The Ambleside Inn in South Lakeland

Me and the missus called into the Ambleside Inn at around 4pm for a couple of drinks with a view to possibly eating later on. It was a busy bank holiday Sunday (Spring bank holiday) The bar was busy but didn’t take too long to get served. The drinks were pricey never the less we stayed for a few rounds and then decided to have a Sunday roast. We paid £21 each for roast beef, again pricier than most. It arrived pretty quickly and when it was placed down they looked dry so I asked if we could have some more gravy. The waitress said that would be another £2 each WTF!!! I explained this was disgusting but she walked away. Another member was passing and I asked to see the manager, he wasn’t available but this member of staff said extra gravy was extra but could see there was hardly any so on this occasion she would get some for us. The food was ok but nothing to shout about. Pale roast potatoes, tough beef and tasteless yorkshire puddings. Not worth the money. Very disappointed and hope they review this charge for extra gravy. Won’t rush to visit again.

Great bar, great cocktails, friendly staff, live music

Incredible food, amazing service and couldn’t do enough for myself, partner and baby! Couldn’t recommend this place enough!

One of my favourite ever places

This place is absolutely amazing. Could not recommend it more.

Lovely tapas restaurant, easy to order and friendly staff!

Lovely tapas and great service. Dog friendly too which is a plus! Recommend booking as it’s a popular spot

A wonderful place to experience the Tapas culture!! Great food coupled with excellent service and most welcoming staff. 10 out of 10 from us!!

Food was great, catered for dietary requirements. Pretty busy so service was a little slow with food and seating but delivered in the end.

Felt the food lacked taste for a Mexican; been someone whose always enjoyed Mexicans for the variety of flavours it felt very same same across each dish.

Superb Mexican tapas-style food, my 4th visit and I come back each time I'm in Ambleside. All the dishes were excellent and particular thanks to Gabby for her friendly service. Highly recommended!

Fancied a drink after dinner and it was really good. Good selection of drink, good service and professional staff.

Great food , great staff good prices

Lovely food, great service and friendly atmosphere!

having read some of the recent reviews I was a little nervous about eating here. We had always food it good in the past but things change. The first thing that I noticed was how friendly helpful and accommodating the staff were. There was a choice of 4 real ales two from bowness and 2 from black sheep, Well kept and very reasonably priced and less than a few others in Ambleside. The food was superb, we had the pie of the week with chips, The pie was a slice from a tray so it was not all pastry with little filling, The pastry was very tasty and there was plenty of minted lamb filling. The chips were well cooked and there was plenty of vegetables. We were not the only ones who enjoyed their meal. A couple sat near to us had the fish and chips which they said was delicious All in all it was a good meal at a reasonable price with lovely staff

This is our second visit now and I can truely say this place is sensational and great menu with Spanish and Mexican flare and efficient friendly service to go with it,

A fantastic venue, food was top notch, served really quickly. Friendly, attentive staff. Great menu. Good choice of ales and a great cocktail menu.

My husband and I found this absolute gem of a bar & restaurant while staying in Ambleside for the weekend. The food & service was amazing, we had a great evening & even found they stocked one of our favourite tipples - Patron Cafe. We look forward to returning when we are next in the Lakes. Thank you all for a great experience!

Really great little restaurant tucked away on a side street in the centre of Ambleside. It's multi level so can also be accessed from the back on the ground level. The menu is a good size with plenty of options that you tick to choose. Its tapas style so it arrives as and when it's ready, the staff were great always nearby if needed. The food was delicious and flavourful, unfortunately no room for dessert this time. There is a good wine selection and a great range of nonalcoholic options for the drivers.

We were a walk-in on a very busy evening and were served by Gabby and Ellie- they were both amazing!! They were very friendly and so efficient and were working very very hard! A massive thank talk to them (and the chef!) for a great meal.

Great food, Great service by Gabby. Definitely recommend the padron peppers and the potatas bravas!!

Fantastic food and lovely staff. The atmosphere was great too. Would recommend the prawn pil pil, it was amazing!! 🦐

It appears we’re in the minority with this rating as it’s such a highly rated establishment. Our expectations were unfortunately not met, we found the tapas dishes quite hit and miss. For the prices of some of the dishes we expected more flavour. The drinks selection was great. I would say it’s a decent restaurant if you don’t expect authentic tapas/Latin American food.

