White Lion in Manchester

Gorgeous little pub with very friendly bar staff, outside seating area with heating and not too busy considering it's right off Deansgate. Great bonus they serve alcohol free cider!

Landlord is a bit of a nob ed lol nah I joke Vic is sound and it's a great pub and TBF the prices are actually decent for where it is. Good decent and friendly, show sports with multiple screens honestly can't really ask for much more. I miss the bar lady Claire ;)

Great staff, very friendly crowd, tom 🤘

This is a fantastic pub best and cheapest price for guniness 4.40 The landlord vic is a top lad

Great pub brilliant atmosphere, Staff are excellent Keenly priced.

Just like what you see in #TedLasso. I felt like I was hanging out with Baz, Jeremy, Paul, and Mae… An amazing selection of beers & other spirits… A great place to join locals cheering on Manchester United!!!

Was in on Sunday before arsenal game great service 3 barmaids were excellent kept the bar moving very busy but no problem getting served

Nice enough pub. Reasonably priced drinks and friendly staff.

Standard pub to go for a drink. Drinks served in plastic glasses if you plan to sit outside. One of the drinks we had wasn't great, but the staff were great and let us change the drink.

Awesome crowd for watching the football.

Great friendly local boozer. Free standup comedy from the Guvnor Vic. Nice pint of Guinness. Cracking beer garden and friendly locals. Decent prices. Matt the barman is a legend. Always come here for the football.

Great pub with a very friendly barman. Definitely recommend it 👌

Nice pub with good drinks prices, Courtney was lovely to us, really great service. X

Just to say I come in here regularly and Vic Singh the landlord has been absolutely fantastic and really looks after us . His staff are fantastic as well. Courtney , Matt and the rest of them

Best pub around, friendly staff, decent price drinks. Always got whatever sport you want on. Regulars who drink in their are sound.

Went on a very busy Saturday night decent enough pub just on the outskirts of town

Good service, good range of beers. Relaxed atmosphere. Close to Deansgate rail station and the Manchester tram system. Just across the road from the Museum of Science and Industry. Easy to get to and a good place from which to explore the Castlefield area.

First impressions thankfully are not always correct! If we formed our first impression of Manchester’s pubs and hospitality based on our shabby experience at the White Lion pub, we would never visit the city again. On an overnight trip for a concert at the Castlefields Bowl, my husband and I arranged to meet friends in the White Lion at 4pm. It was the Euro football quarter finals (England v Switzerland) and the inside bar looked fairly busy but not rammed. However, we were not there to see the match and we could see our friends seated at a table in the half empty beer garden. One of our party had ordered us a drink at the indoor bar. The door man, a youngish British-Asian man, refused to let us in. “It’s too busy, you’ll have to wait outside”, he told us, in a less than friendly way. We politely explained that our friends were already in the beer garden. “Everyone has friends” he said, ignoring our group as they waved in our direction. “The bar is too full and you can’t get into the beer garden unless you buy a drink from the bar!” “But our friends have already bought us a drink!” we tried to reason, our pleas falling on deaf ears! We sensed that there was no health and safety reason behind him refusing us entry. He was simply enjoying the power trip. This was made clear when he told us to step aside so that people would not think it was a queue. Eventually, after about 10 minutes of this illogical discourse, while other customers continued to enter and exit the bar, one of our friends came over to see what was going on. “This doorman won’t let us in”, we told her. “So we are going to find somewhere else to eat” and we started to walk away. “You can come in now,” our obtuse doorman told us, changing his tone. But we were bored of his little power games and no longer wanted to spend any time - or money - in a hostile pub that did not welcome our custom. Crowd management I understand, but there was absolutely no logic to this man’s refusal to allow us entry. He did in fact do us a favour. We discovered a lovely tapas bar around the corner called Dmitri’s, where we enjoyed a tasty tapas dinner and a few drinks before the gig! Our experience of Manchester’s night life thereafter was very positive. We will NEVER darken the door of the White Lion if we ever visit Manchester again. The pub owners should give serious consideration to the image of their establishment this difficult doorman is presenting! If you see the White Lion, keep walking and head to the Oxnoble pub about 2 minutes away. A far nicer, friendlier and more welcoming place, which truly reflects Manchester’s hospitality!

