The pub closed for a revamp earlier this yearDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
17:01, 08 Jul 2025
The Excelsior pub on Dale Street, Liverpool, has reopened(Image: The Excelsior)
A Liverpool city centre pub has reopened after an extensive renovation. The Excelsior on Dale Street closed in June for work to begin to revamp the establishment, which was named after a sailing ship and is adjacent to what were Higsons 1962 Brewery offices.
That work has now been completed, giving the pub a fresh look with a green paint job. Its traditional wooden bar and classic pub aesthetic remains, with new touches, pictures and furniture. It opened on Friday for a soft launch and has now returned to its normal trading hours.
On X (formerly Twitter), the pub’s account said yesterday (July 7): “Thanks to everyone who came in to have a mooch at the new look Sexy Exy over the weekend!
“We are now back to our usual opening hours and look forward to seeing more of you all over the coming weeks! Up The Exy.”
Reaction to the refurbishment has been positive. Replying to the post Dave Tomo said: “Well done all. Best ale house in town is looking great.” Terry Carroll added: “Had a few in there Saturday, very smart.”
In December, the ECHO spoke to The Excelsior’s manager Rachael O’Donnell as part of our pub profile series. Asked about working at the pub, she said: “It’s loads of fun, I really enjoy it. It’s like my social life as well – I love it.
“We’ve definitely picked up, Christmas time is when we go really, really busy all the time and through the week. We love our fireplace as well – that’s a big talking point in here in the winter.
The Excelsior pub in Liverpool city centre(Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool Echo)
“It’s a great sport for Christmas, we have Christmas parties booked out, you can hire the back room for free. We have all sorts of parties.
“We’re also a massive Everton pub, so Everton games go absolutely massive in here. We’re busiest at weekends – Everton games are our biggest days. Christmas time is busy and at weekends we get really, really busy quickly.”
The Excelsior has become a go-to spot in the city centre for Toffees – along with The Denbigh Castle on Hackins Hey and the newer arrival of The Lock Up on North John Street.
About her pub’s football connections, Rachael said: “We’re a family of Blues. Matchdays are great, you can’t move in here on matchdays.”
“People think this end of town is more of a midweek thing, but it’s definitely not. We get a lot of the students in at the weekends now, because they just live up the road.
“We get a lot of them in the night-time before they are going out. We’ve got a really good regular base as well, even though it’s a city centre pub, we’ve got a lot of regulars and it just seems like word is spreading everywhere.”
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