Red Lion in City of London, Westminster

Great for drinks not for food. Frozen and refried food. Good service, but it doesn’t compensate the food. Check for other options to eat nearby.

Burger had no taste. Serviette had more Coleslaw on the menu but they no longer serve it

I visited this pub with my family, that is is my wife and 3 year old son, for lunch. The barman/manager was extremely rude to us for no apparent reason. My wife asked politely if we could eat downstairs because my son was sleeping in his pushchair and it was awkward to carry him and it up the narrow stairs. The barman said "No, you should just leave him at home watching Nickelodeon" and laughed. This casual insult stuck with me. Why would he be so rude to a polite family? I wrote an email of complaint to the company, but they ignored it completely. I will never visit a Sam Smiths pub again.

A typical London pub, with a warm welcome and I'm not talking about the fireplace atmosphere with a good beer or a comforting tea. If you are passing through London and stop here, you might be surprised. Big plus for the more than friendly server

The pub is stunning. Beautiful building, with original-esque decor. Th right amount of dim lighting to make it difficult to read a book but feel comfortable, too. A blazing fire in heback bar sts agrea atmosphere. I had a pint of the bitter, £6 which isn't bad for the area. The beer was in good condition and tasted nice. The guy who served me, Adnan (I hope that's right) was excellent. Will definitely be back.

Horrible food and racist employees

Walking in for a quick pint, did not expect such a great experiences. Tasty beers and great food, shout out to Christian the chefs who also served us to the table, definitely be back!

Good pub with space in the back to get away from Oxford Street & Regent Street crowds

Cozy atmosphere like many Pubs in London

Cozy pub with a fireplace and not too crowded.

A great place for a quiet pint in a busy location. Perfect if your other half is busy shopping! Samuel Smith beer is great!

Terrible manager terrible beer dirty glasses dirty floor dirty kitchen

It is a quiet session to hold oneself accountable 😂😂😂, as for me, I will go and study in it, thank you 🫠.

Drop in for food, had fish and chips Excellent ❤️

Only popped in for a pint whilst the family was shopping 🛍 fast service and a lovely oldy worldy Pub a bit expensive for a pint but right in the middle of Soho so it is what it is cocktails 🍸 looked nice but far too expensive for me 😉👍🏻👍🏻

A traditional, unpretentious pub with a wide range of drinks. The portion size of the food is a disgrace for the price paid.

Nice pub meal. An enjoyable eating experience.

Very unfriendly staff, was ignored on entrance, had to order at counter, pay first, all said very abruptly. Had to ask for cutlery and condiments, all requests met with eye rolls from barmaid, kids pizza was obviously frozen, food very poor for the price!!! No thanks or goodbye or anything, felt like we inconvenienced them. And hardly a sinner in the place, sorry I didn't turn on my heel and walk out of the place and not trusted my instincts as soon as we walked in. Awful experience!

Lovely barman working last night, so polite personable and really made our experience a lovely one. Thank you!

Unfortunately this great building is let down by bar staff that don't know their own selection and are seemingly uninterested in trying to help you discover what that might be. I'm sure it does a lot of trade due to its location, but it's a shame that it's potential is being held back.

Estábamos esperando algo de comida, pero como la cocina no abrió hasta 1700 optamos por una bebida primero, y resultó ser un movimiento sabio! Pedir bebidas fue un poco desafiante, especialmente una pinta de jugo de naranja y limonada. Me di la espalda mientras tomaba las primeras bebidas al bar y miré hacia atrás y vi un vaso de jugo de naranja y un vaso de una pinta de limonada. Lo siento, quería una pinta de jugo de naranja y limonada, como en un vaso. Pero solo tenemos pequeñas botellas de zumo de naranja fue la respuesta. Lo queríamos en un vaso. Pero solo tenemos botellas pequeñas... Oh Dios. Una botella orgánica de sidra, de 330 ml, costaba £ 7. 40, no me gustaba nada de los grifos a estas alturas. Realmente no había ninguna personalidad en el personal del bar y simplemente vagabundearon y realmente no se comprometieron, de lo contrario, tal vez habríamos parado por comida, pero la experiencia con las bebidas no me dio confianza en que la cocina / comida sería de cualquier calidad y con uno de los miembros del grupo con alergia a los frutos secos no era un riesgo que estábamos dispuestos a correr, ya que no estoy seguro de que los alérgenos estarían en lo alto de su lista de controles de cumplimiento.

