A "trailblazing" bar that was the first to open up in a once dilapidated part of the city centre became a blueprint for Liverpool's nightlife for years to come.
Once described as "Liverpool's first proper bar", last year city bar and institution, Baa Bar, celebrated 30 years since it first opened on Fleet Street in 1991.
Not only was it the first bar in the city to be granted a licence to serve alcohol until 2am, it was also the first shooters bar in the city.
READ MORE: Bumper: Cheeky and daring club's closure was 'sad end of an era'
If you've ever been to Baa Bar, you'll likely be familiar with the vast menu of alcoholic shots with names like 'Brain damage', 'Squashed frog', and 'Dave'.
Oliver Clarke, Baa Bar's managing director said: "The concept was from America and no one else wanted to do it.
"It's obviously been replicated elsewhere now but it will always be synonymous with Baa Bar.
"They used to have a deal where it was a Stella and a shooter for £1.50, so I think at one point the bar the biggest seller of Stella in Europe because we sold that many."
With its pristine neon bar and light walls you'd be forgiven for thinking Baa Bar was just another venue to adopt the aesthetic trappings of the city's now familiar sophisticated bar scene, except of course Baa Bar was the first to do it.
Back in 1991, the two floor bar was created inside a converted warehouse where all around there were only pubs and nightclubs.
The eventual success of the brand resulted in nine Baa Bars being opened around the country, with three in Liverpool as well as bars in Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds.
Following the recession and the increasingly competitive nightlife industry, there are just two Baa Bars remaining - one in Nottingham and the original one that first opened on Fleet Street in Liverpool 30 years ago.
Oliver said: "The one on Fleet Street is the original one and has always been there. That was the first bar in the area.
"It opened before Cream, which was a nightclub, when the area was proper run down area with old warehouses. It was very much a student bar and a pre-club bar.
"It opened opposite the Liverpool Palace and that's where Echo and the Bunnymen, The La's, everyone was there as it was a creative hub.
"Naturally they all went downstairs for a drink after to the Baa Bar."
The Liverpool Palace was an alternative shopping arcade on Slater Street which underwent a major revamp in 1991, the same year Baa Bar opened.
Sadly, the Liverpool Palace closed down in 2004 just a few years before Quiggins, another of Liverpool's lost shopping arcades that catered to an alternative audience.
Oliver said at one point the Baa Bar had a sushi restaurant which could be accessed by its open courtyard which connected the venue directly to the Liverpool Palace.
Baa Bar was also an early adopter of the unisex toilet in the city, which is also accessed through the courtyard.
Despite there only being two Baa Bar's currently in the country when there once were nine, Oliver said the venue on Fleet Street has always found the right formula to remain successful.
Oliver said: "We had our 30 years last year and we weren't really able to celebrate it because of the pandemic so we're still planning on recognising it this year with some activity.
"There is something to celebrate with it being the first bar in the area and somehow is still standing.
"With all of the changes on Duke Street, Seel Street and everything it's still standing. It hasn't had to change too much.
"It's had the odd refurb to keep it fresh but the ethos is the same - cheap drinks, good music."
Oliver added: "It's a bit of an institution. We're quite lucky having quite a big student audience as Liverpool is a huge student city.
"We have an influx of thousands of new students coming in every September and obviously the first thing they want to know is where they can go out and Baa Bar is always mentioned because it is an institution.
"Baa Bar still gets the queues around the block on a Saturday night."
So while plans to mark Baa Bar's 30 years on Fleet Street at some point later this year have still yet to be announced, let's raise a glass - or a 'squashed frog' shooter - to "Liverpool's first proper bar".
Love nostalgia? Have the best articles emailed to you for free with our nostalgia newsletter. Click here to see all the Liverpool Echo newsletters
