whilst trying to serve people

Beautiful food and very good portions,

Great service. Oops Tagliatelle so good forgot to photograph before enjoying. Really tasty. Another meal here tonight - Tagliatelle - chef adjusted amount of Pesto for me. Absolutely delicious. Kevin enjoyed the gammon. Recommend a great place for service, friendliess+ good service.

Went here for tea with my husband and two young sons, ordered the Sunday roast, myself and my husband both agreed it was best Sunday roast we had ever had out, it was beautiful, both got the slow roasted beef and Yorkshire puddings were great too. Plenty of choice for children's meals and all were good portion sizes. Well worth a visit. I would definitely come back here if i was visiting the area again.

The food and service were good but the general decor and ambience are really tired

Lunch with the sister. Lovely and friendly. Really good choice on the menu

Sunday lunch was good, with the sticky toffee pudding one of the nicest I've ever had.

First visit, called in for a meal as dog friendly, staff very efficient & polite, meal was served promptly & very tasty, would recommend.

Arrived at 6pm for a booking made the day before was told I wasn't on the list and kept getting told we don't do walk in we not we booked I know it in my call log eventually they decide to let us in the women who took our order I recognised her voice she remembered me ringing the day before no apology at all my friends meal was cold told the waiter who just shrugged his shoulders no one returned to our table again to ask if we wanted a drink dessert or anything was disgusted in the whole evening and won't be returning

Was nice waited a while but it was nice

Very busy went on recommendations good service, food warm

Excellent food. Reasonable price. Best sunday lunch in a long time. Definitely recommend

Food was fantastic but the service was poor.

Wonderful place to stop on the way home. Great location, Very friendly staff

Booked for Sunday lunch, been many times, but was a disappointment this time. Not all beer taps on, no gluten free beer at all, food items missing from our orders, no horseradish for Sunday lunch, and the bill was incorrect 3 times. The food itself was very tasty which is the sad thing. You need to look at the other issues I'm afraid. Some basics which you need to get right.

My family and I recently visited the Red Lion for lunch and we had a great time. It's a charming pub restaurant that caters to families, offering a comfortable atmosphere and it's decor suited to it's target audience (families). We all ordered our food, with my family each choosing the scampi and fries while I opted for the BLT with fries. The feedback from my family was overwhelmingly positive, as they found their food to be delicious and the scampi tasted fresh. As for my BLT, I must say it was absolutely fantastic. The bacon had a unique, char-grilled flavour that I had never experienced before, and when combined with the perfectly toasted bread, it created an amazing taste sensation. The accompanying skin-on fries were also delightful, providing a fresh and tasty complement to the main dish. However, I do have one minor criticism to share. The Coke Zero we ordered seemed to be running low on syrup or had a low percentage of it, resulting in a lack of taste. Thankfully, the staff kindly replaced it without any issues when we brought it to their attention. Despite this small hiccup, I wholeheartedly recommend visiting the Red Lion. It's a lovely establishment that offers delicious food and a welcoming environment for families.

Just had meal and was disappointed. Fish lovely but chips had skins on and were brown and disappointing. Told that's how they did chips now. Not for me. Used to be wonderful. How sad ! ,, ellent pub, good food, nice atmjiosohere. Well worth a visit

Excellent service, great food, nice people 👍 keep it up?

My wife does not review but has just come home from a shambolic 3 hour gathering with colleagues for a meal. Waited for drinks. Waited for starters. Waited for mains, which in my wife’s case was cold upon delivery. Waited for a celebration cake that was supposed to have been brought out upon finishing mains. Most unremarkable experience and her words were “she won’t be going back”. My wife was full of hell when she got home so it must have been pretty poor. Shame.

The breakfast was fantastic one of the best I have had in a long time

Large portions of well cooked , tasty Pub Grub served by friendly and efficient staff - spacious interior with a large beer garden and plenty of parking

A busy roadside pub and restaurant , with a large beer garden . It has a long and comprehensive menu, but service is quick and friendly - the best and tastiest skin on chips I have had for years - the batter on my cod was really crispy - really worth a visit at the price

Visited today with two others , bar staff were very unhelpful and no offer off assistance to carry drinks Been here previously and food was lovely , but today was terrible poor quality !!! They have put up the prices but made the portions much smaller Everything seemed to much for the staff , they were quite rude and was no please or thankyou , Very unattended!!! Felt uncomfortable, not a good atmosphere The outside tables and chairs are of poorly quality and a lick of paint wouldn't go a miss When your spending £50 plus on food and drink you expect some quality

Lovely food and outside seating area great for dogs and kids.

