red lion grog house

visited during lunchtime on a weekday. very different experience from our first visit when red grog first opened. then, portions were ample, and the price was reasonable. today, however, the lunch portion was tiny -- a less than 2 ounce portion of batteredfish(just one tiny piece) and a mound of fries for $7.99. the portion was small but enough to momentarily fill me. the price for this size portion was out of line. it should have been $5.99 rather than $7.99. i doubt that i'll be back. just too expensive for what you get. also no refill offered on soft drinks.

a new favorite!. my husband and i stepped in red lion once before, before they had their liquor license, and promised that we would return. well, we did and we couldn't have been happier with our experience.

the beer special included a upland dragonfly for $3 a pop - a great price and very tasty. i love me some bangers and mash, but quite frankly, i have been disappointed with some of the other versions around town. i asked a few questions first, and then gave it a shot. it was the best bangers and mash i ever ordered from a restaurant. it's a simple dish really, so what can i say other than that the sausage, potatoes and gravy were really good. the husband got another traditional dish,fishand chips, and there were no complaints in that department. i can assure that the fries were great because i took a number of them off his plate.

we both thought our server was awesome, and my only complaint is that she and i could not, for the life of us, figure out where we knew each other from. oh well, i guess she is just a friendly face on the streets of indianapolis. service was fantastic, our food came out quick, and our drinks were never empty. the price for two meals and four beers came out to $35, so it was a great deal too...

there was also some trivia going on that night. we only made it in time for the "guess that tune" round, but wound up in 3rd place after a personal defeat in the second place tie breaker. it was still a lot of fun.

we can't wait to go back, and i would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

fish and chips for lunch--awesome! elizabeth as my server--awesome! this continues to be a favorite location.


-----06 sep, 2011-----

stopped in for lunch. really liked thefishand chips! very good fries. cole slaw a little too creamy, but good.

wasn't trying to be harsh.. woah, woah. settle down with the caps! i was just suggesting an idea, that's all, man. and, yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. i guess it's just that i like to speak to owners of new establishments to get info, background, etc. to help me understand the place a little more (restaurant, or not). and i was suggesting maybe you try that. sorry for trying to give an idea to help with the conclusion. truly am.


-----03 may, 2010-----

great, don't know what joe was talking about. first of all, who goes into an english pub and orders a burger?!? that is beyond me. i would think if one wants to experience english fare, they would order english fare. that is just me, though....? in any case, we have been there 4 times, and have not been disappointed. we have had the chicken tikka masala (which was delicious), thefishand chips were wonderful. the curry was perfect. love how the chips are cooked. even the chips and curry sauce (spicy) were wonderful! one night the special was a beef brisket dinner. we tried that, even, and were amazed at the tenderness, and amazing taste. fried pickle chips are grand, even the sauce they are served with. i have yet to try the scotch eggs, shepherd's pie, and blanket bangers. i have heard, however, that the burgers are great. i do want to try the chicken picotta. have heard great reviews on that one, as well. as far as the rlgh starting out without beer..... many places go through that. deal with it. all in all the rlgh is a great addition to fountain square, and i see them staying for quite some time. way to go, rlgh!!! so, my other review was deleted. it was just an afterthought about the "ambiance" and deco in rlgh. maybe it's not decorated because they are just starting out! joe, did you ever take the time to speak with one of the owners there?? i'm sure if you had taken the time to do that, they would have been more than happy to talk about their new beginnings. maybe next time you should opt to speak with the owner of a new business about the "ambiance", and deco, before coming to your own conclusion. just an idea.

quality of food is not as good as it was in the past when i used to go there. the scotch egg was cooked too long or perhaps the grease was old because the fries were too brown too. my grilled cheese was so hard that my mouth was sore after eating it. the cole slaw was tasteless. my husband said the breading onfishwas too thick so he removed it. will not eat there again.

bad experience   ordered off the 9.99 lunch menu, but it should be called the 1/2 serving menu.
we got the ham n cheese and the fish.  thefishcame out one tiny piece.  i told the waitress if i knew it was going
to be so small i wouldn't have ordered it.  she offered me another piece but the manager wouldn't go for that and
came out to talk with me.  he said i could get the full portion for 13.99 and get another piece.  and he told me the 
piece i had was 4 ounces.   woo hoo!   it looked smaller than that tho.  so you have a 9.99 lunch menu but it never mentions
on there that you will get smaller portions.  and when the customer is in shock from getting a tiny piece of fish, maybe you could take care of him one time and then next time he can decide whether he wants to pay for the full order.  or you could
be a bad manager, let your ego get involved, and win the argument and lose the war.   the ham n cheese was pretty
small too.  not much meat on that sandwich.   chatham tap here i come.  darn i should have taken a picture of that tiny piece of fish!    the waitress was nice

one of the better restaurants in fountain square. the service is good. the food is good. the tenderloin is average but theirfishand chips are good. my wife got the black bean burger and really enjoyed it.

