The Barrel House in Sefton

A short train ride from Southport station this specialist Belgium bar is definitely the place to if you like Belgium beers (some on draught). They also serve some cask beers but the range is limited. The staffs are all really friendly and helpful and it gets really busy at times as having a small interior sitting is at a premium. There is seating outside as well and it seems really popular with the locals.

First visit, attentive staff, actual hot coffee (unlike so many places!), and good selection of reasonably priced traybakes. Tables on the pavement ideal as the weather was suitable. A highlight for many would be practically every daily newspaper being available!

nice enough small bar, nice friendly staff but quite pricey. Birkdale on a whole I found to be expensive though. I guess it is the small town feeling you pay for. Nice outdoor seating as well.

Nice decaffeinated coffee here Toilet lets it down very badly Appeared not to have been cleaned for several days if not longer. Nothing a deeper clean would not solve but it’s put me off going again

This is a veritable Jewel in the crown 👑 A fantastic find for any beer lover ....... The staff are knowledgeable and friendly especially on a Monday night .... I truly great place to spend an evening.

Visited this afternoon with my friend and neighbour, was made very welcome wonderful range of tea and coffee beer and wine, I highly recommend this place

Visited today with a friend for lunch, great location and great staff, served by two girls outside both friendly and welcoming. Coffee and food was lovely for a light lunch. Dog friendly also and staff even had dog biscuits for my dog which was a nice touch. Looking forward to visiting again when in the village. Highly recommend.

Great for a drink in heart of Birkdale village. There is only a small indoor seating area but there was plenty outside where we sat.

We were looking for somewhere locally where we could have our lunch and take our dog with us. This cafe was listed as a dog-friendly pub so we decided to try it. Quite a strange little place, it had a rather limited menu for lunch. We went for panini and these were delicious. Our dog was made very welcome. The place wasn't busy and we enjoyed our meal. As a pub it has a wide selection of beers - there is a display of Belgian bottled beers on one wall - and it also serves nice coffee. The atmosphere was very friendly but as the place is quite small it could no doubt get rather crowded at times.

Hundreds of beers to choose from with great advice if you need it!... nice place for a coffee if that’s all you fancy. Really friendly place that’s also dog friendly. Small snack menu.

Great place in Birkdale for an early coffee. Opens at 6 I think so a great place to call in if you’re out early! Food and drinks available all day with some different beers on offer. Only a small place but nice atmosphere. Well worth a try.

Stopped here for a coffee and sat outside with our dog, the seating area was a bit grotty looking to be honest but the coffee was really nice. Would go back for a coffee. The village is really bad for parking and if you get a spot, you are looking at an hour or two.

Best place to drink in Birkdale, over 140 beers to choose from at a price that is affordable. Why would you want to go anywhere else? Great owners, staff and a good laugh every time :)

We loved this place, friendly staff and were happy to help and advise. Would recommend to anyone in the area. Great music too. 😍

Those people giving one star and criticising the staff must have gone to somewhere else. I could genuinely spend all afternoon here sipping the various beers and grazing on the food whilst listening to some great background music. Barman attentive, friendly and informative. We made a special effort to visit and are so glad.

An interesting and charming small bar with a fantastic choice of drinks and homemade cake👍 Always made welcome Dog friendly

Though much smaller, the Barrel House has the feel of "Cheers" about it. There is a great choice of bottled and draft beers and the wine is also very good. The regulars are a very friendly bunch and the staff deserve a mention because they are all very helpful and work hard to keep the "local" atmosphere. They serve real pub grub with everything, including the piccalilli, made by Peter the Barman.Today was a fabulous scouse made with neck of lamb with home pickled beet. This place is well worth a visit for real ale lovers or just those who want a drink in a very friendly bar.

The Barrel House is one of our favourite places to visit in Birkdale village, especially with our dog Ebony. They welcome dogs and are extremely friendly. The coffee is well made and they serve a wide variety of beers and wines. I enjoy the draught cider. The cheese board is definitely worth a try. I'm sure you won't be disappointed if you fancy a visit.

Always friendly. Always good value. Always a great place to chill. Always end up chatting to many people ....a fab place that is a complement to the village.

