The Grapes

Traditional pub decorated in Beatles memorabilia. This was one of the pubs the Beatles would drink at during their Liverpool years. They had a decent selection of cask ales, at typical city centre prices. The pub can be busy even during the afternoon with a mix of both locals and Beatles tourists.

Aparentemente os Beatles andaram por aqui em alguma época. Pois é, se você estiver em Liverpool nem adianta tentar fugir. Acredite. Eu tentei! Mas, para ser honesta, eu nem sabia disso até ler alguma das reviews aqui.
Foi recomendação do rapaz do hostel, quando pedi por alguma coisa com jazz. De fato, a banda que tocava no local era muito boa, fazendo valer o lugar apertado de tanta gente. Gostaria de dizer que eu tenho muito mais o que falar sobre o local, mas acredito que não sejam muitas as características marcantes daqui além das apresentações ao vivo. Não é que as bebidas ou serviço fossem ruins — pelo contrário! — mas é possível encontrar pontos ainda mais interessantes na cidade se procurar bem. :)

After a morning of touring Liverpool on our «Here, There, Everywhere» tour we were dropped off on Mathew Street. Being that it was lunch time we were looking for something to eat and decided to stop at The Grapes. Our teenage boys liked all the memorabilia in the pub and the staff was very friendly. However, we were in the mood for some good pub food and were sorely disappointed. If you want microwaved fish sticks and still frozen green peas this is your place! Come on, really? They were offering a great lunch deal but it still wasn’t worth the price. The beer was good though!

Not the worst of a bad lot in Liverpool centre. At one time I used to recommend this city. Now sadly it is worse than a sewer (a sewer knows it’s a sewer). karaōke & shopping channel TV/​Sky is standard bread & dripping at peak time w/​e. Generic pubs for generic people. Dull boys & girls that look like their faces are tattooed (scarey stuff!). It really is like a bad dream!

This is a very friendly pub, good value drinks, and a great atmosphere. I am a Londoner and it reminds me of pubs we had in days gone by in the East End. There was a faubulous girl singer on, both nights I was there although I couldn’t catch her name. She really wasn’t into self promotion, which makes a change, just giving the punters a really good time. She sings soul and R&B and I gather shes there every other Friday and Sunday so call to check. She got a lovely warm spirit and a bloody great voice.
I feel like I want to get all my friends together and take them to this lovely pub. I have never been to Dblin, but I imagine its similar atmosphere (without the hugely expensive drinks)
I for one am going back!!!

I was in here yesterday on a trip to Liverpool — I love all the old Liverpool boozers, Grapes, Vines, Crown, Poste House, Lisbon, Philharmonic, Central Hotel –The Grapes is a treasure. Thank God it’s never been redeveloped or «improved». Keep it like it is, along with your other lovely Liverpool pubs. Down here in Nottingham they have ripped SO many good pubs down, or they are now Starbucks, Curry Houses, furniture shops even.
KEEP LIVERPOOL PUBS FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN I say lol!
Thank you Liverpool — I love ya!

I’ve read the reviews, and yes, I was a tourist, so I did enjoy my visit to The Grapes. In fact, I went there several times during my vacation there this summer.
The place is packed even on the Monday and Tuesday nights when I was there. Plenty of locals depsite what previous reviewers have called «a tourist» trap. In fact, I seemed to be the only tourist there.
The bar hosts are friendly, happy people, and the patrons are ready and willing to tell you their life stories – especially if you meander into the smoking section out back. For women, it’s the type of place where your best friend is the woman you met in the bathroom 5 minutes ago. For men, it’s a place where you can relax and drink 3 or 16 pints (as «Tony», a local I had a chat with,) does five nights a week.
Of all the bars on Mathew Street, I thought this one was the best.

Since the Cavern in its heyday didn’t sell alcohol, anybody wishing to get drunk would have to settle for a more traditional pub. Since the only one on Mathew Street at the time was the Grapes, mere doors away, it would be here that benefited most richly. The claim to Beatles fame is therefore more genuine here than some other places, they visited between gigs, but that doesn’t entirely vindicate it from tackiness.
I last visited this pub on a Saturday afternoon, when there was little danger of karaōke erupting from nowhere and the seats were likely to be empty. The awkwardly-​shaped bar can mean it takes a while to get served but soon I was sitting with a pint of stout, blessing the gods for letting me have a table to myself. This lasted precisely eighteen seconds before five rowdy Dutchmen came and surrounded me. Conversation with them went swimmingly until I accidentally called them German. I also brought up their recent World Cup Final defeat. I shouldn’t be allowed near Europeans.

