The Pen Factory – Liverpool

Hope Street’s Cultural Living Room

The Pen Factory sits on Hope Street in a building that was, as the name suggests, once a factory making pens for the Parker Pen Company. The conversion into a bar and cultural space has been executed with the kind of intelligence the location demands – Hope Street is flanked by the Metropolitan Cathedral at one end and the Anglican Cathedral at the other, and runs past the Philharmonic Hall, the Everyman Theatre, and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. The neighbourhood sets high expectations, and the Pen Factory meets them.

The Beer

The beer list at the Pen Factory is one of the best curated in Liverpool. The rotating tap selection draws from British independent breweries with a genuine understanding of styles – the dark beer rotation is particularly strong, featuring stouts and porters from producers who take the category seriously. The bottled selection extends the choice considerably for anyone willing to take time over it.

The Food

The kitchen does the kind of food that earns the term “bar food” in the original sense: well-executed, not overreaching, designed to be eaten alongside a drink in a relaxed setting. The cheese boards are the highlight – genuine care in the selection, proper accompaniments, and the kind of approach to sourcing that reflects the building’s cultural context.

Events and Culture

The Pen Factory hosts a regular programme of events that reflects its Hope Street location – readings, live music, art exhibitions, conversation events, and the kind of cross-disciplinary gatherings that happen when a bar takes seriously the responsibility of its neighbourhood. The events calendar is worth checking; several of Liverpool’s most interesting cultural conversations have started in this room. Hope Street, L1.