The Red Lion pub in St Mary’s Road, Ealing, is set to reopen at the end of March, with tenants Luke Swain, Suzanne Posthumus, and chef Helder Gonclaves who run The Andover Arms in Hammersmith becoming the new tenants, EALING.NEWS can reveal
Previous tenants Edin Basic and Barbara handed back their lease to pub owner Fuller’s saying they could no longer run the pub due to: “soaring cost increases of energy and food/drinks, inflation and raising [sic] cost of living it made it impossible to continue trading. We will be handing over the lease back to Fuller’s. It has been an incredible 4.5 years of running this beautiful pub and be part of the community. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
During their tenancy, the pub changed its menu to reflect pizza and now The Red Lion is set to go back to its roots which will include traditional pub fayre and a regular BBQ.
A Fuller’s spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: ”We are delighted to see The Andover Arms team take over The Red Lion. They are experienced publicans with exciting ideas and they will be great at putting The Red Lion firmly in the heart of their community. “
When it was first revealed that previous tenants were leaving, many regulars said they will miss having pizza but others were looking forward to returning to a more traditional pub menu.
In January on Facebook, pub goers said they were looking forward to seeing the pub return to its roots. One said: “When we visited we much preferred it as a pub rather than a pizza place. Would love to see it return as a classic British Pub in the future.”
Another added: “Sad to see this news. You did fabulous work during lockdown, great produce in the shop. Loved Sunday lunches especially the live jazz so you will be missed. Good luck in your new adventures. Hope the historic pub returns again.”
The Red Lion is also locally known as Stage Six. It is across the road from Ealing Studios which originally had five stages and the Red Lion was the local for the famous stars who made films at the studios which included Sir Alec Guinness and Sid James.
The pub’s interior pays tribute to the world of movies with portraits and stills on its walls.
