Lindy’s Red Lion

Lindy’s Lion is so amazing especially when it comes to burgers. This cozy pub-​ish beer and burger joint is perfect for a quick meal or for a group who wants a place to have a drink and chat for a while. The variety of burgers is especially unique and offers the opportunity to explore taste-​scapes you cannot even imagine.

I love dive bars, but this has none of the charm that you would expect. Poor bartender and refusal to change the game on tv when absolutely nobody is watching the current game. Not impressed.

This was one of my favorite places to eat in college. I miss it terribly and go back while in town. I attempted to work my way through the long list of burgers and didn’t meet one I didn’t love! They are all delicious. The beers were always icy cold, fresh, and delicious. Loved the bartender and the character. Cozy but great atmosphere.

I love dive bars. That needs to be said right up front, so you will understand that these are five dive bar stars. Don’t bring your date here for your anniversary and say Vanessa W. led you astray! ;)
Now that’s out of the way, what Lindy’s lacks in glitz and polish, it more than makes up for in warmth and character. The service delicately walks that fine line between genuine hospitality and no-​nonsense surliness. The space is cramped and yet somehow always just big enough for you and your group of friends. The burgers, mystifyingly, are offered at rock-​bottom prices and yet inventive, cooked fresh to order, and flat-​out delicious.
If, like me, you have a soft place in your heart for dive bars, Lindy’s is a must-​visit. But it will also rate highly with anyone who wants well-​executed, unpretentious bar food delivered with a warm smile and a small bill.

I have been coming to Lindy’s for at least a decade. Its my version of Cheers. Simple classic neighborhood bar with simple bar food.
Cheap beer, burgers, wings, cheap drinks and a few jokes at the bar. Everyone who works here is always nice. Jim and Jody are always pleasant.
Not your fancy downtown DC bar. Neighborhood bar for the college crowd and a few others who aren’t into the posh DC night life scene.

Good food at an affordable price, good service, and a quiet atmosphere. Perfect for a chill night. Would have given it five, but downsides: cash only or one card per check. If you need to split it, you have to ask before. Apparently they use a really old machine from the 1980s that is «incapable of splitting checks»

Dive bar for sure, but it is an excellent choice when you’re craving nachos and cold beer after another happy hour. The nachos here aren’t gourmet by any means, served in plastic takeout containers with the cheese you get at sporting events, and 6 additional condiments on the side (salsas, guac, sour cream, etc). Simple, but it served its purpose. On the smaller side so you probably don’t want to bring a group of 20, but there is an upstairs.
Annnddd it’s next to Captain Cookie and the Milk Man!

I struggled with how many stars to give this place. I want to give five stars for the experience and the stories I have as a result of visiting. I also want to give it one star for the cleanliness, or the lack of. I live a somewhat sheltered life, but this was one of the dirtiest places I have ever eaten at in quite a while. Just a quick look around and it’s easy to see that many areas may have never been cleaned. It’s scary to think of what the food prep area may look like The bathrooms were so dirty that it amazed my boys — they shot a video to show people back home… lol.
So we were in the area on vacation and tried to get into Founding Farmers which is only about a block away. Unfortunately there was an hour wait and it was already about 1:30 last Saturday afternoon. I open my Unilocal app to see what else was in the area: enter Lindy’s Red Lion. I made the mistake of just referring quickly to the number of stars and did not dig into the details of the reviews. Oh boy.
I had a cheeseburger with American and BBQ. Also had the macaroni and cheese. The mac and cheese was as processed and low quality as it gets — seriously. Probably came out of a can and was heated in a microwave. The burger on the other hand was actually very good. One of the better burgers I’ve had in a while. Due to the cleanliness issues I kept expecting to get ill, but felt fine. My boys both had the Burl Ives; this consisted of two patties, a hot dog, pickles, and BBQ. They both loved it and said it was the best burger they’ve had. Also had mozzarella sticks with pizza sauce which came out about ten minutes after our burgers and proved to be average. I think our bill was around $ 40 with two drinks included. These two drinks (Cokes) were poured out of a two liter bottle that was sitting on the counter at room temp. which I found to be odd.
Most memorable part of the meal was the small elevator that was located at the bar. This was a new one for me. The owner, I presume, ran the orders down the elevator to the prep area. When the food was done the cook would flip the light on indicating that the staff at the bar would need to run the food up on the elevator by pulling on a rope (see pic). Craziest part was the dialogue we could hear from the downstairs through the elevator shaft. At one point, an angry sounding man said, «Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Get your raggedy a!% out of there!!!». A few minutes later the owner yells down the elevator shaft, «Do you have my chicken gumbo yet?». The response once again from the angry man downstairs was «Chicken Gumbo? I ain’t got no f&%king chicken gumbo down here you fool!». I said to the owner, «Wow, it sounds like you have an employee down there with some anger issues». The owner replies, «Aw, he’s just upset because I’ve had him here since yesterday». Oh. My. Gosh.
Very memorable experience :)

Place is everything you want from a local beer joint. Good drinks, cheap but decent quality bar food and some characters to go along with it.
I drink here probably 3 times a month. Tons of burger options all of which are reasonably inexpensive but taste great. I love being able to get a quick beer or two, eat a burger and watch a game for less than 20 bucks.

