The Rainbow Inn in Lewes

A lovely, friendly atmosphere and excellent food. You’ll find everything you’d want in a good old English pub! Open fires, good beer and great food.

We called in here as a stop over. Storms and floods made a 3 hour journey a 6 hour journey. Yet, there they were, with a welcome and Phil watched me back to park up. We were 45 mins late for food but they fed us. The burger is probably the best I’ve ever tasted. The beer was great. The chat to Phil, Claire and Harvey great. Best stop over we’ve done and will pop in for a burger on our journey back.

Great place, great atmosphere.lovely cosy fire 🔥 🔥🔥🔥

Faultless. Super friendly, nice clean tables, professionally staff, well laid out and spacious and also dog friendly. We had the carvery which was fresh, tasty and hot. The meat (I had turkey and gammon) was moist and tender, roasties were lovely and I don't know what they did to the parsnips but I'd go back just for those. 👍

This is a fantastic, family run pub. If you are in the area, you must visit. The staff are great, the food is amazing, and the beer is delicious. This is a perfect place to stop off for lunch or dinner if you are walking around Ouse Valley. It's very reasonably priced too, and only a short walk from the train station.

Turned up for the Thursday bike night and it was fantastic! One of the best burgers I've ever had and a superbly well kept pint of Harvey's Sussex. Lovely staff too 😁

Family of 6,tonight great atmosphere amazing smash burgers and grazing board.little gem in cooksbridge

The best carvery you can eat in Sussex. Lovely homely atmosphere, very polite and helpful staff , delicious food. We have been going to this pub for a several years, always happy with everything.

We booked here for lunch, on a Saturday afternoon. Service was superb and very friendly. The menu features some delicious pub classics, but also features a grazing menu of small plates and an enticing smash burger menu - something very different. As a group we ordered a selection of dishes from the main menu and the grazing menu and the food was excellent. The sliders, wings and tater tots from the grazing menu were perfect portion sizes for a lunch, while the halloumi open sandwich had a very generous portion of halloumi, the nachos were very well enjoyed and the curry vegetable tempura was light, crispy and very flavoursome. Excellent food, excellent service and an exciting menu - we will be back for sure!

simply amazing - proper country pub , dined in the garden and chose grazing menu .. food was top notch and service was excellent.. family run pub and would strongly recommend .. and the doggie was treated as well !!

Lovely food staff excellent. Well worth a visit

Great pub and lovely hosts. I'm fairly local and have tried most Sunday roasts in the area. The carvery at the Rainbow is the best for miles around. Harveys beer on tap too.

Recently had another excellent carvery. I like the fact that they invite your table up, rather than joining a queue. It's a reasonably small place with a smaller offering but everything you need is available and prepared by a clearly passionate team. Young wait staff are very efficient and proud of the fact all of their desserts are home made - the neopolitan cheesecake on the special's board at the time of our visit was certainly experimental... Car park fills quickly when busy so expect to be on the grass in front or along the adjacent (quiet) road.

Really nice lunch in the garden. Good varied menu and reasonable prices. The lady behind the bar was lovely and so patient with my niece and nephews. Will deffo visit again.

Really good burgers. Vimto pickled onions, yes really, are amazing. Really friendly staff. Go.

Popped in and found the pub had been taken over by new management, really good new menu and the staff could not be faulted, defiantly be back!

Nice People, Really Great Food and Drink, Atmosphere is Relaxing

Been twice now for the Sunday carvery and both times have been blown away by the food and the service. Can't wait to go back and try out the other menu's through the week!

We visited the pub with our camper and found it through britstops. Incredibly friendly reception by the owner. Really cosy pub with very good food, we loved the home made chili fries and nachos, but all the food was delicious! Nice little outside play area which the kids loved and overall just a great experience! We can only recommend it if you want to visit a truly great little english pub/restaurant with very friendly hosts!

What a Gem of a place. Stayed overnight in our Motorhome, made extremely welcome. Phil and Claire amazing hosts. Food not your average “Pub Grub” all home made and fresh. Only 20 minutes away from Newhaven Ferry. We will be returning.

A very lovely pub, great food. Just a small car park so had to park on the grass behind it.

