The Swan is my favourite pub. I have been a regular here for many years and I never get tired of…read moreit. The Swan is the sort of place you can walk into at any time and you're guaranteed to know someone in there. If you don't know anyone then you soon will. The staff and customers are welcoming and friendly. They re happy to leave you to your own devices or put the world to rights with you if you so desire. The pub is full of characters from cheeky student types, to pensioners without whom the pub might actually fall down. The bar has won many awards from CAMRA - the campaign for real ale. There is a large range of real ales, mostly from the local brewery Cains. The ales are changed often but a couple of old favourites such as Wobbly Bob have been there for years. There is also a huge range of spirits, bottled beers, continental beers, alcopops, wine and ciders available. There are 3 floors in the Swan inn. The ground floor is the most spacious and has a large bar with bar stools, and stools, pews and tables. Upstairs is smaller but a bit brighter. There is also a mezzanine level which is the newest floor. This is a good space to grab early on in the night if you are expecting a large group of people. The jukebox on the ground floor has long been known to be the best in Liverpool. Upstairs is a video jukebox which is updated regularly. During the day time there is a small selection of food available which is inexpensive and very tasty. I love this pub, I would recommend it to anyone. I particularly like quiz night which is every Thursday. I would class the Swan Inn as a Rock pub but it welcomes everyone.

The Swan is a bit more of an Ugly Duckling as far as pubs are concerned and the clientele more akin…read moreto the AJ lot minus the students. This gives it an edge however, it's individual and stands out with it's never say die attitude. With gothic grime and leather jackets tattooed with Metallica being the most fashionable in the home of Dragon Force and Whitesnake, you have to be tolerant of such music, have very selective hearing or a monopoly of the jukebox to survive. But if you can get past this, or have a secret love of Bon Jovi (I haven't seen him live I promise...well, maybe once.) then it's a great place to come. I can usually be found here pre-FACT viewing for cheaper booze than the cinema and a more down-to-earth watering hole, complete with hard rock. Where can I get some piercings? It's rubbing off on me.

Lovers of both Yardbird and Motel - and generally huge fans of everything meat - we knew we had to…read morebook in to Death Row Diner on our recent anniversary weekend in Liverpool. Booked in for 8pm on a Saturday night, we headed down the incense scented steps and descended into the darkness of the restaurant. The front of house desk is a slot machine, and we were pointed in the direction of the bar to wait until our table was ready. The drinks menu includes cocktails, hard shakes and floats, beer, wine, and cider. Not wanting to start down the road of a white wine hangover the next day, I opted for a cider. Not having any names I recognised, I went for a Jeramiah Weed - tasting not unlike JD & coke, it was unusually delicious! Our table took about 15/20 minutes to be ready, for which the front of house were eternally apologetic and resulted in a free round of drinks, but this just meant we had some time to take in our surroundings. We're talking neon, bricks, bars, wire, photos of criminals, doors marked with incoherent numbers, and boxes marked in the same way to represent convict's belongings. The menu contains everything you could wish for; wings, ribs, fried lasagne bites (yes please), burgers, fries, and steak. Unfortunately for us, they didn't have the lasagne bites, mac & cheese, or bacon wrapped maple onion rings - but we sure made up for it... Our table contained a whole butter basted poussin, bbq brisket, chorizo fried waffles, wings with both tequila lime & frank's buffalo hot sauces, padron peppers, two portions of fries, and two portions of slaw. Served up in the same aluminium trays as Yardbird, it's a down and dirty style of eating (though knives and forks are obviously provided!) Top items had to be the poussin, with a perfectly crispy skin, and the chorizo fried waffles, with little pieces of chorizo and a spicy chipotle sauce. Padron peppers, which are currently a personal obsession, provided a vegetable on the table, and the slaw was vinegar based rather than mayonnaise, meaning extra greenery that I could get involved with. Wings had a nice spice, though I've come to the conclusion I prefer the sauce based kind, rather than the breaded ones served up. Although the brisket had the perfect texture, there was a bit too much bbq sauce for my personal taste. Desserts included fried oreos, ice cream 'sliders' with brioche, and pecan pie - that's if you have enough room... A great meal with friendly service; hopefully next time we can have room for something sweet!

