the irish lion restaurant & pub

too expensive for mediocre food. you pay a lot of money here for food that is only so-so. i've had the corned beef and cabbage, the fish and chips, the coddle stew, and the duck. the food wasn't that great and very expensive. never going here again. i go to upland for fish and chips. best fish and chips i've ever had. unfortunately there just aren't anygoodirish restaurants in bloomington.

pretty good. food was good, not great. nice atmosphere andgoodservice. 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.

poor service experience. i didn't recognize most the beers on the menu as a traveler i am familar with numerous brands..not wanting to pick a beer that i might not like, i picked an american beer that i've had before. the first sip conviced me i wasn't drinking anymore of it. i asked the waitress to take it off my bill. the manager appeared a couple minutes later to inform he would not take it off the bill, but offered to provide another type of beer. i told him ihat i wasn't interested in trying another beer as my dinner had i arrived and beer doesn't tastegoodto me during a meal. i asked for a credit. he told me he had to charge me for the beer. i asked him if he was wiling to lose future business and have me tell the online community about the my poor service experience for 2.50 your can guess his reply. i did spend a total of 20.00 for an average meal. there are numerous restaurants close by with better food and service.

love it!. i live out of town but have been to the irish lion on several different occasions starting back in the late 90's for everything from wedding party to drinks with friends and buissiness lunches.
everytime has been just wonderfull. yes somtimes it's busy and there is a wait but it is well worth it.
everything we have had over the years has been verygoodto "wow that's awsome" .
i agree that the crowd is mostly older and i love that. no sceaming kids at the next table ^-^ but the resturant is family friendly and enough choices on the menu for everyone to be happy.
the old building has a very interesting feel. there are many levels of seating that look up or down on each other. lots of ambiance.

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 agoodnumber. 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 unbelievablygoodtoo. 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 pub atmosphere and pub food, this is the place for you!

really really good! almost great!. i went here with my family to celebrate my birthday, and we all enjoyed the meal.

i ordered the lamb, and an appetizer of blarney puffballs.

my father had the coddle, and he said he would return and just eat that. he was not impressed with his lamb burger because he didn't like the ciabatta bun.

i enjoyed my lamb, and i had the house salad with the house dressing, agoodsalad too.

overall, the restaurant was very good, maybe a little expensive for me. come here and make sure you order the right dishes. (coddle). the whiskey pie, and cheesecake was verygoodtoo. a highlight

solid 8.75 out of 10

i had the filet. i ordered it medium. it came out med-rare to rare. sent it back. came out med-rare. sent it back a 3rd time. this time it was agoodmedium. i paid $26 but it was not worth it. my friend had the shepherd's pie, and it was very good.

i would have liked this had my steak been cooked properly.

the mutton pie of abbeyfeale is verygoodwith lamb stew! the fish and chips aregoodas well!

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. great atmosphere too. it's always agoodtime!

it's alright.. i'm holding back my vote. i'm neutral on this place. i've been there three or four times. it wasn'tgoodor bad.

yum!. fabulous service, great food and great drinks and beers!!! love the beers you get in the yards. the food here is extremelygoodfor the price. blarney puff balls are great. cornded beef and cabbage very tasty. and the prime rib....for the price...you really can't beat it!! not the best quality prime rib, but for the price and the size of the piece of meat it was awesome and def fixed the craving i had for prime rib. everything was yummy....but really didn't care for the soda bread.

great old building, beautiful woodwork. had the corner beef & cabbage - verygood& a lot of it!

good place, somegoodfood, some okay. i agree with many of the reviews that the irish lion is a great place withgoodambience,goodservice,goodprices. the food can vary. i recommend the bread bowls with either of the stews. i do not recommend the burgers. they aren't cooked to order and looked very much like they come as frozen, pre-formed patties.

the whiskey pie is an excellent dessert option.