Red Lion Smokehouse in West Oxfordshire

Arrived with my family to find that it is no longer a Smokehouse, but is now a sports bar. Walked up the road and found another lovely pub instead.

Lovely place to visit in Witney reasonably priced for the mountain of food you seem to recieve highly recommended is the sharing board or if you do go for separate mains it's a must to order the mac and cheese best I've tasted 😀 😋 staff are friendly approachable and services is second to none highly recommended place will defo be back for visit no 3 😁 thanks guys

Just came back from 2 weeks in florida and this is the most american feeling experience i have had in years eating here I would recomend eating here anytime you can

Great food, the service was good as far as the team could help it but there were only two front of house team on a Saturday lunch time. I imagine it was down to a last minute sickie but if that shift was scheduled like that that's poor management. Otherwise food was good and big portions, and steam was doing the best the could, but service was bit slow.

Lovely place and set out well unfortunately this is second attempt with eating here since they moved from The Chequers to The Red Lion and the food quality just isn't there anymore. (Service was brilliant might I add) Starters were great but main meal was very salty and burgers were just 2 thin burgers what felt like frozen box standard burgers which cost £17 each, I did expect a better bite for that money.

Brilliant. Lovely staff, extremely helpful. Fantastic food. Will definitely be going back.

Average at best, burnt ends were good ND the wings, but the ribs and pulled pork was terrible, dry and leftover from the day before, no way was it fresh, service was poor aswell, had to ask for cutlery ask for drinks, asked for the bill then proceeded to wait 10 mins untill u has enough and went and paid at the bar. Wouldn't visit again.

We came to the smoke house last night 7 March and we had a lovely 60 wedding anniversary meal and the staff were great thanks to all John Wilson

So sad to be saying this as had been wanting to go here for ages.....Food was mostly amazing, (apart from a cremated burger bun...only on the inside so it was a stealth burn that caught you by surprise). service was just terrible....I know people say embrace your inner cave man here....but surely cutlery is a given. After asking twice for knives and forks our waitress waited until our food arrived and we asked AGAIN for cutlery...she took a while and proudly announced she had been a while she had polished them for us especially....warm food is better than a shiny fork! She was in fact so proud of herself she totally forgot every single condiment we ordered. Noone checked on whether I was happy with my burnt burger bun that totally over powered the taste of the burger.....and if we had wanted desserts I think they would have preferred for us to go elsewhere....or we could have eaten the tumble weed that rolled past as there was just no staff at all....leaving our uncleared table my partner paid someone he found whilst on his journey to the loo. If you're table is near to the door then please asked to be moved....there is no soft close - it's a fire exit and the door was being slammed over and over and over...nothing to deaden the noise....and this was so LOUD! Oh and I had turned up expecting to pay contactless on my phone to be informed cash only. Luckily for a random reason I had a bag left in my car which had a card in it I never used usually, or, having driven from Banbury, we would have had to return home hungry. The nachos were awesome. Fries too. Apart from the burger bun it was great The fact that everyone was coming and going to the nearest cash point just made the banging worse The barman was great, and a tall girl behind the bar too. Sorry I didn't catch your names but you guys were great....the others? Nope So so disappointing after reading so many great reviews. Makes me sad ...I wanted it to be so good I had already emailed asking about a birthday surprise, but didn't receive a reply Did like their choice of music 🙂

Nice food. Friendly welcome and fantastic service

The service was very quick, staff were lovely and the atmosphere was ok but the food was shocking. The pulled pork was dry as a bone, the ribs were mostly grissle, there was barely any sauce with them and they were tough and undercooked. Quite disappointed with a place that supposedly aligns itself with being a smoke house. Won't be eating here again.

I am a big fan of smoked food, and think it's one of the things that we just don't do much in this country. So I was delighted to find somewhere that did it. Slow cooked meat with smokey flavours is just delightful. But I was also impressed as how good their offerings for vegetarians were. Vegetable chilli, vegan not-dog, Mac and cheese, halloumi fries, and sweet potato fries were between them a pleasant surprise. And the Mac and cheese was far better than some of the disappointing examples we have encountered. Still not entirely sure what my favourite dish on the menu is, but if you are visiting do yourself a favour and add a side of burnt ends. - there's an outdoor space. A patio. Sometimes you get to watch and smell the smoker running ;) - dog friendly.

food was delicious! they definitely don't skimp out on the portions! and the mac n cheese was unreal

First time here. Food was lovely and very tasty. Only thing was that the water in toilets not working properly and hand dryer wasn't working.

