10 of the best bars in Liverpool

Beyond the Beatles and football, Liverpool is perhaps most known for its boisterous nightlife – with famously weather-immune locals rarely missing an opportunity to dress up and head out. But while famed (and sometimes infamous) for its high-octane thrills, the city has a fabulously diverse array of drinking destinations, with recent years seeing a boom in sophisticated cocktail bars and a compelling wine scene. For visitors, the relatively compact city centre is a gift, with many of the best bars in Liverpool dotted along the main streets of the RopeWalks neighbourhood – within stumbling distance of its similarly lauded restaurants and cultural landmarks. There is something to whet all appetites, from nameless speakeasies to staggeringly decorative pubs.

These are the best bars in Liverpool

Café Tabac

Though it may not have quite the lustre of its 1970s and 1980s heydays, Café Tabac occupies an essential place in Liverpool lore, modelled on the bohemian cafes of the continent and now the longest-running in the city. Famously enticing a creative crowd, Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson and Dead or Alive’s Pete Burns once numbered among its regulars – Café Tabac long considered a ‘safe space’ for Liverpool’s more disruptive denizens. Though serving coffee and classic café fare by day, it’s perhaps most popular as an evening haunt, with a comprehensive, affordably-priced cocktail list.

Address: Cafe Tabac, 126 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4JA
Website: cafetabac.co.uk

Ropes & Twines

This well-dressed wine bar (which also moonlights as an art gallery), is the most easily elegant drinking spot on Bold Street – once the centre of alternative culture in Liverpool, though its crown has slipped in recent years with the arrival of generic brunch venues and high street chains. Ropes & Twines stands apart then, with its austere white interior and tightly curated, regularly-rotating wine list, which leans on lesser-discovered and progressive labels – mostly available by the glass. As well as a dependably attractive ‘on the day’ selection, it hosts regular ticketed tastings and guest pop-ups. Its speciality coffees are separately worth sampling on a morning or lunch hour pitstop.

Address: Ropes & Twines, 70 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HR
Website: ropes-and-twines.co.uk

Philharmonic Dining Rooms

This well-dressed wine bar (which also moonlights as an art gallery) is the most easily elegant drinking spot on Bold Street – once the centre of alternative culture in Liverpool, though its crown has slipped in recent years with the arrival of generic brunch venues and high street chains. Ropes & Twines stands apart then, with its austere white interior and tightly curated, regularly-rotating wine list, which leans on lesser-discovered and progressive labels – mostly available by the glass. As well as a dependably attractive ‘on the day’ selection, it hosts regular ticketed tastings and guest pop-ups. Its speciality coffees are separately worth sampling on a morning or lunch hour pitstop.

Address: The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, 36 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BX
Website: nicholsonspubs.co.uk

The Pen Factory

With its bare-brick, exposed piping and handsome pockmarked pillars, The Pen Factory has all of the post-industrial character you would expect of a former pen factory. Today, its well-informed, confident team churn out craft beers and ales instead of ballpoints, with a terrific line-up of UK and wider European varieties – alongside a short wine list. As relaxed and comfortable as an old cardigan, it’s reassuringly friendly (even for families) and a reliable spot for a no-fuss meal. On Hope Street, The Pen Factory is within grazing distance from the Everyman Theatre and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, so a solid choice for post or pre-show tipples.

Address: The Pen Factory, 13 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BQ
Website: pen-factory.co.uk

The Jacaranda

Like many of Liverpool’s more enduring drinking spots, The Jacaranda has an almost mythological musical past. Closely connected to the rise of Merseybeat in the late 1950s and 60s, it was the springboard for countless bands that would dominate the charts at home and abroad – among them The Beatles and Gerry and The Pacemakers. Today it still operates as a live music venue and bar, considered hallowed ground for fans of the period. With squeaky leather banquettes and buffed parquet floors, there’s nothing highfalutin about this storied bar, but, for visitors, it does offer an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of some of Liverpool’s most legendary exports.

Address: The Jacaranda, 21-23 Slater Street, Liverpool L1 4BW
Website: jacarandarecords.com

Berry and Rye

An atmosphere-laden, speakeasy-style cocktail joint, Berry and Rye offers some of the most accomplished serves in the city – if you can find it. It takes its Prohibition Era ethos seriously with a “did we just walk past?” unmarked doorway. Guests are expected to knock at an unmanned entry before being escorted to the flirtatiously-lit bar beyond. Inside, candles flutter impishly, and servers discuss appetites to a backing track of soft jazz. There’s an extensive menu for guests who know what they want, but with some of the city's best-trained and most knowledgeable mixologists, it’s also worth surrendering to a recommendation.

Address: Berry and Rye, 48 Berry Street, Liverpool L1 4JQ
Website: berryandrye.uk

Jenny’s Bar

As with all good things, Jenny’s Bar requires a little know-how and a pinch of determination. From the same folks as the signage-free Berry and Rye, this terrific cocktail bar isn’t somewhere easily stumbled upon, vaguely hidden in a seafood restaurant in the city’s commercial district. For those who seek it out, though, it rewards with memorable drinks and dazzling service. Inside, a velvet curtain portions the bar in two: a nostalgic period piece with lead-lined glass and teardrop bar lighting and a riotously Disco chamber with salmon velvet booths and tropically printed ceiling.

Address: Jenny's, Old Ropery, Fenwick Street, Liverpool L2 7NT
Website: jennysliverpool.co.uk

Buyers Club

If spending time around nature is the key to happiness, then it’s presumably impossible to leave Buyers Club miserable. Bountiful with various pot plants and hanging foliage, it is a single Millennial’s dream, with stylishly scruffy floorboards and beautiful wooden furniture to boot. A casual restaurant and a bar, Buyers Club is one of those breezy venues that function from day to night, serving aperitivo cocktails, a robust selection of G&Ts, craft beers and wine. It also has a delightful courtyard – strung with blubs and scattered with planters – which is an ideal spring or summer hangout, truculent northern weather considered.

Address: Buyers Club, Yard, 24 Hardman Street Hardman, Liverpool L1 9AX
Website: buyers-club.co.uk

The Merchant

A bar, canteen and urban courtyard, The Merchant has been a favoured destination for Liverpudlians since it opened just shy of a decade ago. Centrally located, it’s a regular forum for live music and DJ sets, and in the milder months, its garden bulges with revellers. With an affable and diverse crowd – from voguishly-clad students to the ‘after-work drinks’ brigade in skirts and suits – The Merchant is a welcoming drinking den for visitors to the city. And if the comprehensive menu of craft beers and gins doesn’t suffice, it also sells a rateable pizza by the slice.

Address: The Merchant, 40 Slater Street, Liverpool L1 4BX
Website: themerchantliverpool.co.uk

Bunch

Wine bars are a tricky business. Some feature menus so weightily comprehensive that only a well-trained bicep can coax them from the bar. Others are so forensically curated that there’s barely any point reviewing the menu at all. Liverpool’s Brunch, though, is not perfect. Said to have the most extensive collection of natural wines in the city (is anyone counting?), its selection is inspired by the owners’ sprees across Europe, charting territory familiar and obscure alike. The snug space itself is also refreshingly simple and inviting, with only a small knot of tables and a handful of stools – a fine choice for an intimate, low-key sip.

Address: Bunch, 50 Berry Street, Liverpool L1 4JQ
Website: bunchwinebar.co.uk