PHILIP BAKER
"WOW, WHAT A GREAT PLACE"
Absolutely unique decor, menu & some of the best drinks I ever had the difficult choice of choosing from.
All wrapped up with an amazing playlist of 90's rap classics.
Andy Knapp
Lovely little quirky restaurant underground. Great touch with the old style arcade machines. Ordered the bacon burger off the main menu. Was a decent sized portion and very reasonablly priced too.
Stephen
This review might be lengthy
TLDR, nice food, cool decor and atmosphere, would go again 🤙🤙
First time coming here with my fiancee and we where both NOT disappointed from first entering and walking down the steps which gave an eerie feeling to opening that door and BHAM it hits you, little booths and chain link dividers throughout with wooden flooring. The burgers that we had 🤘🖤❤
Service was brilliant, waiters/waitresses very attentive. The halloumi fries where OUT OF THIS WORLD. Hot damn! Delicious.
Plus there was a chuppa chub in the burger 🤭 what not to love 🤙
James Pinder
As I entered the surroundings of this restaurant it was unique with scaffolding design, classic arcade games and specially designed self portraits. The food I had (southern fried chicken) was delicious and excellent in quantity. I also had hot chicken wings and a strawberry milkshake, again both delicious. The menus where very creative and had good variety such as veteran options on food and alcoholic to non alcoholic beverages. My only criticism is that there was only two members of staff working and it was busy at the time. The staff seemed rushed and I had to wait a while to place orders. Also the picture I've added to this comment shows the cookie dough dessert option that cost £5,50 but the portion is far too small for what you would pay for. Even so I'd recommend this excellent restaurant to burger or American food lovers.
Danika Case
Had our date night here first time and wont be our last food is absolutely amazing everything down to what food comes in the girl who served our table was absolutely lo let cant rememeber her name tha is guys will be back!
James W
What a place. Amazing food and really lovely staff! Definitely get a side order of the jumbo shrimp in hot sauce....out of this world!
martyna panufnik
Really good place, nice atmosphere really tasty and well priced food. Great vibes and something different well worth a try.
Michelle Williams
Lovely restraunt. Our food was delicious and there were some good drink choices. At the time it was empty so service was really good.
Phillip Weaver
The most amazing tasting burger I've ever eaten in my life! The food was just excellent, and it was a fun experience. Great staff, the toilets were clean but are designed to look like those in a prison (not too accurately in terms of cleanliness I might add).
I think some of the negative reviews on here are from people who ordered an apple but only like oranges. 😉
Andrea Kelly
Great food. Fast and friendly service. Great night out.
Ava Podgorski
Great food. Quite a unique establishment - edgy and cool. Friendly staff were great from start to end: helpful, polite and speedy. All the food was lovely. Good portion sizes and plenty of choice. They have a good selection of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, plus some fun items like shakes. Would recommend for groups, couples, date-nights, pre-theatre meals and to anyone looking for a new place to try!!
Nicky Robinson
Nice food, good service and nice chilled out atmosphere. Would recommend
james whitfield
Only second time of visiting but absolutely love it. Food is awesome, the chicken gravy is out of this world and can’t recommend enough.
My daughter and I had our annual trip and tried more of the menu and it didn’t disappoint. Ruben Burger, frickles, biscuits and chicken this time round with more to try the next!
Place is just awesome.
Sheila Hughes
Great halloumi burger - delicious. Staff so lovely - smiley and friendly. had a great time there. the place is buzzing. Same atmosphere as the Cavern! Reasonable prices. Kids meals were very generous size.
Grandkids loved their evening there! Very special place. Will go again.
lowri allen
The burger was amazing!! Really really tasty. It's a little dark and the chairs weren't very comfortable but the staff were nice, the food came quickly and the meal was great value for money. A really typical student feel place and not busy on a Tuesday night when we were there.
Richard Birch
It's different and has kept us going back for years. Here is our "last meal".
Jessica L.
Death Row Dive n Diner has just the right level of quirkiness. When I first saw the name of it, my first thought was, "I'm going to take my boyfriend on a date there." I know that doesn't really make sense, but both he and I have a taste for the weird and wonderful, and this seemed like just the place to go.