Lovely place and staff where attentive. We just felt a little let down with the quality of food. I'd been away working for a few weeks, so I decided on here for a treat for my wife . Drinks were served promptly, and food orders were taken . No issues at all . I chose the burnt ends , and the wife had the wings. The burnt ends where, like trying to eat chewing gum , it was sooo dry . The wifes wings where spot on tho. The mains were OK but not great , and I definitely wouldn't rush back.

A group of 4 of us visited the Red Lion Smokehouse early on Saturday evening for a pre Christmas get together. Starters included halloumi fries, hot wings and nachos, all of which were really good. Mains were mac and cheese, one with burnt ends and one with hotlink sausages, a Big Daddy burger and a Big Pig burger - the quantity and quality of the food were both excellent. Only 2 of us had room for dessert, both opting for the After Eight cheesecake, which again could not be faulted. The service was very attentive and quick without being rushed - notably Aled was very helpful and cheerful. Overall a great experience and would definitely recommend

Fantastic food, staff so friendly Really recommend this place 10/10

Came here twice back to back. As its name states, its a smokehouse. I came here 2 nights back to back because the food was amazing, paired with the amazing service. It was a perfect experience for me. I tried their combo with baby back ribs, pulled pork and burnt ends with dirty fries. The next night I had the Big daddy burger and dessert. The barbecue sauce was perfect. I wish I had more time here to try the rest of the food.

Celebrated my birthday there and would definitely recommend. The portions were massive but the good thing is that we got to take the leftovers home. The music is great and the place looks very nice. Toilets are clean and tidy. We definitely want to come back to try the rest of the menu!

The dishes are most suited for the locals, I was not happy with the hard pork belly.

Great food. Love this place. Excellent service. Only marked atmosphere low as we went around half 5 so was quiet. 100% be coming again. Recommend come here!

The Bakers Butchers T bone steak was amazing

First time here as we are new to the area. Wow this place didn't disappoint. Food is beautiful staff are too ! No really!! Felt very welcome. We love an American smokehouse experience but feel UK can't really pull this off too well. This place can ! Gladly left a tip and can't wait to go back again. Highly recommended!

Service was appalling. We had to ask 3 times for cutlery, several times for salt, and even though we had pre ordered, our dessert was not served until the rest of our party had finished eating. I lost count of the number of times we asked for our dessert.

Fabulous place for a drink and a quality bite to eat. Great atmosphere even for a mid week lunchtime. Would recommend the burgers.

Went for dinner. Food was delicious, service was faultless.

Great service, food & atmosphere 👌

What a meal! We hadn't booked a table however, the gentleman was very accommodating as there were only two of us for dinner on a Friday night. The three staff members did not stop the whole time we were there making sure everyone was seen to and had what they needed. The waitress did apologies for the delays due to being short staff but in our opinion, no apology needed! The three on the floor handled everything and everyone so well and praised the kitchen with our comments about the delicious food! If I lived in the area I would be a local!

The service was quite slow when we were here mid week. Considering it wasn’t very busy it took a long time for both lots of our drinks to come out. The food was mostly very nice with good portion sizes but some of the food was definitely just burnt.

Very impressed! Delicious food. I'm definitely a fan. Great service! My only issue was more space on the plate. I was cutting things and found I was knocking stuff off the plates. A slightly bigger plate would be fantastic. Apart from that it was really awesome. Music was really good and I really like the creativity in the men's bathroom. The superman and wonder woman signs are a great touch. Thank you so much!

Bloody great food food, good price

Great food and great staff m, definitely come here again

As always the food was excellent.

Great smoke house. Embrace your inner cave man! The ribs are 9/10, the fries are great, the burnt ends are amazing, and the pulled pork is very good. For £25 I got a feast with a pint. Best in the area. Don't miss out, and worth booking ahead for busy times.

The Gentleman and lady behind the bar were very attentive and made a lovely fuss over the dog. The starters we had were lovely , however the mains not so much with the chicken burger being really quiet overcooked. Also , the uncleaned glasses were stacked high at the front of the bar as you walk in despite only 1 full table during our visit.

