The Red Lion in York - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Arrived at this pub for drinks & craic. 14 of us. We had a sing song, entertained the locals, spent a fortune on drink to be told they would not serve us. Shocking to say the least. Wouldn’t mind but where we were sitting was near the gents toilets , the smell was disgusting. Would not recommend here

Cheesy chips in a Yorkshire pudding! Was sceptical but it was pretty good Quick service and good price

The place is worth the detour for the atmosphere and the PUB decor, the choice of beer is substantial and the beer is good, however, don't go there for the food, it's more like your neighbor warming something up for you quickly made so as not to let you die of hunger when you have not only shopped at a restaurant where you will discover things. The fish at the fish end chips is good, the fries (we come from the north of France near Belgium, so a bit of a specialist on the subject) were ordinary, no seasoning, no tartar sauce. The peas, on the other hand, were excellent, as if they had come straight from the garden. The blue cheese burger is made with overcooked ground steak, blue cheese (luckily, we have the taste) and a very dry bun, the sauces in plastic bags are there, no vegetables, a few fries meh meh. The tables are a bit sticky... One advantage: it's cheap ;-)

Dropped in for a beer while waiting for the tour bus to return. It was a warm day, and the beer was cold. Great beer garden outside and a lovely old pub inside.

Great little pub in the heart of York. Good beer and tasty food. Bar staff are wonderful.

I'd always walked past this place, but after being surprised by the quality of the Watergate on a recent visit I decided not to judge a book by its cover. Well...in this case the cover was right! Food is deeply average. Think what you might get served at Wetherspoons. Outdoor area is very rickety, indoors has a certain old school charm and the staff are nice, but ultimately there's better pubs than this in York.

First time here great bar, definitely visit again when I visit the area.

Dreadful Food could not eat it, Will not eat there again, Need to change the chef to one that can do basic cooking, Lazy chef no effort or pride,

Good food. Nice variety of beers and ciders. Friendly people. Just an original English pub!

Lovely old pub My kind of place with pleasant staff and well kept beers.

Food and service left a lot to be desired

Good old fashioned friendly pub nice to see nowadays. Also great staff. Still doing it well.

Great place! Whenever you are looking for an authentic pub with loads of character, this is the place! The food was good and the service was very friendly.

Terrible! Not delicious at all ! Plus .. Racists against Arabs I don’t recommend that place at all Dont go people! Terrible place terrible people

The staff were great 👍 to me and my boyfriend when we went for the meal and watched sport

Great pub to watch the footie in the sun

Never overcrowded, very friendly owners, delicious food. The chef is awesome. Quick service, great ambience and the live music is awesome! Love this place!

Had a great afternoon/evening, big screen footy and Madri on draft in beer garden. Only downside was watching England scrape a draw. Fortunately there were 2 other matches and of course lashings of good ale.

Proper pub wit wide selection of 🍺 🍺

Visiting York for a short break and came across this pub. We liked it in here so much that we came back for another visit. Lovely, friendly staff and great atmosphere. I would definitely recommend.

Nice little pub, a small range of beers and ales but kept well. Worth visiting for the old style building and decor.

Beers not bad.... one of the few places in York with a lot of outside seating.

Called today with granddaughter for food no high chair. Food was a few crinkley chips 4 boxed fish fingers nearly £7 😡 me and my partner got a meal aswell chicken burger was well done with crinkly chips aswell all plain 😡😡 very disappointed

Only had 1 pint but really nice pub

This pub should have friendlier staff and be made more welcoming. Steeped in history that is lost here

Lovely pub In city centre with historic ties to the city

Nice pub, great garden, good ales.

Emily and Rose were sound. Thank you

Beer is well kept, bar staff friendly.

Fantastic building and plenty of outdoor seating

Busy Boozer with great beer garden

Friendly local pub close to the centre 👌

Was a decent pub to stop in at. The food was okay. The Ruby mild is delicious!

Nice old fashioned pub, a good range of beers and wine etc. A good place to spend an hour or so with your mates 👍🏻

This pub looks interesting from the outside. Has beer garden with standard choice of drinks available.