We booked a last minute table for my sons 21st last night and we all left thoroughly satisfied. The food was outstanding and the prices were very good. What stuck out to me the most was how friendly they were such lovely people can't wait to return and try something different.

Popped into the Rainbow with my family on the way back through Sussex. A lovely family run pub, with a nice beer garden and an area for the kids. Great food, friendly staff and nice atmosphere in the pub. Would highly recommend for drinks, food or a special occasion.

Lovely place to come and relax for pub lunch, great food, carvery especially

Lovely couple pints at this sweet local pub. A happy return after 9 months of travel.

Can it get any better than this ?

What a lovely place. Fantastic carvery and such friendly staff. Thank you for a great afternoon out!

The smash burgers here are truly exceptional. Service was a. absolute delight and the Harvey’s Best perfectly served.

Visit the Rainbow Pub on the way back from Sheffield Park. After hearing good things about it. We had a great meal for starters, whitebait, chicken wings and prawns, all amazing. We ordered Beacon Chesburger and Chicken Burger and Wow, real French fries, toasted bup and the beef was outstanding, the Chicken was again a whole piece of meat wich is very rare this days. We are blown away by this food 😋 And I had to try a dessert, chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream, incredible 10/10. Great owners and friendly staff. Toilets clean and fresh, loveley garden outside. Go and visit this great place, best meal we had for years 👍

Visited the Rainbow inn a couple times now and both times have been a pleasant experience. The staff are so friendly and welcoming, the carvery/food was sooo tasty. Clean environment. Will recomend to anyone thinking of coming. Also dog friendly which is perfect. Our puppy sausage even got some turkey today! Can’t recommend enough!

Staff very welcoming, food great ,service efficient, And made My dog Bernie very welcome .

We visited yesterday with friends and family (7 of us) after a recommendation from friends. I have to say from the moment we walked in we were welcomed, taken to our table, informed of how it works with the carvery. The waitresses were all lovely, helpful and nothing was too much trouble. The food was incredible, proper home cooked fresh, lots of choice of veggies, meat was spot on as were the puddings. It was that good that we’ve booked to go again next Sunday. Very reasonable price wise, well worth a visit.

Pop into the rainbow for a evening meal while we visiting the area. Friendly staff. Relaxing atmosphere, great food. Well presented. Very tasty. Would definitely visit again if in the area.

Professionally run pub yet friendly and relaxing. Decent food. Great carvery.

Amazing food, lovely atmosphere and great value for money. Staff were wonderful too, would definitely recommend to a friend, and will certainly be back many times!

Had a wonderful meal. Mussels in white wine, flat iron cheese burgers, their special buffalo chicken bites. Fantastic service staff so attentive and professional. Definitely recommend great value.

Really disappointed at the food here. Very poor quality chicken, I’d love to know what part of the chicken it came from because it it was the toughest most horrible lumps of chicken I have ever eaten in a curry. The Thai red curry left a lot to be desired, very lazy just a sauce with nothing in it apart some awful green beans thrown on top of it as an afterthought. The other main liver and bacon was no better, burnt on the outside and raw inside, with a sweet sickly sauce. Complained to the very nice understanding staff, was offered a free coffee, but just wanted to get out. Left most of the meal, I noticed the woman opposite took hers home for the dog. No offer of a reduction in the bill, full price charged..should be ashamed really. Don’t like writing bad reviews as we should be supporting good local pubs, but avoid this one.

We had such a lovely evening meal here. Absolutely delicious food and very friendly staff. The beer was excellent kept too. Very highly recommended. Can’t wait to return.

Super food - we went with friends and 1 chose from the menu and 3 had the carvery. Very friendly and helpful staff and the Rainbow is really dog friendly (there are good local walks to help develop a thirst!!) There is a secure garden at the rear. I would recommend it and look forward to another visit.

Visited yesterday and we all had the Sunday carvery, was delicious couldn’t fault it. Great choice and all really hot. Friendly staff, will be returning again.