I made a reservation via OpenTable but, to be honest, we ended up being the only people in the restaurant which I didn't mind at all. The waiter was very friendly. We spent the first few minutes looking at all the decor (spectacularly creepy) and talking about how the place definitely lived up to its name.
I can't say I remember what my boyfriend ate, but we did order some bacon onion rings to share and I had the Pickleback burger complete with the shot of Jameson because, come on, it's a pickleback and you can't miss out on the shot. The bacon onion rings were heavenly. Just the right mix of sweet and savory. We tried to recreate them at home but didn't quite live up to it. The pickleback burger was also fantastically well-done; it had the right amount of bite to combat the Jameson shot. The drinks were tasty and when we left, my boyfriend immediately stated, "Well, we have to come back here next time you visit," to which I agreed.
I would recommend this to anybody in Liverpool looking for a slightly unconventional eating environment, and will definitely be back in the fall for some more food.
Melissa M.
Stumbled upon this hidden gem!! Worked great for our group with kids. Food was fresh and great twists on American classics! Coming from the States, it was a hit with our group!!!
Claire B.
I was really looking forwards to trying this, after first hearing about it last year. Finally made it to Liverpool, so booked in for a Saturday night. We were told that it was fully booked (but this was not the case, as it was half-empty when we were there), so sounded like a hot ticket!
The decor and theme is really well done - it's got the dingy prison canteen feel down to a tee. I personally am not a lover of food being served on boards etc (we want plates!) but having things served in foil trays etc did at least fit with the theme.
We were seated right next to the pass, which was really hot and bright and did unfortunately make the scent of our evening cling to the clothes somewhat (I can still smell it on my coat, a week later) but the seating was fine, considering it's communal tables - not too squished in.
The food was a bit hit or miss, alas. The brisket burnt ends I ordered were not burnt ends - it was cubes of beef in a barebecue sauce. A bit chewy, not that slow-cooked melt-in-the-mouth texture they should be. Maybe I'm spoiled by having extensively tried proper Southern USA barbecue, but this had all the visual appeal of dog food. Tasted all right, though.
The chicken burger was really good - the chicken was fresh and well-cooked and I enjoyed that. The lolly as internal burger scaffolding was a nice touch, though felt like they could have done something else to fit the theme (knife maybe more obvious choice). We ordered some maple bacon onion rings which the waitress forgot about - we did get some in the end, which they gave us on the house because of the mix-up. I soon wished they hadn't bothered though as despite sounding amazing, they weren't all that good. Rather than an onion ring wrapped in maple-smoked bacon, they are actually a bit of onion (no breading) wrapped in bacon, fried, and then doused liberally in maple syrup. The way the menu is written means you can't really tell that before ordering. They looked like body parts and had an odd texture - wouldn't recommend them.
The cocktails were pretty good - the fig amaretto sour was a hit with me. Overall, I felt pretty underwhelmed by DRD and the Liverpool dining scene in general - all feels a bit too much like people cooking American food they've seen on telly, rather than authentic fare. Fun experience though.
Jessica H.
Lovers of both Yardbird and Motel - and generally huge fans of everything meat - we knew we had to book in to Death Row Diner on our recent anniversary weekend in Liverpool. Booked in for 8pm on a Saturday night, we headed down the incense scented steps and descended into the darkness of the restaurant.
The front of house desk is a slot machine, and we were pointed in the direction of the bar to wait until our table was ready. The drinks menu includes cocktails, hard shakes and floats, beer, wine, and cider. Not wanting to start down the road of a white wine hangover the next day, I opted for a cider. Not having any names I recognised, I went for a Jeramiah Weed - tasting not unlike JD & coke, it was unusually delicious!
Our table took about 15/20 minutes to be ready, for which the front of house were eternally apologetic and resulted in a free round of drinks, but this just meant we had some time to take in our surroundings. We're talking neon, bricks, bars, wire, photos of criminals, doors marked with incoherent numbers, and boxes marked in the same way to represent convict's belongings.
The menu contains everything you could wish for; wings, ribs, fried lasagne bites (yes please), burgers, fries, and steak. Unfortunately for us, they didn't have the lasagne bites, mac & cheese, or bacon wrapped maple onion rings - but we sure made up for it...