We got here about 10 minutes before noon. They open at noon and all the orders go in at once. They were very crowded and we had somewhere to be at 2 so we opted to just have drinks. However the atmosphere is very cool and we would definitely come back for food another time!

Asked for the cocktail menu, this has no price list with it, asked how much they were, barmaid said £11/£12. Paid and thought it was expensive, was charged an extra £11.80 for juice (photo attached) I asked why and said this was not correct, all she said was it was her mistake. I advised this is not the point, you can’t say it was £11/£12 and then charge £15 each!

Classic London pub, we ate in the room upstairs we had several sandwiches, all good, and the chicken cutlet for a child, the only flaw is that they always use sauces, onions, gherkins in oil, so whenever possible I ask for do not put them, or I ask you to put them "on the side", after having taken three beers, if you don't know them they are available to let you taste them so you can choose the one you prefer, the waitress, after several requests to eliminate all these sauces and condiments, did a bit of confusion and the chef came straight up from the kitchen, which was a surprise for us. Italian chef, we immediately started talking and it was a really nice moment, he also had the pleasure of meeting us... I recommend it

Food was good. Impressive Yorkshire Puddings. Friendly staff.

Very quiet and cozy pub for the area. Polite service, good beers and filling food

The food was delicious and beautifully presented, and the staff were very friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend.

Wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone food took forever to come out and has a awful dead atmosphere.Dirty glasses we was drinking out of and a horrible smell in there a very dull pub with no light coming through . Although we did get a refund for our food which was good of them to do so .

Didn’t smell good and it has a strange atmosphere

We ordered a set of 5 mixed tapas. Buffalo wings were so bad we couldn't eat them. On the contrary, everything else was delicious. The atmosphere is relaxed, suitable for spending time with friends.

Cute pub- old style, great beers, well priced wine. Bar staff were lovely.

The Red Lion, like many other Sam Smith’s pubs, wears its history on its sleeve. There’s a beautiful time warp element here which I love. Atmospheric, plenty of dark wood, unique beers….it even smells old…..pub gold.

Don't eat here unless you want frozen food heated up.

Great pub with indoor and outdoor area by Carnaby Street. Drinks are reasonably priced and staff are really friendly

I've never eaten here only come for drinks but its a nice classic pub, bit dated but I like the place if I'm honest - will come back again

Proper, lovely pub with perfectly kept bitter AND a dartboard. Heaven among the packed neon-cocktail hellscape bars of Soho. We didn't eat. Pubs are for drinking.

If I could give no stars I would! One of the worst food and service I've ever experienced, we were made pay first, take our own cutlery, ask if we really were going to order food. We had to pay first, myself and my friend ordered a portion of chicken wings each, and two chips, firstly the waitress brings our chicken wings in one bowl, and says that's the two portions, we asked for another plate and she wouldn't get IT, I really think it's ridiculous to serve two different orders in the same bowl. chicken was soggy and flavourless, chips came out ten minutes later. My other friend ordered a mac and cheese and it was like one from packet, you just add water, (AVOID THE FOOD HERE)

Traditional, old london pub. Cosy !

Horrible. It looks like an abandoned pub. No IPA, no vibes. Ugly people.

The building itself is a nice old traditional pub and that the positives out of the way . The food was horrific and most of the menu wasn’t available . The chicken wings were tough , halloumi fries cremated and the fish also well over done . The service was also pretty poor . A lot of training and investment needed here in what should be a great place considering where it is located .

Great rustic pub with a real fireplace.

A very good experience, beautiful decor and good atmosphere. The prices are reasonable and the dishes are excellent and generous portions. A great experience, beautiful place and nice atmosphere. The prices are reasonable and the meals are excellent with very generous portions.

The staff didn't mention during ordering that they are out of sauce mentioned in the menu. The whole establishment reeks of urine and spilled beer

Nice looking pub (we sat in the first floor), nice friendly bar staff. Food was just SO average. I don’t get the mentality of why you serve food like this. It’s like you’re in a race to the bottom. It wasn’t like what we had was terrible, it just could be so much better. I had the pie and mash - it came with no carrots (the menu said it would) and was served with a leaf salad - a handful of the baby leaf type salad that you get in all supermarkets. What vaguely decent chef thinks that a handful of baby leaves are going to go well with pie, mash and gravy?? Wife had the ‘loaded’ nachos. I wish we’d have taken a photo as they were anything but loaded. The cheese sauce and jalapeños were missing for a start (it said they came with these on the menu) and it simply looked like a handful of supermarket nachos with the tiniest bit of salsa and a literal teaspoon of something green. The kids had pizza and spag Bol. In fairness, the chips were great but the rest of it just felt like a meal served to hit a low price point. It’s a shame because it’s a lovely pub, lovely staff, terrible food that looks like it’s selected by an accountant, not a chef. We won’t be back.