I recently spent an afternoon/evening here to remember a much loved father,grandfather and father in law.The new much improved decor is clean,bright and inviting,also love the new lighting.Lovely friendly staff.I've booked to come back for the Wednesday carvery in a few weeks time,you do need to book as it's very popular,especially on a Sunday.Looking forward to having a drink in the garden when the weather improved too

What happened to this restaurant? As it can certainly no longer be described as a restaurant. Historically it was lovely! We popped in as passing by, decor is awful, didn’t look clean or inviting, staff not very friendly.. We both ordered the steak sandwich, meat was full of gristle and very dry, mine had string in it! Presume it was left over from last Sundays carvery. Its dryness was attempted to be hidden by covering it with lettuce. To top it my bread had mould on the bottom. Chips were ok but coated in paprika. The “Chef” walked in & out of the kitchen in filthy trousers. Most certainly will never return! Such a shame as it used to be so nice….

Six of us and the dog booked for Mother's day Sunday carvery. We were slightly apprehensive as we are not from the area, we should not have been! We all opted for the carvery. This was one of the best!! There was a choice of beef, gammon and turkey. All the usual trimmings. Of particular note were the cauliflower cheese and the carrots, both were superb!! The gammon was excellent and our son reckoned it was the best he had ever tasted. This was the ultimate accolade as he is very much a food critic! Staff were very friendly and attentive. The Rainbow comes with the highest recommendation from all of our party - including the dog!

First visit to the Rainbow. Great carvery for Sunday lunch. Excellent food and great service from the staff. We'll be back.

We had a late afternoon carvery which was delicious. Service was excellent and very friendly. We would definitely return.

A Group of us booked about 4 weeks prior; pre-ordered our menu choices; arrived as planned at 12.15/30pm. Appalling/chaotic service. One friend had to leave without her main course at 2.15pm. to collect children from school. We got away at about 3.15pm. without any desserts. Not good.

Just finished up a delicious carvery lunch here. Staff were absolutely lovely, even getting us a box of scraps for the dog! Food was brilliant - the beef and gammon were cooked to perfection. Roasties also 10/10. Will definitely be returning :)

Just back from a wonderful carvery experience . I rarely write reviews though eat out often.( always mean to then get sidetracked) . Always happy to praise when there, for good food / service , but will equally politely raise if food or service lacking. BUT had to write a review today as whole experience was faultless. First went 2 weeks ago with friend for lunch .I chose Thai curry , friend a burger . Warned the curry was hot bit omg so tasty and friend had burger which she said was one of the best she'd had. And lovely welcome and service despite it being 10 mins to lunchtime service ending . Never felt rushed. So today took parents hoping it lived up to previous experience and wasn't disappointed! 3 carvery's - eveything exceptionally good , but big shout out for roasted pots , carrots and Parsnips...oh and Yorkshire puds ( but all faultless) . James (i think ) so friendly and more than happy for one of us to sneak some of the roasted garlic bulbs ! One lotus biscuit based cheesecake ( popcorn garnish went down well) and one perfect poached pear with sorbet , both delicious ( 1 of us too full after carvery). All food delicious and beautifully presented . But the biggest shout out must go to staff . Our waitress ( sadly forgot to get her name as too distracted by each mouthful of lovely food ) was fab - attentive , friendly but not OTT. The staff in my opinion made the experience and genuinely all looked happy and wanting to be there ( sure working on a Sunday is not 100% top choice of places to be . ) So it's 5 out if 5 from 3 very stuffed customers 😁 will definitely be back soon . Thanks to all the Rainbow Team !

We went here for the first time last Sunday. I have to say it was fabulous! The service was second to none, the atmosphere was great. I'm quite difficult to cater for being coeliac and dairy intolerant but the chef and staff did everything they could to accommodate me and my food requirements. As a group we had the best time. We will definitely be going back as often as we can finances dependant. In fact we have booked for my husbands 50th in April and I cannot wait! Thank you to you all ❤️

Spent a delightful evening at this family owned and run pub. We were greeted in the carpark by Phil as we'd phoned ahead and agreed we could stay over night in our motorhome. A very friendly welcome and evening chatting with staff and locals. We had a meal too. Very delicious. Highly recommend for a warm welcome and very tasty food.

We went and had a dinner at the pub. I had the buffalo chicken burger and my husband had the wings and ribs. The wings were undercooked and the taste was sour. Really unpleasant. Despite this the staff were very friendly.