Popped in here on the off chance there was a table available for a walk-in, the staff couldn't have been friendlier, and the manager was chatty and had a good sense of humour. I ordered the big daddy burger and it was big! But cooked perfectly, and the smoked meat only added to its deliciousness. The chips were well cooked and crispy, and there was also homemade coleslaw, which was excellent. I also wanted to try their ribs, but didn't want a whole rack as the aforementioned burger was big, the staff kindly put this through as an off menu side order and I had 4 smoked ribs on the side, these were perfectly cooked, tasty and falling off the bone. All in all, I'd highly recommend this place, and other people should put it near the top of places to eat in Witney. I'll definitely be coming back soon for another burger and a full rack of ribs next time!

10/10 could not fault at all! Absolutely amazing. We had the sharing platter and the meat just melted in your mouth! And a couple of sides. Highly recommend!!

Absolutely amazing service, waitresses were so polite, food was great amd overall great experience :)

A little quiet, but food was excellent and plentiful. Service was excellent also.

Brilliant service, the food came out quick and nice and hot. The only issue I had was the fake smoke flavour. Everything tasted the same like they used the smoke chips or liquid smoke it was almost chemical. That said, the squid was to die for and halloumi fries 10/10! Pork Belly was also tasty. I ordered the mango mocktail with Raspberry, and it was gorgeous! Our bill came to £44.20 with 2 drinks, 2 starters and a combo meal (we got all the food to come out at once and shared it). I would recommend a visit.

But just by chance... What a nice surprise 🤩 Excellent meat and generous portions. A piece of America in the UK. Too bad we're just passing through and unlikely to be able to return.

Great food. Shame about the service.

Sat outside next to the smoker and had a combo plate. The ribs just fell off the bone, what a find in Whitney, highly recommend!

Very good food tonight as it has always been every time I have been here. There was some idiot moaning about the food being too cold although if he had spent less time talking and more time eating it might not have been so cold, mine and my friends food were perfect temperature. You always get one though! Both of the waitresses were very friendly and polite and I look forward to visiting again and having some perfectly hot food!

Cracking place, our server was amazing!!! Whatever she earns as a wee, isn't enough. The place was great, food was amazing and loved every second of being there. 10 out of 10 from me.

The atmosphere is normal...the service is unprofessional. Plates and forks were not served until some time after we had eaten! There were no napkins on our table even though the place was not crowded. I ordered a dish for 28 pounds, but it was not worth its value. Another dish, most of which was chips, was placed on top of minced meat and mozzarella cheese. Its value was 16, but after we objected to it, they made its value half.

What a find … saw this place when I drove by and then saw the reviews and decided I had to try it for myself. Tons of parking nearby and free too, so parked up and wandered over. Wasn’t to busy either but heard it does get busy on weekends. The staff are really welcoming and attentive, offered a table and the extensive menu! Everything you can think of is on there and some great combos! Pulled pork, burnt ends, ribs, loaded fries, burgers and great drinks selection. I’ll deffo be back to this smokehouse …

The food is very good, always has been since they partnered with the smokery, but the service is just poor and the beer is sometimes off if you get a less popular brand. All in all its just not worth it compared to other venues offering great food, good service and non-off beer.

Food was good average price was out the kitchen pretty quick not bad all round service was good

Had a lovely meal. Staff welcoming especially as it was around 3.00pm and we hadn't had lunch. I am a coeliac so a real treat to be able to have ribs. Really enjoyed our visit. Staff couldn't be more helpful.

Friendly staff/owners. The food was exceptionally good and I would highly recommend

Food and service were excellent.

Fantastic food! Friendly staff! Highly recommended!!

Immense smoked food, great service and a varied menu. What a gem

Would recommend, already looking forward to going again. I had a buttermilk chicken and bacon cease salad, while my friend had a veggie hot dog and mozzarella sticks to share

Good food quick and excellent service.

Lovely food and lovely staff. I highly recommend this if you like American food ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had a fantastic meal here after a trip to The Cotswolds Wildlife Park. We were late for the table due to roadworks and lack of parking, but they were still able to fit us in. The staff were great with the kids and made sure their meals came out promptly and were super friendly, which is really refreshing- as a family with 5 children, we often get made to feel awkward for daring to take them out to eat. Would highly recommend a visit here for some great tasting food and amazing service!

