The Red Lion in Welwyn Hatfield

We booked lunch for mums 91st birthday. My mum ordered hunters chicken. What turned up was over cooked. All blackened and crispy. We were expecting a chicken breast for the money but it was just a slice that had shrunk to the size of a 50p piece. It was also so spicy it gave mum indigestion. There was also a hen party going on in a room right next to us which was so loud we couldn’t talk to each of other. It wasn’t going on when we arrived or we would have asked to be moved. We decided to leave. I went to the bar to pay so we could get out of there. It took ages as the staff were dealing with drink orders for all the women at the party. I finally paid and got mum and my disabled sister up from the table. As we left a member of staff called out have you paid? We were three elderly disabled women with walking sticks trying to negotiate the steps out of the building. My husband said to them Do we look like we could do a runner. We won’t go there again.

I reserved tables for 25 people for my daughter's 16th Birthday on Saturday evening and it was managed brilliantly. Having given a pre-order, the food came out in a timely manner and everyone enjoyed their meals. I would like to say how great our waitress, Paige was. She looked after our party very well and ensured we had a great experience.

Sadly disappointing visit. Firstly before I arrived I realised because of traffic I could be late so I called ahead. Instead of being thankful the lady I spoke to reminded me I was on a 15 minute slot and did I want to move. Not helpful as I didn’t know when I’d get there and I literally arrived at the end of the slot. I did wonder why try to be polite. Secondly the food was poor. The nachos were disappointing with a bland cheese sauce followed by a crunchie sundae. Yes disappointing soon.

Decent pub. Has nice beer garden. Food is what you could expect from pub chain, not too bad, but neither finesse. Definitely worth a visit during sunny days for a pint and some side dishes.

The steak wasn't the best and it all felt a little rushed

Post funeral gathering was first class Room very attractive, buffet excellent and plentiful with pictures displayed as requested. Staff very pleasant and helpful and no waiting for drinks at the bar.

The roast was good and portions were very generous! Service was a bit slow.

We were served drinks at the bar pleasantly. Then shown to our table, the waitress was helpful about the menu. Roast dinner was very generous U couldn't manage 2 large Yorkshires. All of our dishes were good. Friendly team

Excellent pub, with a good menu. Really tasty dood

This used to be my Favourite place to eat and we would come here a few times a month. We visited last night and were not impressed with the service or food. Menu has changed and possibly the chef. They had one waitress who was lovely but rushed off her feet and a manager who served our food who was very grumpy and didn’t smile once. The portion of pasta was meant to be a main meal but looked like a starter or a kids portion and was cold. The desserts were meant to be hot but again were cold. I don’t like to complain but we had to say something. They took off the 3 desserts from the final bill but I really don’t think we will be going back there. Such a shame.

Great service, a very busy Sunday lunch service, served great food in a remarkably short time. The staff were excellent.

Fantastic food & service in a relaxed atmosphere.

Sophie was brilliant. The environment was very clean and the kids enjoyed the food...I didn't eat :)

Came in for dinner with my family this evening and the staff were so miserable and not friendly. Chatting behind the bar the whole time which made it hard to get their attention even with us being one of the very few people in there. We ended up helping ourselves to sauces and had to go to the bar to ask to pay Ordered a chicken combo and the chicken was hard and very dry - I would have mentioned but no one came over to our table. Standard seems to have gone down hill each time we go there. Wouldn’t return now

Great food. Friendly service. Great value.

The staff were amazing it was 19th December, we had gone for a Christmas lunch it was packed but they were friendly helpful and nothing was too much trouble. The food was delicious and considering how busy they were came in very good time. All in all, it was the perfect way for us to have lunch and celebrate together.

Good food, sorry that they hate key workers.

Xmas eve meal, absolutely brilliant service, food, and atmosphere.

Work christmas do. The food and service were good. Parking was full so plan for that on busy days.

Went for my mother in law's birthday 13 people everything perfect very quick service so very happy 😊

Had a really nice traditional Christmas dinner in the Red Lion at Hatfield. Very tasty with a tender turkey and freshly cooked veg. Much nicer than the ‘nouveau cuisine’ festive meal we had last year at McMullens’ Salisbury Arms in Hertford. At least the Red Lion served veg you could actually see compared with the one sprout and a suggestion of carrot and hint of parsnip at the Salisbury! Great atmosphere, service and beer (Boot Warmer). Good Christmas pud as well.

Very busy today with christmas but service was still good and good was lovely

If only they would get some decent wine, it could be so much better. The food was okay. They did well given the vast number of people on their christmas parties.

