Rare look inside Liverpool's lost skyscraper restaurant with amazing city views

One of our city's most famous landmarks, St Johns Beacon, has dominated Liverpool's skyline for decades.

Completed in 1969, the incredible building took around five years to finish and boasts striking views of the city from dizzying heights of 138 metres. Once the tallest building in Liverpool, beacon's main purpose at first was to act as a ventilation shaft to the shopping centre below.

But in the 1970s, it became known for a completely different concept. Opening at the top of St Johns Beacon in 1971, the revolving Tower Restaurant welcomed customers for around a decade, the ECHO previously reported.

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Billed as Liverpool's skyscraper restaurant, its owners, Empire Catering, promised it would be "one of the best in the country." The restaurant's unique features included a revolving floor where diners could take in the magnificent panorama of the city.

On a clear day, diners were also said to be able to see Blackpool Tower. But one brilliant image, courtesy of Jade Wright, author of The Dirty Stop Outs Guide to 1970s Liverpool, offers a rare glimpse inside the lost rotating restaurant.

In the image, captured in the 1970s, you can see four customers inside the restaurant, seated in green chairs which match the curtains in the background. Seated by a window looking out across the city, break, lobster and wine had already been served.

Other images, courtesy of our archives, Mirrorpix, show the construction of the website and another look inside. For those who went there in years gone by, the photographs are bound to stir some memories.

Did you ever visit The Tower Restaurant? Let us know in the comments section below.

Derek Harrison was only a teenager when he began working as chef at the restaurant in 1973. He previously spoke to the ECHO to share his memories of working there and said the revolving floor had three speeds, ranging from one full rotation per hour to three.

When a customer came into the restaurant, the lift doors would open, and once they had given their name, they would be taken to have a drink at the bar by the lifts. When their table was ready, the customer would be given and sat down at a seat on the outer ring which revolved.

Derek also described the inside of the restaurant as covered in green and brown flock wallpaper that was "like carpet" on the walls and said the restaurant used to buy pre-made cakes from a local Liverpool bakery and serve them customers as authentic French desserts.

Derek previously told the ECHO: "There used to be a cake shop in Reece's (famous chain of Liverpool coffee shops). The cakes were made in Reece's Bakery at the back of the Adelphi.

"Their famous things were called rum babas (a classic French pastry dessert). They would sell them to us and we'd take their synthetic cream out and put fresh cream in and sell it in the restaurant on the sweet trolley for four times the price."

The menu was based on classic French dishes including prawn cocktail, lobster and Foie Gras. Derek also remembers legendary rock band Queen turning up at the restaurant after they had played the Liverpool Empire in 1977, with singer Freddie Mercury and guitarist Brian each ordering a salad.

In the following years, the tower lay empty and derelict. But following a refurbishment in the 1990s, Radio City moved in and began broadcasting from what became known as Radio City Tower in August 2000.

The tower went on to be awarded Grade II listed status by Historic England in 2020. On April 17 this year, it was Radio City's last day with its iconic name.

Station owners Bauer Media announced in January that it intended to rebrand the station as Hits Radio Liverpool, bringing its name in line with the company's other stations across its network. Though its name has changed, the station is still available on 96.7FM - as well as on DAB radio and online.

But many still have fond memories of The Tower Restaurant and what life was like in 1970s Liverpool. A decade of intense change in both tastes and styles in the city, journalist and former Echo entertainments editor, Jade Wright, has meticulously researched the decade and penned the ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Liverpool.'

A personal time-machine back to everything from David Bowie’s iconic ‘Ziggy Stardust’ date at the Top Rank in St John's for just 50p to the legendary ‘grab a granny’ nights at the Grafton, the era of chicken-in-a-basket meals via venues like The Babalou and Golden Guinea and more,. the new special edition coffee table book offers fully updated and extended version of the original book originally produced in 2017.

Jade said: "Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Liverpool’ isn’t just a book; it’s a portal to the past. Whether you were there in the flesh or have a fondness for the era’s rich popular culture, this book will ferry you back to the days of punk, disco, cabaret and the boiling hot summer of ‘76."

The limited edition, extended version of the 'Dirty Stop Out's Guide to 1970s Liverpool' is available here for £29.95 and limited to just 250 copies. It is also available here.

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