Cosy pub in the middle of Soho. Part of the Sam Smiths chain so expect limited branded beers, but there’s enough to suffice

Pub inglés cerca de Piccadilly. El ambiente es agradable y los camareros muy amables. Hay multitud de cervezas para elegir.

Sat upstairs for some food. Food arrived after 30 minutes, the lettuce was black on the burger and the chips were a miserable portion. Now for the real reason of this review… not long after we sat down we were greeted by a very unpleasant guest… A MOUSE. Running around the floor under our feet when we were trying to enjoy a few pints and decent food.. poor bartender was put in a awful state of trying to explain away the mouse along with mistakes made by the kitchen.

Busy Londond pub in heart of Soho. Friendly staff, good selection of drinks and reccomendations made by the barman. Did not eat here, so cannot comment on food.

Nice old world pub in great location. Great atmosphere and cosy environment. Ideal for small groups or couples. Mulled wine is the best ever!

I wouldn’t even give this place a star. I never would say anything bad about a place but this so called ‘restaurant’ is horrific. The service is absolutely disgraceful. We sat for ages and not one member of staff came over to us to take our order, instead they stood behind the bar chatting and smoking. The place is extremely grubby and the seats in this place are not one bit comfortable for sit down eating. Smart Comments were also made as we decided to leave once no one would come over which was the height of rudeness. Ver unprofessional!!! Would not recommend to my worst enemy.

Absolutely terrible experience in this place. Sat down and staff stared at us instead of taking our order. My friends and I then got up to leave and a comment was passed by a staff member which was highly inappropriate. Definitely do not go to this place. Not very clean either

Rude staff, he didn't even try to help us with what they serve

Proper good London boozer, generally you can get a table any day of the week as well.

Nice place and really nice staff

Lovely atmosphere and good beer!

Whenever I go here I can find somewhere to sit. I like it here, lots of character. I like the beers though even here they are getting more expensive. It's still my favourite pub though.

Lovely little haven with the excellent choice of Samuel Smiths drinks and snacks. On this visit I went for the stout which cannot be faulted. Will always visit here again.

Pub típico de madera, en el barrio de Soho. Pasamos a tomar unas cervezas y tienen bastante variedad. Pasamos a un salón que tenia un fuego encendido. Servían en otros salones comida. En el que estuvimos estaba un poco dejado..... No era como en las fotos estaba algo más abandonado y los sofás bastantes sucios. Para esta un rato buen ambiente.

Fui num sábado, na hora do almoço e no térreo, para bebidas, o espaço está lotado de gente. Como fui para almoçar, fiquei no andar superior e estava bem vazio. Diversos tipos de cerveja e cardápio bem completo. Os preços estão dentro da média. Pedi grilled half chicken e estava muito bom.

The beer is warm, the atmos is non existent, the staff are rude, and to top it off, the dart board is so cheap, the darts just fall out of it. Avoid.

Good food, drinks, and service.

Cozy pub in central london, average prices for drinks and a nice selection

Just found this place as we had just gotten out of the taxi from the train station and my elderly grandmother was desperate for the loo! We said hello to the staff as we walked in and headed up to the toilets, there was no customer in sight, no music and overall sad atmosphere. There was a man who I assumed would be the manager upstairs where food is served on a business call with papers on the floor so we didn’t want to disturb him by sitting upstairs. So we went to go outside to grab a table as that seemed to be the best place to sit! As we left this elderly woman with brown curly hair behind the bar sarcastically said “thanks for using the toilets!” As I went back inside to let her know that was inappropriate to say, I didn’t get the chance to explain we were going to have a drink. She was very aggressive and impolite, pointing fingers and shouting. This was our first time in London and she didn’t create a good impression at all. And they wonder why the bar is always so quiet!

Chill ambience! We stopped here for a quick beer and cider. It was really good mixed with the nice ambience.

