The Stag & Lion

I gave the bartender 20 $ for change and she gave me $ 5 when I confronted her she denied it. Cary or Casey. I will never go back!!!

Very fun spot. They have every bar game — pool, darts, Foosball and the ring toss game. The dark haired skinny lady with the tattoos hasn’t been friendly on a few occasions. She will serve any of the «regulars» well before looking at a new patron even if you have been standing there for a while. Honestly not enough for me to stop going there, but maybe having a better attitude would help service

I am beyond perturbed by this establishment!!! Not to mention the bar tender who never once smiled. I’ve never been treated so poorly, never felt so belittled and disrespected and embarrassed in my entire life!!!
Came here for my boyfriends birthday with friends (a good group of 20 fine educated and hardworking adults of different nationalities, colors and races)
This place has a really neat jukebox that can pretty much play any song you’d like for 50 cents a song. Me and my sister were looking through the jukebox when a girl came behind us ready to play her choice of song. We were not sure how to use it so we taught each other, she then proceeded to choose two songs (drake). I put $ 3 in and chose 6 songs that we excitedly picked for my boyfriend and friends in this order (Tucanes de Tijuana, Selina, Ramon Ayala, Tupac, Biggie, Genuine). A young man sitting at the bar very Rudely skipped the first 3 songs with a «remote» he had in his hands!!! I was shocked!!! Why do they have jukebox in the first place!!! It defeats it’s purpose!!!
I asked him if he was the manager and why he skipped our songs, He chauvinistically responded with «no!!! I’m a regular here, a patron! Let me buy you a drink!» I was so disgusted and calmly asked him why he had skipped our music? No answer! I was baffled!!! And naively thinking why a person would do such a thing. When my «white» blonde friend asked him again his friend sitting beside this racist man apologized for him and to my boyfriend and group of guy friends who at this point were all behind me. They proceeded to apologize asked us again if they could buy us a drink (which we kindly rejected) and gave us money for the songs they skipped and left! These «men» we’re racist and the most crudest of people i have ever met in carlsbad and made me feel so revolted to be living in a beautiful city with people like that.

If you go here knowing what you are going here for, you will be happy and content!
This is a British pub with a juke box, pool tables, cold beer and above-​average pub food. The fish tacos were excellent, the service was great, and they had great beer selection. I love coming here to watch a game because of the relaxed atmosphere, good prices, and good food.
I will say that I think the curry sauce they offer with their «chips» is a real standout. Sweet, savory, great blend of spices and a really rich finish. Goes great with the fish, the chips, and even by itself (I may have licked out the ramekin!?).

Nice place, friendly customers and service. Plenty of TV’s turned to sports channels. Clean restroom and eating area and the background music was not to loud. The Burger Fries & Rings where above average and portion size was more than I expected.

We watched a football match in the AM, and I got a breakfast sandwich which was pretty good. Service was quick and friendly. Kids allowed, no real menu for them though!

Never received service, so difficult to rate the food, unfortunately.
Likely closing soonish — how can you bleed funds this badly for year after year?
Place was absolutely empty when my son and I came in to catch some footy.
It has potential as a venue but the fucking kids running the restaurant will destroy everything this guy has worked for. Damn shame.

I rarely write reviews, but at this point, I feel compelled. Every time I have ordered food here, it has never turned out per expectation or per description by the staff. This is a local (walking distance) place for me and I keep giving them a chance to win my loyalty. But, I can’t give it to them. Not anymore. Because every time, and I’ve been here multiple times, I order something, it shows up a different beast. Why even waste the time to ask me how I want my burger cooked, if every time you serve it to me it will be overdone by default??? Thankfully the beer comes out of a keg and the liquor comes out of a bottle and the staff only has to pour it for you. But the food, Jesus, please help them! The bar tending staff is nice, but everything else is just shameful. And it hurts me, because I want a great sports bar that I can walk to and I want to support local business. Yet now, I’m looking forward to another owner that will come in and actually turn this place into the gold mine that it has the potential to be. Because, they are literally crapping away the potential of this place.
Signed,
Fool me twice.

I’ve been here a few times… once when it was Hensley’s Flying Elephant and again after it switched to the Stag & Lion. Both were excellent, though I preferred the environment of Hensley’s — the skate/​art/​music vibe was much cooler. Food was excellent on both of my visits. Service is great too!

Great staff, awesome tacos! Cork dart boards, multiple pool tables, smoker patio. So many tvs you can watch any game.

Food was pretty good. Fish & Chips was really good. Quality fish!, Scotch eggs were good also. Scottish bartender was nice. Food was a lil slow but worth the wait.