Not bad. Food was plentiful but not great…read more Drink selection is ok. Atmosphere is quite cool but letting kids run around in the evening was not ideal. Was being served by 3 staff who, at different times, within 2 minutes, each asked if we were enjoying our food. They tried to take our order twice so no communication within the team. What started as being quite funny quickly turned annoying as we weren't left alone to eat or talk. Prices could have been lower. When it came to paying we struggled to pay on card because of the signal underground, which ate up another 15 minutes of our night. Would not recommend and would not go again.

Motel Bar is a quirky dive bar located on Fleet Street, the backstreet of Liverpool Concert Square…read more If you're a fan of a quite drink with friends in an alternative bar with a broody personal atmosphere, this place is for you. The Motel Bar is quite difficult to find for the untrained eye as it's on a backstreet and its interior is concealed behind a plastic curtain making it easy to walk past without giving it a second glance. For those lucky to stumble across it on a whim (such as myself) will find that it is a cool place with an interesting vibe and mostly likely end up returning. Their alcohol prices are average and they have a decent selection, they also have a good deals on cocktails too with various to choose from (however cocktails are not my drink of choice so I cannot make a good observation on their taste). The only gripe I do have with this place is they do not seem median with their music volume, the music will sometimes go from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds which can interrupt a quite drink and trigger you to leave and "find somewhere quieter", although this only seems to happen at late afternoon/night time which is kind of justifiable. In conclusion I do like the Motel Bar and the atmosphere it provides as always seem to return if I am in town, I would recommend this bar to anyone seeking a quirky ulterior to usual drinking places.

Motel Bar is probably the most unassuming place in Liverpool. We visited earlier in the year and,…read moreafter a heavy lunch and walk around the shops this weekend, we were desperate to find somewhere quiet and totally chilled for a drink. Outside, there's no real signage - just a red neon light, shining the word "motel" onto Fleet Street. If you've seen the episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where they discuss removing the sign for the bar purely to get people interested, this set up might feel familiar. There's little else around it of note; to be honest, if you're a regular in this part of town, you've probably walked past it without a second thought. Perhaps you even thought it was an actual Motel (as did a few people when we were sat having our drink...) The bar is dark, completely disheveled, and totally impossible not to fall in love with. The guy behind the bar was brilliant, turning down the music to have a chat with us about the film that was playing - True Romance - and to see if we wanted anything else to drink. The art around the room, from more neon signs to scratchy illustrations, means there's always something to look at, and the music on this occasion was a great mix of acoustic sets. The menu is simple, with a wide selection of cocktails, a few bottle/draught beer options, and some cider. They do food, though this probably depends on the number of people in the bar at the time, and give you two options; build your own tacos, or a hot dog with all the trimming. Perfect soaking up alcohol food. Note that the minimum spend on card is £10. There's an upstairs area where The Anfield Wrap is sometimes filmed, and otherwise appears to be used for small gigs or private parties. I'm guessing the place totally transforms when it comes to the evening drinking scene, but can imagine it's just as laid back and friendly as it is during the day. Add it to your list.

This is one of my favourite bars in Liverpool. Set slightly below the pavement you can see the…read moreworld walk on by above you as you sip on a particularly well-made cocktail. They have a great selection and they're fairly cheap ranging from £3 to £5 for Singapore slings and I would recommend 'Hello Sailor!' as a personal favourite of mine- Sailor Jerrys, you are heavenly. I went inside in the day which and found it relatively empty. However, the food was really bloody good (Since when did Django's serve food? I here you say.); simple menu, but I could have eaten 3 of those Jerk chicken burgers...well if I wasn't so busy drinking cocktails. It's definitely a place which comes alive in the evening when it's usually rammed with the DJ playing dub-step. It's a great atmosphere and I'd say it's the bar to start a late night out.