Don’t get me wrong, I have an obsession with cheap beers, but I can’t love this place!!! Right near the Foggy Bottom metro station, Lindy’s Red Lion is a great cheap beer dive bar with it’s old school look and random trinkets around it. I love hole in the wall dives, but this is truly a hole in the wall. The bathrooms are always so dirty and don’t close that well and the bar tenders are always in a rush.
I keep going here for their happy hour (3 dollar draft beers — Guinness, Shock Top, Newcastle, just to name a few) as I am too drunk to care half the time, but wish they can clean up and step up on their service. I understand that this bar has been here for a while, but would be good to still offer the same quality service that has made them last for so many years!

College undergrads aren’t exactly known for their discerning palates, are they? Heck, my junior year I ended up using the deli across the street from my dorm as a meal plan, subsisting on chicken parm subs and pints of Ben & Jerry’s to fuel those late-​night papers. By the time I reached grad school at GW I was actually spending even more time in the library, which meant no way was I going all the way home to eat. Once again, I selected the lowest common denominator for my brain food, and Lindy’s was my surrogate kitchen.
The place is dingy as hell, cramped into a tiny space that’s probably a fire hazard, and the staff aren’t winning any congeniality awards. My modus operandi was get in, cram burger down gullet, and get back to the books. In this regard, Lindy’s was perfectly satisfactory, offering a pretty diverse panoply of burger toppings and customizing the size to your appetite, all for a price that fits a starving student budget.
With Burger Tap Shake just a few blocks away I would never seek Lindy’s out from any other part of town, but every once in a while if I’m meeting a friend in the neighborhood we’ll go out of nostalgia or just to get a break from how expensive this city can get. After all, a good burger is a precious commodity.

Lindy’s Red Lion is a dive bar but that’s a definite plus in my book not to mention a rare finding in Foggy Bottom! The place has a large burger selection as well as your typical bar foods (wings, quesadilla, nachos). While the burgers are not the best I have ever had, they are only $ 5 (a little more if you substitute beef for a veggie patty or get a double). Burgers come with a side of chips but you can get fries if pay a couple dollars extra. They have a also have a pretty extensive and inexpensive beer selection. There isn’t a huge seating area so things are a bit cramped but service is quick and friendly. I have never had to wait long even on a Friday night. The cheap burgers and beer combined with the divey atmosphere makes for a nice experience and break from the typical Foggy Bottom places. My friends and I have always left happy.

I am a college student and think this place suits my peers’ needs. The Reuben was excellent and the draft selection was excellent. Too bad there are not many more of these places left near the city center! I like the dive vibe of the place and the crowds are always cool.

Cheap beers = 5 stars, simply put.
I spent an hour hanging out at Lindy’s after an all day GW college tour with my kid — turned out to be a perfect spot!
Pretty low-​key spot with all sorts of people roaming in/​out. Some dude told me their food was good, but I stuck to my liquid diet.
Service was friendly. «Another one?» was about the extent of my interaction with the bartender.
Lindy’s Red Lion is cool enough for 5 stars from me!

Divey, small but not tiny if that makes sense.
Good bar food and drinks. The fish and chips were delicious and they have tater tots sometimes if you are lucky! Prices are totally reasonable and portion sizes are on the larger side.
There was an interesting mix of people in the bar and they made me feel welcome both times I stopped in.
I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m in D.C.!!

This place looked good and the menu was extensive and the prices were reasonable. Problem is the long wait. I ordered my food they took forever to bring out the drinks. After about twenty minutes we got them. An hour later the food (6 wings) came and it was cold so I had to send it back. When it came back 20 mins they had just nuked it in the microwave vs making it fresh. At least the beer was cold.

Love this place! The people are friendly, the food is cheap, good, and no frills. It’s a small hole-​in-​the-​wall joint, so don’t expect anything fancy. Just expect good eating.
My first time here, I left my wallet at the table. I came back 15 minutes later and they had already found my business card in the wallet and called me. Good people!

Perfect for all that are looking for groovie
If your not groovy, don’t bother
Great service
Cool
People
This is so much better than corp america bars

Upstairs hole in the wall, totally worth a visit. The bartender/​owner is super friendly, and this place has a wonderful English Pub charm to it. They have Guinness on draft as well as a Rowdy Rye from local Atlas Brewing company. Beers are cheep, talk is free, and the clientele are chill. The food menu looks pretty good with a nice variety, but I wasn’t hungry when I was there, maybe next time. I definitely will stop by for a pint the next time I’m in GWU/​Foggy Bottom area.

Five stars for drinks, dawn, and clientele.
Seriously, 3 dollars for a Guinness? Where else in foggy bottom? Not even at your privileged law student friends house. Lindys ruins your law student friend with their awesome price point on beer.
Lindys ain’t lion ohhhh pun yo