Lion and Crown Pub opens in McKinney with food, drinks and live music

Craig Ranch gained a new late-night hangout this spring with The Lion and Crown Pub, an English-style spot built around food, drinks and live music at 7951 Collin McKinney Parkway, Suite 1600.

Co-owner Sandra Vazquez said the business was up and running after opening March 17. The pub’s pitch goes beyond a standard bar-and-grill: it serves lunch, dinner and daily specials seven days a week, stays open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and pours 38 beers on tap.

The menu leans into British pub fare while also covering familiar crowd-pleasers. Online ordering lists fish-and-chips, bangers and mash, cottage pie, steak and Guinness pie, chicken tikka masala and Irish stew, along with sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads, wings, salads and desserts. That mix gives the restaurant a wider reach than a narrow nightlife venue, with options for a quick lunch, a full dinner or a longer evening stop.

Music and events appear to be part of the draw. The pub’s events page lists live music at the McKinney location and also shows a chess night, signaling a place that is trying to fill more than one role in the neighborhood. The same page says the business partners with local artists, which helps give the pub an identity tied to the community rather than a generic chain feel.

The opening gives McKinney residents and nearby workers another place to gather after office hours, meet friends on the weekend or catch a show without heading out of the area. In a fast-growing part of the city, a venue that combines late-night food, a full drink menu and recurring entertainment can become more than a restaurant. It can become a regular stop.

The Lion & Crown is also part of a larger local brand, with other locations in Allen and Addison. Toast lists the McKinney site as Lion and Crown - Craig Ranch, linking the pub directly to the master-planned community that has helped drive growth in north McKinney. That location gives the new pub a built-in neighborhood identity and a clear test: whether an English-style pub with music and late hours can become the kind of place people return to week after week.