On Saturday morning I took a walk down Regent Road and past Everton’s impressive new stadium. There will be more on that on the blog later but for now let’s answer one pressing question; where will I be able to get a pint before and after the match?
The answer is simple. Take your pick. All along Regent Road between Bramley Moore and the city centre, which is a casual 25-minute walk away to the top of Old Hall Street, there is going to be something for everybody as development work continues on the area surrounding the stadium.
Of course the Bramley Moore fan plaza can hold up to 9,000 people and will feature bars, food kiosks and pre-match entertainment. The stadium itself will have state-of-the-art bars and self-serve outlets inside too. However, if you want that true match day experience you will want a proper pub. So let’s take a walk down Regent Road to see what is being developed for match-going fans.
68 Regent Road – The Bluehouse (1)
Hot Wok is a Goodison Park staple take away and it’s now moving across to Bramley Moore. Don’t worry, there is still going to be a Hot Wok in the vast building at 68 Regent Road. It will also have two rooms with Bierkeller-style seats with hotel rooms upstairs. The bar will be named The Bluehouse.
It will be one of the biggest venues in the area and is likely to be packed on match days. The most Northerly of the bars on Regent Road, it is located directly opposite the Grade II listed dock wall near the northern entrance.
Note the old ‘ghost sign’ for David Rollo, an engineer who used the building for The Sandhills Works from 1891. It was a forge and iron and brass foundry, for making of forgings under the drop-hammer, most of which was done to meet Admiralty requirements. Later a tyre repair centre, it will not be one of the first new bars to open in time for the stadium’s first game.
The owners have been providing a few updates with views of the stadium front and centre, and promise they will roll the shutters up to have an open front on warmer days.
Next door at 69 Regent Road a two-story bar with a roof terrace, named The Terrace bar, will mean the small row of buildings will be a real hub for bars at the new stadium. Work has started on the Terrace bar and latest images show a stunning rooftop view of Bramley Moore.
On the other side of The Bluehouse in 66 Regent Road a new bar called St Domingo’s bar has applied for permission to open. A three-storey bar, it will have brick walls and the original cast metal pillars. It will be open until midnight on match days.
64 Regent Road (2)
Just two doors down from the Bluehouse sits 64 Regent Road, a 2,700 sq ft derelict building that is currently under offer from a prospective tennant. Priced at around £50,000 a year in rent, a savvy bar owner will easily cover that cost given the building’s proximity to the stadium.
It did house a workshop downstairs, with self-contained rooms featuring original fire places and features on the three upper floors. The prospective tennant will need to secure planning permission and a license if it is to become a bar but it would be a likely option.
It could also be a hotel or takeaway – both would prove to be popular with match day fans.
The Bramley Moore (3)
A short walk down to the southern end of the stadium will lead you past Terrys Timber and to the Bramley Moore pub. A traditional dock road boozer, it will soon become the most recognisable pub for Everton fans thanks to a shared name with the dock where the stadium now sits.
Relatively small, it will have that busy match day atmosphere you can find near to Goodison Park. It has an upstairs bar with views of the stadium and a small space for roadside seating. The owners have been involved in the Everton community for years, hosting podcasts and sponsored events to support various fan groups.
The Bramley Moore is set to be THE Everton pub at the new stadium. It will be a must visit for all visiting fans.
The Titanic and Tobacco Warehouse (4)
A short walk up Regent Road and past Regency House (a prime spot and one owned by a property management company, who surely must be considering letting to leisure use tennants) and the fancy Everton ‘coming soon’ sign for Bramley Moore, you will find some more established venues.
The beautiful Titanic Hotel is next up and while it does have a bar, it does not feel like it will be more than a place for fans to stay overnight before and after the game.
Walk across the stunning Grade II-listed Bascule Bridge, built in 1932 and one of only a handful of its kind in the UK. It’s a film star, appearing in Captain America and Sherlock Holmes, and was given a spruce up by Peel Ports with some fancy lights a few years ago.
The other side features the absolutely massive Tobacco Warehouse development, which is 100,000 sq ft of luxury apartments and an Albert Dock style ground floor with shops, bars and restaurants. The apartments will cost from £250,000 to over £600,000 so expect some high quality bars when the development is complete.
Before you reach the next stop you will pass a nondescript building that looks a little like a bar front. This is O’Toole’s B&B, which is likely to see plenty of use on match weekends. The bottom floor used to be a bar lounge, giving the owners the option of opening it once more for fans.
Murphy’s Distillery
Amazingly, you are still just five minutes away from Bramley Moore Stadium and at 8 Regent Road you can pop in to Murphy’s Distillery. It’s a nice space with its own gin and rum to try, as well as a courtyard area if the weather is nice.
It opens on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays and will be perfect for match day. Keep an eye out for the impressive stills, which are named William and Bridget after the owner’s Wexford ancestors who arrived in Liverpool over 100 years ago.
10 Streets Social (5)
Next door to Murphy’s Distillery is 10 Streets Social. This is a huge bar and event space that was set up to be the heart of a major regeneration in the area. It features a huge screen for football screenings, an industrial ‘super club’ space capable of holding 1,500 and breakouts spaces where it holds events covering everything from yoga to serving Sunday roasts.
You can expect it to open its doors to Evertonians before and after games and the big screen means fans can watch other games on the same day.
It is the last venue before you begin to enter the ‘city’ end of Regent Road, which becomes Waterloo Road and leads towards Costco and Home Bargain on the outskirts of the city centre.
There are potential new bars in between. You will see the vast, warehouse-like back of the Invisible Wind Factory next to 10 Streets Social. An art and event venue, it is not a publically open bar but does hold gigs at weekends. Next to that lies a unique warehouse with notable corridors stretching across the street. This derelict warehouse was due to be demolished a few years ago but it was blocked on heritage grounds, meaning it is ripe for new development to retain its industrial features.
The final stop for Evertonians before reaching the city centre would be the Riverside Diner, itself nestled between a derelict building and Vulcan Studios, a recording studio for local music acts. The tiny diner is set to get a whole stadium-load of new customers when the new season comes around.
There are more bars. Another five minutes and you will find yourself at the top of Old Hall Street, where The Cross Keys, the Denbigh, The Railway and Shenanigans are among the business district bars that will be a thirst-quenching stop off if you are arriving by train and want to walk from the city centre to the ground.
There are more options on Derby Road, parallel to Regent Road, with new openings set to add more options for fans arriving from Sandhills Station (just five minutes from the ground itself).
The sheer speed and scale of developments within 10 minutes of the stadium mean Everton fans will be able to find a pub, a bar or a cafe to suit every taste when the dock gates finally open next year.