Opened in 2007 as an Italian restaurant, a wheel of parmesan at the entrance. The name comes from a 19th century bar rivalry: Joe Beef's tavern had its biggest rival a pub called, aptly, the Liverpool House.
Founded by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan and Allison Cunningham — the same owners as Joe Beef, located two doors down on Notre-Dame Ouest — Liverpool House opened in 2007 under the direction of chef Emma Cardarelli, with classic Italian cuisine. “Legend has it that Joe Beef's biggest rival was the Liverpool House Tavern, hence the restaurant's name,” says maître d' Chris Morgan, co-owner of the nearby McKiernan Luncheonette.
On June 6, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received former American President Barack Obama for a four-hour dinner, at Trudeau's usual table near the kitchen. On the menu: oysters, smoked trout, Nova Scotia halibut with morels and white asparagus, lobster spaghetti, aged prime rib for two, accompanied by a Norman Hardie wine. Between 800 and 900 people gathered outside as Obama left, who insisted on taking photos with the brigade and McMillan's daughter.
David McMillan says he told Obama, who asked him how he became a cook, that he was a dishwasher at 19 when Pierre Elliott Trudeau — Justin's father — tasted his salad one day and gave him the first compliment of his career. Justin Trudeau, says McMillan, did not know this anecdote.
Today led by chef Gabriel Drapeau, with Chris Morgan and sommelier James Simpkins, several members of the team have been there for over a decade.