It’s the only bar in Merseyside to appear on the list
20:48, 10 Jan 2025Updated 20:50, 10 Jan 2025
Delia and Tristan Brady-Jacobs outside their pub Hobo Kiosk on Bridgewater Street(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A “eclectic” Liverpool bar has appeared on a list of the top 100 bars in Europe. It’s one of 16 British establishments to be listed – and the only one in Merseyside.
According to the European Bar Guide (EBG) 2025, Bridgewater Street’s Hobo Kiosk is the 89th best bar in the continent. The eccentric micro pub, which serves a selection of craft beers as well as an array of spirits, is ran by husband and wife, Delia and Tristan Brady-Jacobs, who opened the venue in 2018.
Found down in the basement of a surviving brick warehouse on the corner of Jamaica Street, it was previously a bazaar of the same name, and has retained the same unique feel, with its owners calling it a “cabinet of curiosities”. The European Bar Guide described Hobo Kiosk as “unique with a distinctive identity and character, a basement bar with local beers and fabulous hospitality”.
The EBG gave the pub a score of 8.8/10, with its strongest attributes being its style, décor, atmosphere and character. It said: “A former shop, crowdfunded into a bar, the brainchild of Delia and Tristan Brady-Jacobs, you can safely state there is nothing else quite like it in the city, or indeed for miles around.
“Set in a shallow basement (think Czech style), you will be greeted with an interior that is an eclectic labour of love, one of those bars you can sit in for hours and find something new to look at. It’s colourful, it’s bright, it’s personalised, but it’s also homely, somewhere you’d want to stay a while.
Inside Hobo Kiosk(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“A friendly greeting and farewell is always provided to those who visit the venue in the spirit with which it has been established. Unashamedly quirky with a personal touch that quite obviously sets it apart from more commercial operations.”What about the drinks? Well, a small bar focusing on local independent brewers. Beers are all keg rather than cask, but this works perfectly well for the operation and its intentions, while there are bases covered for alternatives.
“In such a quirky, colourful bunker conversation naturally flows, pinging from table to bar to table, each group sharing why they ended up here today, what they’re up to and where they’re heading next. A community focused venue with musical and artistic leanings, so you can find gigs and events here at an all-round lovable and distinctive bar we hope will be around for many, many years, indeed generations to come.”
Coming in at first place on the list is La Fleur En Papier Doré/Het Goudblommeke in Paper, Brussels. It is described by the guide as “pub-going at its finest”.