Nice pub with lots of atmosphere, plenty of little nooks to sit in and open fires throughout. Good variety of ales and very friendly staff.

Nice place to visit usual ... Good pint.. all locals on here...

Lovely old pub with cubby holes and rooms . Reasonable prices, attentive staff

Great day pub. but York prices. try it always very busy

Busy saturday afternoon drink in a great atmostpheric pub. Good selection of beers and not expensive either. Didnt eat so no view on food

Was okay, nothing to write home about

For anybody who likes historic pubs this is a gem. The pub wraps around the bar with lots of ancient dark timbers and fireplaces. Been here many times. Jorvic insisted on a beer from Ainstey Ales, despite it being a Rudgate brewery pub. Proudly brewed in the York Wapentake. ( An area between the three ridings of Yorkshire, North, West and East...no South. Something to do with Viking lands.) A beer patio to the side gets packed in summer. Popular for pub grub.

Cosy pub,friendly locals. Good beers ,great staff

Popped in for a pint. Lovey quaint pub. Dark beams in the ceiling and great service. We didn’t eat but the food that was coming out looked great. The pub was warm, toilets clean, and numerous rooms to choose from to sit in. Come summer there’s out door seating which will be great.

We popped in to the Red Lion to eat, very friendly place. I had the steak pie, my husband had scampi well worth it. If you find yourself in York it's well worth a visit.

So cool. Great British pub experience!

Very warm place with friendly locals and open fires💙

It's ok. Worth a visit. Fabulous pies and open fire. Beer choice limited but ok cask

A nice and warm friendly place to visit

Awesome pub, my go to for a beer when I get chance to visit a pub that's not the one I run. Take the advice of a landlord and give it a go

Dropped in for a quick pint. Good traditional pub experience . It was full when we got there so the atmosphere was lively as well.

Olde wolde pub, great atmosphere, friendly staff. We only had drinks

We were attracted to this place because of its age and history. It is lovely and quaint inside with charming old features. We thought we would eat there, it was very busy and the only seat available looked great in front of a real fire, but there was an overwhelming urine smell, presumably coming from the ajoining men's toilets, we had to leave unfortunately.

Superb local that hasn't lost the feel of your local pub.

Great...pub Excellent Atmosphere

Lovely open fire. A bar in all rooms. Good selection of ales. Nice staff.

Cozy and good draught beer Had great banter with the landlady and the local guys are welcoming and great conversation. We had food, drinks and a great laugh with the locals. We will deffo be returning again next year as it seems to be our Ritual now. Just don't put your empty glasses on the windowsill ;-P 😜

Just popped in for lunch. It was OK but no roasts.

Cosy with a wood fire burning. Nice vibe and the food looked lovely, will be back to try a pie!

Exactly the place I was looking for to have a beer with typical York atmosphere.

Brilliant very old pub,with fires, good selection of drinks, not overpriced, friendly helpfull bar staff, great for locals, and tourists really worth going to

Very nice pub. Dated pub with a nice open fire. Takes u back to the old days but with new age drinks. 👌👌👌

Over priced beers Terrible background music like being in a back street Turkish coffee shop

Food microwaved very cheap quality for the price, felt sick after eating, 6 of us dined only 2 finished there meals which were very small, the burgers are frozen and poorly cooked the one star was polite what a disappointment

I didn't eat so I can't review the food but I will say the service was excellent and it's the best pint of lager I've had in years 👍

Cosy pub with local feel and open fireplace. Good place for a drink and a bite to eat after work with a few friends.

Nice looking pub outside but inside is in need of repair and a good clean as u smell pee as soon as u go in and the beers not to good and not that friendly either

Good old fashioned pub. Came in after a long trek with my 5 year old to find something that was a) open b) did kids food and c) didn't require a second mortgage. Was greeted by a very welcoming bar server and provided the menu. The food unlike most of York isn't full of gimmicks, it's good solid pub food. I ordered the blue cheese burger and my daughter the kids burger . Service was extremely friendly without being intrusive. Both came very quickly despite it being a lunchtime in the school holidays and the portions were fantastic. The food was well cooked and the chips are proper homemade cut from actual potatoes. Really recommend this place if you are like me and hate the pretentiousness of modern eateries.

