In an age where a new bar or restaurant seems to pop up every few minutes, it's always comforting to find a place with long established roots in the city.
Whether its welcoming the day or night crowd, Tabac has been serving hungry and thirsty customers ever since it opened in 1974. Described as a cafe, a restaurant, and a bar, it's fair to say that this Bold Street institution has been a lot of things to a lot of people in its time.
The independent cafe was originally owned by Rita Lawrence and it is still very much a family business. Rita's niece and current owner Elaine Clarke started in the business aged just 16 back in 1984.
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Liverpool Echo editor Maria Breslin has fond memories of working at Cafe Tabac for a number of years in the 1990s. She remembers the cafe's original owner, Rita Lawrence, as "the absolute matriarch".
Maria said: "Rita was a total inspiration. She was straight-talking and no-nonsense with an absolute heart of gold. She was also fearless. Anyone who dared disrespect any of her staff was straight out the door with a warning never to come back.
"Somehow Rita managed to spend the whole morning frying sausages and roasting meat and still look a million dollars when she left for an afternoon out in town. Her hats were legendary."
Maria added: "I met so many lifelong friends working in the Tabac. We were like one big family.
"And it was the place to have breakfast or a roast on a Sunday. It sometimes felt like an after-party with clubbers and DJs from Cream and the other clubs all popping in. Happy days."
Modelled in the style of the great Bohemian cafes of Europe, Cafe Tabac has been described as a hub for the city's creative residents, attracting artists, actors, singers and performers amongst its varied and colourful clientele.
Oliver Clarke, Tabac's managing director, spoke to the ECHO about the venue's place in the city. Oliver said: "During the peak of the alternative music scene in Liverpool in the 1980s, and the way it all came together with post punk and the new wave and new romantics, it was a big melting pot in Liverpool and Tabac was right at the centre of it all.
"Almost by accident really, it became the place to go because it was a hub for the fashionistas and the hipsters of the 80s."
One of the venue's strengths, as well as occupying a prime spot on Bold Street, has been Tabac's ability to adapt to the crowd. In the day, it's very much a brunch and meeting place where you you can meet and hang out with friends. In the night, Tabac turns into a cocktail bar that still retains its trademark, cosy bohemian atmosphere.
Oliver added: "We've got people that come in every day and they will sit in the same place and order the same thing. We've got a lad who comes every day and orders half a San Miguel and he's been doing that for 20 years."
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Colin Smith, the company's marketing director, said Tabac is a place he doesn't have to try hard to market, he "just lets it breathe". Describing the venue's unique characteristics, he said: "I think there's the element of anyone is welcome. In Tabac it doesn't matter your walk of life, or your background, or what you look like - It's a safe space."
Back in December of 2020, the iconic cafe bar reopened after a major face lift during the second lockdown. Memories of the venue, during the 70s, 80s and 90s - including photographs and memorabilia now adorn a number of the walls but the familiar bar area remains mostly untouched, even sparing some of its 70s wallpaper.
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A backdrop collage has been created from a huge collection of old posters, flyers and images of Liverpool featuring some of Liverpool’s best-loved legends from that time including Pete Burns, Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie, Margi Clarke, Jayne Casey and Chloe Poems (alter ego of punk poet Gerry Potter). The collage adorns the walls alongside a collection of framed images taken by Liverpool photographers Mark McNulty and Francesco Mellina, adding a sense of recorded history to the role the cafe bar has played in the lives of the city's artists and musicians.
The marketing director added: "I think Tabac's definitely found its place in the new look Bold Street but I think it will always be unique. There's an authenticity to it. There's nothing try-hard about Tabac."
