This Grade 2* listed town-centre pub dates from at least the late 17th century; the rear part of the building dates back to the 16/17th century. In 1738 a fire broke out in a baker’s shop in the Market Place and twenty-six buildings were destroyed. The fire was on the north side and the Church was damaged as was the Red Lion. The current frontage was added in the mid-1700s. In the 19th century it was known as the Lion Hotel and became a centre of Fakenham civic life. It was a Bullard's brewery pub from the 1920s until the 1960s when Watneys closed the Norwich brewery.

The pub closed on 1st November 1974 and became council offices for nearly 30 years before it re-opened as a pub/bistro, and became the Red Lion Lounge in 2022, then Red's Bar & Grill until 2024.