The Grapes Matthew Street – Liverpool

Matthew Street’s Oldest Pub

The Grapes on Matthew Street is the pub The Beatles used in the early 1960s before and after their Cavern Club performances – they would drink here between sets when the Cavern was busy and they needed somewhere quieter than the dressing room. The connection is genuine rather than retrofitted; The Grapes was already a Matthew Street institution before Brian Epstein discovered anyone. It remains one of the most authentic music heritage pubs in Liverpool, which is notable given what the rest of the street has become.

The Pub Itself

Small, Victorian, properly preserved in the ways that matter. The Grapes hasn’t been renovated beyond recognition in the way that most Matthew Street venues have been. The bar is narrow, the seating is limited, and the whole operation has the feeling of a pub that knows exactly what it is and has no interest in being anything else. It gets very busy at the weekend when the tourist circuit is in full flow, but the regulars who drink here on a weekday have a version of the pub that is worth experiencing separately.

The Atmosphere

Matthew Street is, on a Friday or Saturday night, one of the most intense pieces of Liverpool nightlife geography – stag parties, tourist groups, and the Cavern Quarter operation at full volume. The Grapes provides a counter-programme: a room that remembers what the street was before the neon and the karaoke bars, and serves a pint in that spirit. The memorabilia on the walls is genuine; the atmosphere is earned rather than created. Matthew Street, L2.