The Red Lion Houston — Restaurant in Houston

I've lived in the area for over 8 or so years and I've always passed by Red Lion Pub. I've heard many good things about the place but just never took the time to check the place out.

Finally decided last night, Saturday 7/15/2023 to try out Red Lion Pub. Upon reading the reviews, I had lower and lower expectations due how terrible service was or how mediocre the food would be. But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Let's get to the nitty gritty of my experience...

Service We got seated on the other side of the restaurant that wasn't as lively and busy. Which could be a good thing if you don't like too much noise but also a bad thing because you're basically forgotten. In our case, we were forgotten.

Food; I truly felt like I was on an episode of Master Chef and Hotel Nightmares of how disappointing the food was. Quite below mediocre at best.

Full order Fish and Chips I felt like Gordon Ramsay trying to taste test the famous British staple, fish and chips and end up yelling how flavorless the fish was. Sitting at the table and peeling off the batter to see how unseasoned everything was, truly left me feeling like how Gordon feels when he's served the worst dish of his people. The green peas basically were so flavorless, even Joe Bastianich probably would have given you the stink eye of, "what in the hell were you thinking serving me this".

French Fries (chips) I feel like this needs a category of it's own. The fries were THICK, but not in a good way. When you took your first bite, it was so starchy to the point you kind of wished the fries were cut a little more in half. Your bite was almost as if the fries were not cooked all the way through. They weren't crispy. Just straight up thick cut and undercooked. I literally had to ask my partner if I could sprinkle sat on the fries. It could basically be a meal of it's own but in a bad way.

Mini Cheese Burgers Gordon Ramsay probably would have pulled apart the buns off the burger, face you, and would have been like "YOU'RE AN IDIOT SANDWICH!". Based off how unseasoned the burger patty was. The only good thing was that the buns basically tasted like the hawaiian roll buns on well cooked but unseasoned beef patty. Not even an ounce of salt. Gordon would be like where is the cheese?

Roasted Jalepeno Spinach Dip with Toasted Garlic Bread This was probably the only good thing we ate last night. The only item worth talking about. Although I sort of wished the spinach dip could have had a little bit of a more creamy element in it, instead of sautéed spinach in little heavy cream. The cheesy garlic toast was decent.

When it came to get the check, our waitress asked us if we wanted boxes cause I'll tellllll you what. We had one whole fish fillet uneaten, leftover fries, and basically the entire plate of spinach dip and toast. We had so much leftover that we just didn't want to take anything home. Our waitress looked a little disappointed that we didn't want boxes but the whole experience was such a dud.

I rarely say this but I definitely would't come back. I'm glad I had extremely low expectations based off the previous reviews because they lived up to...

My wife and I just visited the Red Lion (24Jun18) with the hopes of having another good meal. When we sat down I asked the bartender (politely and without any contention) if they started having there famous Monte Cristo sandwich again. She responded extremely firmly and rudely by saying "I have told you and your wife three prior times that we don't have it", and went on to say both my wife and I have been argumentative about the issue before and that she wasn't going to put up with it again. She went on to say that she wasn't going to serve us and basically asked us to leave.

I have been coming to this restaurant for as many years as I can remember and ALWAYS been polite if not a good customer. Both of us are in our 60's and never have been rude to anyone in this restaurant or any other and we eat out every day. And the truth of the matter is my wife has never said anything about wanting a Monte Cristo and doesn't even eat them (another wrong point the bar staff incorrectly mentioned). Additionally, I have ONLY been into the Red Lion once since they stated they were not selling the Monte Cristo for dinner (originally stating they would continue to carry it for lunch). This was another wrong point the lady bartender stated. Additionally, our last visit was more than several months ago and I only asked if they were carrying it - but went on to order and enjoy something else - and I wasn't ugly or rude then either.

I have never been treated so rudely and with disrespect by anyone or any restaurant and STRONGLY recommend everyone think twice about visiting this restaurant. There was no reason for the bar staff to talk to us in the manner they did, and we never raised our voice or were argumentative - ever.

I personally can not believe the owner employs bar staff that treats repeat customers the way this young lady did us. I have directed 10's if not hundreds of new patrons to this restaurant and will strongly recommend in my circle of friends and acquaintances not to visit this establishment again unless something is done about this bartender/wait staff person. The owner and manager have always treated us with respect and welcomed us - this evening was a...

Some of the staff are kind and do well with customer service even if the pub is pack, the bar tender needs to find a new job she can’t handle the load when crowded and becomes extremely rude. I was directed to tell the bar tender that I needed to place a to go order by another employee when I arrived. I got her attention, and she was extremely rude, she never took my order. Eventually, a Mexican man came, took my order politely and with great customer service although the pub was crowded and handle the order with awesomeness. Thank you sir!

The owners response to this review is the best example of terrible customer service. Worry about your establishment and don’t throw the blame and redirect. I have been to other places and they have their establishment running well with great customer service even with staff shortages. No excuses. You are in business, to serve. You should be good at that, anything less is unacceptable. A rude attitude sets the atmosphere from the beginning. I’m being extremely generous with the rest of my review about your other waiters. I saw another customer treated rudely and he decided to take his business elsewhere.

Your establishment does have good hard working employees with good customer service. But the rudeness that was presented to me is concerning. I’m use to it and it doesn’t bother me. But I would hate that it would be directed to someone who isn’t use to dealing with rude individuals.

The only reply you should have is, we will try our best to do better next time.

My review is strictly business nothing personal. I know all customers deserve the best this establishment can offer and you are falling extremely short of that. Unacceptable, if I was short payment on my bill at your pub, a response of we are all going thru hard times wouldn’t cut it for you.

I’ll give you 3 stars but your response is concerning. I understand more why some things may be the way...