Woman, 21, opens restaurant after realising 'something was missing'

Ellie Morton, owner of On The Vine
-Credit:Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo


A woman has opened up her own restaurant after she realised there was "something missing" in the city's food scene. Ellie Morton, 21, who was the assistant general manager of The Monro pub on Duke Street before it closed in 2023, opened On The Vine on Tithebarn Street in Liverpool city centre last September.

Having saved up enough money to start her own venture, she enlisted the help of her former manager at The Monro, Sean Scully. The pair are promising "really nice, homecooked food".

Speaking to the ECHO, Ellie said: “When I left The Monro, I went to work at a couple of other places and I was just tired of seeing how things were run.

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"There was something missing; most places just buy in their food and say it’s made fresh so I wanted to serve locally sourced food which is made on site every day. We don’t want anything sitting in the fridges too long and we want people to eat fresh food, which isn't full of preservatives."

Sean added: “When The Monro closed, it was a terrible situation for everyone. Ellie’s very young but she had some savings. She wanted to open a cafe, restaurant or bar and asked me if I’d help her.

“We basically put an idea together. She wanted small plates and Mediterranean food - somewhere really vibey within the city.

“We’ve had to deal with a couple of issues; we had a really good chef but it didn’t work out, so we had to take matters into our own hands and get the kitchen up and running ourselves, which is quite daunting because we’re not chefs.

Inside On The Vine
Inside On The Vine -Credit:Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo

“In terms of the food offering, everything we do is from scratch; the fries, the hash browns, everything we do is made on site every day. It takes a lot of time and effort - Ellie’s running the kitchen and is there from 6am until 6pm most nights, if not later.

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“She works very, very hard at what she does and she’s managed to save enough money to open a restaurant. And she practically built the place herself.

“We have a large number of regular customers and we’re trying to drag a bit more business to this side of town. We want to attain a really good customer base who can come in and enjoy really nice, homecooked food."

On The Vine's dishes include small plates such as calamari, falafel and Italian meatballs, while its main courses include pastas, pizzas and burgers.

There is also a breakfast menu, bottomless brunch and cocktails being served up. On The Vine can be found at Silkhouse Court, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, L2 2LZ.