Excellent food and service. Food beautifully presented, and delicious. Staff were friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend.

Beautiful place. I'm usually there once a month for networking events and absolutely love the atmosphere

Since being refurbished I can't complain about a thing lovely friendly staff great food

Nice place, Nice music. I haven't explored their menu in depth (yet) but the spare ribs... Oh dear... Best ribs I had ever in a pub in the UK!

Great hospitality thanks to the brewery owner. Thank you! The buffet was generous and varied. Cask ale was good quality.

Sunday lunch is always good to have out and the Red Lion is good in Hatfield good tasty hot food with really nice friendly staff, there Sunday lunch really is great value.

Had a really nice meal here yesterday. Service was excellent, friendly staff who responded to our request for a quick meal, as we had an appointment afterwards. My wife and sister-in-law had the chicken skewers & said they were very tasty and the chicken was nice and moist. My brother- in-law had scampi which was cooked well and my steak and ale pie was excellent, very tasty, lots of meat and lovely gravy. Restaurant was busy, always a good sign and would certainly recommend it.

Last minute decision to go again to the Red Lion. Greeted warmly at the desk and shown to table very quickly. Staff were friendly and helpful. Food was delicious and hot. I had Hunters Chicken and wife had Turkey roast dinner. Best Hunters chicken had for a very long time. Turkey was nice just a bit too thick in the cutting side but other wise fantastic. Followed up with waffle, ice cream and cranberry as part of the 2 course meal. This was shared and just enough after wonderful dinner. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Thank you to Emma and the team for a brilliant evening. We used the function room to host my son's birthday. From start to finish they couldn't have been more helpful. We had a mixture of starters mains and puddings and all served efficiently. All the food was great and staff were so professional Thank you

Visited the Red Lion with a friend for lunch. She ordered wings and chips, whereas I ordered the cheese and onion pie with chips. Sadly mine returned with mash but our server brought out some chips for our make up. Really good pie and mash - so pleased I had both. Please see photos.

Lovely place, staff were super friendly!

It's ok. Lots of kids in the daytime Less so in the evening. Decent selection of food and drinks. Give it a go

Great pub, great food, great staff!

Niamh was Really friendly and attentive fantastic customer service

Great wings and spit roast chicken!

Great hotel room. The service was great and the staff was so welcoming. Highly recommend.

£12 ponds for a glass of wine💰💰💰💰💰rip off how can it be so what’s the breakdown on a &8 pond bottle

Had a lovely lunch with my family at the red lion in Hatfield. The staff were great with the allergies we had (coeliac and shellfish) including a gluten free menu. Food was tasty. Thank you especially to Ollie for being a fab server!

Lovely food, great staff and speedy service.

Nice little pub , people where friendly.

Was my son's 26th & all the family had a great time

Food was ok but some was cold. Too many of us to complain as we couldn't stay long. Quite expensive.

My favourite pub just round the corner where I been living for years. Cheers!

Great place always good service nice staff/atmosphere

Well looked after by the lovely Sophie, food and drink very good as always, we will return again in the not too distant distant future

First time I went there, I watch the Euro 2024, so basically we just wanted drinks. But we ordered different burgers and also chicken wings. The burgers were delicious and juicy.

Food much better Must have a new chef 👩‍🍳 All good Thanks

I always have a great experience in Red Lion. Food is always delicious and I've tried a variety too, a good selection of drinks too. It's newly refurbished and it's lovely!

Food over priced. Not a brilliant atmosphere. Staff friendly. Didnt like decor.

Stopped here after visiting Hatfield house

Booked a table for end of term get together. Bar staff very rude, rushing us to leave saying the bar is closed, refused one drink after serving us 10 seconds earlier, people still in the bar after we left and not being rushed out , couldn’t wait to get us out, won’t be going there again and wouldn’t recommend, with the exception of one lovely young man, the other staff were very rude.

Booked a table for end of term celebrations. Moved to bar area after eating only to be rushed by rude staff to order drinks and leave within 10 minutes. Refused to accept order of 1 drink, 10 seconds after accepting an order. Very rude staff, rushing us to leave although when we left there were other people in the bar still drinking! Wouldn't recommend and won't be going there again.

Went for a quick lunch, food and service was excellent, we do use the Red Lion as a regular pub for lunch. Served by Sophie , lunch arrived very quickly.

Wonderful service with Sophie attending to all our needs, excellent meals & desserts along with friendly banter with the staff

Staff very friendly And helpful

Great service from Sophie and delicious food (even though staff very busy with a wake). Good selection of beers and I really enjoyed the cask Ivel from Rivertown brewery.