Great vegan food and draught local beers. Thanks guys! Everything we had was incredible and we will be back on our next trip to the Lakes.

The food was absolutely delicious! and so were the cocktails! The atmosphere was brilliant, we loved it!

Couldn't book in time but managed to get a seat in the bar area. Fantastic meal with great sangria too. Highly recommend

Having had a good experience the last time we had a meal here we returned. Sadly it was not as enjoyable, the place lacked atmosphere, the beer was mediocre, thankfully the food was ok. Our table area seemed pestered by alot of small black flies which was somewhat irritating and off putting, when we queried if they had a problem with small flies the comment was it was 'Ambleside' generally! We have to say we had not experienced flies anywhere else during our stay. Maybe they are living in the dusty dried 'hops' that adorn the room?

Called last minute they squeezed us in, in the bar area, which was cosy and quaint, lovely drinks, only down side and I put it down to them being busy food took a long time to come, to point where we were ready to leave when last plate turned up which was a shame cos it had all been lovely!

The vegan food and drink were fantastic, the atmosphere is second to none, the highlight was the server I don’t their name but they had short coloured hair and were absolutely fantastic, conversing with us and even told us about the local area and where to go with a pool table and games. Huge shoutout to them. Would definitely advise.

Fantastic, always have a great evening with superb food especially the ribs. Top of our list when we visit Ambleside.

Outstanding food. Real quality. Nice wine selection & great service too

Lovely place, highly recommend for a walk about, a lot of boozers aswell.

Always delicious food & drinks and good service. Great to have a separate vegan menu provided, which offers a lot of dishes just as interesting and tasty as the main menu.

Brilliant food and amazing staff and cocktails. Our table of 15 was really well looked after by izzy and all the staff. Would definitely recommend 👌

Overpriced drinks and very rude staff. Don’t waste your money, you’ll regret it. Such a shame as it could be a nice place. Avoid.

Fantastic pub, really dog friendly, staff all lovely and made a fuss of the dog. Good choice of food and when it came it was very tasty. So impressed we went back the next day.

Me and my friends come here every other week and izzy is here almost every time. They give such good service and drinks every time. I really recommend bar es to everyone. 10/10 food 10/10 service. When i move away i will really miss this place.

Poor. Bartender not paying attention to queue, rolled eyes when I wanted to add to my order??? Paid 50 for 2 drinks and 2 dinners, wild considering how bad the food is. Screams no personality, chain pub failure that needs a genuine shakeup

The food was great but was let down by the Service. Wasn't expecting to be waiting 5-10 mins per small sharing plates. It should have all come out at once like other tapas restaurants or if they do it differently then advise beforehand or pair dishes better.

Really good food, everything very flavoursome and tasty and distinct. Mexican food is really Mexican and authentic and Spanish food is a nice counterbalance. Everything well-cooked, loads of variety and lovely staff and atmosphere. Up to the Lakes, big walk/run and in here for a drink and a great meal! Very gf and dog friendly too. One of those great places that you’ll come back to.

What an absolute amazing place, highly recommend

Been here 3 times over the last couple of years and each time the food was amazing and staff absolutely lovely!

Amazing food here at a very reasonable price! Very cosy inside too. Our waitress Gabby was so friendly!

Friendly staff and AMAZING food (esp the vegan stuff)!. Our meal was so delicious that we came back the following day so we could try more of the menu. Did not disappoint :)

Hidden gem in Ambleside. Lots of tables for 2 in bar area, outdide seating and larger group tables available in 2 other rooms. Chilled vibe and excellent tapas food.

Very nice meal, good drink selection, quesadilla and enchiladas were probably the pick

I ordered Cumberland sausage, which I really like, but it was very disappointing. The menu said locally sourced, but it wasn't like Cumberland sausage I've had before; it wasn't disgusting, but the texture was soft and spongy. My partner had a minced beef pie and enjoyed it, so that seems to be a better bet. It's not cheap either. The surroundings are pleasant, plenty of nice pictures on the walls, the beer was OK, the staff were quite friendly. It fels quite corporate.

Great food and friendly, helpful staff make this place one of the best restaurants in Ambleside. A full vegan menu is available.