In Birkdale on visit stopped here for a light lunch,we had the cheese and ham pie sharing board,this was very good served with pickles and marinated gerkins.Service was good and the local beer was excellent as was the wine.

An very extensive range of real ales is available plus several craft beers. There is also a blackboard witha range of snacks including pork pies made on the premises. The inside seating area is a little cramped and the bar price is a little steep none the less the outside seating area is very good in the summer

We enjoyed 2 x meet platters 1x cheese board wonderful beer and excellent wine tonight. Service exceptional. Atmosphere great. Thanks for a lovely evening

We found this little place by accident while strolling through Birkdale Village.. it was quiet as the weather wasn't great on this particular Sunday which suited us fine as we could relax and watch the world go by as we drank our great coffee. By the looks of the offerings there is plenty of beers to choose from and the food while simple looks tasty

We were in Birkdale the other night having visited an established pub in the village where the service very poor and the state of the pud poor . We walked up to find this gem of a place called the Barrel House very informal great service with we assume little tapas style plates and a selection of beers that are so varied and interesting a great find !Very pleasant service and the place was packed .There is the answer the small independent business will save the high street They are good and varied !

Possibly overlooked by the amount of bars and coffee shops in the area, but walking just a few extra meters is well worth it. Good selection of continental beers on offer and the bar is small but has the continental feel about it. Have popped in here on a fairly frequent basis over the last year and always head there when I can. Love the Belgium beers and always served in the proper glass for that beer, which is a nice touch. Staff are very friendly and informative. You pay a little extra for certain beers as one would expect but definitely worth it.

Dropped in for a coffee and cake, pleasantly surprised. Helpful courteous staff, great coffee and super home made cake. A fabulous selection of bottled beer plus guest draft beers. Will be going here again.

Went for a beer on the way home from a meal in town as my wife had never been here before. Treated her to a coffee and a Baileys, while I stuck to the real ale, which was excellent - Oakham Citra, one of the country's very best real ales.

This is not a bad place for a quick drink or two,but we are always surprised that one staff member (who I think is the owner) is such a rude individual.No cheery greeting or even a smile and your change just dropped into your hand. I can never understand why folks like this go into the hospitality business as being hospitable is key to whether the place is successful or not. Why you might ask do we bother, well the beer is good and if there's a seat we'll go in for an hour or so once a fortnight. We have a little bet beforehand about the greeting (or not) we'll get. I am hopeful that one day we'll go in and this surly chap will have turned into mein host.

This is a fab little micro pub in Birkdale Village. The owner is a friendly chap and the selections of bottled continental beers is impressive. Not a massive selection of hand-pulled ales but what they do is decent stuff.My wife absolutely loves their hot chocolate and assures me it's one of the best around. Would highly recommend it.It fills up fast and sometimes you can't really get a look in, but then there are plenty of other watering holes in Birkdale that you can venture to instead.Nice music too.

Very nice, impromptu visit, sat outside. Decent wine. Would go again. Staff very pleasant. Nice to sit and watch the world go by.

Used to be a newsagents but, when the Sainsbury's opened over the road, they changed into a beer shop which has developed into a great place with a good atmosphere in Birkdale Village. Great selection of beers, both in fridges and on tap, as well as a wide selection of wines and spirits. Overall, a lovely, welcoming place in Birkdale - with a great, free quiz on Mondays!

Popped in for a pre meal drink. Small and popular. A great selection of beers in the fridges. Well worth a visit

I love my ale and this is the place to come, they only have two at any one time, but they do change alot so you get to try alot over a short period of time. I also enjoy to try the many bottles of European beers they stock.The atmosphere is good, you may have to wait a little for a drink or maybe have a seat but its worth the wait.

We love this bar , the beers are chose by an owner who knows and understands beer and the people who like to drink themThis little bar is for people who want and understand something a bit different, because its a small place, you sometimes have to share a table and your personal space, but this encourages you to make an effort to mix with others in the bar.It is not part of a chain and some times tables are not cleared fast if the bar person is on their own , but we think its part of the charm.You could always do as we do and take your glasses back yourself to help, you will be given a beautiful smile.