Our table contained a whole butter basted poussin, bbq brisket, chorizo fried waffles, wings with both tequila lime & frank's buffalo hot sauces, padron peppers, two portions of fries, and two portions of slaw. Served up in the same aluminium trays as Yardbird, it's a down and dirty style of eating (though knives and forks are obviously provided!)
Top items had to be the poussin, with a perfectly crispy skin, and the chorizo fried waffles, with little pieces of chorizo and a spicy chipotle sauce. Padron peppers, which are currently a personal obsession, provided a vegetable on the table, and the slaw was vinegar based rather than mayonnaise, meaning extra greenery that I could get involved with.
Wings had a nice spice, though I've come to the conclusion I prefer the sauce based kind, rather than the breaded ones served up. Although the brisket had the perfect texture, there was a bit too much bbq sauce for my personal taste.
Desserts included fried oreos, ice cream 'sliders' with brioche, and pecan pie - that's if you have enough room...
A great meal with friendly service; hopefully next time we can have room for something sweet!
Natasha B.
I'm quite surprised to be the first person to be reviewing this place. It's by the same guy as Yardbird and reviews elsewhere are 5*.
I went here for a friend's birthday on my first visit to Liverpool. I'd heard great things about their other restaurants and so had high expectations. I was dubious about a Death Row themed restaurant - I'm not sure the theme sits well with me and I do feel it's in poor taste. However if you have the nerve to go for such an out-there concept then I figure you've got to be good at what you do.
DECOR - I wanted MORE from them. There's a photo and document for an inmate for the 80s on one wall, and illustrations of other creepy looking guys on another. We were sat in booths, and there was some wire fence to break up the space. Neon signs adorned the walls along with a few old-style prison phones. But I felt like they should have pushed it further. If you're going to call yourself Death Row Diner I want to be seated in a cell or have some metal bars in the room.
COCKTAILS - I ordered the 'No Vaseline' - a Chambord, blueberry and lemon cocktail. It was wonderful. Sadly I spilt most of it, but was enjoying it so much I ordered a new one. The second one was a bit stronger than the other so must have been mixed by somebody nice, but was still good. The £7.50 price seemed reasonable by my London standards.
FOOD - They have a good range of options. Whether you want to play it safe with a classic cheeseburger or half chicken, or try something a bit different like brisket or beef burger with shrimp. It also means there should be a price to satisfy everyone. The starters/sides are possibly the most inventive options. I tried the bacon wrapped onion rings (still prefer batter) and the deep fried lasagne bites (amazing). For my main I ordered the chilli burger. Really tasty but I only managed half with all the other bits I'd eaten. The food was served in metal trays. I'm not sure this really worked and seemed at odds with the plastic tray they used on the branding of their menus.
Ultimately I was underwhelmed by it all. Had they not chosen this name I probably would've been more impressed by it all. But if you go with a theme you have to take it all the way.
Would I go again? Yes. Would I try somewhere else first? Certainly.
Ethan W.
Once you have found the eatery which is neatly tucked in a nook of Hope street, you are greeted with friendly staff in a neon red underground room. The general feel of the joint is a prison inspired mess hall, with stylised art on the walls.
I had the beef brisket starter which was everything you could want from beef brisket, tender, tasty and in bite sized chunks. Definitely the best brisket in town.
The burgers were all of the same calibre but I had the pulled pork version. The patties were cooked quite well and the beef was high quality, better than most places. The pulled pork was tender and flavoursome. It was served on a brioche bun, which is a standard now and some salad accompaniments. The burger was great, not too heavy on sauce which is a downfall of other burger places in Liverpool.
As a side I had the chicken gravy chips, these were skin on fries with proper chicken gravy your mother would make. Perfection.
Overall it was a great experience, thoroughly enjoyed it, the serving staff seemed a tad disinterested but the food more than made up for it. They also serve a good selection of craft ales and other nice drinks.
Definitely go there if you can, you'll spend approx £20 for your meal if you get a drink too. Don't get put off by other reviews going on about last meals, they don't do that any more.
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