red lion grog house

no thanks.. chicken tikki masala is no more "english fare" than a burger (arguably less, as i'm fairly sure burgers lie closer to english in origin than anything masala).

and if the namesake of your establishment includes an overt reference to alcohol, i can't help but see the irony in not having a liquor license. i can't fault the owners for opening regardless of the availability of a liquor license, i just think it's ironic...that's all. irony, folks. settle down.

"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."
--oh, i'm sorry, i thought the point of having a restaurant review was to have your own conclusion.

what is wrong with you people? my criticism was not ill spirited, it was just that: my opinion. the fact people feel the need to point out a specific review (ie. mine) as being "too harsh" or "inaccurate" defeats the entire purpose of this website.

this website provides a service to people--if everyone just sang the same hum-drum chorus about how fantastic every restaurant is, what's the point?

i didn't write a bad review for the sake of writing a bad review; i wrote a bad review because i didn't like the restaurant. this is not your grandmother's house, and if you "can't say something nice," you can still say something.


-----17 apr, 2010-----

not impressed. past reviews have been way too generous. i'm all for supporting local business, but the rlgh was particularly underwhelming and will not receive my business again.
1.) decor was severely lacking. for a place that presents itself as an english-style pub, you'd expect more, well, actual english flair. the only thing "english" about the place is the pub sign. no decoration, no aesthetics that make you feel like you're in a "pub"...just 6 big flat screen tvs, all completely distracting, along the bar...otherwise completely bare walls. i'm not sure if they were just in a hurry to open the place or if the current ambiance is the goal…either way it's less than pleasant.
2.) seating arrangement was less than ideal. all tables are arranged along one wall with a large bench, with add'l seats at the bar, and a few tables in front by the window.
3.)foodwas adequate: my burger--like described in other reviews--was good...though the "english style baked beans" that i ordered in lieu of fries were, quite simply, bush's baked beans. weak.
additionally, my wife ordered the soup 'n salad, the soup being good (tomato basil) but the salad consisting of a few shreds of mixed greens, veggies, and a whopping slab of bad-tasting thick-sliced ham reminiscent of left-over easter dinner ham. very weak.
4.) beer selection is minimal.

if you want a pub with more authentic flair, you're better served going to chatham or mcnivens or the brbp.

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, fish and 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, ourfoodcame 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.

quality offoodis 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 on fish was too thick so he removed it. will not eat there again.

came with 7 other friends. i suggested red lion on it 4.2 rating. thefoodwas edible but not good. the burgers are horrible. this is not a 4 plus place.

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

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, fish n 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 indianfoodat 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.

the fish n chips were 50/50. the fish was 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?

thefoodwas ordinary. and i mean, like really ordinary. the fish and 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.

very poor dining experience. hubby and i stopped here for a weekday lunch. we had to track down a server to take our order. also had to request water as none was offered. hubby ordered the french onion soup and we both ordered a walnut strawberry salad. his soup tasted like it was made with bouillon cubes, cheap margarine and imitation cheese. our salads consisted primarily of limp, old tasting salad greens garnished with a couple of strawberries, three pieces of walnut on each and a meager amount of cheese crumbles. after ourfoodwas served we had to track down the waitress again for silverware. we then had to track her down yet again to request our check. all of that was bad enough but i made the mistake of visiting their ladies restroom. it is located outside the restaurant down a back hallway and is shared by other businesses. it was dirty and smelled terrible. i took one look and decided i could wait until we got home. i can't imagine ever eating here again. it was not a pleasant experience.

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 pubfood(shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, etc), but they've got friedfooddown 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 the fish and 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. fish and 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!

love love love!. this was a happy accident for us. we originally went to fountain square, with my out of town visiting parents, for a different restaurant, only to find it closed. we decided to wander around, and the cool name and sign of the red lion grog house caught my parents' eyes. it was wonderful!! ourfoodwas delicious (and huge), and we all tried something different (they ate curry for the first time) and it gave them an awesome impression of the coolness that is indianapolis! we will return :-)

my husband and i love this place. the staff are great and thefoodis wonderful.

score! love this place! sure, it might take a little longer to get yourfoodthan some other places, but it's worth it every time. the shepherd's pie doesn't disappoint, and i'm more than happy with the portion size (and that says a lot)! go there, grab a beer, and enjoy some great grub in a fun pub environment!

this place is amazing. i have been there probably 7 times or so, and i have never been dissatisfied. they exceed my expectations every time. thefoodis outstanding. i have never tried anything from here that i dislike. it is a friendly atmosphere, and the servers are on it. like 10,000 thumbs up.

meh.... my wife and i are burger hounds, and try to go a new place every week or two to sample the fare. she sometimes tries other menu items, i stick to the burgers. i liked the location, appearance and atmosphere of this place but the service was slow, it took about 40 minutes to receive our meals (we both had burgers) and this at 8 in the evening on a thursday. being kind of a burger connoisseur, i will simply say that thefoodhere wasn't bad, but it also wasn't good either. i had the big ben burger; the chili had good flavor but the beef wasn't savory enough to hold its own against the chili, so the whole thing just tasted like really meaty chili. i am pretty fond of wheat buns but red lion doesn't offer one. the onion rings on the burger were the best part, but they aren't offered as a menu choice (still wondering about that one). my wife had the mushroom and swiss; she said it was ok, with nothing much more to say. the coleslaw was pretty good; good texture, creamy but not too thick, not too much of any one ingredient but i like mine a little sweeter. the burgers aren't hand patted, they are pressed (whether in the kitchen or out of a box, i do not know) and i think it had a lot to do with the flavor of the burger. i will say it's a decent burger for the price, but for a couple bucks more you could go someplace that really knows how to cook one. the beer list was great, but i don't drink a whole lot so i did not indulge. all in all, probably not a place i will go back to but i am not terribly disappointed either; mostly just unimpressed.

i had the fish and chips.foodwas simple but good. atmosphere was not traditional english pub but the staff was friendly.