Depending on what you expect from a place in Soho, your opinion may vary greatly about Red Lion. I really liked the place. Decent prices, nice vibe, nice staff. I was downstairs where only drinks are served but upstairs has THE vibe. Cozy! The only thing missing was some background music, especially upstairs. It didn't really make so much difference when you heard people talking and laughing though. It became a little odd when there were not too many people. Awkward. Anyway, I decided to go for 4 instead of 5 stars just because of the toilet. The fact that the ladies room is located upstairs with no sign to indicate so is not a 10/10 idea. It's not convenient on many levels, starting with girls being lost, having a painful period, to being pregnant. It's really not comfortable (though the toilets were really nice and clean). Some would say you don't go to pubs when you're pregnant but when you wish to have a nice time in a quieter place in Soho and have food (don't forget that it's only served upstairs), it may become problematic. In my opinion, it's just something that may cause trouble which could already be avoided a long time ago. Overall, highly recommended.

It's a Samuel Smith pub. Enough said

From the outside/inside - the Red Lion pub looks very nice and cosy. The pub is located in a very nice and busy neighbourhood so in that sense I would recommend. However, the staff we had was very unfriendly to us and surely not reasonable. We had to wait a long time for our order and multiple things went very wrong (we received the wrong food and they said it was our fault. for example). However, the food was really good (typical Pub food).... so I have some mixed feelings.

Loved it here ...very friendly staff. Food very good.

Absolutely disgusted with the service provided and food provided here! Looked like an interesting pub from outside, expecting some decent English pub comfort food. Literally nothing but disappointment, a meal deal from Tesco would have been better!! Food came out with bits missing, select meals were LATE! Small portions and utter rip off irrespective of London prices. Don't visit. Not worth the time or energy! Waste of money!

Immaculate vibes and superrrr friendly staff

Food excellent. Fish and chips best in London, fresh and tasty. Staff friendly and welcoming.

A great place to stop for a beer when the rain comes pouring down!

Extremely cozy pub and a great service with very enjoyable food. A big recommendation for an authentic pub feeling!

£7.50 for a single pint! In a Sam Smith's pub!? The pub itself is an old fashioned boozer, with stains and an odour to match, but not bad if you want an antidote to All Bar One. But, seriously, £7.50 a pint makes it more expensive than most other places on earth, and it's definitely not worth the money.

Gut gelegener, aber für Soho trotzdem ruhiggelegener Pub. Draußen kann man entspannt sitzen aber drinnen ist es sehr gemütlich. Essen wird nur im ersten Stock serviert, was aber auch völlig in Ordnung ist. Die Getränkepreise sind gesalzen. Vorsicht.

Little English about this English Pub except the building. No cash, inly couple English beers and one cider. Expensive.

Fui a este pub un día por la tarde sobre las 8, dentro hacia un calor horrible por lo que no había nadie y solo podías estar en la terraza, que solo tienen 4 mesitas. El interior me defraudó un poco, no estaba cuidado y muy oscuro, sin las típicas luces o ambiente de pub. Respecto a las opciones de cervezas, son todas diferentes, tipo artesanas pero tampoco me gustaron mucho, ya que solo van por el tipo Lager y una más oscura, pero no de estilo pale ale, o IPA, que suelen encontrar en el resto de sitios. No lo recomiendo.

Lovely old pub, nice service, clean toilets and well kept beer 🍻 what more could you want.

Nice place but beer selection and vibe is so-so

Best fish ans chips we had in London ! Nice staff and very warm place in the old traditional pub style

Terrible Waiting 40 mins for 3 small plates. Asked how long and the waiter had no idea. Complete waste of money. We had to leave no food

Great food and genuine atmosphere

Avoid this place like the plague. Dimly lit, smelly and it looks like they have not cleaned or hoovered since the last century. The glasses were filthy, as were the bottles and cutlery. The barman in the upstairs bar was so rude and inattentive, it was like it was a huge effort for him to be there serving, in fact, when he wasn’t serving, he was reading a book! It was Coronation day so I would have thought they would have made an effort as London was packed with tourists. Food was bland with overcooked haloumi fries, and scampi that was cooked in oil that was probably changed the last time they hoovered the carpet. I always try and find somewhere independent to eat / drink as I am not a lover of chains, but on this occasion, I was wrong. Seriously, spend your money anywhere else but here.

