The Red Lion in York

Expensive and exclusionary. The atmosphere was stale and unsettling (the entire place smelt like a piss filled ashtray), we hadn't been here before and it felt as though outsiders were not welcome. The staff were abrupt and honestly just rude, forgetting the order and then shoving a card machine in my direction without even telling me the price (£5 per drink 😯). We were there at closing and whilst I understand the need to clear out from working in retail myself, this was done in such a rude way... As my friend and I were the only ones asked to leave, we had finished our drinks, but there were still several full tables who weren't being kicked out and a game of poker underway. I'm not saying that we were singled out for being younger but I wouldn't put it past the woman. If you want an old man pub, this would definitely fit the aesthetic... But there are so many in York which are cheaper, have better trained staff, and which are better smelling. It has the potential to be a very nice old pub but the management obviously doesn't care about making it so.

Old fashioned pub, plenty of character but the atmosphere isnt anything particularly special and there are lots better pubs in York

Old pub but lovely and great terrace

Needs a better selection of craft beers but great history and staff

My local since moving to York ! My number one choice of alehouse round these parts especially because of the staff, the grub and the Ruby Mild they have on tap. Every member of staff is a delight to talk to and be served by and the food is delightful. Always a pleasure when Dan prepares and brings over whatever food it is I order. But will always recommend the bacon, brie and cranberry sauce sarnie that he does !! The kind of pub every area needs, can't fault it.

Sunday lunch appalling. £15.95 per person. Meat was so chewy. Cauliflower cheese was cold and was cauliflower with a bit of cheddar cheese melted over the top. Just said sorry, no recompense offered. Will not be returning

Lovely pub, tasty food and quiz night just topped it off. Fab night. 👌

Cosy old traditional pub. Stopped in for drinks, will be back.

The Red Lion is a great British pub to chitchat, relax, drink and participate in their quiz. It is cozy, warm, inviting and laidback. The workers are also just as nice and helpful. However, do not come here for their food. The photos look nice, but are old and the staff making it is new. Our food tasted at best decent, but plating a look is the level of a child. Fortunately the food wasn’t that expensive otherwise I’d be upset due to it not being really worth it.

Darcie was full of life and very energetic and happy to serve us

Out with work friends for an evening meal. I had the homemade lasagne, absolutely gorgeous, you could really tell it was homemade. Very comforting for a chilly February evening. Everyone else enjoyed their meals too. Am looking forward to trying the Sunday roast this weekend

La cerveza era insuperable, pero los baños del caballero estaban absolutamente sucios lavarse las manos afuera en un charco sería más higiénico. Y uno de los miembros del personal era el más miserable que se podía conocer

Steak and ale pie amazing good pint great attentive staff manager should be proud definitely recommended

A lovely Monday evening where we were welcomed by staff and locals alike. Great company, superb homemade cake and a fascinating history lesson about Selby Abbey, where we’ll visit next.

Muy decepcionado Hemos visitado este Pub regularmente desde 2018 y siempre nos encantaron sus aros de cebolla rebozada y papas fritas. Pero cuando visitamos hoy nos dijeron que habían conseguido un nuevo chef que había cambiado el menú y que nuestro habitual no estaba disponible. Evidentemente el chef no les servía, no había bocados ligeros disponibles ni siquiera un. ¡Cuenco de patatas! Nos quedamos muy decepcionados y no volveremos a visitar, encontraremos otro lugar que sirva a nuestros favoritos.

Ancient pub with fascinating history and good beer

Wow wow wow patatas fritas hechas en casa tocino de ensalada de col Brie y sándwich de arándano estaba fuera de este mundo Gracias por tanto el servicio era de clase sin duda volverá. Solo siento no haber tomado una foto para mostrarles a todos x

Was amazing the food and the flavour.

Just popped in for a drink it was a friendly place good atmosphere

5 star 🌟 Food was absolutely delicious, Staff were super friendly and helpful Chef even came out to ask if food was OK which it was lovely. Will definitely be coming back 😁

Feels like a locals pub. Old fashioned low ceilings. Still has many characteristics from many years ago. Plenty of drinks on offer at a reasonable price.

The Red Lion is an old traditional cosy pub with two real fires. There is a wide range of beers, lager and cider, including four hand-pulled cask conditioned real ales. The ones i tried were in excellent condition. It is a spacious pub that serves food and the staff are very friendly.

Good traditional pub, with a good atmosphere.

No food this time but the beer was excellent as always

Increíble pub de estilo antiguo frío. Bonita pinta de rubia Jorvic y grandes sándwiches que están bien valorados. Vale la pena visitarlos.

Shame. Stopped doing food. We didn't find out till we tried to order after buying drinks. We really wanted to dine and it used to be nice meals. Still advertising selling food outside but they didn't. Disappointed 😞....... in reply to your reply below..... We 100 percent are not the ones thay you say "if we are correct in remembering your visit, we believe your party were informed that the kitchen would be closing ten minutes early that day, however the manager (who was in the kitchen that day) was prepared to wait for you to place your order". This is all nothing to do with us so it sounds like someone else was disappointed too but not posted on here maybe?

Walked straight back out. Smelled like a old man's pubs toilet. The whole place. My 6 year old recoiled and said please let's go. This place stinks.

Friendliest, cosiest pub visited on my few days in York

Great pub, fab location. Unfortunately the ladies toilets were a disgrace, stunk, wee on the floor, sanitary products scattered all over the place. Made me wretch to be in there. When I mentioned this to the manager she said ‘don’t use them then’. Not surprised it’s available for a new tenancy. Let’s hope the next manager is better as it’s great pub.

Lovely pub. Nice atmosphere. Decent prices.

Very nice atmosphere, normal beer collection

Nice quint little pub, inside basic old style, clean and tidy place 👌

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

Pop in for a drink, a lovely atmosphere, will pop in again to try the good.

If you sit near the men's loo's they stink. Smell that bad when door opens we had to move .

What a little gem! Food was lovely & great price for the area! Half the price of others. Lovely & cosy, nice atmosphere and friendly, attentive staff.

Wonderful very old pub. Lots of character. Nice selection of local cask ales and friendly bar staff.

We didn't dine here, just drinks. It is one of those old pubs that you have to visit, just to say you have been. There is so much history here like the story of Dick Turpin jumping out of a window to escape capture! Quite old and quirky inside. Take some time to browse round this old area of York.

Loved it so much went back every day of our trip!

Absolutely huge portions of fish and good value for money there, but the steak and ale pie and garlic bread certainly left something to be desired.

Great pub in a historic building, good cask ales and away from the crowds.

Nice pub. Friendly staff. Good cask ale

If the state of the gents toilet is anything to go by, you'd be better somewhere else. How much could a bottle of bleach cost?

Rustic surroundings, friendly service and good food. Wide selection of drinks, from good to cheap. This is how I imagine an English pub.

We only drank so can't say about the food. But the staff were lovely and they have a nice outside seating area. They are also family-friendly.

The staff were very friendly and chatty

An experience, had a good chat with some of the local drinkers

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.

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

Food and service left a lot to be desired

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

Emily and Rose were sound. Thank you

Nice pub, great garden, good ales.

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.

Very warm place with friendly locals and open fires💙

So cool. Great British pub experience!

A nice and warm friendly place to visit

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

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

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

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.