Had special steak night meal for two.Started with a belly pork bites starter and it was the best I've tasted in a long time. The steak meal was perfect,lovely home cut chips and the pepper sauce delicious. The staff are so friendly but very professional too. Can't fault the Red Lion, our compliment to the chef and all the staff there, will definitely be visiting it again.

Visiting family and staying local. Thought we would try the steak special meal for two with starter and a bottle of wine included. The belly pork bites in a sticky spicy sauce for the starter was delicious and so tender.Our steaks were cooked to perfection and again so tender, along with the home cut chips and the peppercorn sauce, the meals were faultless. The staff are so friendly and professional we would like to thank the chef and the staff for a lovely evening out, will definitely be back soon.

Ive been here a few times but not for Sunday lunch, until today. I didnt book but would recommend you do in order to avoid disappointment, the food, service and environment was amazing. ❤️ the staff, thankyou for a great day.

West over to Durham over a wedding across from the red lion. Went to the red lion for dinner a few times and couldn't recommend this place. The food here is unreal!! Very tasty and good value.

Took the family for dinner. It was our first time visiting this great pub. First class.

Goodnight beautiful point Of John Smith's Can't wait to go back 😁

Visited for lunch for a birthday celebration. An amazing choice of food. The food we chose was beautiful and the service was excellent. A dog friendly pub. They have blanket for them and made a huge fuss off all the dogs in bar.

Nice location menu ok but disappointed with the food

Thank you for a great stay. We stay in a lot of hotels and this one is one of the best we have stayed in. Super friendly staff and a amazing breakfast! We will definitely be back the next time we are in Durham, thanks again 😀

Didn't have our booking, which was rang in the previous day, but after some time fit us in. Waited another 10 mins before being asked for our order. Sunday lunch arrived but without parsnips, however when asked if they had ran out the waiter apologised and returned with a small bowl of them. Food was nice.

Had a delicious beef brisket. Looking forward to going back to try some other items on the menu.

Food was lovely staff friendly prompt service

Great pud lovely food great service 👍

Very poor. We came for Sunday lunch. When we placed the order we were told that there was no more chicken or lamb yet there was still 3 hours before the finished serving Sunday lunch! They got the order wrong and we had to wait for it to be corrected so the food was cold by the time they got it right.The Yorkshire puddings were terrible, I thought mine was a burnt turkey leg. They should have said that they had no Yorkshire puddings left rather than to put this on the plate. We’ll not be going back.

In a party of 6. Broth and warm bun was enjoyable. Tempura prawns and chilli sauce were very tasty. Broth was served as a starter and prawns when others were having their main meal. Fish and chips was enormous.

Stayed here many times now and want to say, the people here are awesome and always do their best to make you feel welcome. Clean, tidy, good food and drink, friendly atmosphere, what more can you ask for. Thanks again to everyone at the Red Lion, see you soon. :) J

This is my local and I have visited many times. This time I had the veggie Sunday lunch (lentil wellington). As always - generous portions, very tasty just send it out with more gravy haha 😂

Called to book Sunday lunch and glad we did. Friendly welcome, good service and lovely food. Would happily return.

We called in here when we were passing on a Sunday. The staff were great and managed to fit us in, even though it was quite busy. We both ordered the feather blade of beef and they arrived in a scarcely believable amount of time, really surprisingly rapid. Both meals were perfectly cooked. Been here two or three times now and it's definitely on our return list.

Staff friendly but took ages to get served and even longer for the food to arrive. Food was lovely but the service really needs to improve.

Amazing food, friendly staff. Very enjoyable meal out with family.

Had to return some of the food so I wont be returning.

Excellent service and very tasty meals. An enjoyable family meal

Had Sunday lunch here. It was busy however the staff worked very hard to ensure we were well looked after. The dinner was delicious and the portion sizes were generous. I just about had enough room to take in an equally delicious dessert. Thanks to all the staff for a lovely visit.

Has to be one of the best restaurants around here. The food is not cheap but not super expensive either. The portion size is generous. Definitely try this place out!