The Grapes could be quite a nice pub, it is a shame that like the rest of Matthew Street they have become a shrine to the Beatles memory, desperately trying to sell themselves to the tourists that flock to Matthew Street in search of the Beatles. Although I am a fan of the Beatles, the Grapes attempt to ‘preserve’ there memory has become an almost Disneyland experience.
By all means head to the grapes if your a Beatles fan and want to photograph one of the many pubs were the Beatles supposedly sat, I however would rather head to somewhere more genuine.

This is another pub included in my karaōke tour — you can guarantee it will always be lively and busy here, although people seem to come in waves so you do get the odd quiet spell. Despite this, it is still murder getting served at the bar, especially since a) the barmaid was «just not in the f-​ing mood» and b) the bloke next to me kept starting up conversation so I was always looking the wrong way. Hence it took me 20 minutes to get two drinks.
On a Sunday afternoon you will recognise familiar faces on the karaōke trail, from Coopers to The Ropewalks and down to The Grapes — we all go to the same pubs. However, at The Grapes you may have a bit of difficulty getting centre stage as the microphone is fiercely guarded by local celebrity Pete Price, and he has such a good set of lungs on him that the regulars seem a bit hesitant to get up for a wail. Yes, he is entertaining, but last time I was there they may have well called it the three hour Pete Price show. After which another singer got up and did her own set until 9pm, meaning anyone who’d come down especially to do karaōke ended up giving up and going elsewhere. Still, groups of middle aged women posed with Pete to get their photos taken, so it was wasn’t a dead loss.
This is the type of pub you call into en route to somewhere else, I’ve never managed to stay longer than an hour here. Nice enough, but slow on the bar, a little bit shabby, and an atmosphere mainly created by the karaōke.

According to legend, The Grapes is the pub The Beatles used to go to relax and drink a couple of pints between sets at the nearby Cavern Club. There’s memorabilia of the band dotted around including a photo strategically placed above the spot they used to sit.
Whilst it remains s a cheap and cheerful pub run by friendly staff, the only people likely to frequent The Grapes these days are nostalgic locals and tourists. Both the décor and layout have changed since the Merseybeat days and the whole place could do with a bit of TLC and elbow grease. If you’re drinking spirits, there’s vodka, whisky and so on but the beer section is disappointing compared to other pubs in the city.
Ironically, the worst thing about The Grapes these days is the entertainment. It might have housed the hippest Liverpool band back in the day but it now runs deafening karoake sessions early evenings followed by average singer-​songwriters and bands.

This little pub has little space but loads of spirit. I went there initially as Beatles fan, and still go there as one, but I also love the people there; all so down to earth, welcoming and friendly. It’s a real community pub despite it being in the city centre and full of tourists.
Sam Leach, the Beatles’ original promoter, is often in there, as is Alan Williams, and they have so many wonderful stories to share it’s worth going in ther just to see these people, and Eddie Porter of course.
You can buy food until 6:30pm and it’s at good prices and really tasty and filling; you can buy anythin from a sandwich to a lasagne.
They also are very fair in the prices they charge for drinks, and they have an impressive selection for somewhere so small.
The bar staff are really friendly and genuinely nice people too. It gets very full in the evenings though and during the annual Beatles Week festival, and they do have a dress code after certain hours; eg no jeans and trainers, but if you get in there before this time wearing these items, you won’t be kicked out if you’re not causing any trouble.
My favourite pub in Liverpool.

Situated opposite the world famous cavern club. It is the original pub on Matthew street. The walls are full of memories of time gone by.(including a picture of the beatles in there aswell!!)
The staff are the friendliest and the food is amazing!
It has a really good feel to it. Always busy from passing tourists. Also a good crowd of locals.
I would recommend this place to everyone. From young to old there is something for everyone.