Visited the Red Lion twice for lunch. Relaxing atmosphere with plenty of character and history loved the open fire. Good food, good beer friendly and knowledgeable staff. Good value meals value for money.

Lovely service lovely food reasonable prices great pub /hotel well worth a visit.

Helpful staff, nice real ales (particularly the mild) and a good vibe to the place.

Food was great. Very busy little pub!

A proper traditional pub, nice. Didn't eat there so cannot comment, the staff were very friendly and will be going back next time in York.

Top notch service and food ! The food is very very good 👍

Fantastic old pub with good food and a great atmosphere.

A wonderful pub good beer and friendly service

Very old historic pub, good range of beers and decent outdoor area for when it is sunny

Brilliant tradional pub. Friendly staff, great service and great atmosphere. Oh and the beer prices are very reasonable!

Usually have good selection of real ales, but only one on this time. However the weather was really warm and so a cold cider in the beer garden was most agreeable

Had a lovely lunch with family here on Saturday 7th October, staff were efficient and friendly. Will definitely be eating at the Red Lion pub, when we visit York again.😊

Great pub with hard working staff, seem to have joke with everything, but pleasant.

We called in on the spur of the moment. Busy but the two ladies behind the bar were working hard. The atmosphere was easy going. The security was actively checked ids which was good to see. Drinks were good. I reckon we shall be back.

Did the job and in a good place

For us it was one of the best pub's in York. It is so cosy. We love the atmosphere of the old building. Haven't had any food only drinks. Prices were good compared to other pub's.

Excellent service and atmosphere- much needed refreshment.

Good vegetarian selection I had the chilli my partner the soup Good beer selection as well We were lucky to get a table at the start however the pub soon cleared after people had eaten with seating for all

Always liked this place with its characteristic layout and feel. Old school Inn.

Lovely old pub, nice atmosphere and beer garden. Staff friendly, good service.

Lovely old pub, lovely old landlord and great beer. Nicki the manageress is tops - whats not to like about The Red Lion 👍

Sorry but we're to begin had the steak pie chips and peas🤔13.50 had better from a local chippy pie was dry inside chip's we're skin's on but thay looked if thay were warm up. Wife had the battered fish and chips £14.00 chips were the same fish was all batter what fish was there was dry mite of got them on a bad day but the pie you could of got from Iceland it was that bland

Had a cake fight with the damned and a picnic

Nice bear and good staff right in town

Food was delicious 😋 would definitely recommend

We visited York for the day and tried to find somewhere for some dinner that didn't seem exotic (I don't wanna eat fancy food) and somewhere that wasn't gonna cost a fortune. We seen this pub and thought this is it.. we spent about £35 on 2 meals, a side and 2 drinks. I had loaded nachos and my fiancee had loaded chips. They were absolutely amazing. Staff were so nice. Little intimate areas you can sit and an amazing sized beer garden which is a sun trap.

A characterful, period pub. All pubs should be like this.

Absolutely gorgeous pub staff were amazing and the food was excellent and the atmosphere was very good

Men's toilet stank and was unclean, and it still looks like a junk shop inside, but at least u can sit outside.

First visit to this old pub nice inside staff really friendly and helpful ordered food didn't wait long, good food well done will recommend and will be back

Great service from the friendly staff, good food and beers. Nice friendly atmosphere. Really glad we went here for dinner.

Es un buen lugar, mucho por leer, ya que es muy historico. Las bedidas son buenas, tal vez una o dos libras mas caras de lo normal para la ciudad. No querras sentarte en la sala al lado del baño huele horrible, creo que la gente lo soporta porque es la unica que tiene tv. Solo volveria ahi si estoy muy ebrio, aun asi encontraras personas muy amigables