My partner and I visited this restaurant once before. Food is without a doubt very delicious and some of the best we’ve ever had. My partner and I were so excited to come again and had a reservation but could not fulfil this. I tried ringing in advance to change the booking and we did this eight times and had to leave a voicemail. I only received one voicemail back to say if we would make it which we could not. We arrived after our reservation and they had no spaces as they were busy. I am disappointed that they could not answer our call or find the time to call us back as this is something we were really looking forward to. Such a shame.

Enjoyed eating here, we ordered 6 dishes and 5 of them were perfect, the chilli beef enchiladas in particular, only giving 4 stars as the meatballs that came out were slightly cold. Overall though we couldn’t fault the friendly staff and definitely would return.

Visited for dinner as they have a fabulous vegan menu with plenty choice. We ordered padron peppers, onion rings with dips, mushroom tacos, patatas bravas, potato wedges, avocado salad. Absolutely gorgeous fresh food could not fault it...service was excellent from the front of house team. We're visiting Keswick in November so will visit Bar Es there too.

What a great place, lots of character and atmosphere. Food was brilliant!! The soft tacos were lovely, the squid rings and prawns were particular favourites of ours. We'll be returning on our next visit to the Lakes. 😁

Love this place. tapas was delicious 😋

Really great little find. Service was amazing throughout - really dog friendly and helpful finding a table where he wasn’t by any other dogs. Food was delicious and served in good time. Good pricing and a great little evening out.

We came here on our first nights stay in Ambleside, and it turned out to be our favourite restaurant of the week! The food was excellent, and the cocktails are also very good, particularly the margaritas. They were very helpful with accommodating my gluten intolerance with a lot of gluten free options to chose from, and also dog friendly! Highly recommend.

Had dinner here and I ordered the Cumberland sausage. I had never had it and it was very good and far better than I expected. The waiter Josh was very nice and friendly, complete opposite of the bartender who was rude, snippy and completely lacking a hospitality gene! He should be in the kitchen instead.

The staff were very friendly, the food was so tasty. We love this place.

You won't walk out, you'll roll out of Bar eS! Great food, great cocktails. The tequila options were appreciated and we had an overall lovely time due to the staff and the service. Would happily come back! Came back the next year the first night of our stay in Ambleside. Everyone silent as they're enjoying the tapas. Had the white peach sangria, that was SO refreshing and delicious. Will be back again and again. Thank you!

Friendly staff, gave great advise re meal selection..free dips and tortilla chips while we waited for our food to come. Great vibe here will be back.!

One of the nicest places we found in Ambleside, food was fantastic as was the table service.

Absolutely fabulous meal this evening, filled with amazing flavours. The chorizo was especially delicious! Thank you to David for looking after us, he’s a real gem of a guy

Lovely meal here and thoroughly recommend it. The refried bean enchiladas were gorgeous and everyone enjoyed their meal. Great selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes. It worked out quite expensive but I think we ordered too much food, probably 2 dishes per person is enough.

Busy little place decent food, good atmosphere. We were lucky to get a table (got the last one in the bar and several parties after us got turned away), so recommend calling and booking.

Great food, with great staff, there is also an offering of live music Saturday evenings

Service was great and all of the staff were lovely but sadly the food was not. It is not authentic Mexican (some dishes are more spanish themed). The guacamole tasted like the prepackaged stuff you get from Tesco along with the tortilla chips, which definitely were not fresh made in-house. I really wanted to love this place but the food is nothing like what you get in Mexico or the Mexican food in the US.

A very disappointing visit after reading recent positive reviews and after having a great experience there myself a couple of years ago. The tapas was mediocre; certainly not to the standards of other Mexican restaurants I've visited. Our quesadillas had pretty much no filling inside (in fairness, the manager did take the item off our bill) and after waiting a long time for our last item, it turned out the server had forgotten to add item to our order. To top things off, I got a phone call half way through my meal from the restaurant as they thought I hadn't turned up for my reservation! Hopefully my experience is a one-off, as other reviews here suggest it might be.

Very good mexican restaurant good food & drinks.

Lovely spot lovely staff but the food was kinda tragic. It’s the kind of Mexican food you would make yourself at uni but overpriced. Basic food should be done better than this.

Excellent, tasty and fulfilling.

Great food and welcoming, attentive staff, plus an extensive vegan menu which is very welcome.