Such a lovely pub, staff are welcoming and friendly, the food is fantastic and delicious, we keep coming back and back, can’t get enough. We highly recommend a visit

Good food served by nice, attentive staff. Recommended.

Great pub. The burgers are amazing. No complaints from our large group! Service was lovely and the pub was clean and spacious.

Terrific Sunday roast, everything fresh and well cooked, highly recommend

Popped over to the Rainbow Inn today as I’d seen the burger ribs and wings menu on their social feeds and it all looked a bit too good to be true…. Ohhh myyy dayyyyys! It’s not too good to be true. It bloooming IS true! Absolutely BANGING ! Best ribs wings and burgers this side of St Louis.

Had a great evening celebrating our Ruby Wedding anniversary. Food an Staff excellent

Highly recommend the Sunday carvery. Fairly priced at £16.95 for two different meats, Yorkshire pud & help yourself to a wide array of beautifully presented roast potatoes & veg. All hot & delicious. For the hungrier there's a larger plate at £19.95. The pub has...

First time visiting today. Carvery was the best I’ve had. Everything was cooked well, can’t fault it. Dessert was ok, unfortunately the sticky toffee pudding was dry and poached pear was bland. The service let the whole meal down though. Asked for a fruit shoot or equivalent for my 2 year old - the waitress said we have apple juice in a carton - obviously meant just apple juice from a carton as arrived in a half pint glass (not suitable for young children to pick up) then the same waitress said that because one of us on our table had ordered a meal instead of carvery she would come and let us know 10 mins prior to their meal coming so we could get our carvery and all eat at the same time. She didn’t let us know so his Thai curry had come out and by the time we came back from getting our carvery - he had finished his meal already. Also other little things that let the service down. Then when coming to pay for the bill we all over paid slightly to round up and left a tip on top to then be told we hadn’t paid enough. When questioned (the same waitress as earlier) said she may have miscounted and not to worry about the extra. By this point we felt awkward paid the difference and left. Little things can be overlooked, mistakes can happen but when you’re doing a good carvery(again it’s the best we’ve had) and the service is the part that lets it down - the whole meal becomes disappointing!

Lovely pub with a friendly welcome. We all had sandwiches which were lovely. Excellent service too. Dog friendly made it a perfect stop for us all.

Well, what can we say about todays Sunday carvery other than it was possibly the best we've ever had. From the no 20 foot queue for food as they have a table system in place to go up to the serving counter, the service with...

Absolutely diabolical, came down from Dorset to go out with some friends for a nice meal before Christmas, to young ladies were rude and shouldn’t be working in hospitality with such poor attitudes, had to wait 30 minutes for 4 garlic breads, one never turned up, it was only us in the pub at the time, first of our mains came out, chips look like they were yesterdays ones, other mains came out 10 mins later as the chips had ‘fallen on the floor’ so they had to do us fresh ones. All in all absolutely disgusted with the whole experience, will NEVER come back nor will I recommend any of my Sussex friends or family to come here!

Fantastic food. Food for all great vegetarian options. Burgers for all, beef, chicken vegetarian. Thai curry was delicious. Homemade deserts lovely and definitely different to other pubs around

Burgers are to die for , chips are amazing. You need to try the beetroot and onion starter omg

Absolutely diabolical, came down from Dorset to go out with some friends for a nice meal before Christmas, to young ladies were rude and shouldn’t be working in hospitality with such poor attitudes, had to wait 30 minutes for 4 garlic breads, one never turned...

Friendly staff. Fantastic food & service. We had: goats cheese beetroot & onion ciapattia starter, Thai curry, beetroot & chicpea/oat burger & desserts. Will definitely go again.

Unreal service and banging burgers, beers were unreal and the bar staff were so friendly, + guiinness was unreal

Met friends for Sunday lunch - we opted for the carvery. It was SO delicious! Cooked to perfection, such a wide variety of veg. Friends had meat option and I had the nut Wellington - lovely filling, flaky pastry. Staff lovely and friendly. Have recommended to others and will definitely be back!

Had not been to this pub for a few years happened to stop in on the way home from a day out and pleased we did. Very friendly when arrived were not actually quite ready to do food but got us in and got the...