Great atmosphere and reasonably priced

A once excellent boozer, ran by incompetent and rude staff! Rude from the offset, told not to grab chairs to accommodate us. Then told they don’t have shot glasses and that we should go next door to the Oxnoble instead. Unfriendly doesn’t quite do the customer service justice. As we left, and tried to rearrange the seating the same member of staff, a girl with a blonde/red bun told us bluntly those chairs don’t go there and ‘Thanks for the extra work’…a literal guide on how not to treat customers. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Great place to watch sports. Friendly staff.

Welcome pint after young uns doing 10k

Called in for a refreshing beer

Just had a quick drink on the way home. The place was ok....mostly locals. Staff were courteous. It's friendly enough for a quick pop in.

Great pre match pub with big screens for football

This is a place we use from time to time and we would use it more often if they got more staff on. This latest visit was on a Saturday lunchtime and it was packed with football supporters. Despite this, there were only two people serving and it took absolutely ages. I don't really understand this as they would sell so much more beer if they have one or two more people on and it would easily pay for itself. That said, it is a nice pup with an excellent beer garden and nicely situated on the edge of Castlefield. They could do with a slightly better range of drinks though and they didn't seem to have any IPA at all which is unusual in this day and age.

Popped in for a bevvy. Great bar, lovely atmosphere

Advertised a temporary shift on Facebook in April 2024 paying way below minimum wage at £9.50 an hour. Dodgy place, don't support.

Grenight night out and Grenight staff

We had a brilliant day and night. All thanks to the legend manager Steve and all his fantastic team.sorry we are leaving for Australia we will really miss this great pub. If you want a warm and friendly pub to be in this is the place to be very good prices and welcoming pub.

Proper beer, good pub. It's got Its mojo back 👍🏻

Busy pub showing multiple sports on plenty of tv's. Lots of staff so service was pretty quick also

Came into to escape the rain and was greeted with a pleasant, quiet atmosphere and a warm landlady. Good local boozer in a historic part of Manchester.

Only nipped in for a quick drink before the United match looked decent.

Great comfy boozer, get all sorts in here, always feels Chilled even when packed, and a massive beer garden too, doesn’t even do food though so don’t know why I’m being asked to rate it

This pub is how pubs used to be, really enjoyed it, can't comment on the food we only had drinks, good selection of beers.

Steve was a great bartender for our work visit in today. Will definitely be coming back again! 🫡👍🏻🤩😁

Steve made our business trip incredible, very hospitable, incredible pub with great draught, great food and good vibes

A classic old style pub that does what it says on the tin, can get busy on match days however so will all city antre pubs. Worth a try and beer is great 👍

Visiting family, Everyone very welcoming, we were away for the day, my football team were playing on sky and they put it on even though it wasn't a Manchester club. Felt very welcome, very friendly. Just a shame about the result of the game. Thank you for a great atmosphere.

No food but staff are happy to let you bring your own food in Great staff and great atmosphere

This pub is brilliant were there all the time x

Called in with a group of union friends. The landlord was excellent. We were made to feel welcome. The beer was good and the staff worked hard to keep everyone happy. A good selection of sport to watch too. Thank you.

Evening drink before the weekend revellers arrive

Not been here in years, service prompt & polite, good atmosphere for a Friday and at least there was somewhere to sit. Decent pub, how it should be on a Friday.

Great pub with good beer garden 👌

Vic the landlord started here as a pot collecter in his teans so he knows this pub and customers well he has turned it back into the brilliant pub it always was I call it the gateway to Castlefield you are guaranteed a great time

Been here twice, enjoyed both time

This is a fairly old looking nice bar, down to earth and very friendly. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather and the atmosphere. All good!

Went here for lunch back in 2017, so take this review with a grain of salt - drinks were eye-wateringly overpriced and the food (fish and chips) was absolutely ghastly. I'd probably steer clear of this place if I were you.

I know 40+ females are generally invisible but jeez, took nearly 20 minutes to be served. Loads were getting served ahead of me, I was probably stood in the wrong place, thankfully one member of staff noticed. Probably a good pub but unlikely to return.

Cracking little boozer just off deansgate with a beer garden that over looks the ruins. Loads of choice and prices are good too, well worth a stop if your down here at one of the restaurants. Will be back!

Highly recommend! Paramount Service, Security, and fairest prices for Ale!

