{"id":456047,"date":"2025-09-27T19:11:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T19:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/456047\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T19:11:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T19:11:23","slug":"the-best-restaurants-in-liverpool-according-to-echo-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/456047\/","title":{"rendered":"The best restaurants in Liverpool, according to ECHO readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a few surprises in the mix\"ChefsECHO readers have revealed their favourite restaurant in the city<\/p>\n

Liverpool is ever-growing as a food destination<\/a> with more and more restaurants opening every year, each with a different concept to the next. The mix of newer establishments and older, long-lasting venues has created options galore and, in turn, debate about which is the very best restaurant in the city.<\/p>\n

For a while now, the ECHO<\/a> has been asking its readers to select their favourite restaurant in Liverpool, in a poll. Over 1,200 people entered their choice, giving us a good idea of where the city stands.<\/p>\n

We’ve compiled the top 10 restaurants<\/a>, according to readers. Some were expected while others – especially first place – were surprising.<\/p>\n

Here’s the list:<\/p>\n

10. Bacaro (16 votes)\"BacaroSalt House Bacaro Restaurant on Castle Street(Image: Sunday Echo)<\/p>\n

Castle Street restaurant Bacaro<\/a> is a city centre favourite with many foodies, and is often fully booked on evenings and weekends. The owners opened their first venture Salt House Tapas in July 2010, which specialises in Spanish small plates.<\/p>\n

Following its success the team launched Hanover Street Social in August 2011, which was designed with a more modern brasserie style menu. In 2014, they opened Bacaro producing Venetian small plates and the restaurant has been incredibly popular ever since.<\/p>\n

9. Manifest (16 votes)\"Manifest,Manifest, Liverpool(Image: Publicity Picture)<\/p>\n

Manifest<\/a>, a fine dining venue in the Baltic Triangle, has received a number of awards since opening – including being named among SquareMeal\u2019s UK Top 100 restaurants list<\/a>. The restaurant was opened by chef patron Paul Durand and his wife and business partner, Charlotte Jones, in 2022.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Financial Times food critic Jay Rayner was seriously impressed by Manifest, writing: “The cooking is completely focused and eating here is fun.”<\/p>\n

8. Mowgli (19 votes)\"MowgliMowgli on Water Street, Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Founded in Liverpool in 2014<\/a> by barrister-turned-restaurateur Nisha Katona MBE, Mowgl<\/a>i has grown into a national institution with 27 restaurants. It has locations on Bold Street and Water Street in the city centre.<\/p>\n

Serving authentic Indian street food, its signature dishes include Gunpowder Chicken, Angry Bird and Tamarind Treacle Fries and house curries such as Mother Butter Chicken and Temple Dahl. Mowgli recently started home deliveries.<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Bon Pan Asian (19 votes)\"PeoplePeople queuing for Bon(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Two-storey buffet restaurant, Bon Pan Asian<\/a>, serves more than 150 dishes from all across the Asian continent. The Clayton Square venue is no stranger to queues out the door.<\/p>\n

6. Elif (28 votes)Elif Turkish BBQ <\/p>\n

Elif Turkish BBQ Restaurant has sites in Childwall<\/a>, on Lark Lane and on Bold Street<\/a> in Liverpool city centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The restaurant’s menu is extensive – there’s a wide variety of hot and cold mezzes and starters, which includes authentic dishes like biber kozleme, which is char-grilled peppers topped with feta cheese, olive oil and garlic; and piyaz, a butter bean salad with boiled egg, olives, tomatoes and onions with an olive oil dressing.<\/p>\n

Mains include kebabs, guvec, Turkish moussaka, sea bass, an enormous mixed grill, and plenty of other options. There’s also a decent vegetarian selection.<\/p>\n

Many locals are quick to name Elif when recommending restaurants in the city.<\/p>\n

5. Cowshed (30 votes)\"CowShedCowShed on Seel Street<\/p>\n

Cowshed<\/a> on Seel Street<\/a> is famed for its prime cuts and five-star reviews, with customers declaring it as one of the best spots in the city.<\/p>\n

The venue has received hundreds of five-star reviews online and was honoured with Tripadvisor’s Traveller’s Choice Award in 2024<\/a> which is issued to venues that consistently earn great reviews.<\/p>\n

Last year, Cowshed <\/a>was nominated in the Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants. The guide considers nominations from thousands of diners across the UK before inspecting them themselves to see which venues are worthy of the accolade.<\/p>\n

4. Casa Italia (47 votes)\"CasaCasa Italia on Stanley Street(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Casa Italia<\/a> on Stanley Street is a Liverpool institution, with diners often seen queuing down the street<\/a> for a table at peak times.<\/p>\n

The restaurant has been providing the city with Italian food since 1976 and has been operated by the same family ever since.<\/p>\n

The restaurant’s menu is filled with comforting favourites like oven-baked pasta, fresh pizzas, and savoury starters, including its signature focaccia bread. Guests can pair any of these dishes with a selection of affordable Italian wines.<\/p>\n

3. McDonald’s (49 votes)\"AA McDonald’s logo is shown at a restaurant (Image: AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)<\/p>\n

Yes, it would seem low-quality fast-food is as popular as ever in Liverpool, as McDonald’s<\/a> takes third place.<\/p>\n

There are 44,000 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide – a testament to its demand.<\/p>\n

2. The Art School (57 votes)\"PaulPaul Askew with his staff at the Art School(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Liverpool chef Paul Askew built the Art School<\/a> from the ground up following an esteemed culinary career. Opening the Sugnall Street restaurant in 2014, he wanted a venue where white linen gastronomy met great food and great wine.<\/p>\n

Over a decade later, it features in the Michelin Guide, has won numerous awards<\/a> and is synonymous with fine dining in the city.<\/p>\n

1. Ikkayees (148 votes)\"OwnersOwners and staff members at Ikkayees on South Hunter Street in Liverpool<\/p>\n

“Ikkayees<\/a>? Never heard of it.” Well, the South Hunter Street Indian restaurant has won the Liverpool ECHO’s “best restaurant” poll, so someone must’ve.<\/p>\n

The story of Ikkayees is not your run-of-the-mill entrepreneurial tale. The Liverpool culinary brand was born on the streets of Calicut, India, in 2014 thanks to founder Fulaij Nelliyot.<\/p>\n

Since then, it has blossomed into an international restaurant family<\/a> with several sites dotted around the city and another coming soon.<\/p>\n

Ikkayees currently employs over 250 people in eight branches across India, Kuwait, and the United Kingdom. It is also behind County Road\u2019s Indo Curry and Tuebrook\u2019s Wraps and Shakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There’s a few surprises in the mixECHO readers have revealed their favourite restaurant in the city Liverpool is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,786,4884,179,8899,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-456047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-food-and-drink","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-restaurants","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115277849587967516","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}