The iconic Red Lion Leytonstone has re-opened under the ownership of Urban Pubs & Bars with an impressive refurbishment. Purchased from Antic in September 2024, who had recovered the Red Lion from its time as a South African themed pub called Zulus (I avoided the place during this period), Urban have added the Red Lion to their portfolio of 52 London pubs which also includes the recently acquired George & Dragon Wanstead.

There’s been an inn called the Red Lion, or Red Lyon, on the site since the 1670s. The image above shows the pub in the early 19th Century. The current building dates from 1870.

To be honest, I was a touch concerned about what Urban would do to my beloved Red Lion based on a brief visit to the George & Dragon at Wanstead (I really need to go back for a proper look). But all my fears were assuaged, and the reported £1 million refurb is absolutely spot on. They’ve retained what made the main section of the pub work well but improved the seating, particularly around the perimeter of the room. There are ample screens showing live sport. The bar looks really impressive.

But the highlight has to be what they’ve done with the garden and the old ‘stables’ bar, which is truly impressive. Gone is the old dirt floor with scattered picnic tables, replaced by heated booths, a covered area, and screens. The back room ‘stable’ is a comfortable bar with screens for live sport. It was also great to see the staff so happy in the new place.

I’ve yet to see the new ballroom upstairs, host to many legendary gigs in the 60s and 70s, but I’m told it matches the standard of the other areas of the pub. We had a roast at the weekend which was decent, although I wouldn’t say was an improvement on the old Antic Red Lion and the roast at the Leytonstone Tavern is better (I recently had an incredible roast at The Queens, Crouch End for around the same price so that’s become the comparison).

After all this praise I have one small gripe. There’s a distinct lack of cask ale. So far there’s only been one cask ale on tap on my recent visits and that has run out on one occasion and on Saturday there was no cask at all. Keg beers (IPAs, lagers etc) come in at over £7+ a pint which is a bit steep for Leytonstone I feel, £5.50 a pint for cask is acceptable. But it’s following a local trend where some of the businesses are charging central London prices (local coffee shops are often more expensive than similar central London establishments). We don’t want to see the diverse range of locals that use the Red Lion priced out of this brilliant boozer.