Really good friendly staff even went as far as to call my girlfriend beautiful which she loved. The food was very quickly serviced and was delicious. Very clean and nice atmosphere. 10/10 will be coming again.

Sharing platter - Unfortunately the meats were all super dry, very disappointing. Chips and Mac and cheese were nice.

Great restaurant with lovely food

An Australian in Whitney. Serve great, coming between core hours I think I got bit of a dryer Brissett but nice, the nice sauce just couldn't hide the dryness. But the fries, chips, great which tell me I should have come after six.

One of the meals was good (chilli cheese dog) , the other was not, The big daddy burger is much much smaller than it used to be, the meat on it especially brisket was cold, tough and dry, we told the waitress and she said oh sorry and rushed off. The service seemed rushed all through, like we were a bit of an inconvenience. When we finished the meal and we’re asked again was everything ok, we said one meal was nice the other wasn’t so good and pointed out the dry brisket, the waitress slammed the plates down next to me before rushing off and getting someone else to bring the bill. Not a good experience after going to The Red Lion smoke house many times in the past and always really enjoying it. Won’t go back again.

Were recomened this place as we were staying near by. Had a lovely meal the big pig burger was so nice 2 burgers and pulled pork .

Very poor standard went there to day for lunch food was not up to scratch and the service was very unprofessional would not recommend dining there

First time I've been for about a year, unfortunately not up to our previous visits, 2 meals had items missing, and the staff reluctantly went back to the kitchen to check and put the combo's right! The crispy chicken had no seasoning in it's breadcrumb and the Burnt ends (usually a sublime delicacy) were pretty much charcoal briquettes in bbq sauce! Plus a starter was missed, and drinks were forgotten/took a very long time! The staff were friendly, as always, but a little disorganized in taking our orders for food and drink!

Great food and service, would def re visit

Amazing pulled pork and burnt ends!

Brilliant food, brilliant service and brilliant staff!

Lucky find for dinner on a one night stay in Witney. Friendly service & delicious food. My son said the fries were the best he’d ever eaten & my brisket was also amazing!

Great place to eat but it used to be better however since moving location the quality has declined a little.

Slow service but friendly. Kids food was good, our chicken was tough and dry (old tasting). My burger was okay.

Had a lovely lunch here, the chips were especially amazing.

Visiting the area and had lunch here. It has a nice decor and staff very friendly and helpful however I've given 3 stars because my meal was very disappointing. I had the Signature Fried Chicken but the chicken was very dry and the seasoning was tasteless. Infact my food seemed like it was warmed up leftovers. My husband had the big pig burger and he said it was delicious

Went last week at 5pm on a weekday. The food was alright, seems like the portions are smaller than they used to be. Staff stood near till swearing loudly enough for our 7 year old to hear. They just seemed to keep gossiping about everything and moaning about the boss (some lady they clearly don't like) Bill took like 10 minutes to come in a basically empty restaurant. They also added the tip to the bill and you need to request to take it off. That's poor. Unlikely to recommend or return.

Friendly staff. Food was lovely drink option very good . Overall place was nice and clean including the toilets

me and my dad came last year and it was absolutely brilliant, the food was amazing (we had the shared platter) and the staff were great. But unfortunately when me and my partner came again a few weeks ago and got the same shared player, it was awful. The burnt ends were inedible . Was meant to be 2 racks of ribs and we only one. The chicken was dry. One of the 2 sausages that come was half the size and the staff was just stood around chatting while i was trying to get their attention.

fantastic food with a great service. staff all friend and polite... worth booking in advance

We visited on Saturday 28th Feb and booked a table in advance for 12:30. The booking process was really easy and my email was responded to quickly. We were asked to preorder our food which wasn’t a problem. The morning two of our party cancelled and two other members decided they wanted to reduce their order. I called at 12 when they opened and Stacey was really helpful and friendly and said none of that was a problem at all. When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was lovely and warm inside. We were sat by the bar which gave us space to talk to each other away from the main restaurant. Callum came and took our drinks order within a few minutes and these were received promptly. Both Stacy and Callum were fantastic with the two children in our party. The food arrived and was really tasty, we tried the burnt ends which were juicy and not overly Smokey, the nachos were homemade and delicious and the blue cheese sauce with the wings was brilliant. The staff were again really attentive and bought multiple drinks refills and sauce when we were eating. The fried chicken for one person was accidentally cancelled when I joined earlier as it was also ordered by someone that didn’t come. This was quickly dealt with and the food was with us no longer than 5 minutes later while everyone was still eating. The portions were big! The burgers and ribs were especially good but everything looked nice. We were given takeaway boxes for the food we couldn’t manage. Overall a fantastic meal and we were happy to pay the optional service charge (which was mentioned on delivery of the bill and offered to remove if we didn’t want to pay). The only cons to this lunch were a couple of toilet issues, there were only urinals in the men’s and the hand dryer was broken on this occasion. The disabled was next door so it wasn’t a problem. The ladies was lovely and would have only been improved if a full length mirror were provided. We will definitely be back, a lovely restaurant for a family treat.