just okay. this was my third visit and i am not crazy about the atmosphere. it is a little too dark and shopworn for my tastes. they get good reviews, so maybe this is just not a good match for me. anyway, our server, wynnie, was attentive, polite and friendly. i had the veggie burger and slaw. the burger was just okay i thought it might be the same as wuzzlers which i understand has some mutual ownership.) my wife had thefishsandwich with tater tots. she gave thefisha 6 out of 10. "too much breading." the tater tots were very good, as they are at wuzzler's. something that is perhaps not under their control are the restroom facilities. they are shared with a couple of other establishments and are located in a back connecting hallway, which is pretty funky-nice. anyway, there was no toilet paper to be seen, no paper towel or even a dispenser. maybe this is a locals favorite and provides a nearby location for them. i don't hate it but i don't love it.

best place on the square. love this place- staff are always friendly, great late night atmosphere and good value. favorites are thefishand chips, waltimate burger and scotch eggs. definitely a "close" environment due to the shape of the building but it adds to the occasion. not sure how the bad experiences came about but as regulars for years, we've never had one with either the food, staff or prices.

solid dining for a solid location. experimented here for my birthday. nice atmosphere, sarah was my waitress, who is kinda yelp famous. she was friendly enough, timely and unintrusive, basically all you could ask for from your waitress.

we tried, the scotch eggs, bangers n mash,fishn chips, shepherd's pie, and tikka masala.

from worst to first:

the tikka masala was pretty run-of-the-mill. didn't really offer anything, but its indian food at a bar. what can you expect?

the shepherd's pie was decent enough, but nothing special. ground beef with potatoes on it. very hearty like you'd expect.

the scotch eggs were something i'd never had before. they were interesting and not what i expected. crunchy but definitely solid with some salt on em.

thefishn chips were 50/50. thefishwas excellent, not too much breading, but the breading was delicious. the chips were burnt and lacked any flavor. i noticed them swimming in ketchup when they were cleaned up later. though the tots are supposedly good. so maybe substitute those next time.

the bangers n mash was superb! came out lukewarm, but once it was heated up-- pow! the winning dish and what i'll be getting if i happen into this place again. the sausage was lean and flavorful, no gristle.

the beer menu seemed quite extensive with beers from across the pond, not all super well-known. though, we opted for bottled beer, i forgot to try the copper mugs.

completely underwhelmed. my husband and i ate at the red lion grog house recently, and were actually disappointed by how underwhelming the whole experience was. we had seen the reviews on here and other websites, so we were reasonably excited to check it out. long story short, it just wasn't worth it.

our server was nice, but seemed completely rushed off her feet, despite the lack of people inside. my guess is that they had a full patio area, because i kept seeing her, and the other two servers, running outside somewhat frantically. my guess is that instead of assigning sections to the restaurant floor, like a normal restaurant, they have a table-rotation thing going on, so each server has tables in the far corners of the restaurant and has to somehow manage that. to the restaurant management, i have to say that this is not a system that is conducive to good service or a relaxed atmosphere.

we started by ordering drinks, and for some unholy reason, the beer menu that they're supposed to be famous for doesn't have prices on it. which means that when my husband ordered a can of sun king's osiris, they charged him $7.50 for it. dafuq?

the food was ordinary. and i mean, like really ordinary. thefishand chips, their "specialty", was two small pieces of frozen, tasteless, breaded whitefish, over a mound of old, burnt-oil fries, and the tiniest serving of coleslaw that you can still call a "side". why they charge $13 for that i have no idea, and frankly, their pricing on this dish is offensive.

my portobello mushroom sandwich was fine. but that's all it was... just "fine". i would have happily payed $5 for it, as it was really nothing special, but i certainly wouldn't buy it again at almost $10. again, their pricing is simply bizarre.

long story short, we won't be back. we were disappointed in the food, and felt quite bad for the staff.

great spot in one of indy's only original places!. ate with my wife on a sunday a little after noon. place was about 3/4ths full, not bad considering fountain square is a fri/sat type of place.

wife and i started with the scotch eggs and fried pickle chips . can't vouch for their other pub food (shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, etc), but they've got fried food down to a science! pickle chips were perfect, pickley flavor shown through the fried flavor and the fresh dill dipping sauce was delicious! first time having the scotch eggs in my life, absolutely delicious as well. eggs perfectly cooked, outer coating of sausage and filler very flavorful.

for our entrees, we had the buffalo chicken sandwich and thefishand chips, both of us had fries as the side. sandwich was huge, hand breaded, and fried to perfection. wife is addicted to buffalo flavored anything, and she absolutely loved it.fishand chips were the best i've ever had... two massive fillets of cod or haddock, hand battered, along with what looked like homemade cole slaw, and homemade fries. everything was cooked about as perfect as you could get it. both of us couldn't finish our meals, but we left incredibly happy. :)

also had a sun king wee mac and a triton railsplitter ipa... both delicious, locally brewed beers that topped off a great lunch at a great spot. didn't eat a thing the rest of the day!

nothing bad.....just not great. went with a group for lunch today. service was friendly and prompt. i had the spicy curry chicken sandwich with chips. the chicken was marinated in curry as advertised and grilled, though not very spicy. i would have liked more than a thin slice of half ripe tomato on the sandwich and the roll could have been grilled or toasted. chips were nice with malt vinegar. others had 2 of the burgers andfishand chips. again, fine....but nothing to get excited about. would i go back? yes if thats where everyone else wanted to go, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

i've become addicted to red lion as of late. great burgers, chicken sandwiches,fishand chips. decent enough beer selection and great music.

i had thefishand chips. food was simple but good. atmosphere was not traditional english pub but the staff was friendly.