Paul Roach now describes himself as ‘the happiest I’ve ever been’
11:15, 14 Jun 2025Updated 11:15, 14 Jun 2025
Paul Roach, who owns Paul’s Bar on St John’s Road, Waterloo, with his son Liam, who runs the bar(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Paul Roach describes himself as “the happiest I’ve ever been”. It’s 4pm on a warm, sunny Friday afternoon and he’s sat in his bar – Paul’s Bar in Waterloo – with a glass of his favourite beer in his hand.
It sounds like la dulce vida, but life wasn’t always this simple for the dad, who’s originally from West Derby. In a previous chapter, the 54-year-old was an RAF serviceman before becoming an electrician, eventually becoming stuck in a job he “hated”. It would take a trip to Spain before his fortunes changed.
Speaking to the ECHO, Paul explained: “I was working as a spark, looking after some student properties, but I hated it. I went on holiday and, coming back, I said, ‘I can’t do this job anymore’.”
Paul wanted to open a bar with the same “living room atmosphere” seen in taverns across Spain, where he’d just visited. He continued: “I’d been in Madrid and knew that was the vibe I wanted: people playing cards with a glass of wine, no televisions and a more mature drinking culture where you’re not just drinking to get smashed.”
When he returned to Liverpool, Paul quit his job and opened up Spanish-style bars in the Baltic Triangle and then Southport. Then, two and a half years ago, he sold his Southport bar and established Paul’s Bar on St John’s Road, Waterloo. He said: “We sold the business there and this room popped up on Rightmove.”
St John’s Road is a street known for its independent shops and businesses, but known less so for bars and pubs – unlike Waterloo’s other high street, South Road, which has over a dozen. According to Paul, some locals were originally apprehensive about the prospect of a new drinking venue opening on St John’s Road, but he “won them over”. He said: “I got a bit of a kickback and there were a few eyebrows.
“I think what they thought we were going to do was similar to South Road, but that’s not us. We’re not a loud bar and we’re not a late bar. We’re open until 10pm because the neighbours don’t want to hear us slamming doors at 11pm. Also, if you’re open dead late, and people are getting really loud, the atmosphere gets stale.
Paul and Liam Roach(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“We won the locals over very quickly and they now drink here. I’ve got one pair of customers who, every time they come in, tell me, ‘You were so brave’. But I wasn’t, I was naïve because I didn’t know the area.”
Paul added: “It’s been absolutely brilliant. I’ve just made so many friends.”
Keeping with its Spanish influence, Paul’s Bar serves a selection of Iberian-inspired snacks, as well as an impressive array of wines and beer, Alhambra being their best-seller. Paul said: “My passion is wine. I love wine and have done so for many years. So does my partner Julia. Her dad, being half Spanish, swore by a glass of wine a day and a black coffee a day.
“We try to have beers not everyone else has got, but quality is number one. We’ve had Alhambra lager since day one. It’s almost 60% of our sales and I will never change it. It is the best. Customers come in purely because we sell Alhambra.
“We’ve got a local option with Love Lane.”
Paul runs the bar with his partner Julia and his son Liam, who’s in there most days serving customers. Paul said: “This is the fourth bar I’ve had and this is, by lightyears, the happiest I’ve ever been.”