the irish lion restaurant & pub

pretty good. food was good, not great. niceatmosphereand good service. interesting irish food. whiskey pie is a must try! would eat here again but might try some other places next time we are in bloomington.

great atmosphere. i've only ever been here for drinks and appetizers, but theatmosphereis absolutely fantastic. the bar is beautiful and it's one of my favorite places in bloomington.

absolutely love this place! the wonderfulatmosphereand equally great food, the very polite and attentive servers and bartenders. taken people there that have been visiting and they loved it, now every time they come they insist on visiting the lion. the food is always hot and fresh, the apple walnut cake is delectable, and my personal favorite is the guinness ice cream (if they don't sell out of it). the finest collection of spirits in bloomington, their whiskey, scotch and bourbon selection is absolutely baffling. it's great when they have people that know what they're talking about to help you out with the drinks. so go, eat, drink and be merry!

fabulous. what a great place! !!! we happened upon this place by accident. great find. we will return just to come back here. great food and great service.


-----07 apr, 2015-----

by accident. we were traveling and stopped to spend the night. what a fabulous find. theatmosphereis great, bartender friendly and knowledge and the food incredible. we will make a trip back here just to return to the irish lion.

best irish-style pub outside of ireland. found myself staying at the biddle hotel on the iu campus for a sherlock holmes conference and after a long day of travel was desperate for a guinness so trotted over to the irish lion after googling for a likely spot to find a decent pint of the black stuff. the irish lion was perfect, and quite frankly, for my money it is hands down the single best irish-style pub i've visited in north america...and i've visited a good number. staff was welcoming and the decor what you'd expect. initial drinks served quickly, or as quickly as one can pull a pint of guinness properly, and any questions about meal choices answered without hesitation. landed there on a thursday night after 8pm and was faced with an irresistible meal special consisting of a 12 ounce prime rib with roasted potatoes, soup or salad, and irish soda bread for $20. meat was cooked to the requested medium rare, potatoes were tasty and the house balsamic dressing was perfect on the mixed green salad. the irish soda bread was unbelievably good too. all in all, a perfect pub meal.

my wife and i enjoyed our visit so much that we were back the next day to meet up with friends. that time i opted for the shepherds pie, served with a side salad, and my wife opted for, on the recommendation of a friend, the corned beef and cabbage. while the shepherds pie was a of the individual crock variety, it was made with rather nicely seasoned lamb, which is a huge plus as most north american pubs just use ground beef. had mushy peas made their way to the plate it i'd forgive the crock and consider it a perfect pub meal. as it stands, i really can't complain. again, a very tasty meal and my wife was extremely enthusiastic about the corned beef being one of the best she's had. and since we liked the irish soda bread so much on the first visit, we actually ordered it as an appy while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. my only complaint is that i didn't have a chance to come back a third time to sample some more intriguing items on the menu.

if you're in bloomington and like pubatmosphereand pub food, this is the place for you!

fantastic! the service was phenomenal, the food was excellent, and theatmospherewas a cross between cozy and elegant. we ordered way too much food, but it was so good! i would highly recommend the irish lion for brunch!!

delicious. i have never once been disappointed in coming here. great selection of appetizers, and the coddle is one of the most delicious things i've ever tasted. greatatmospheretoo. it's always a good time!

good pub, okay restaurant. this place is practically legendary in btown, but the food isn't that great, especially considering the price.

the bar selection however, is extensive, and theatmosphereis unique, but not fancy.

this is more of a place to take your college date, or hang out with your upscale drinking buddies. not remotely family friendly, the target audience seems to be business casual.

best drink menu in town. if you want a fancy drink with great service, the irish lion is the way to go! they have a great selection, and the staff is wonderful. theatmospherecan't be beat, and it's the only irish place in town.

atmosphere-good...food-not so much. i voted that i didn't like it because of the food but otherwise i really enjoyed theatmosphereand the bartender. i would go back if just to try something different on the menu to give it another shot. i had ordered what is basically a chicken wrap which was just very plain and didn't really seem to have a lot of flavor to it. we went in on what seemed to be a busy day with just the one waiter so it took awhile to get menus and drinks.