Cafe Leone Bodega - Lyon

Café Leone is a famous joint in Lyon for 20 and 30 years old residents, a lively Spanish bar de tapas. With all the kindness I found in the staff, what I kept from this place was strong headache on the next morning. Once again,...More

This is a great bar. The staff are very friendly and are up for a bit of fun. It is very handy to the shops and restaurants. Well worth a visit.

My fiancé and I had an indescribably great dinner in our first night in Lyon, but on our second night were looking for lighter fare. We were happy to find what appeared to be a popular local tapas spot, and figured that was a good sign. Unfortunately, after not being greeted at the door or even acknowledged until we walked into the middle of the place and stood there for a while, we were then placed at a table and left alone for at least another 10 minutes. Once our order was finally taken, there was no "bonsoir" or even eye contact from the dull-faced server who dropped off our carafe of wine (without glasses at first). The clearly reheated dishes later arrived simultaneously, and except for the olive bowl (great deal at €1.50) they were a disappointment. Cold, gluey "calamari fritta" that looked exactly like onion rings from a bad burger spot. So-called paella that tasted like Rice-a-roni (which, I confess, I don't mind) and had no hints of seafood. All of which we could have forgiven, except that the service was the most uncaring, ambivalent lack of effort we have ever experienced. I had to approach our server at the bar to get the water I had requested 30 minutes earlier, and he seemed annoyed that I had interrupted his chat with the only other server there, the woman who had wandered over with our wine earlier. Seriously, guys, get it together or vacate the space and let a real restaurant occupy it! There are too many amazing options in Lyon to have this dud sully its reputation.

Amongst all the little bars and cafes along the strip, we chose Cafe Leone because of its attractive vibe and a good tapas menu. It was a nice evening and the place was full outside with locals and tourists.The service was a bit slow, but our food and drinks came out very quickly. The food was really nice and well above our expectations. The tapas dishes were not too expensive either which was pleasing.

Large bar decent prices friendly staff really pleasant bar in a beautiful part of lyon would definitely go back