Avoid this place like the plague. Dimly lit, smelly and it looks like they have not cleaned or hoovered since the last century. The glasses were filthy, as were the bottles and cutlery. The barman in the upstairs bar was so rude and inattentive, it was like it was a huge effort for him to be there serving, in fact, when he wasn’t serving, he was reading a book! It was Coronation day so I would have thought they would have made an effort as London was packed with tourists. Food was bland with overcooked haloumi fries, and scampi that was cooked in oil that was probably changed the last time they hoovered the carpet. I always try and find somewhere independent to eat / drink as I am not a lover of chains, but on this occasion, I was wrong. Seriously, spend your money anywhere else but here.

An ill mannered barman with a north American accent, more interested in his dull book than serving me. The words thank you evaded his vocabulary when completing the transaction. What a tosspot.

The most aggressive and surly barman I have ever had the misfortune of encountering. Ruined an otherwise good day out in London. He was reading a book when we walked in and was clearly bothered by our presence. As always I was very polite and asked how he was to which he didn’t even reply. We had planned to meet a group of friends here for a birthday celebration but after our hostile reception we contacted them and suggested meeting elsewhere. We used to visit this pub frequently but won’t be returning. Such a pity that a quaint pub can be ruined by one obnoxious individual.

I read a few of the other reviews and can only say that I think action has been taken on what's been said. The barman (who yes, looks a bit like Elvis) was nice, the food was great (we had two fish and chips, even though the kitchen had just closed, he made a cheerful successful attempt to persuade the cooking staff to stay - and the food was really good!). It's more of a proper London pub (the photo with the red bar stools is from somewhere else) with oak panel walls and a bit of a swirly carpet, and in that vein, you are reliant on good conversation, good beer and good food to have a good time. No noisy jukebox, no rattling acoustics, slightly sticky tables (but they're clean). Comfortable seating, lots of space, reasonable prices. What more could you want? I'd really recommend it for people who want a slice of genuine London, rather than a slice of manufactured London. Thanks guys - I come infrequently, but every time I do come, it's a relief from the busy, crowded, other places in the area!

The plates and glasses where dirty, the fried halloumi smelled and tasted of old oil and was greasy. The barman was rude and miserable and seemed as though he didn't want to be there. Definitely would not go back and would not recommend it.

Klâsik bir pub. Lezzetli yemekler ve farklı fıçı biralar sunan mekân, tarihi dokusunu koruyan bir tasarıma sahip.

DO NOT ORDER FOOD. Ordered half a roast chicken, found ICE inside it, stone cold. Did get a full refund from understanding and apologetic manager but waiting staff was rude.

Don't order food here. Food took 1.5 hours and sandwiches were burnt and dry. 2 sandwoches never got there. Really poor so we left. Giving two stars as we did get a refund and the manager and bar staff were friendly enough about it. Apparently a new chef was to blame

Food took over an hr to arrive and was over-cooked and below par! Staff were understanding and offered a refund which was appreciated. It had really impacted our day as a family. We ended up at the Ganton Arms round the corner which was much better value for money and faster service.

Rude staff insulted my family by saying I should leave my 3 year old child at home watching Nickelodeon when we came in for a quiet lunch. Customer complaints service completely ignored my email about this. Terrible unfriendly service

As Londoners we’ve been going to this pub for years and always had a good ish visit. However I love the location and continued to support the pub as an independent. This occasion however the service was diabolical. And got a new low. The Elvis looking chap was so very rude and arrogant that I will never bother again. Sort out the shoddy service, the sewer smell that takes over the whole pub and make it the charming pub that it used to be. Maybe the constant churn of customers makes them think it’s a nice place to be. Everywhere else was heaving and they kept relying on new customers and everyone seemed to leave after their first drink.

In London on short stay visit and was recommended this pub by a friend. Went in just before 6 pm when they served food and sat across from the bar. General lighting was not very bright, but where I was sitting seemed to be darker than the rest, I struggled to read the menu. However, I managed to order some fish and chips, which was fairly average, but tasted ok. I have to say, though, that the Samuel Smith organic lager was excellent.

This is probably the only pub in london without WiFi access!? Also my phone signal is also poor in this area on EE

Tardan mucho en servir la comida, eso si te la sirven, y caro no, lo siguiente, si lo sé no vengo ni al bar ni a Londres, me ha amargado la vida

The food took 2 hours to come, little variety on the menu, very high prices for the quality of the food, poor customer service, very unpleasant waitresses with a lack of empathy and education. #PRAYFORMAMEN #JUSTICEFORMAMEN

Enjoyable Sam Smith pub. Very nice upstairs dining. Good food and pleasant staff.

Nice pub, cool ambience and friendly staff.