The Red Lion is a friendly neighborhood pub with decent food. ‘Nuff said.

A wonderful experience. I unfortunately have a small stomach so meals are always a struggle to finish but I really appreciated the way my server, Sue, double checked everything was okay when they noticed I didn't manage to finish my dinner (always gotta save room for desert 😉) and it's just the little things like that which make it such a brilliant place to go to. The food and atmosphere is fantastic but I always really judge a place by it's staff and service and this one exceeds all my expectations! ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you Sue and thank you everyone else for a amazing meal! 😘

Had a wonderful evening with family for my dad’s birthday surprise. Excellent service and very friendly

Good food and very good portion size. Outside area is well kept and clean

This popular town pub has a more than decent menu for vegetarians...I had a delicious hummus bowl last week. Plenty of room to sit outside, even if situated on a busy road.

I came on a Sunday for a roast which was amazing then me and partner decided to come back today for lunch 27/05/24 I had hunters chicken and he had chicken burgers both where so good defo be coming back and service is very good and staff are very friendly

The Pie and mash was very nice, but the veg was really under cooked, prices are reasonable

Great pub,, always welcoming. Great service with a lovely outdoor area. Good selection on the menu. A good local, cosy in the winter also. 👍

Went here with my mates, terrible service terrible atmosphere, the manager vickie was awful to her employees and guests.

Service was terrible, and the atmosphere was the same. Employees are amazing except the manager vicky, she was awful to the employees. Not coming back here again.

I have visited this pub a many times over the years, but the last visit was really disappointing. Since the refurbishment they have added more tables and it is far too cramped and squashed in. They've put tables along the walk way and in front of the fireplace and it is just too much and too close. We were shoved into a cramped space even though we had booked a few days before. It just doesn't work. There seemed to be a less crowded place to the left and right as you walk in with hardly anyone seated. I'm not sure why this space was not utilised. You used to be able to walk in and pick your seat in a more spacious area. I went for a Sunday roast yesterday with my family and my food came out cold apart from the vegetables. I told the waitress almost immediately upon receiving our dinner, she was very apologetic and offered to heat it up. About 2 minutes later it came out lukewarm after it had been zapped in the microwave and my Yorkshire pudding was soft and ruined. I ordered the light version and there was hardly any meat. It was extra, extra light. The roast potatoes were hard and so was the cauliflower cheese. The waitress asked how our meals were afterwards and we said as well as it being cold the roast potatoes were too hard. We were told we should have said sooner even though I had ready had to send my food back for being too cold. We also saw other people sending back their food due to it being cold. The waiting staff were very polite but didn't offer any reduction for cold food which I did complain about during the meal. We were only told that the kitchen would receive our "feedback". We saw the manager asking what was wrong as my roast dinner was taken back to be put in the microwave. We received a dirty side look from the manager a few moment later. The Eton mess also had hardly any crushed meringue. It was mainly ice cream and overpriced. Disappointing. Overall it was very disappointing. I used to really like this pub and have visited on many occasions at various times over the years for lunch and dinner, but I will have second thoughts about doing so in the future. It's another pub ruined due to trying to squeeze in too many tables and people. A cold Sunday roast with hard potatoes is not a good thing.

I visited this place as I was organised a baby shower to my friend 🧡 I booked it a while back, and it was easy and straightforward. 20 people were invited, and all of us fit well 😊 chlidren were able to "play" outside. The food was delicious and a good portion! We received a great service here even though I was just booked a place, no food or drink were included in our booking, but we, of course, ordered food and drinks. A big restaurant with an outside space which is amazing to use if the weather lets you 😉

Been twice in past 2 weeks service and atmosphere good . food . Tasteless Cod and Bacon fish cakes. Champagne sauce MMmm.????? 2nd visit. Grilled Chicken very dry over done. Delivered to table 10 minutes after ordering. not freshly cooked Warm chips cold rice 😪 sorry won't be back

We had my 60th birthday celebration in the function room and it comfortably held 60 people. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the buffet was excellent. There was a lot of good tasting food and my guests all commented what a lovely evening they had had. The team couldn't do enough for us and the whole evening went off really well. Thankyou

Visited with friend both ordered fish and chips - asked for the small portion (as we both thought a larger portion to much at lunchtime) to be told they only do a small portion with scampi. Other McMullen pubs offer small fish & chips so I suspect they are catering to to local business' so do not offer the small portion. That policy needs t change. When our food arrived my friends looked nice but mine was clelarly overcooked/burnt. Who knows it may even have been recooked/heated. On opening the fish up it was awful with hardly any fish inside. When I brought this to the attention of the waitress she agreed and changed it without quibble. They must have known the fish was not up to standrad so why serve it? They quickly brought a fresh piece of fish which was very nice however there were very few fries on both my plate and my friends and what there where were very minute. There was no choice on chips and it only came with fries. Again McMullens need to change this. The staff were very nice. At £16 for this meal it was not value for money conseuently I will not be going there again as it was over priced for what it was.

