Open & Closed

THE BRUNNY IS TRULY NO MORE

Posted on July 12th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
On what would have been its tenth birthday, Melbourne live music doyen the Brunswick Hotel has announced it will never reopen. In the early hours of a Thursday, 22 March 2018, a car collided with and sheared off a fire

NEW ERA FOR OLD FITZ

Posted on July 8th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Tonight sees curtains up for Jaime Wirth and partners’ reincarnation of Woolloomooloo’s famous Old Fitzroy Hotel, with selected new complementing the polished act.  For the past few years, since selling his Drink n’ Dine portfolio, Wirth has joined with Michael

BOTANICA TO CLOSE THIS MONTH

Posted on June 24th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Popular Perth pub the Botanica Bar & Bistro joins the ranks of venues closing, confirming it will cease trade at the end of the month. Earlier this month news emerged Nick Duncan was closing the doors at Perth’s Broken Hill

MAHONY GROUP REVIVE OXFORD SCHOLAR

Posted on June 14th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Melbourne’s hallowed Oxford Scholar Hotel has returned after two years in the wilderness, under a new lease by the growing Mahony Group. Built 1857, the Oxford Scholar is on land owned by RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), on the

BROKEN HILL GOES UNDER

Posted on June 5th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Perth sees another majestic “old girl” gone, with Nick Duncan closing the doors of labour-of-love the Broken Hill Hotel. Duncan began ownership in the pub’s operation in 2003 as a silent partner, taking over a “run down old bikie pub”

NO MORE SHENANIGANS AT NEW-STYLE IMPERIAL

Posted on May 31st, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
The still young Imperial Hospitality Group has unveiled its rebranded Imperial Hotel, formerly known as Shenanigans, bringing a locals’ feel to a classic Maitland landmark. In early 2017 brothers Sean and Clayton Barrett and three close mates took the plunge

ROCKPOOL OPENS BAVARIAN MAITLAND AND WOLLONGONG

Posted on May 31st, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Rockpool continues its quest to bring Bavarian good-times to Australians, opening another two of the beer-based venues this week. On Wednesday, 29 May, The Bavarian Stockland Green Hills Shopping Centre in east Maitland threw open its doors, offering up the

IRELAND’S FIRST ALCOHOL-FREE PUB – THE VIRGIN MARY

Posted on May 31st, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
Two drinks industry colleagues have teamed up to bring the land of Guinness and whisky its very first no-alcohol pub. The Virgin Mary opened this month in Dublin, becoming Ireland’s first ‘dry’ public house in a city with 750 traditional

BAY HOTEL CLOSES UNDER FINANCIAL CLOUD

Posted on May 29th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
The Bay Hotel Mordialloc has closed, with the landlord changing the locks and staff and creditors reportedly owed thousands. Mid-2018 publican Andre Chaaya listed the freehold of his south Melbourne pub, hoping to unlock some capital and invest further in

THE BIMBO IS BACK

Posted on May 24th, 2019 by Clyde Mooney
CLG’s Fitzroy favourite Bimbo is back, serving $4 pizzas and local art, after being seriously scorched last year. In May 2018 news emerged that the Melbourne institution known as Bimbo Deluxe suffered a serious blaze, predominantly on the first floor,