What a find! Lovely little Tapas bar tucked away down a side street. Cosy, great decor and some of the best Tapas I have ever had. Clearly freshly prepared, absolutely delicious, topped off with Lemon Posset which was first class. Service and servers, faultless. In Ambleside then don't miss out, highly recommended!

Great selection of food and drinks. Would definitely return.

Had a really great night! Great experience, standout food was the goat cheese nachos. The bar service by Seb was fantastic. Cocktails were really great and we loved sitting at the bar. Would recommend the amaretto sour - big thank you to Seb and the team

such a fun restaurant! the people were so nice and the food was lovely! doesn’t take long at all, and the staff are super helpful and polite!

Had a lovely meal here last night. Rustic mexican atmosphere with great food and service, definitely will be coming back here.

Anaversary meal and cocktails with my wife

I don't like tapas, but this was ace! Thank you guys 🙏

Really delicious and fresh served food.

Wow. What a treat this place is. Wonderful service and great food that's a blend of spanish tapas and mexican street food. Simply tick the boxes on the food menu and they come as and when they're ready. There's a great cocktail and beer selection but we opted for a couple if jugs of Sangria. The layout of the restaurant is also wonderfully quirky with outdor tables, an indoor bar area, leading to the top floor dinning room, with extra tables downstairs... it's like the tardis. Will definitely go again. No photos I'm afraid, we were too busy enjoying the meal.

Great tapas. Loved the goats cheese nachos and the chicken tacos. Great menu - it all looked delicious

Lovely atmosphere , regardless how busy was they found table for me without booking . 🙂 Food delicious and fresh, cocktails looked and tasted amazing 👏 Highly recommend 👌

Super celebrating Georgia's Birthday

Food which will punch hard at your taste spuds. The ticket after a day in the fella.

Well.....what an absolute taste sensation! The best food I've had in years, no exaggeration. The chorizo......oh my God! Waiting staff were friendly, genuine and unpretentious which contributed towards a memorable and very enjoyable evening. My only regret is not leaving a bigger tip! I would gladly have paid more! The first thing I'll do when next in Ambleside will be to reserve another table in Bar eS! Very dog friendly, which was a huge bonus for us too.

We have had an amazimg evening. Food drinks & service excellent. Staff were lovely. Dog was so welcome. We can highly recommend this resturantx

Delicious meal last night, lovely fresh food and amazing cocktails! Definitely recommend the goats cheese nachos and the enchiladas

Lovely people and gorgeous food, we will come back next time we are here

Absolutely faultless! Food, service & atmosphere was perfect. Great that there’s a full vegan menu which is very rare. Vice Boss & Big Joe were very welcoming & friendly. To be honest, I think the prices are super reasonable for what you get. I would’ve been happy to have paid more. Can’t recommend enough :)

Excellent. Fresh as a daisy. Brilliantly cooked. Best meal I've had for ages.

Mushroom tacos were an unexpected delight!

Amazing tapas!! The staff was very helpful. Highly recommend. I forgot to take pictures of our food, 😞

Brilliant restaurant. I’d suggest 6 tapas for 2 6ft+ adults + dessert. Speaking of which, it’s one of the best desserts I’ve had. A+++

Incredible food and vibes! Front of house for the night was super lovely too

Whst a lovely meal we had for my birthday very tasty food and service was a great to will definitely call again

Friendly staff, with a decent selection of items for lunch. However the value was poor. The hot meat sandwich with gravy and home cooked chips was £13.50. It was one slab of beef from Sundays carvery which was overcooked there weren’t that many chips either the gravy was delicious. It was not very good value at all for £13.50 - should’ve been more like £9.95 max - would not return for food again but would drinks. Partner had an okay fish sandwhich and chips

The food is great, the staff is amazing, but we waited for more than an hour for food to be served🫤 Very slow… Would have been lower but they offered us drinks for free.

Fantastic food, fantastic service, fantastic atmosphere! 10/10

The potato bravas was 7£ for a small bowl of chips with garlic dip on it, instead of tasty potato cubes with a nice sauce. The goat cheese salad tasted only of vinegar. The nachos tasted great, and the mushroom tacos were bland but ok. So i recommend to only order the Mexican food, the rest isn't that great. Service was good.

That was the most interesting Mexican food that I have ever had.

Tucked away and quite hard to find but well worth it. All food was lovely and very friendly staff.