The Lion's Den at The Red Lion Inn

My birthday is April 16th, so I thought it would be nice if we had an evening out the night before. The Lion's Den at The Red Lion Inn has live entertainment every night (never a cover charge) and I thought it would be fun to go. I was happy to see they offered a signature burger, so that basically settled the matter. Little did I know that this little den of iniquity would be the hardest rating yet.

The atmosphere is cozy, dark and romantic. I kept on saying... it's about the burger. I saw that they have Guinness on tap *GULP* and they have Harney & Son's Earl Grey tea for Beef boy. This is where the trouble started. Unless you know us, you wouldn't realize that Beef Boy is an Earl Grey freak and if Guinness were a man, he and I would be celebrating our zillionth wedding anniversary. Of course Arthur was a man, but that is a different blog. Focus... stay focused... We started out with the above beverages. I was presented with a perfectly pulled Guinness that looked like this (pic doesn't do the beauty justice):

Utto. Note the gorgeous shamrock on the top indicating a bartender who lovingly pulls with devotion and expertise. Beef Boy was presented with a perfect English tea set up of his beloved Earl Grey. We both took a sip and looked at each other. Both of our eyes glazed over in rapture. Cripes! They were trying to seduce us! Somehow I was convinced that they had learned of our mission. We shook off the ecstasy and gathered our selves together ready to fight the forces trying to come between us and a fair rating.

We ordered the Lion's Den Beef Burger at a cost of $8.50 plus .50 for the added American cheese. If we wanted bacon, it would have also been .50 extra. According to the server, it is a 6 oz. burger.

The burger arrived as you see it above. It arrived on a warm multi-grain roll with 1 leaf of green leaf lettuce and 1 slice of tomato. The burger was griddle cooked with a light crispy sear and was a handformed patty of a medium thickness. Upon biting into it, it appeared to be just past medium. Very close, but just past medium. Nice and moist and tasted good.

There was a small tricolored rotini pasta that was lightly seasoned. The potato chips were mandoline cut thick with ridges and skin on and were cooked on the premises. A pickle was also included.

The waitress was delightful and humored all our questions, making a special effort to ask the chef about the chips, the size of the burger, and the bun.

Adhering to our strict guidelines, we decided that it receives a rating of 3 1/2 burgers. Unfortunately, it is not a Coca-Cola establishment.

The Lion's Den at The Red Lion Inn
30 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-5545


Addendum: After we ate and rated the burger with a clean palate, we did order their chili which was mild and delicious and finished with their brownie sundae with was heavenly. I also had a raspberry white chocolate martini that was deadly and could have caused quite a problem for me if it wasn't for JC's intervention.