I have two words to say about Django's: uber cool. This is the attitude that most the clientele…read morehave anyway! I'd say it appeals to those a little older, probably 23 plus, as the atmosphere is less commercial, and very chilled out. The music is up to date with live bands and DJ's on a regular basis, it's a really cool place to chill and chat with friends before you head on for the rest of your night. I suggest getting here early because it does get realllly busy as it's so popular, and you can be left waiting for ages at the bar. The decor fits the sort of people you will find in Django's - grungey. As you can expect, it's not the cleanest place... especially the toilets. This is the only downside to the bar, but it seems that the "cool as" staff don't really care! I recommend the cocktails.

Infinitely more pleasant than the Faculty next door, Slaters is still crummy enough to warrant two…read morestars. It does exactly what it sets out to do (i.e. be the dive bar to end all dive bars) but it's still the kind of place you need eighteen litres of ethanol swamping through your arteries before you can begin to enjoy it. The clientele are a mixed bunch. One half resemble the cast of Skins, the other look like Billy Elliot's dad. Infamously, the home of the 'Quad Vod', when I got one of these drinks, I found it to be half a single at best, while my mate had half a bottle of Asda Smart Price vodka in his coke. I got the feeling they'd just sloshed whatever amount of alcohol they felt like into the glass, with the inkling that nobody would bother saying anything. Shame on you, Slaters.

Slaters, the self acclaimed 'College of Knowledge', is somewhere you want to go if you want to get…read moreroaring drunk and still have change of a £20 note. Not just a karaoke bar, this has built its reputation on quad vods served in pint glasses (4 shots of vodka) with a bottle of WKD to top it up. And by heck is it popular. Not being a vodka drinker myself, I've always asked why they can't do four whiskeys instead, but apparently the name wouldn't catch on. This is a massive student pub and as a result, looks a bit grotty. Its had a relatively recent facelift on the exterior, but not a lot, if anything, has changed inside. Nobody cares though, because the music is like the stuff from your favourite radio station combined with that mix tape you made when you were younger, and the quad vods soon dim most people's senses. This place is right up there with The Raz as somewhere you have to go to if only for the experience.

On the face of it, there isn't actually much wrong with Woody's at all. It's a nicely sized bar in…read morethe heart of Liverpool's clubbing scene. Patrons step up and belt out pop hits while you watch, drink in hand. Sounds fun, right? Wrong. I'm not saying Woody's is nearly as bad as a place like Fudge, for example. However, it is the type of place that gets very old very quickly. As well as that, it's the only place where a middle-aged man has shouted at me in the toilets and then walked out laughing, as if he'd really taught me a good lesson or was some sort of comic genius. Believe me, it didn't even bother me very much and has little to do with the bar's poor star rating. Most of the clients appear to be men and women in their late forties. Don't get me wrong, it isn't the type of place you dread going or even go as an ironic joke and you could do a lot worse. But with that said, in a massive city known for it's night-life, you could (and should) be doing so much better.

Woody's is situated on Wood Street, just round the corner from Slater Street and Bold Street, in…read morethe heart of the nightlife area of the city centre. We decided to go on a pub crawl one day and couldn't miss Woody's out. As we walked in we were tortured by a 60 something year old man singing at us on the karaoke. I say singing, as that is what I think he was aiming for, but it sounded like someone was being tortured, The inside is dark, shabby and dreary, pretty much the same of the middle aged / OAP clientele here. The karaoke seems to be on all the time and never seems to get any better. We ordered a drink and my pint was as flat as a pancake. This was of benefit though as it enabled us to drink up quick and run away. I still have nightmares about that place. I agree with Anthony, for gods sake JUST SAY NO!!

