Golden Lion Inn

Great bar, great bar food. A dive bar with cheap drinks and amazing wings. Also try the burger. Cash only though.

What can I say except this place rocks from the food to the awesome staff and to the crowd of people that are always there. I've been coming to the lion for quite a few years and dragged everyone of my friends and now they go with or without me, the more business I can bring to the lion will assure me that they will continue to be around for many yrs to come. The food everything i have had there i cant complain the Old bay wings is a must its a dry rub & Dee's light wrap which is a chicken finger wrap u can choose if u want it spicy or not and if ur in a burger mood Cheddar mushroom burger with bacon cheese fries holy crap is it delish never could finish it but good size portions and can't beat the prices :) And did I mention they have the best bartenders and staff let's just say they deserve every tip they get :) Those who can say differ I beg your pardon lol

The Golden Lion... Where does one begin?

Go there twice and the bartender will remember your name and what you drink. (There are only two of them and they never work at the same time). It is extremely convenient because it is walking distance from my house so wether I just want a nice stroll before I eat or I am blackout drunk, getting home is never an issue. Expect to see the same 4 people every time you go there no matter what time of day.

Waiting for food used to be a pain because the old cook was always socializing around the bar and drinking tequila. It wasn't unusual to wait 30 minutes for wings and a burger. He was fired from there over a year ago and the new guy is quick and the food is just as good if not a little better. Everything I have eaten there always exceeds my expectations when I have strayed from the traditional wings or burger which are their 2 strongest points. The wings are massive, crispy, and downright delicious in any flavor you choose ( with the exception of the dry spice rubbed ones. I have never tried them because I'm personally not a fan from other experiences at different places). CHEAP!! The prices are great, even on booze. They DO NOT however, take cards. Cash only. They have an ATM in there and several banks in all directions on the way there.

Also, there are 2 shuffleboard tables which if thus us your first time seeing one, make sure you are clear on the house rules which are strictly enforced. They even have a league and the regulars take it VERY seriously. There are several good size TVs for a small place, a pool room with 1 table, some cool pinball machines, a mega touch ( I always play the "babes" photo hunt), and a Touch Tunes Internet jukebox which for a music man like myself goes a long way. Strangely enough, the jukebox takes all major credit/ debit cards. BOOM

Good food, great prices, good people= good times. I'm so glad I live near the Golden Lion.

Get: The Garlic Parmesan wings (these are very special)

I kept tittering between a 3 star and a 4 star rating. This place for me is right in the middle 3.5 but I'm rounding up because I love the bartender there (Hi Bryanne!) and also because it's a pretty good dive bar so I wanted to rate this on dive bar standards (if that makes sense lol).

The Golden Lion Inn is a smaller bar with some charm. Funny thing is I came here maybe 2 years ago and I must have came at a weird time because the vibe was super scary and intimidating. Not so much this time, not sure if they redid anything on the inside, but this time it felt divey-warm and welcoming. Last time I had a burger that did not disappoint, it was a satisfyingly greasy burger. Also, the fries are great! I couldn't stop eating them. They have an okay amount of beer. Some of the beer was 2.50 per pint!

This time I came for their famous wings. The best wings in Central Jersey? I had to test it out.

The wings took a while to come out which I will attribute to the chef making them fresh :). We got 20 wings and you get order them in sets of 10 and break them into groups of 5 to get different sauces. We got 20 and did Hot, Sweet Wasabi, Mango Habanero, and Garlic Parmesan.

The wings were really good. I'm trying to think if I had better and one other restaurant comes to mind. I can't say its the best wings ever. My one critique is that the wings were almost too crispy ( I didn't know this was possible, but a couple of the wings I bit into were almost hard) The chicken was great though, moist! ( I want to get the wings again next time to see if this was a one-off incident). None-the-less I enjoyed the wings.

The sauces were just okay for me, not enough spice on the hotter flavors. HOWEVER the stand out was the Garlic Parmesan wings. OMG I've definitely never had a better version. They made something beautiful..It's like they put concentrated amounts of garlic, butter and parmesan and then injected it into the sauce.

Next time I come here, I know what I am getting :)

It is as simple as this. Wings=the best wings you will ever have in your entire life.

I tried three different flavors; old bay, honey bbq, & garlic Parmesan and they were all out of this world. The old bay is a dry seasoning but the wings were not greasy at all when you picked them up. The honey bbq and garlic Parmesan are both wet wings and they did NOT skimp on the sauce at all. My boyfriend also ordered a burger and it was fantastic. All of their meat is fresh, not frozen.

The people below that gave this place less than 4/5 stars are people that don't understand the concept of going to an authentic, dive bar. It is cash only, but to me, that only adds character to the bar and it makes you feel as if you were sitting in a bar 10 years ago when mostly everyone only paid with cash. That is just the aura of the bar. They also had really great happy hour deals too.

I will be telling everyone and their mother about this place :-)

Calling it a dive doesn't do it justice.

If you like a local gem of a place featuring some of the nicest bartenders on the planet, a reasonably priced selection of hooch, friendly crowd, and uncommonly good bar food, then "Lion" - as we locals call it - is your joint.

The atmosphere can best be described as dive-y but charming. There is wood paneling. There are homemade signs. Christmas lights twinkle all year. As other people have shared, there are TVs, games, pool, and shuffleboard. The bathrooms could use a bit of remodeling, but they are always very clean.

In terms of eating, the standouts are the Devil's Burger and the wings. The fries are well made and enhanced with smothered with Lion's molten hot, liquid cheese (and bacon, if you're so inclined). In terms of drinkin', they tend to be a beer, shot and high-ball joint, which is fine with me. If you go there a second time, they bartender is likely to remember your name and your drink preference. If called upon, they can also make you a custom beverage. (My friend often makes this request, the bartenders happily oblige, and she's gotten to try some tasty concoctions.)

If you go there during the week, you'll see a lot of locals sipping a nice, cold brew while they wait for their take out order to bring home. The crowd tends to scale a bit older (30+). No college kids here. As a person just on the lighter side of 40, this is something I certainly don't mind.

Really, really great bar. Can't wait to get my Lion on.

Great place ,,, friendly faces,,, awesome wings! Must try -

Wings were ordered with 5 sauces. The sauces were hot, medium, teriyaki, honey BBQ, and garlic parmesan. See my previous reviews for thoughts on hot and teriyaki. The medium sauce was decent. The honey BBQ was very good. It was a little sweet, but not too sweet especially for a sauce on wings. The garlic parmesan was solid. I usually am not a fan of that kind, but there was not too much of a garlic or parmesan taste. It was a good balance. Like previously mentioned, the wings were of good size and quality.