The Hot 20: the most popular Liverpool restaurants

The manifesto at industrial-chic restaurant and wine bar Manifest is ‘seasonal plates and famous Liverpool hospitality’, with the Modern British menus regularly changing to reflect both local produce availability and the wines that will be matched to the food.

Nord is a real asset to Liverpool’s dining scene. Housed in a bit of an unlovely 1960s office block – the former HQ of Littlewoods – the building has had some serious TLC. Now the subtle décor has shades of Mad Men rather than The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin with pendant lights, earthy tones and a statement orange bar.

Liverpool’s award-winning, fine-dining restaurant The Art School brings together inventive Modern British cooking and an impressive historic setting.

Seel & Slater occupies the former Wreckfish site but it has a confident style all of its own. It’s a prominent address that needs a serious contender to live up to its location. Seel & Slater more than delivers with luxurious Italian-American pasta dishes and Upper East Side grill classics.

Hawksmoor Liverpool opened in the beautiful Grade II-listed India Buildings, to much excitement in late 2022.

Barnacle is a Modern British bistro from Paul and Harry Askew. It may be one step down from The Art School’s fine dining but it offers hearty, honest and accessible cooking with big flavours. Local produce is celebrated on a menu that showcases the best of the land and sea.

The name says it all: La Famiglia Bar & Restaurant is a family-run outfit serving fresh, traditional Italian cuisine rethought, using the finest ingredients. It’s also The Best Restaurant in the North West according to the 2024 Italian Awards.

Voyagers in The Halyard Liverpool is in the league of hotel restaurants that become a destination in their own right. A sophisticated and well-travelled menu of small plates combined with inviting modern design make it a standout addition to the Ropewalks. Expect an individual take on cool, casual dining.

Blackstock Market is a huge all-in-one food, bar and entertainment destination. It’s absolutely massive and incorporates Liverpool’s largest food hall as well as being the new home of the Hot Water Comedy Club (now the world’s largest regular comedy club space). Big laughs indeed.

The Seaforth restaurant sits in the grand central atrium of the Municipal Hotel on Dale Street. Once the headquarters for Liverpool City Council, the hotel itself is a slice of old world glamour, and Seaforth’s décor and menu of understated excellence plays its part in this.

With impressive reviews in the local and national press, Belzan is a Smithdown Road destination. Its whitewashed walls and plain interior belie the skill and complexity on the menu. Think wines and small plates but done better than most other places.

Following in the footsteps of other successful models in the region, with communal dining tables and a mezzanine served by a choice of resident kitchens, this 100-year-old warehouse-turned-foodhall is one of the Ropewalks newcomers breathing life back into Duke Street.

With simple, regularly changing menus to showcase the best seasonal ingredients available at market, you can expect carefully prepared plates of stylish food at this equally chic wine bar and bistro tucked away on a ‘secret’ jigger just off bustling Castle Street. 

When chef and co-owner Andrew Sheridan (who you might recognise from Great British Menu) uprooted Restaurant 8 from Birmingham and returned to the city of his birth, it was a tough blow for the Brummies. The restaurant had built up a mighty reputation in the city, being awarded three AA Rosettes. But it was excellent news for Liverpool.

Like the backstreet Venetian tapas places which inspired this central Liverpool bar and restaurant, there is something about Salt House Bacaro that makes you never want to leave.

Just a chopstick’s throw from Liverpool’s Chinese Arch, the original Chamber 36 serves specialities from across East Asia including a strong selection of traditional Chinese dim sum.

Spice Thai’s smart restaurant on Castle Street (as well as a spot at Baltic Market and a newer opening on Bold Street) is a local success story, a sign of the love Liverpool has for this authentic South East Asian business. Orders are prepared by trained chefs following traditional recipes and using fresh ingredients and exotic herbs and vegetables sent directly from Thailand.

One of the buzziest spots in the Georgian Quarter, Frederiks models itself on the neighbourhood bars of Brooklyn. Think casual eats, coffee and lounging, with live music and quality cocktails as the day turns into night.

Squished on the cusp of the Knowledge Quarter and the Georgian Quarter and resident in the old Flying Picket since 2015, Buyers Club is a neighbourhood bar and kitchen-restaurant, complete with gallery, garden with coffee and spritz kiosk, and even an intimate music venue.

Le Viet Social is an independent Vietnamese restaurant serving up dishes that stay true to its roots. Think vibrant street food, wholesome bone broth pho, and casual favourites like banh mi or loaded fries.