There's something inherently tacky about the idea of a nineties bar. I doubt there's anyway you…read morecould make it sound like a good idea without simultaneously sounding like the kind of person who says 'OH EM GEE GURLFRIEND!' in what can only be described as 'voice capitals'. For reasons that would baffle me if I ever suspected they existed, Reminiss feels like its trying to bypass its own premise by rarely playing anything from the 1990s. In their mind, it counts as a nineties hit if the singer was alive then. I'm sure that's not how themed bars work, surely? Little more than a bare dancefloor next to an awkwardly-placed bar, Reminiss is oddly boring for such a loud place. Even drunk I couldn't bring myself to dance like an eejit so I stood at the bar, exchanging weary gazes with the equally weary barman as every fibre of me ached to leave. Despite the fact he was being paid and I was pouring money away like a cash-hose, that man knew he was worse off than me. I pity him.

Everything about this place screams "WRONG" at me. Firstly, did they intend to spell 'reminisce'…read morewrongly or are they just stupid? I'm inclined to go with the latter, as the bar doesn't seem to be very well thought out at all. Bare inside and with a bar on one wall containing staff that don't quite know what they're doing yet, it is a little dire. And this is me speaking without even freaking out that the 90s are now thought of as 'old'. Mathew Street has unfortunately become a magnet for hen parties and the like, and the girls especially seem to love this place because they can twirl the night away on what seem to be a vast, empty dancefloor. Its only redeeming feature is the music, but then I wouldn't bother going in just for that.

As avid Liverpool visitors, we actually haven't spent much time at Bier. The other half's brother…read morerecommended it a while back and has taken us twice now. It's tucked away from the main independent streets so we've always been able to get a table - even when there was around 10 of us the other day! The bar itself has a relaxed vibe with very little airs and graces. It's not quite a dive bar but a few more exposed bricks and it could probably compete. On our first visit there was an unfortunate smell of bleach but they seem to have sorted that out... I'm assured they have a good beer selection but I've always stuck to a draught cider. Make the most of the jukebox while you're there - they have plenty of classic rock, motown and northern soul to choose from!

Found Bier on a top pubs of Liverpool list while visiting. Very happy I found it…read more Young crowd and good beers - cask, draught and bottle. Has a cool local vibe without everyone turning around when I walked in. Worth mentioning that if you're looking for an old style English pub, this isnt it

The K... what can I say? If you're a regular in Liverpool city centre at the weekend, I find it…read morehard to imagine that you have never been in Krazy House, it is one of the famous venues for a night out - whether famous for good or bad, I've never quite been able to establish. The outside of the club is pretty garish with loud colours, this might set you into a false sense of security as I don't think the interior has ever seen a lick of paint. Cleanliness just doesn't exist in here, there are very rarely seats on the toilets, the place is just generally grimy and the smell is absolutely inexplicable! There are three independent floors, each with a separate genre of music and its own DJ and completely different clientele, in theory with something for everyone. Even though it seems I've given the Krazy House, the only way I can justify my 4 stars is if you go. It is basically a disgusting place of wonder where you have to go at least once in your lifetime.

