Ye Cracke – Liverpool

Ye Cracke is where the Beatles used to drink. Not because it’s been marketed as that, but because it just was – proper pub, decent beer, price you could afford in the 1960s. It still is basically the same pub, which is the point.

The room is basic and that’s fine. Wood panelling, small bar, low ceilings, tables that have probably seen generations of conversations. It’s not been renovated to death; it’s been maintained as a working pub. There’s a difference and this is the latter.

The beer selection is proper cask ales and real beers. Guinness is poured right. Lagers if you want them. The bar staff know what they’re serving and can talk about it without being annoying about it. It’s a proper ale pub, which is increasingly rare.

Food is optional and basic – pies, cheese toasties, snacks. It’s not the point of coming here; the point is being in a proper pub with decent beer. If you’re hungry there’s stuff, but this isn’t a gastropub trying to be posh. It’s a pub.

Pricing is fair. Beer is reasonably priced – cask ales maybe £4-£5 a pint. Pints are proper pints, not the half-measures some places do now. Food if you get it is cheap – pies maybe £5-£8.

The atmosphere is properly local. Mix of old regulars who’ve been coming for decades and visitors who know the history. It works because the pub doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is – a good local with real ale and a fair bit of history.

Quiet during weekday afternoons, gets busier evenings and weekends. The room isn’t designed for massive groups; it’s intimate. You’re kind of close to other people but it works because that’s the pub format.

No booking. It’s a proper pub – you come in and find a space or stand at the bar. Peak times mean you might wait a bit, but it’s worth it.