Excellent bar... great window seats and seats outside when , a mixture of drinks from everything real ale to wine to beers... nice owners and staff, clean smart place no silly people in it. Will be going again

Love this place even if I smell a bit after working with horrible kids, smelly dogs, cats and ferrets. Great coffee and . Nice to relax as not pretentious, or posh as Tea Rooms. Management told me 'if I still want to frequent I need to work on my personal hygiene. Completely agree, however working 20 hrs a day setting up a business for 3 consecutive days, clothing being washed daily, told I smell I front of customers, out of order. Shocked really as I've been frequenting since they opened.

Awful place used mainly just for staff to socialize, very loud and selfish staff and if your not a regular don't bother!!!

Found The Barrel House whilst staying in Southport. Called in on a lovely sunny evening before going for a meal nearby in Birkdale. We found it to be a really friendly place with a good choice of drinks including a decent lager, which many micropubs don't sell.Sitting at the tables outside in the sun was very pleasant. The other customers, mostly locals I would think, were most friendly indeed! If we hadn't been so hungry, we could have easily skipped the meal and stayed until closing time. We are often in the area, so see you again soon!

We used to like coming here but of late we've noticed a change of staff who spend too much time chatting with some of the regulars, treating the place as if it's their own personal space - disinterested and obviously inexperienced. Recently even children were being entertained with a game so it became very noisy. Glasses not collected and ashtrays not emptied.

Visited here this evening, small and cosy with a homely atmosphere, i believe a paper shop in the day but the choice on offer in terms of craft ales is brilliant and affordable. will return.

Waited for 5 mins to get served, it wasn't particularly busy with only 1 customer in front of me. It really wouldn't have taken much effort to acknowledge my presence with a "be with you soon" or a smile. I eventually bought 3 beers for my companions and I as I felt we had been waiting too long to simply leave. When we received the beers there wasn't so much of a smile or any eye contact. Rude, clichy and zero atmosphere! Avoid!!

Been quite a few times at different times of day and always a great atmosphere. Friendly staff. Excellent choice of draught and bottled beers. I don't drink bitter, but my friend says the, often local, bitter is very good. Love the place.

We have been to the Barrel House regularly and it goes from strength to strength. Great atmosphere an absolute plethora of beers, ciders and wines absolutely love it

Went to this pub for a drink what a waste of time beer awful and no atmosphere was disappointed as in good beer guide think someone slipped up adding this

Visited for the first time last week and was extremely impressed with the amount of beers available to buy. Enjoyed a lovely glass of wine with my wife and bought a couple of beers to have at home (both very well priced and tasty). Thank-you, will be back soon.

We've been coming to this bar for the last 12 months. The selection of bottled beers is fantastic and the attention to detail when they come served in their own glass in my opinion makes the experience that more special. Martin the joint owner is very knowledgable with the beers and can find a beer suitable for what you're looking for. All the staff are friendly and helpful and the food is great. If I could bottle the atmosphere and sell it i would be a very rich man. Keep up the good work

The Barrel is still doing well. Beer great, owners great, atmosphere great. The hand pulled real ale has recently included Jaipur, Trooper and other interesting brews.

Sat with a Bottle of Jaipur Indian pale ale whilst listening to Rory Gallagher, perfect way to spend a sunny Friday.

This place is a must if you love drinking good beer in a nice environment. The staff are wonderful and there must be over 100 beers/lagers to choose from - all served in their appropriate glasses. It's also very reasonable and does food too - we didn't try the good this time but will next time.

This little place has been open just over a year and has gone from strength to strength. There are always two (very often local) hand pulled ales on the bar. There's a draft Weissebier too. Can't recall the draught lager as I don't drink it, but I'm told it's nice. There is a huge selection of great bottled beers. Plenty to choose from.This used to be a newsagents and they still do papers and are open from very early for the deliveries. I've been in before 8am for a coffee. The main thing about this place is the friendly atmosphere. The owners are welcoming and convivial. Martin has good taste in music and several times I've left there with new music to research. Whilst I've not tried the food it looks great. Overall a little gem of a place. Cheers!

We love this unique establishment . The decor is lovely and it feels very homely . I believe they now serve snacks but can only review in the drinks /service . We love sitting in the window and people watching . Cute x

Great little beer bottle shop with great service , the decor is warm like the staff , the beer is great such an amazing choice recommend... good for couples , its nice to have a choice .