Ah the Krazyhouse... Where to start? OK well lets start about 17 years ago when I first went here…read moreand it was known as Sloans. The golden years as I like to think of it. Its a lifetime ago, and you may wonder why I keep going back after all these years. Well my reasons are as follows: 1- There is no other decent rock club in Liverpool. The city centre is full of indie and dance nights, but none of these come close to a rock night. 2- The drinks are still inexpensive after all these years. The 2 for 1 offer has long stopped, but the value remains. You can still get a bottle for about £2 and a shot for £1.50, which is unusual in a city centre club. 3- The people are welcoming. The Krazyhouse generally has a good atmosphere, particularly on the 1st floor. There are no bad attitudes here. It doesn't matter if you're a teenager or middle aged, as long as you're here to have fun then people accept you. 4- There are 3 different dance floors, with different types of music. Generally the first floor has the heaviest music, the 2nd is more indie type music, and the 3rd floor is cheesy chart music. 5 - There are areas on or near each floor where you can chill out. You can get away from the dance floor and chat to friends. 6 - The entrance is cheap. It usually only goes up to about £5 late on a Saturday night. 7- There is a good presence of security milling around to ensure that if there is any trouble, it is stopped immediately. 8 - There is a cloakroom on the 3rd floor so you don't have to dance round your coat or chance shoving it behind a speaker. 9 - There is a snack bar which offers burgers, hot dogs, chips, veggie burgers, pot noodles, soft drinks and sweets. The food is cheap and cheerful and always hits the spot. 10 - The club has regular all nighters which last till 6am. This sort of night is rare unless you go to a dance night and usually you have to pay a lot of money to get into one of these nights. Even when it isn't an allnighter the club is open till 4am.

Nine of my friends booked in for The Baltic Social's Punk Afternoon Tea as a celebration of handing…read moreour dissertations in. Don't be fooled by the name as there's not a drop of tea in sight. We were seated at a table with mismatched crockery and furniture that gave off that comfy, shabby-chic feeling that makes you want to curl up with a good book. We were given little pots of salted and sweet popcorn to share as our drink orders were taken. there was one teapot between two with the choices of either a vodka, gin or rum cocktail. Viktoria and I opted for the gin cocktail that was well-balanced and tasted of berry. We were then given gigantic bowls of paprika fries to share that were so full of flavour that we had to warn our friend to not put salt on hers, it would have been way too overwhelming! Then the main event arrived, the humungous, three tiered feast. Each person got a mini burger, a mini hotdog, a mini sandwich and a couple of pretzels and onion rings each. Even though the portions of each item were small, they were incredibly satisfying and filling yet it may partially be down to stuffing our faces with the popcorn and fries beforehand. The top tier of the photo I posted shows the vegetarian option and shows approximately one portion size. Finally, we finished off with a slightly smaller cake stand filled the the brim with delicious puddings. We each got two slices of cake, one chocolate and one lemon, a lolly and a generous helping of other sweets such as Harribos, Maoams and Love Hearts. The cakes were incredible, especially the chocolate one that was slightly crunchy like a brownie. I did ponder at the start of the meal whether there would be enough food to go around but there really was, we ended up leaving some of the sweets and fries! I highly recommend trying this alternative, cooler version of an afternoon tea. It's not only visually stunning and will gives you seriously cool photos to brag to your friends about on Facebook and Instagram, but packs a punch in the taste department. These babies are in high demand so call ahead to reserve your table!

Walked out here for breakfast from the Liver Building area, as we'd seen a post about their…read morebreakfast online. We arrived late on a Saturday morning, suitably refreshed from our breezy walk and it was pretty dead. The staff were friendly and service was efficient and the food was fine (nothing special, but totally acceptable) but the place is FILTHY. Calling yourself a dive bar is all well and good but you do still need to adhere to basic hygiene laws. The table we were sat at was so sticky, I had to put a napkin down to stop my arms from adhering to the surface. The cutlery on the table wasn't the cleanest but it's the toilets that were absolutely heinous - not even just untidy but actually dirty. They didn't look like they'd been cleaned from a heavy night of usage the night before - they smelt terrible, there was debris on the floor, no mirror, no toilet paper and were generally deeply unpleasant. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is a pervading pong of chip fat throughout which lingers on your clothing - major turn-off. I'm really glad I went in there after I ate or I'd have left immediately. I really wanted to like this place (love the idea of their punk afternoon teas and their fake wedding discos) but they need to familarise themselves with some Domestos pronto. For the cleanliness alone, I would not recommend anyone to visit there (unless you're from the local council, do pop in and see for yourself!). If they sort that out, I'd be back in a heartbeat.