The 'Lawni' has always had an identity problem for me - it doesn't know whether it's a pub, a restaurant or a crèche. Sadly, it combines all three and, while the food is good and cheap and the crèche (Wacky Warehouse) is apparently popular, it fails epically in terms of being a pub.
It is the drinks prices that confuse me the most - a large family-orientated pub in the suburbs - yet the drinks cost more than most pubs in Headingley and the city centre. A lager will cost you upwards of £2.50 which is scandalous considering the location and lack of chat in this place. More bemusing that this, however, is the fact that a pint of coke costs almost the same - any pub in which it costs the same to get drunk as it does to get high on e-numbers and caffeine just has to be questioned.
There is no pub-style atmosphere in the Lawnswood Arms either, as there are usually (at least until the early evening) families with children eating, which makes the place sound more like a McDonalds than a pub.
The reason that there are often families eating in here is due to the fact that the food is of a higher quality than most other pubs you will eat in (particularly the gammon steak!) and it is inexpensive in you are in a group with an even number (£10 for two main meals). Essentially, the Lawnswood Arms is a better place to eat than to drink, which seems strange for a pub. But perhaps that the way they want it. read more