It was our first time visiting The Rainbow and what a visit. The food, the service and the price were all spot on. Lovely big portions, so big we had no room for dessert but this is a great excuse to visit again very, very soon. Well done

Fabulous Sunday Carvery here today. Great warm welcome. A choice of meat with all the vegetables and sides you could want, beautifully cooked and with lashings of gravy. So glad to be back!

The updated decor looked wonderful, the staff were friendly and attentive and the food was incredible. We had the carvery and everything tasted so fresh and delicious. I couldn’t believe it was their first day back open after being closed for so long as it...

We were on route to a pub in lewes we've been to before when we spotted the rainbow so we thought we'd stop and see what food was available. A lovely lady ran the menu past us she was so kind and we decided to have lunch here. I'm glad we did as the food was lovely and great value. We also really enjoyed just sitting in the sun for a bit. A hidden gem of sussex 😊.

Visited The Rainbow Sunday 16th July for my mum's 80th birthday, 12 of us in total. We were greeted by polite friendly staff. We all had the carvery, which was excellent, very good selection of veg etc. Everyone said that they were very impressed with...

Terrible customer service,very rude & believe me if looks could kill when you walk in...No smiles just glared straight through..Didn't even say thank you when paid for drinks how rude!this is the reason why pubs and hospitality businesses are going under all the time because...

Visited this delightful pub just outside Lewes where I was staying with family. Views of the South Downs from the spacious garden, service was second to none, with a real family run atmosphere, which is hard to find these days. The landlord who it turns...

Stopped in for lunch, lovely family run pub, staff very friendly & helpful. Good quality pub food, will definitely return soon

We recently hosted my Mum's 70th birthday party and had a private room for around 25 people @ The Rainbow. We had a fantastic evening and enjoyed a 3 course meal and drinks. Phil, Harvey and team were most accommodating and made us feel very taken care of. The children loved playing in the garden on the 'mountain' swing and climbing frame and the family dog was also very welcome to join. Thanks again to you all @ The Rainbow and hope to see you again soon! Linda, Wendy & family

If I could give this a 0 I definitely would absolutely felt like a piece of rubbish that had just blown in the door when we walked in,customer service!!well not at this pub...bring back the old land lady

Amazing food - so much better than a standard carvery. Everything home cooked (cauliflower cheese was next level)……..

Driven past the Rainbow so many times saying “we must give it a try”. Well today we did. Couldn’t fault it at all, everything was perfect so get yourself along there for a good value meal and pleasant staff. Carvery (Sunday and Wednesday) is first...

Lovely pub, great food and lovely staff!! Definitely be back soon!!

My partner and I ordered starters and main. The starters were OK but the mains were poor. I had ordered glass noodles with pork belly and didn't eat it as it consisted of lots of grease and salt but no actual flavour. My partner ordered fish and chips but found the meal greasy and the fish covered in thick, hard batter. Generally, the food was unappetising and the service, I'm sorry to say, was indifferent. The fact that we were they only diners was, in hindsight, telling!

Lovely family run country pub with a sunny garden, great food and brilliant, friendly service.

We had relatives visiting from The States who after a pleasant day in Lewes decided they wanted to goto a country pub for dinner. WE suggested a few in the area some didn't answer the phone others were showing full booked online until a lot later that evening. The Rainbow fitted the bill with seemingly good reviews. Having had experience in the past, some good and some not so good and knowing of its reputation over the years, we were pleased to see it all looked positive when we visited. We phoned up about 5.30pm prior to arriving for dinner about 6pm on a Saturday. We were told just turn up as there was space for our party of five there was no need to prebook. We arrived and were greeted by a lovely young lady who explained we could sit in the Dining Room - table service or garden - order from the bar. It was a hot day, so we elected to sit in the garden. We were told once we noted the specials board that several dishes were not available and some of the main menu had sold out also. We were surprised to find the Dining room sparsely occupied and the garden was similar. We picked a nice spot under a gazebo on a terrace area with seating rather than picnic benches. once seated I noted that the table had drinks spilt on then and had not been cleaned. The our server came back to us to tell us what was not available. there was such an exhaustive list at least half the menu and specials. We suggested it would be easier to tell us what was available. With this done she duly left, so we could make our choice. The people on the adjoining table introduced themselves as the owner/manager and apologised for the lack of food as it had been rather a busy afternoon. We reluctantly chose what was left, which wasn't really what we wanted. Then one of our party stated it was unpleasant where we were sitting as the adjoining table were smoking and another smoker had sat close by. He was not keen to eat while someone was smoking near him so he suggested the Dining Room. By this time with the lack of food available and other issues we left to find another venue. It was a shame as it all looked pleasant and inviting the people were friendly, with our rerlatives wanting to experience an English country pub this had evapourated because of the lack of food and the other issues. I would hope this was just a hiccup, but to run out so early on a Saturday evening of most of their menu items it seemed like a lack of foresite. The weather had been good and even if it was bad they would have struggled to fill the inside seating with the amount of people in the pub. It felt like a bit of poor management on their part . We will keep an eye on how things go and may return without relatives in the future.

