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AS one famous door closes on Hope Street, so another prepares to reopen.
The Philharmonic, one of the best known pubs in the UK, is undergoing a £300,000 makeover that will see the eponymous Dining Rooms open again to the public for the first time in years.
Food sales are up in pubs but down in restaurants, and in response, perhaps, an upgrade of the Phil's kitchens is taking place to make way for a new improved menu.
Owners Mitchells & Butlers say it's a gentle restoration, rather than a wholesale facelift.
Urinals“It is a beautiful building and we are looking to ensure all of the original character shines through,” said M & B spokesman Andrew Roache. “For example, some original flooring is being brought back into use which was hidden under carpets.”
But while an informal dining area to be opened upstairs, the Phil isn't about to reinvent itself as a gastropub.
“It will be about traditional favourites and excellent quality cask ales and wines,” Roache told Liverpool Confidential.
"Mitchells & Butlers has proudly owned and operated the Philharmonic for many, many years and it is one of our best-loved and indeed famous pubs in the UK. It is also an established part of the character of Liverpool.
"We have taken several weeks to carry out a sympathetic upgrade to the pub's amenity to ensure many future generations of pub goers can continue to enjoy it.
"All of the team are very much looking forward to welcoming regulars and new customers through the doors next month."
The Philharmonic pub, complete with legendary gents toilets, apparently, reopens on Tuesday July 12.
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Glad to hear the words "Gentle restoration" And Why not Develop a little more culinary ambition? The yawning gap left in the gastronomic landscape by the ridiculous closure of the wonderful Everyman bistro might be ready to be filled by someone with the knowhow and talent to reproduce the goods in the Phil? Re-Employ Paddys staff and go for it M&B!!
M&B and other corporates haven't got the vision, unfortunately, to do as you suggest, Mike. They don't get it and never have, which is why many of us have long walked right past this establishment and straight down Hope Street to the Bistro. Unfortunately this is another simple pleasure now denied because of more corporates who also didn't get it.