“Excellent beer...excellent atmosphere”
Reviewed 21 January 2014
Went here in our Villa shirts after the game with Liverpool. Everybody welcoming and happy to talk about the game. Shared a table with a group of people in their Liverpool shirts and we had a superb evening, making new friends.
The atmosphere was great, it's a busy pub. An excellent range of beer, several from Osset Brewery in Huddersfield, with outstanding White Rat top amongst them, closely followed by Buntingford Brewery's Polar Star.
The landlord kept everything ticking along, and was out collecting glasses himself regularly. That's a good way to get a feel for the customers. He also advised us on the best taxi firm to use.
A really enjoyable night, in a way all the better, because we came on the pub by accident.
“Possibly Liverpool's best pub”
Reviewed 10 January 2014
The Dispensary vies with the Ship & Mitre and Ye Cracke as the best pub in Liverpool in my opinion. It has a traditional atmosphere and several well kept ales, as well as a real cider (Addlestones). Whilst the Ship & Mitre has a better selection of ales, they are rarely as well kept, whilst Ye Cracke has a smaller selection and is a bit more grungy.
Yes, Dave the landlord can have a bit of a short fuse. This is a small and extremely popular (for good reason) city centre pub and he is perfectly entitled to choose whose custom he allows. Putting coats on stools is rude, if there are people without seats. Look carefully and you will see the coat hooks he provides. Anybody drinking water is not really going to be valued, as they're taking up space that could be taken by somebody drinking the beer! Whilst I appreciate that frowning on soft drinks is out of order, I have yet to witness Dave having any issue with this. Why would he stock soft drinks, if he didn't want to sell them.
As a group of Everton fans (Dave is a red), we are welcomed here before most home games. He does tell people not to sing football songs - fine by me, I'd rather sing at the match than at a TV screen. If you do feel the need, there are plenty of other bars in the city centre that probably won't mind.
You've only to look at how many contributions the negative reviewers have made (generally it's their only ever contribution) to see that there is some sort of campaign to slate Dave and his business.
So, please ignore these and read the reviews from people who are regular contributors to tripadvisor.
The Dispensary is a great little corner pub that I wished I had within 10-20 minutes walk of my house in London. As a CAMRA member myself, I sincerely hope that local opinion is not swayed by a handful of negative reviews on this site or any other. If touring pubs in Liverpool city centre interests you, make a beeline here and get a pint of real British ale in a traditional British alehouse.