Brilliant lovely food and staff would highly recommend especially the carvery

Had a lovely lunch with old friends. Not been back here since management changed. The service was good. We sat outside on a lovely sunny day in their large garden. The food was good. Prawn and crayfish cocktails and soup for starters. Red Thai curry and fish and chip for mains. Sorbet, ice cream and crumble for desserts. It was all very enjoyable. We will be back

Fantastic staff, lovely pub and very good grub. Will be visiting again soon!

Went in for Sunday Carvery and was very happy with the food and service. The meat was cooked and served very well. The beer was well looked after and served well. The atmosphere was bubbly and full of happy people enjoying their lunch.

Great food, enjoyed the carvery - particularly the carrots 😋

Best fish and chips ever. Lovely pub with great food. Staff were very nice too and it was a pleasure to visit. I would recommend you go.

We've been here twice for Sunday lunch with Mum in law. Wheelchair access was easy to navigate. The carvery is always superb with brilliant selection of roast veg eg red cabbage, beans , caramelised carrot , parsnips , cauliflower cheese ,peas, wonderful yorkies and of course the meat. I had turkey & beef on this occasion. The Hubbs is a Vege and was delighted with his Vege wellington ( had nut roast last time ) We shared the cheese board for afters as per mums request. She was talking about it all the way home.🤭 It has a lovely family friendly atmosphere. I would highly recommend arranging a booking if in the area.😊

Great food, who doesn't like a carvery?

We stopped here after coming from the Midlands to pick a car up. The owners and their son were absolutely lovely and opened the kitchen a little early for us as we had a long drive home. The food was amazing and quite simply the best pub fish and chips I've ever had. My partner said that the burger was 'immense' and I'm disappointed we didn't have enough room for pudding.

Great food , lovely welcoming family pub

Lovely little pub, great food and good portions.

Lovely Sunday carvery , we really enjoyed our food and the service was really good , looking forward to visiting again soon

Ok I am definitely going back! If you are interested in going, book before you go! If you are vegetarian the nut roast is very good.

Lovely pub, great food and carvery. The red cabbage was amazing. Staff were really friendly and helpful. Easy parking. Will definitely return.

Lovely looking pub and a nice setting, welcomed by one of the owners and thought we were in for a treat but alas thing’s just got worse. The service was just shocking. We waited ages for our starters and were left without drinks, I had to ask for someone to come and serve us more drinks while we waited. Staff were very apologetic and told us we wouldn’t have to pay for our starters which was a pleasant surprise. The starters arrived and were very nice. We waited ages to be called to the carvery and when we did we had what can best be described as the scraggly end of the beef, no roast potatoes, no gravy and no cranberry sauce. A large plate of hot roasties were delivered to our table by the owner which again was a nice touch. The pork and turkey were lovely but non of us managed to eat the beef which was overcooked and tough. We decided against dessert and asked for the bill which I was asked to pay at the bar which I did. It was less than expected which I assumed was due to the starters being taken off but alas as I was saying goodbye to our guests in the car park a waitress came running out and asked me to come back and pay the rest of my bill as they had charged me the wrong amount. I did as asked but then got abused by drinkers in the bar who clearly thought I had tried to make off without paying my bill! Not an experience I will be repeating any time soon and has left a bad taste in my mouth in more ways than one!