The Red Lion is everything I hoped and nothing I expected it to be. It’s a facsimile of a British alehouse—that feels thoroughly genuine. It fits quite naturally among the casual, spirited eateries of downtown Maplewood—although it’s not quite like anything that stretch of Manchester has ever seen before. And it fairly suits the “gastropub” moniker—even though that’s a trend I thought I never wanted to hear from again.
In putting together his venture, proprietor Barry Strange copped the name and logo off the Internet (the Red Lion is a popular pub name in England); kept the artful rattan ceiling fans left behind by Fu Manchu (the Asian joint that occupied the space most recently); and lifted his chef from Boogaloo a few doors down. (Like Fu Manchu, Boogaloo’s a Mike Johnson restaurant; acquiring chef Adam Pritchett from him was a friendly trade.) Though that all seems very cobbled-together, Red Lion exudes self-assuredness, from its russet-hued interior and mahogany-toned booths to its well-versed, personable servers to a menu that doesn’t reinvent pub food so much as remind you that that style of food needn’t be as mundane as it almost always is.
An amiable playfulness courses throughout the menu. A shrimp Louis salad, for example, makes for a fun, if unchallenging, entree into a meal. Cute, pinky toe–sized bay shrimp dot a swath of iceberg lettuce leaves, all of it heavily coated in a sweet Russian dressing. The toasted ravioli are actually stuffed and pressed by hand, in-house, with a very generous portion of ground meat inside—blessed be! Compared to the frozen jobs found all over town, this step returns the T-rav to a place of pride, rather than a local culinary embarrassment. Grilled-cheese strips, another appetizer, come sided with a fresh and zesty marinara for dipping, although the dish’s pedestrian presentation (simply a grilled-cheese sandwich cut lengthwise a few times) fell flat.
While the Red Lion soft cheddar burger is perhaps the most popular item, it’s easy to get distracted by any number of other sandwiches and burgers on the menu. (There are main-course pizzas, too, but they don’t read as intriguingly.) The grilled portobello sandwich is no longer novel, but slap on some crunchy asparagus stalks, top it with mozz, and smear it with guac, and you’ve turned burger fixings into something that can outshine an actual burger. Also capable of unseating the hamburger from its bar-food throne is Red Lion’s lamb burger, which imparts a ridiculously rich flavor and is offset extraordinarily well by aioli and a focaccia bun.
For dessert, there’s the been-there-done-that crème brûlée or the shouldn’t-go-there-but-can’t-help-myself deep-fried Twinkies, Snickers, and peanut-butter cups. The last might be the dark-horse winner, as the fryer magically transforms the milk-chocolate shell into a darker-chocolate taste, although the strawberry sauce ladled atop the deep-fried Twinkie is reason alone to order one.
As for the pub part of the gastropub, Red Lion’s had only three tap beers to start, including a bouillony brown ale produced by nearby Schlafly Bottleworks that serves as the house-named draught. Strange says he’s figuring out where and how to install more taps, which should do nicely to bring the “pub” up to par with the “gastro.”
Bottom line: Haute cuisine innovation at short-order prices.
7336 Manchester Maplewood 314-645-4200 theredlionstl.com Lunch and dinner daily Average main course: $8–$9
