The White Lion - St Albans

Nice local pub, decent beer and had the local Morris dancers, overall a pleasant evening.

Everything was great! Staff very friendly, food delicious and drinks too. We felt very comfortable!

We book a lunch for Saturday the 11th May and made a phone call to them a couple of days before to book. We were told they had a table for 2 at 2pm. We left our home early as we didn’t know how long it would take to get there and park being 30 mins away. Also we don’t know St Albans very well so we had to find it. Anyway eventually we found the pub 10 mins before our table was booked. We walk in and they told us we hadn’t booked! They told us we could sit outside and they could still accommodate us and to find a table which we found one table that didn’t say reserved! Picked what we wanted and my husband we in to order only to be told oh sorry that’s also reserved. So we were send outside to find a table that didn’t exist. The manager or who ever he was, was extremely unhelpful and rude! So we left! Don’t need to be treated that way and do not recommend this awful pub!

Worst Sunday Lunch in a while. Came out cold, sent back. It came back hot at least but rock hard potatoes and generally tasteless. On the upside staff were lovely

I've been coming to this pub for more than 10 years and have never been disappointed. I've seen it change hands multiple times and even then the quality of service, the food and drinks hadn't dropped in it's standards. Having mostly come for drinks with mates, I can confidently say this is a great local pub to socialise come rain or shine with plenty of room both indoor and outdoors. Whilst it still has that traditional pub look and feel, it's not dark and dingy like a lot of other pubs in the local vicinity. It retains a classy look and feel while maintaining the authenticity of a traditional British pub. They have also invested heavily into their beer garden which is the best thing they did as it's much more inviting than it used to be and great even when raining due to having plenty of covered space. The selection of drinks never disappoints and the staff are always friendly and have excellent banter. The food really takes it up a notch for pub grub as they have all the classics, fish and chips, burgers, pies, and a few other unique dishes too all made to an exceptional standard. I honestly couldn't recommend this pub enough and I'm hoping this review will support The White Lion in what is a turbulent time for the hospitality sector where many businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Even with all the other choices of pub in St Albans, I find myself gravitating towards White Lion for the reasons above. You can't go wrong! 2024 Roast Dinner Update: Whilst my review score won't change because the overall experience is still great, what I will say is that the Sunday Roasts are HUGE, but it is more quantity over quality if I'm being brutally honest.