This is a pub. we use quite a bit after football at Old Trafford and it is great. It is full of character and characters but it improves dramatically when the Sun is out. The reason for this is that it has a wonderful beer garden which gets the Sun well into the evening. It does get busy but be patient and a table will become available. The service inside is fast and friendly and you don’t have to queue for long. They have a good range of well priced drinks, and the cider when the weather is like, this is absolutely delicious!

Great service, clean, cozy atmosphere and United victory. What to complain about?

Cracking pub, great service and sat outside in the sun. What's not to like

Great atmosphere, friendly staff

Busy pub with sports screens throughout... stayed for a beer and moved on.

Brilliant.. friendly atmosphere.. reasonable price for drink and food..I'd strongly recommend a pop in to have a look .

Lovely place to meet up before the united game

Perfekt pub med en riktigt bra service. Bra priser och en riktigt bra bartender. Max heter han. Gillar verkligen puben.

Max is very friendly, good beer, joyful atmosphere. Really recommend this!

Nice pub with fine collections of beers and spirits. Great place to be after a sportgame.

Lovely back street pub just of Deansgate

Nice pub just off deansgate, good prices for central Manchester.

Love it in here when I'm in Manchester

Brilliant boozer, never a bad visit

Great choice of larger, great staff, great for football, friendly atmosphere 🥳

Met with friendly service, the new landlady is miles better than the previous one who was quite frankly awful. You can tell the place is far better run. The prices are far better, the beers are far better and there is generally a far better atmosphere.

Since it has been renovated, this place has improved a lot. This latest visit was after 1230 United match so always handy from Deansgate station. Place was packed with people enjoying themselves and watching the football. It is a friendly place and the atmosphere very good indeed. The people behind the bar with flat out but the service was still friendly and fast. We often use this in the summer because of the great beer garden, but this time we just enjoyed the ambience of the pub

Excellent place to drink beer and watch games with great quality.

Went in at 7:30pm, to be immediately confronted in a very unfriendly manner to say our 15 year old could not come in. It's their pub, so if they don't want us in, that's their prerogative, but no need for antagonistic attitude. Needless to say, never again.

A bit spit and sawdust for my tastes, but my Dad seemed happy here. Had a kind of northern life in the 90's vibe to it.

Very average and expensive, not the cleanest, definitly not going to be returning. Plus side staff quite friendly

Popped in for a pint on a shopping trip and this place is class my mrs dont drink so made her a cup of tea 😊

Proper pub with a fantastic landlady!! She's not frightened of a TikTok threat!! She made the group of us laugh, she's Old School and all the better for it. Thank You.

Had a really nice pint of lager. Friendly landlord. Great little pub

Good pub with friendly staff and decent prices

Was pretty empty and one could talk with friends without being drowned out by loud background music

Friendly atmosphere, great location

Billige gode øl og en hyggelig pub

Brilliant pub fantastic staff and good prices hope to return again soon thank you for a lovely afternoon.

29/09/22: disappointed with the range of craft ales. We had the Wainwright Golden Ale 4.1%, a newly changed barrel pulled through while we waited and quite frankly it tasted off. Had a distinct vinegary, sour taste not associated with a Wainwight Golden ale!

White Lion was very nice.....pleasant staff and very comfortable surroundings XxxX

Always has Landlord on tap, more importantly we'll kept

Great outside area in the afternoon sun. Nice staff and decent prices.

Not been in for a couple of years, new landlord new atmosphere great Manchester boozer.Great afternoon with top Reds.

Very pleasant staff clean and tidy nice beer garden

This was our first visit to this well-established pub since it has been renovated and it was great. It was a sunny day in Manchester so we took a table outside and watch the goings on on Liverpool Road as there’s always something happening. Inside the pub is nice as well and they show live horse racing and other sports. They have a good range of drinks at reasonable prices and the service is efficient and quite fast.

Fairly quiet mid week, decent choi of beers/lagers and sensible prices for near city centre. Recommended

Excellent pint Landlord, understated but friendly pub

Dreadful service. Old woman just ignored us behind the bar. Stinks as well.

Rammed due to the concert, took an eternity to get served.

Nice drinks lovely outside space what more could you ask

Friendly staff and great value, will certainly visit again

Cheap and good atmosphere..Nice people running it

Loved land ladie great had good time go again if I'm allowed ha ha

Great pub, friendly staff and toilets are very clean 👌

Friendly and reasonably priced pub

This is a nice cosy pub which was great for watching the boxing. Good prices on drinks too and we were able to get a table on a Saturday night