Andy Burnham, Tony Hibbert, Mick Lynch and Nasher from Frankie Goes to Hollywood walk into a bar. So you know you’re in the Denbigh Castle, the best pub in Liverpool. Its bay windows throw light on Hackins Hey, an old alley that survived the Luftwaffe and sits a short walk from the Mersey.
In the choice every serious Liverpool pub must make, the Denbigh sides with Everton, the people’s team. That’s what draws local celebrities like Burnham here on match days en route to the ground. But it has an ecumenical attitude – some of the staff and regulars are Kopites.
The Denbigh is a good example of the 21st-century pub revival movement. Opened by a local couple in 2020, it bears the name of a previous pub on this site that closed in the late 1970s. In between the place was a rough-ish bar called Jupiters that had a pool table with no felt on it. Locals are glad of the upgrade.
From the bar
On tap is a changing roster of German beers, more interesting than the lagers you will find elsewhere. Through the main bar and the snug, decorated with Everton paraphernalia and other curios, you will hear the gentle thrum of a playlist curated by the staff, the antithesis of the canned radio slop in gastropubs.
From the kitchen
This is Liverpool, so you should come here to drink, not eat. But if you are feeling peckish beyond peanuts and crisps, Castro the tinerfeño, who runs the café next door, will deliver hot Spanish food to your table. Why would anyone leave?
[Further reading: Beer and Sandwiches: At the Wreckers Retreat in Devon]
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This article appears in the 28 Jan 2026 issue of the New Statesman, How we escape Trump
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