Delicious fishcakes and my sister enjoyed the goats cheese pasta. Service was quick. I gave atmosphere 4 stars as I was there on a wet Wednesday lunchtime, so it was obviously quiet but nice all the same

Celebrated an 80th birthday with 21 members of the family. Excellent service when making the booking, staff helpful and welcoming. Meal was excellent, food was great and all staff were great - highly recommend this pub. Thank you to all.

Excellent service and food. Great waitress assistance

The pub restaurant wasn't too busy. The first waitress seemed new or less experienced and hadn't noted down our order. Food was OK but chicken and rib meal a bit dry. Lovely deserts

Very friendly service. Great food served quickly for a busy Sunday afternoon. All our plates were emptied.

All 7 of us agreed the food was delicious, reasonably priced and excellent friendly starter

Been here for a work event and had some me food and drinks. Everything was good and service was fast and friendly.

Asked for large white wine at £8 glass . Was charged for the more expensive wine at £11 pound a glass on bill .

Excellent food, really friendly service and a really nice atmosphere. Service was a bit slow, hence 4 rather than 5 stars

Really good mix of modern and community

Excellent food and very friendly staff

Wonderful food and ambience... A place to return again and again

Really nice experience, some of the food was a bit dry though.. the service was amazing. The waitress we had attended to everything we needed including extending the table, as hoc orders etc.

The refurb looks great but busy Sundays mean the staff are rushed off their feet. The food hasn’t been great for a while. Portions used to be good, but now a roast dinner with just 3 potatoes and very undercooked veg, carrots were practically raw. Bit disappointing tbh.

Fantastic food a tad expensive for us but the service was well above average and food timings were spot on

We’ve eaten here twice this month and used Oliver’s to hold a family funeral reception too. Food and service has been great every time especially by Natasha behind the bar at the funeral. Food is fresh and varied and the re-firn looks fab.

After refurbishment very relaxed atmosphere good design food overall is good but the Burgers is not the best quality ,patty is dry and not tasty for sure is frozen...

First visit after refurb. Surprised at the excellent standard of the meal and all staff amazing. Definitely a hidden gem. Well done all.

We went here for lunch on Boxing Day as part of a big party of about 20. I’m a little snobby with food but I was so impressed! The service from the moment we arrived to when we left was amazing, especially so as they were busy with multiple groups. We were never left waiting for drinks or for food to be served, tables to be cleared. The food was of a great standard, more than expected for when catering for the numbers they were. This is a gem of a venue!

We had a lovely family meal at the Red Lion pub in Hatfield on Boxing Day 23. They looked after us very well and were very accommodating for a wheelchair. So would definitely recommend them if you have a wheelchair ! They were and are very friendly. The starters, main and desserts were a good size portion. You did not come out of there hungry ! They made our family day a very relaxed and jolly family day.

Went in for dinner after a cold walk at Hatfield House. The pub was so cosy and the service was excellent from the waitresses there on the 27th of dec. They accommodated a large group of us including children. The food was lovely. I had a steak and ale pie which is a staple and you can't miss it. Thank you for such lovely service. We had a lovely dinner with friends.

Had a Sunday roast rotisserie chicken, my friend had hunters chicken... Not too long a wait, so that was a plus... But server was not particularly engaging, can understand being NYE that you might not want to be working but service with a genuine smile isn't much to ask. Anyway we didn't get a smile but was told we could walk over and get our cutlery ourselves (even though I'd watched another server get cutlery for their customers and were smiley). Anyway, my roast was great portions, looked good but was barely warm, bordering on cold. The Hunters Chicken was hot but pretty much a junior size and looked pathetically presented in the skillet. Not one of the best meals I've had in a McMullen pub.

Absolutely perfect breakfast ... Great ingredients...under £10 for a full breakfast ... excellent value where is everyone ...place should be packed

Xmas Dinner, Food & Service was good Top marks for the chef (My Chicken Dinner stayed hot), The DJ with the music was also cool 😎

Lovely pub with a nice range of drinks, Alicia was a fabulous host! The new remodelling is very modern yet cosy, would highly recommend

Had our family Christmas get together here , it was very busy and quite noisy but despite that , food was good service was excellent lovely people there , would go again