Couldn't have been more accommodating. Assistence with the ordering, good and accurate advice, quick and friendly service without being overbearing. Excellent American style cooking.

One of my favourite place in town, until today, burnt ends were literally so fatty some pieces were all fat and nothing else, sweet potato fries were served up looking like they were the dregs from the bottom of a bag, literally just 1 completely formed chip in the whole bowl. This was supposed to be my birthday treat, it’s actually been the worst dining out experience of my life.

Staff made it really homely made the meal perfect

Visited this weekend, having had varying experiences of this place over the years. Had previously booked a table by telephone, but was told on arrival that food wait would be at least 45 minutes, which was really disappointing. It didn't seem particularly full but ... hey ho, we waited. Was definitely worth waiting for. The food was excellent, and I am really fussy about eating out! Every item on the platter was delicious, and as delicious when I re-heated the leftovers at home, which is pretty rare. Despite the long wait, the staff were super friendly, apologetic and cute, which really helped. Hope they get these little niggles worked out, as I think they could definitely put customers off, which would be a shame.

Great service. Lovely atmosphere. Just visiting the area.

Amazing food and amazing staff thank you . 😊

If you want a beer, go to this place!

Great place, with exceptional staff. House 12 of us on Saturday night. Staff looked after us all and even put up with a couple of "louder" ok ones. Food was really good, highly recommend the platter.

Had lunch yesterday, great service, great food highly recomend

Great food. Lovely and friendly service.

1st time eating here. Unfortunately the food wasn’t very hot. The metal trays the food is served in were cold which didn’t keep the food warm at all. The pub and toilets was also very cold which at one stage I had to put my coat on. The staff were amazing and have no complaints there. Such a shame as we were looking forward to our visit.

Lovely little place! Well worth a visit but book before you go! Food was delicious when it came out. It took a good while for it to be served but it was worth it, the staff were very nice and apologetic, even got a discount and a free drink, which wasn't really expected. Would recommend!

Friendly staff/owners. the food was exceptionally good quick service will be seeing you again very soon

Food was average at best the service was slow we had to ask for our starters after 45 minutes and chase our mains. Not a good experience won’t be going back

Very nice food and a great atmosphere, large plates of food for a decent price, very enjoyable.

The American BBQ dinner has taken by up a new and bigger premise in the town centre of Whitney's. Good décor with a strong American music theme. Great variety of the option choices served in enamel plates and bowls that bring back memory when things are multi-use and long lasted. Dishes themselves were all great and the portion was about right. Make sure you leave room for desserts.

Great food, great service, great place. I would recommend a visit. Better 'smoke house' experience than we had in NYC

Nice pub good staff. Disappointed with the smoked tray. Found some of the meats dry and ribs were a bit tough / not fall off the bone.

First time visitor to the Red Lion Smokehouse and have to say generally, I was impressed with food and service. We had a couple of platters to share which were good, though a tad expensive. We also had fish cakes and beef chilli. We followed it all of with pudding and cocktails The only reasons for knocking a star off…. Beef Chilli, was ok, not really a lot of taste, it wasn’t spicy either, even though it said it came with jalapeños. Overall the strongest taste was tomato Waffle with ice cream, tasted nice but waffle had been warmed in the microwave, probably too much as it was rock hard in the middle Overall it was really good 👍🏻

Food pretty good. Metal bowls felt like we were camping, but maybe that's the vibe. Hot dog was nice. Biscoff freak shake disappointing as all milk and no ice cream so was like Nesquik with cream and biscuits.

Delicious food, very friendly staff, and good music but not to loud so we could talk without having to shout. Toilets nice and clean. Would definitely go again