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Lion Tavern, Liverpool
Liverpool
L2 2BP
Pub Type
Punch TavernsReviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
The Chairman left this review about Lion Tavern
A proper pub with a selection of rooms and a real old fashioned bar and, most importantly, excellent beers on offer. Just splendid.
On 23rd February 2024
- rating: 9
[User has posted 30 recommendations about 30 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Lion Tavern
Another high rating from me but its got everything I want from a pub.
Drinks - a perfect, pin sharp Peerless Seven Streets IPA. If it hadnt been the afternoon, I would have surely taken advantage of the whisky tasting flights - available in £10, £15 and £20 options. And what a collection. Especially Irish.
Decor - Liverpools answer to Manchester's Pev? If you want tiling, central bar, etched windows, gorgeous bar back, hidden back rooms and so on.
Music - free jukebox, with people with great taste on my visit. The stones a break from the omnipresent beatles.
Food - a chiller cabinet full of pork pies :-)
Locals - super friendly.
I'm unsure what else you could want from a pub!
Will be my goto Liverpool pub in the future - but I have much work to do first.
On 25th April 2023
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Lion Tavern
Another high ceiling pub near to Moorfields, some ornate tiling and features
On 11th February 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Lion Tavern
Corner pub that has some fantastic architecture inside, but similar to its altogether grander counterpart the Philharmonic across town, it seems to rely a little too much on this to the detriment of its beers.
The real ale range is down to 4 these days. Liverpool Brewing Moorfields Mild & Wily Fox Crafty Fox are regular beers. Guests on my visit were Peerless Pale & Leeds Pale. Real cider has now been discontinued. My mild was enjoyable, but the pub was very quiet, especially considering there was a Premier League football match on that day. Staff seemed to be confused as to why there were so few customers, but whilst I still enjoy a visit to the Lion Tavern, it does seem to be living off past reputations.
On 5th October 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about Lion Tavern
Enjoyed our visit to this 2019 Good beer Guide pub where we chose Red Star brewery The Lion which was fine. Most of the beers available were standard beers that are easily found, but the pub itself is amazing to wander round. Plenty of stained and etched glass have given it grade II listed status.
On 21st August 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about Lion Tavern
Earlier reviews have summed this up better than I can so i'll just summarise that it's a classic two-sided boozer with one side much bigger and more comfortable though less atmospheric than the other. A good range of beer including local options. well worth a visit along with the Railway next door which is now back open, thank god.
On 23rd December 2018
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Lion Tavern
This is an excellent well preserved street corner pub, close to the old and now closed Exchange Station, the larger and main room is The Bar which has an old Falstaff's Brewery window, beyond through doorways are two lovely connecting rooms, the "News Room" being particularly appealing and contains the old bell pushes in the banquettes. The island bar is a sight to behold, curved etched glass, lower patterned tiling and dark stained upper woodwork, ornate ceiling cornices. The tiling extends to the walls in The Bar, the ceiling has elaborate cornices and copper hooded fireplaces look to get use in the colder months. Leather button backed bench seats, small chairs at Britannia type tables, lots of interesting B&W photos of the Mersey Tunnel in the early years including during construction. The bar area has some splendid floor tiling while the back rooms are carpeted.The handpumps are all in the bar but there are boards listing the beers, this visit had Red Star Lakata plus Lion IPA, Moorhouse Pride of Pendle, Titanic Plum Porter, Charnwood Liska and Rock the Boat Dazzle, two not on. Lunchtime/afternoon food seemed to comprise of pork pies.
A lovely pub, I did enjoy it but I found the service to be disinterested and almost objectionable, a request for a top up to a short pint was met with a "let it settle"....it didn't and eventually I got a token top up plus the landlady had a habit of half pulling a pint then disappearing to chat to presumed regulars and needing a harrumph to finish the job, so down a mark. Despite this it is an essential Liverpool visit.
On 7th August 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about Lion Tavern
After a short closure, this time for a redecoration and spruce up, it is now all sparkley and clean with freshly polished floors, a lick of paint and reupholstered seats.
16/11/16
Reopened. Its exactly as it was when it shut. There were a couple of Camra police in and they seemed happy enough so I guess it passes.
22/6/16
This pub is currently closed. As of 15/6/16 a dispute between owners and landlord has resulted in the closure of the pub. How long it lasts is to be seen but dont bother coming here at the mo if you're in Liverpool.
On 7th March 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Lion Tavern
A fascinating pub, full of Edwardian splendour whose unusual façade gives only a hint of what lies within. Full of decorative tiling, carved wood panelling, engraved glazing and the famous domed ceiling. The main bar is interesting enough, but make sure you also go through to the two rooms behind which are connected by serving hatches (as is the side corridor), with the 'News Room' being a particularly good spot for a pint. As always, a fine choice of real ales, with most from local or regional breweries, and my pint of Peerless Stout was in fine form. The service on a very busy Saturday night - even with the extra trade of the Camra AGM / conference weekend - was pretty efficient. One of Liverpool's 'must visit' pubs.
On 16th April 2016
- rating: 9
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Lion Tavern
This is yet another magnificent mid-Victorian pub that is both Grade II listed and on CAMRA's National Inventory of pubs with historic interiors. As if this isn't enough, there were eight ales on when I visited a week or so ago. One of the ales on was Young's Bitter, but I wasn't yet so homesick for this apparently rarely seen ale in Liverpool, and went instead for the George Wright Brewery Marynka. Other notable ales on were Salopian Polygraph, a 7.4% monster, or Salopian Boomerang, at a mere 6.9%. I saw a couple of pasties in a container, but otherwise no sign of food.
This is still a multi room pub, and if visiting you should have a good look round all the rooms. The tiling on the rear of the servery is really exceptional, and rarely seen bell pushes remain in the back room. This is another pub that's well worth a visit, both for the decor and ambience and for the ale selection.
On 20th September 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]