Red Lion in County Durham

Had a booking made for a table, when we turned up on time they told us that they had stopped serving. Manager didn’t bother to come out when the bar man went to ask, they just told us the booking shouldn’t have been taken. Really disappointing leaving little chance for us to find somewhere else to eat, and it was for a birthday family meal! Had used this pub pretty regularly before but won’t be going back, absolute disgrace!

DisappointedFood took ages to arrive and some of which was cold on arrival. Steaks overcooked , deserts poor quality, some orders missed. Also pub very cold had to sit with coats on. Will not he visiting again. Not worth the money, didn't have vegetarian option available, no burgers in stock Awful.

Excellent pub grub. Had a fantastic shredded beef brisket sandwich served with a vat of delicious gravy. Wife's grilled halloumi wrap also excellent, plus lovely cheesecake. Fantastic

Large pub on split levels. Good menu with standards such as burgers, pizza, lasagne & variety of steaks & other dishes. Good atmosphere with helpful & cheerful staff. Pity no 2/3 course set meal option. Well worth a visit.

Booked on the phone well in advance to make a reservation for Saturday night for food. Came on Sat night and there was no reservation in my name. Absolutely fuming. Place was packed and there was no room for us. When the lady looked in the book, some dummy put the reservation down for the wrong Saturday.Incompetence or what. Won't go there again. We went to travellers rest in Witton Gilbert instead and the meal was fantastic.

As a group of 5 adults and 2 children, we couldn't have asked for more. The staff were attentive, knowledgeable and helpful. The food was flavourful and cooked to perfection. We will certainly be coming back.

HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING. About one month ago my husband and I decided to go there for breakfast. We made sure to check both their Facebook and Instagram pages for breakfast times and found out it is served between 9-11 am. We went on a Sunday morning at 10:40 am, just to be refused to seat because apparently they had a big reservation at 12 and they decided to stop serving breakfast at 10:30 that morning, without being bothered to give notice on their pages. Fair enough, we had no booking on that occasion, one might think. Second time I phoned asking EXPRESSLY whether they're going to serve breakfast and being told they did, so I made a reservation for 2. All for nothing, as when we arrived there, we had been refused to be seated AGAIN, reason being they stopped serving breakfast until further notice as they don't have any chef. Then why have I been told otherwise the day before over the phone? Why have I bothered myself with making a reservation and taking a 20 min drive just to be refused to be seated for the second time in a row? I don't think that the problem is staff shortage, I think that the problem is the very little attention that it is paid to customers.

It was the 19th December at 3pm when we sat down for our Christmas party and the central heating was not on. It was 5 degrees outside and the pub has a door at opposite sides so there was a regular cold draft which took away any body heat that had built up.The food and the service was good but the experience would have been much better if the heating had been switched on.

The service was good from our initial booking, and through to leaving. Staff most helpful and lovely food, will definitely be back, well done guys.

Mixed grill. Beautiful, very tasty meal. Very helpful staff and booze was absolutely spot on