Love love love this place! I lean more towards pubs and low-​key places overall, and the stag is the perfect place. It’s chill, has great drink prices, and good food to nosh on. There’s also a nice group of regulars to chat up while you’re relaxing.
I’ve been day and night and it’s a nice spot for happy hour, sports games (lots of tvs), weekend day drinking, and a relaxing night out. Just heard they started doing this Saturday free pool and jukebox thing which is pretty awesome for Carlsbad area. Great chips/​fries (get the curry sauce on the side) and the french dip sandwich is freakishly good.
Highly recommend! Ask for Alex or Hugh :)

The bartender is incredibly rude with a lot of attitude. Cori W should be fired (i believe that was her name or at least that’s what it said on my reciept). I want to spend money at this bar, but did not want to deal with this bartender. I asked for a recommendation on a beer, she said I should order one. So I ordered it. Then I proceeded to sincerely apologize that I didnt like the beer. Again, I was the one apologizing. I said I probably should have asked for a taste. She proceeded to say «ya, you should have.» With A LOT of attitude infront of numerous people. I was so uncomfortable with that comment, and felt really bad about myself. Then I agreed and apologized again. I was so surprised she acted that way and that she didn’t even offer me a taste. During checkout, she charged me for the drink. She proceeded to tell me «I had to charge you because you ordered it.» with attitude again. I was upset because the way she acted and handled it. Maybe I’m going crazy, but thats does not seem like good customer service, she made me feel incredibly bad about myself.
I highly recommend that the Stag and Lion should train their bartender to offer someone a taste if she recommends one, and get rid of her rude attitude. I bet you sales will increase because people would feel much more comfortable ordering from someone professional instead of a rude, catty woman.

Strange location off of Interstate 5 where you have to make a sharp turn before a gas station. Large circular space that perhaps was a Denny’s or something at one time. Inside, it is mostly empty with a decent 20 tap system focusing on California craft beers. However, the kegs are usually not tasting so fresh, probably due to slow turnaround. Guinness on tap tasted watery, smokey, grape soda like.
Food menu looked unappetizing. My wife has ordered nachos here twice. They were edible, but I cannot recommend them. Canned salty jalapeños and drenched in a thousand island like sauce until they become soggy. Also ordered the Scotch eggs, hard boiled until gray and powdery yolk interior with unappetizing mustard dosed on tap. Again, super salty and not super fresh tasting. Chips (fries) came out almost bright white as if stuck in the fryer for only a few seconds. No color on them at all. Flavor was super bland as if fried in canola oil and then not seasoned. Curry dipping sauce was okay, probably the best thing about that. So ⁰⁄₃ on the food items.
We come here for our kickball league quite often. But if it weren’t for kickball, I would not be coming here for food or drink. Non-​kickball patrons seem to come for soccer games, so I guess that is their niche.

Your quintessential freeway off ramp dive bar
English theme
Slightly dark
Sticky bar
Cops parked across the street
Crappy cover band
Pool table
Stiff drinks
Hot bartender
Check
Check
And check

The food was oooook but very uninspired. This place could be awesome if they put a little more effort into the food and decore.

Best fish and chips in town. Feels like you are entering the black hole when you arrive.
This place should be a gold mine because of its location but the owner can’t figure it out.
Brighten up the place
Open a window
Improve the beer selection
You already nail it on the food
Polka night is fun too!

This place is pretty awesome. They have a few dart boards and pool tables to play on. It’s a fairly open space with one bar, a ton of varieties of liquor, and a kitchen. The kitchen closes at 10 and the food is actually pretty good. The only thing I wasn’t too excited about was the pizza. It’s ok but it’s frozen and they put it into a microwave oven to cook it. I figure I’d be more oblivious to it but they put the microwave oven at the bar instead of back in the kitchen for some reason, so it’s kind of strange. The bartenders are great though and they pour decent. Not too much and not too little. The Jameson was $ 5 a shot so I’m alwaysss good with that! The beer selection is decent, I think they had 15 beers or so on tap. Overall, a solid place to grab some drinks and watch the football (soccer) games at.

Good, friendly «locals» pub with tasty food and a strong selection of beers (full bar). Ben (owner) and Hugh (bar keep) checked on our table of 3 multiple times. Strong service and good prices.
Our new «go to» spot.

I have to give a shout out to my man Ben, he opened up at 5am for me and my wife so we could watch the derby.
We learned that he spent time in England and wanted to open his own pub and serve English food with his own culinary (some might say improved) twist. Being English, I can attest to the fact that The Stag & Lion has, in fact, taken English food and improved it. My wife is American and she was extremely happy we found a pub which takes English food to the next level. make of that what you will.
We came back the following weekend for some drinks and a game of pool.
This place is a nice mix of British and American: —
British: Football and English food.
American: Service and quality of food.
I’d recommend The Stag & Lion to any fellow Brits or FOOTBALL fans who are looking for a pub to serve their needs.