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The Rainbow, Eastbourne, East Sussex

The Rainbow

3.8
3.8
743 Reviews
£25 and under
British

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 4 times today
Experiences are available.
  • Charming
  • Great for outdoor dining
  • Good for groups
In showing this building some love, local businesswoman Shoes Simes has said that she hopes to help make her pub more food-led and family-friendly. In doing so she hopes to turn this local building of historical importance into an establishment for local families and friends to enjoy together. It all started 13 years ago when she first saw the building and she knew straight away that this was the pub for her and finally her dreams have come true, with a full refurbishment, this pub is now ready to be revealed to Eastbourne in all its glory. Once functioning as an old Moot Court, eventually turning into a restaurant in the 1970s, before it boomed as a pub trading as The Rainbow. It eventually changed to The Counting House and saw a new lease of life as the garden grew to be a popular haunt of all in old town. Returning with a change of name to the older style of The Rainbow, and with it a focus on food again.

For outdoor reservations, please contact the restaurant directly.

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    £25 and under
  • Cuisines
    British, Gastro Pub, Beer Garden
  • Hours of Operation
    Bar Wed, Thu, Sun 12:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 12:00 pm–11:00 pm Lunch Wed–Fri 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Sat 12:00 pm–9:00 pm Sun 12:00 pm–5:00 pm Dinner Wed–Fri 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Phone number
    01323 731158
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Neighbourhood
    Eastbourne
  • Parking details
    Private Lot
  • Public transit
  • Additional
    Beer, Beer Garden, Cocktails, Delivery, Dog Friendly, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Indoor Fireplace, Outdoor Smoking Area, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Vegan, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Experiences

  • DRINKING ONLY

    Multiple dates available
    Please only select this option if you are DRINKING ONLY!

What 743 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

3.8
3.8 based on recent ratings
  • 3.5Food
  • 4Service
  • 4Ambience
  • 3.5Value

NoiseEnergetic

743 Reviews
  1. Gemma

    East Sussex

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    Went here for dinner and unfortunately, it was a complete letdown. The food was terrible—poorly cooked and lacking in flavor. Drinks were okay, yet massively overpriced - £7.50 for a larger is mental. The ambience was uninviting, and to top it off, the service was absolutely shocking. Slow, inattentive, and unprofessional. Definitely wouldn’t return or recommend.

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  2. Kate

    East Sussex

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on February 9, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    Unfortunately the roast beef was almost inedible - very very tough but the roast chicken was delicious. It was also cold in the building. For the price, everything should be good. The Rainbow is supposed to be renowned for their roast?!

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  3. TRACEY

    East Sussex

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 29, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent food and service, definitely returning in the New Year.

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  4. James

    East Sussex

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on December 24, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Great food, great service as always, you know the staff are well trained when they check your glasses are properly clean before serving you drinks.

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  5. Rita

    East Sussex

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on December 22, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Our first visit to The Rainbow, certainly not the last. Nice and friendly staff and cozy atmosphere.

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  6. Elaine

    East Sussex

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 11, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We had a lunch with 5 friends to celebrate Christmas and the atmosphere was very festive and cosy.

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  7. Ivor

    Kent

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 9, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    A lovely Christmas Dinnwr 🎄 We were shown to a lovely quiet table near to a super warm log fire 🔥 To be fair it was a Monday night and the pub was pretty quiet anyway. There was no problem taking our two dogs who were provided a bowl of water. The food was delicious 😋 and very generous portions. The dogs enjoyed sharing some of the pigs in blankets 🐷 No problem at all with the very helpful table service. It eas an enjoyable night out and great value

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  8. Victoria

    Brighton

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on September 23, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We had a lovely early dinner at the Rainbow. We took my autistic brother, and the staff were polite, friendly and welcoming, and fully accommodated his needs, i.e allowing us to choose a quiet place to sit, offering to give him more time to choose his drink if he needed it. The food was great (beefburger, chicken burger, squid linguine, followed by the brownie and a waffle with ice cream). We really enjoyed ourselves. Thank you.

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  9. caroline

    VIP

    London

    4 reviews

    2.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on September 15, 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    The meal was very disappointing. The quality of the food was extremely poor, not what we were expecting after many good meals at the Rainbow.

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  10. pamela

    London

    2 reviews

    3.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on August 31, 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 5
    Food is a disappointment. Crispy squid is the worse! Undercooked, thick and gummy. Gyoza had a creamy dipping sauce?! what was that about?? Pork belly was underflavoured and tough. I suggest they stick to regular pub food. Such a beautiful pub with plenty of character.Food was a let down!

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FAQs

The Rainbow is rated 3.8 stars by 743 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 4 times today
Experiences are available.
Google Map for The Rainbow

Star Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 1NB

Additional information

  • Neighbourhood
    Eastbourne
  • Hours of Operation
    Bar Wed, Thu, Sun 12:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 12:00 pm–11:00 pm Lunch Wed–Fri 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Sat 12:00 pm–9:00 pm Sun 12:00 pm–5:00 pm Dinner Wed–Fri 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Price
    £25 and under
  • Cuisines
    British, Gastro Pub, Beer Garden
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    Private Lot
  • Public transit
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Additional
    Beer, Beer Garden, Cocktails, Delivery, Dog Friendly, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Indoor Fireplace, Outdoor Smoking Area, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Vegan, Wheelchair Access, Wine
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